Divination, fortune-telling, astrology, voodoo — everybody has heard of these works of mysticism and intrigue. Some believe in the powers these activities hold, while others are a little more skeptical. After all, don’t we have control over our own fates? Don’t we make our own decisions of our own free will? These are the real questions in the debate between magic and reality.

Tarot cards are one way to divine, or discover, what the future may hold. They are more popular and reliable than the good old crystal ball at the fair and are more revealing than palmistry (the art of reading hands). Today we will talk a little about how to use a tarot deck to find answers to your most burning questions, and about why the answers you find might not be as mystical as you think.

About the tarot cards.

Tarot cards are not like your average poker deck. An average tarot deck contains 78 cards — although certain decks may have more or less. Each deck is split into two groups, the Major Arcana (which are a little like face cards in a poker deck) and the Minor Arcana (which are the equivalent of the numbered cards in a poker deck). The Minor Arcana are also divided into four suits — though they are different than the suits of a poker deck.

The decks come in hundreds of different designs created by different artists, some themed like steampunk or fairy while others are more basic like the infamous Rider-Waite deck. The cards will be the same in every deck — only the illustrations for each will differ.

There are many rules or guidelines one must follow in order to take proper care of a tarot deck. These guidelines vary from person to person, but some general ones include:

• Not allowing anyone besides yourself to touch the cards, as that person will transfer their own energy into the cards and weaken your bond with them.
• The more you touch, shuffle and handle the cards, the stronger your bond will become and the easier they will be to read.
• Store your cards in a special pouch and always place them on a special cloth during readings.
• Knock on the deck three times or pass the deck through a candle flame after each reading to cleanse the deck for the next use.

Skeptics will find these rules silly and pointless, but believers take them very seriously.

According to Godfrey Dowson, who created a deck called The Hermetic Tarot, “The tarot is a perfect symbolic picture of the cosmos as seen through the eyes of man. Tarot also reflects the many facets of man in his environment.”

How to divine with tarot.

Each deck will usually come with a small booklet explaining what each card means, but advanced diviners will have each card memorized. There are hundreds of different configurations in which the cards can be placed in a reading, depending on the question asked, the answer sought for or the preference of the diviner.

The easiest one is just one card, best used for someone who wants to know what the day will be like in general or other very simple questions. This is not recommended for someone with a specific question or complicated situation, because the answer will most likely be too vague. The more cards pulled, the more insightful the answer will be.

Another easy one is a three-card spread. This spread is best used for a simple question or general overview of upcoming events. After shuffling the deck, select the top three cards and place them in order left to right. The card on the left represents the past and its influences which are still present and affecting your life. The middle card represents where you are right now or what you are currently facing. The card on the right represents the future — or what you must overcome to achieve your goal.

These spreads are best for beginners because larger configurations have more cards and contain more information and therefore require a more skilled reader to be able to interpret them properly.

This Celtic cross layout consists of 10 cards. This spread reveals highly detailed information including past and present influences as well as obstacles and future possibilities.

A solution for skeptics.

So you don’t buy into all this fairy dust and nonsense. That’s okay! You don’t have to in order to use tarot cards and still divine information from them.

A lot of diviners don’t believe in any supernatural influences or magic in the cards. Many just believe that the cards help to see answers using energy — a perfectly rational explanation, especially if you believe Einstein’s theory of relativity. Everything in the universe is made of energy and time is a human illusion, so the events which, according to us, have not happened yet still exist and we can use the cards to tap into that energy to get a glimpse of what lies ahead.

The quiet shuffling of the cards and the contemplation of a question or problem in a serene atmosphere can often also help us find the answers we seek. The whole process can put a person into a calm, meditative state in which to reflect on the issues at hand. The cards can offer suggestions or possible interpretations which we see and decide for ourselves what to do. They might offer possibilities that we hadn’t considered. So, rather than magic or mysticism, tarot might just be a form of self-exploration and problem-solving. It puts us in the right state of mind to look at a problem from all angles and find a solution.

Another rational explanation for the accuracy of a tarot reading is the power of suggestion. This idea has been heavily researched in the field of psychology — it basically means that if something is suggested to us, we will make sure that it happens. For example, if a person wakes up in the morning and says, “Today is going to suck,” then that person will end up making all the decisions that ensure that the day sucks. Or, if someone says to you, “Are you feeling alright? You look feverish,” you suddenly start wondering if you’re sick and your mind manifests all the symptoms of feeling sick. In tarot, the cards may suggest that you will become wealthy and then lose everything. Let’s say you win some money at the casino shortly afterward (was it magic or skill?). The cards said that you would lose everything, right? You’ll be thinking about the reading and fearing the loss of your newfound wealth, but you’re also on a lucky streak so you keep playing and trying to win more. You end up losing it all at the gambling tables. You could have just cashed out your winnings, but the human mind feels compelled to fulfill the prophecy on some subconscious level.

Whether you’re a hardcore believer or a person of logic, it’s still fun to just play around with the cards and see what they say. Just like horoscopes, Magic 8 Balls and fortune cookies, it doesn’t really matter whether or not the fortune comes true, but it sure is fascinating to wait and see.