Can Tarot really foretell the Future ?

Michael Sternbach said:

Nikita, the absolutist, binary approach belongs to the mechanistic Newtonian Universe. Welcome to the Quantum World!

Where Tarot lives.

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At least in the realisations that come with the quantum view, one realises, that at times, for whatever reasons, Tarot CAN make a true prediction.

Why should, out of all the things we use in life, Tarot have to deliver the goods every single time without fail ... or not at all?

Nothing is that hard and and constant IMO ... even the laws of physics;

e.g. water boils at 100 deg C ..... but only at sea level.

As to the how and why of tarot 'working' or 'not working' .... we just dont know, although we can speculate ... but that doesnt change the outcomes .

I reflected whether Tarot helped me making accurate predictions in the past.

Yes, it did.

An example from my recent reading, the querent's question was "Will it turn out OK?"
The Tarot said "Yes it will."
But the result in reality for the querent was bad, and she said my reading was rubbish.
But another 3 month of time, the situation turned again, and it became actually positive result as the prediction told initially.

The querent contacted me with apologies and said that the prediction was accurate.

ravenest said:

Why should, out of all the things we use in life, Tarot have to deliver the goods every single time without fail ... or not at all?

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I just tried do imagine a meteorology forum where a discussion goes on for almost 600 posts about what a weather report is good for when it doesn't predict the weather reliably

What if tarot only predicts as reliably as the weather report? Everybody could improve their chances to get the future right. Pretty cool.

What if tarot has no predictive power at all? Many readers, including many professionals, don't attempt to predict the future. Tarot could still offer many other insights, although those would rather be of the psychological kind. And yes, some caring aunties may be equally good without having to use cards. So what?

What if tarot wouldn't be able to add any useful insights at all? If it would all be a big deception and illusion? I still wouldn't want to miss it. As discussed way up in the thread people need to make sense of their fate. Tough fateful events that appear to be entirely arbitrary and meaningless seem to be particularly hard to bear. People need a sort of "narrative" to cope with it. So if the only thing tarot could offer would be to form a narrative from a series of deliberately vague symbolic images to reflect my life, my current situation, my fate without offering any advice or insight, this would still be enough for me.

I agree. (One weather report advantage is "Hmmm , it MIGHT rain tomorrow, better take the umbrella." or "Looks like it will be fine, I will risk it and not bother with having my umbrella with me all day." If I occasionally get wet , or not and have the inconvenience of having to carry an unused umbrella around ... I am not likely to abuse the science of meteorology nor ever watch the weather report again.

One thing that hasnt been really touched upon here (even after 600 posts ) is the (IMO) wonderful and beneficial usages of tarot without even doing any type of a predictive reading, or a reading at all.

There are several 'layouts' using the whole deck, these layouts show 'maps of reality' or 'magical models of the Universe' just by examining them we can learn a lot about ourselves and life and nature. Without ever doing a 'reading'. (But the thread is about tarot's power of predicting the future , not its value generally )

Some of you might find this review of E.O. Wilson's latest book, The Meaning of Human Existence, to be relevant to our discussion: http://www.brainpickings.org/2014/11/04/e-o-wilson-the-meaning-of-human-existence/

To me he seems to be saying that from a scientific perspective in which we consider that no higher being has set one's destiny:

"There is no advance design, but instead overlapping networks of physical cause and effect. The unfolding of history is obedient only to the general [scientific] laws of the Universe. Each event is random yet alters the probability of later events. During organic evolution, for example, the origin of one adaptation by natural selection makes the origin of certain other adaptations more likely." [my italics]

and
"Premier among the consequences is the capacity to imagine possible futures, and to plan and choose among them. How wisely we use this uniquely human ability depends on the accuracy of our self-understanding."

I find the contradictions a tad confusing.
How can "each event" be "random" if everything is subject to "overlapping networks of physical cause and effect"? Hardly "random" then! The causes could, at least in theory, be traced.

