Can Tarot really foretell the Future ?

[Curious Dragon]

This, very much. I refuse to believe in predetermination.

Yep. There are somethings we can't avoid, but we can change our lives for the better if we try and believe we can. Maybe not as good as we'd like, but better than if we only believe things will go badly.

 

[Teheuti]

"Character is fate." --Heraclitus.

Our past - genetic, cultural, familial and personal - tends to set us along certain paths that feel fated or even predetermined. It can be difficult, and in some cases almost impossible, to break out of these currents of energy or probability. We get annoyed with a novel in which a character does things out-of-character because it doesn't seem true to life. I feel we can change and do things that are not probable to us (and thereby change a prediction based on such probabilities), but it is unusual and rarely changes our whole life direction. While 'chance' occurrences set us on an entirely different path they don't usually drastically change the way in which we characteristically respond (the choices we make).

 

[gregory]

"Character is fate." --Heraclitus.

Our past - genetic, cultural, familial and personal - tends to set us along certain paths that feel fated or even predetermined. It can be difficult, and in some cases almost impossible, to break out of these currents of energy or probability. We get annoyed with a novel in which a character does things out-of-character because it doesn't seem true to life. I feel we can change and do things that are not probable to us (and thereby change a prediction based on such probabilities), but it is unusual and rarely changes our whole life direction. While 'chance' occurrences set us on an entirely different path they don't usually drastically change the way in which we characteristically respond (the choices we make).

But we do have those choices, just the same.

 

[Curious Dragon]

"Character is fate." --Heraclitus.

Our past - genetic, cultural, familial and personal - tends to set us along certain paths that feel fated or even predetermined. It can be difficult, and in some cases almost impossible, to break out of these currents of energy or probability. We get annoyed with a novel in which a character does things out-of-character because it doesn't seem true to life. I feel we can change and do things that are not probable to us (and thereby change a prediction based on such probabilities), but it is unusual and rarely changes our whole life direction. While 'chance' occurrences set us on an entirely different path they don't usually drastically change the way in which we characteristically respond (the choices we make).

Difficult, yes, but far from impossible. I've been dealing with mental illness most of my life. That will probably always be a part of me, but it doesn't have to control me, and because I've worked to change how I think and react, I'm getting better all the time. I don't know that I'm changing my whole life's direction, I'm still me, but I suspect some people who know me would think so.

 

[LeFou]

"Drastic change" sounds like a terrible yardstick! And if achieved, maybe it would be followed by similarly drastic (unintended) consequences.

Maybe what's meant is a more neutral sort of "transformation." Is transformation so rare and unusual? It tends to be inward, rather than outward. Surely it's common (for example) for old people to be transformed into wise elders?

 

[Teheuti]

Surely it's common (for example) for old people to be transformed into wise elders?

Not all old people become wise elders. A friend and I were just noticing how some people we know in their late 80s were exhibiting idiosyncracies that were exaggerations of tendencies that had always been a part of their personality. We were also noting how our own daily habits had been with us from when we were young but that we now were giving them full reign.

 

[minotaur]

Tarot can foretell the future. There are three kinds of futures.

The first is the pre-ordained future. This is not as common as it once was but does show up with soul mates and a few other things. Not something to look for or encourage but sometimes fate will just do what it does.

Then there is the future of the present path. This is pretty easy. It will be the same as the past if the sitter doesn't change anything. The individual people in life will change and some aspects of life will change over time, but the experience of life will remain the same. If you have a sitter who has had five abusive boyfriends and wants to know if the next one will beat her the answer is easy. If she hasn't changed who she is inside he will beat her too. There is something about her that attracts her to this type of man.

Finally there is the future you can create for yourself. For women this has changed drastically since the 1960's. Most women have heard of the sexual revolution of the sixties but it was much more than burning bras. I remember my older sister was the star of our high school because she could take shorthand so fast.