If "the unfolding of history is obedient only to the general [scientific] laws of the Universe" then where is the room for "randomness"?
People make laws. It seems odd to assume that unthinking Nature did / does too ...

And what of teleology - inbuilt change & evolution?

Interesting thing about reading our own cards is the frame of mind we're in when we read. One day for example you may feel exhausted, doubt your abilities and wonder if your proposed plans and business will ever take off. There's chaos around you and you feel unable to cope, the cards will mirror that mind-set and energy and the chances are the outcome will not look favourable.

Following wk you've caught up on your sleep and your studies, you've strength in reserve and your self belief is strong, you lay the same spread and success is predicted as the outcome.

This is because everything in manifestation is born of thought energy, we lay our path with our thoughts both conscious and sub-conscious which are subject to change at our free will which will then be reflected in the spread. If we're not in touch with what we're thinking we're certainly not in touch with what we're creating.

Hence it seems we are able to change our future (what we're drawing to us under the law of attraction). Cards reveal where we're heading with our particular mind set. Basically self knowledge, attunement to our conscious thoughts and understanding the nightmare sub-conscious ones in the realm of the moon that usually account for negative cycles is the key to steering our life towards where we want it to go.

Would the 1st or 2nd reading be correct? I think both would be correct at the time of reading. There's the future as it stands or the future you can choose through inner work. I don't believe anyone's future is set in stone, rather in mind stuff and the cards are never wrong but we must learn to read them correctly and understand the fundamental principles of the spiritual laws upon which they are based

trzes said:

I just tried do imagine a meteorology forum where a discussion goes on for almost 600 posts about what a weather report is good for when it doesn't predict the weather reliably

What if tarot only predicts as reliably as the weather report? Everybody could improve their chances to get the future right. Pretty cool.

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Actually there is a brilliant meteorologist here who says pretty much that !

trzes said:

What if tarot has no predictive power at all? Many readers, including many professionals, don't attempt to predict the future. Tarot could still offer many other insights, although those would rather be of the psychological kind. And yes, some caring aunties may be equally good without having to use cards. So what?

What if tarot wouldn't be able to add any useful insights at all? If it would all be a big deception and illusion? I still wouldn't want to miss it. As discussed way up in the thread people need to make sense of their fate. Tough fateful events that appear to be entirely arbitrary and meaningless seem to be particularly hard to bear. People need a sort of "narrative" to cope with it. So if the only thing tarot could offer would be to form a narrative from a series of deliberately vague symbolic images to reflect my life, my current situation, my fate without offering any advice or insight, this would still be enough for me.

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This. And even a weather forecast that turns out wrong can be useful. Even if only to give the CHANGED attitude from DAMN rain again; must take brolly to HEY what a LOVELY day this has turned out to be - the sun is so bright and cheerful that I don't MIND sweating in my raincoat !

All I have to say really - in other words, my whole view - boils down to tarot giving insights about the future on which we can model our actions to aim for the best outcome IRL.

Teheuti said:

and
"Premier among the consequences is the capacity to imagine possible futures, and to plan and choose among them. How wisely we use this uniquely human ability depends on the accuracy of our self-understanding."

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EXACTLY !

Teheuti said:

"Premier among the consequences is the capacity to imagine possible futures, and to plan and choose among them. How wisely we use this uniquely human ability depends on the accuracy of our self-understanding."

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Human arrogance at its finest once again. We are so very, very special, aren't we?

Sorry for the sidebar...let the conversation continue.

EyeAmEye said:

Human arrogance at its finest once again. We are so very, very special, aren't we?

Sorry for the sidebar...let the conversation continue.

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I think this is actually relevant to the discussion, since Tarot is actually a human construct. Why would you say the passage is an example of arrogance? In terms of this planet, humans are special. Animals do have the ability to plan, of course, pack hunting being just an example, but still that doesn't compare with the human ability to do so, as well as record our findings and learn as a race, which allows us to plan even further and see more possible ends. That's how we got to space, an achievement unequalled by any other species on this planet.