In the early 1960's a women had many choices. She could be a nurse, a teacher, or a secretary. That is, of course, until she married and had children.

This last future, the one you can create for yourself, is the most exciting one. It is here where the tarot can really shine.

It is a mind-set...what is the world going to do to me vs what can I do to create the world I want? Change the question and you change the point of view of the future.

The tarot can foretell the future. You just have to be clear on what kind of future you are looking at.

 

[Tiana]

If it fortells a possible future and you take action to change it, does it mean it was wrong? It just means you didn't go down that path. Tarot enables you to see what you already know, intuitively.

I feel like asking yes or no type questions is missing the point. Asking "what should I think about", "what would happen if"... it's not that the cards were wrong if that doesn't happen, it just means, you disagreed with what the cards said, and took action to change that future. It depends what question you ask--the future of the present path? The future of a hypothetical path?

I see fate as a rather lot of branches, not a straight road... and tarot not so much as divination but as allowing us access to intuition. But, that is just my perspective on the matter.

 

[Michael Sternbach]

"Drastic change" sounds like a terrible yardstick! And if achieved, maybe it would be followed by similarly drastic (unintended) consequences.

Maybe what's meant is a more neutral sort of "transformation." Is transformation so rare and unusual? It tends to be inward, rather than outward. Surely it's common (for example) for old people to be transformed into wise elders?

This is an important issue, which we didn't really talk about on this thread yet. To change our ways of physical action is an outward kind of change. But according to Seth, Abraham and others, it's our beliefs at the core of our thinking, feeling and acting that we must inwardly transform in order to change our life experiences in a lasting manner.

 

[frejasphere]

Not all old people become wise elders. A friend and I were just noticing how some people we know in their late 80s were exhibiting idiosyncracies that were exaggerations of tendencies that had always been a part of their personality. We were also noting how our own daily habits had been with us from when we were young but that we now were giving them full reign.

Great comment Teheuti Some are born wise, some become wise elders, others...
A while back I worked on a restoration project involving close to a thousand old family photographs... I have always felt that every person has a distinct likeness about 'themselves' - from young to old. When closely studying photos of the same person, 50 or 70 years apart, it became even more obvious how little, many in fact do change... You could say that the 'essence' of a person is like a visible thread throughout life, if that makes sense? My grandfather had the same twinkle in his eye as an 80 year-old as he did as a 4 year-old; despite the hardships, despite the losses, his personality was to see and seek the good all along.

Except the brain isn't divided and the separation between left and right brain is in itself a crude simplification... and of course yin and yang aren't simple.

A mathematician can feel passionate about her work, and will often use her "emotion centers" of the brain rather than the logic centers. Plus the two parts work together, neither separate. The idea of left and right is almost as absurd as humans using only ten per cent of their brains.

And yes I do agree, on one level If one attempts to explain the unknown, or the intuitive with reason and logic alone, complications are bound to arise - Balance and harmony (in the brain and elsewhere) ARE absolutely necessary. One 'half' of the brain, does not work independent of the other, which Iain McGilchrist talks about in more detail in the video link I posted earlier...

... Einstein said: The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant" McGilchrist sums up with: "We have created a society that honours the servant but has forgotten the gift"

If it fortells a possible future and you take action to change it, does it mean it was wrong? It just means you didn't go down that path. Tarot enables you to see what you already know, intuitively.

I feel like asking yes or no type questions is missing the point. Asking "what should I think about", "what would happen if"... it's not that the cards were wrong if that doesn't happen, it just means, you disagreed with what the cards said, and took action to change that future. It depends what question you ask--the future of the present path? The future of a hypothetical path?

I see fate as a rather lot of branches, not a straight road... and tarot not so much as divination but as allowing us access to intuition. But, that is just my perspective on the matter.

I see Tarot in a very similar way, and I think you explain it well Tiana - Some events in the future may be fixed, but we do have the ability to change our ways, our attitudes, our goals... Intuition helps us make adjustments based on what we sense