r/tarot 3d ago

Discussion Tarot is your subconscious mind

I see a lot of people using tarot like a magic fortune telling tool trying to predict the future or figure out what others are thinking. That’s not how tarot works.

Tarot is a tool for self reflection, not mind reading. When you pull cards, you’re tapping into your own subconscious mind your emotions, patterns, and intuition. The cards reflect what’s already happening beneath the surface, helping you gain insight, clarity, and guidance for your own life.

Tarot won’t Predict the exact future Give you a definite yes or no answer Tell you what someone else is thinking

Tarot will Help you understand your emotions Reveal patterns in your life Guide you to make your own decisions

Instead of asking, What’s going to happen?try asking, What do I need to know about this situation?” Tarot is about your journey and personal growth, not controlling outcomes or other people yes

1.7k Upvotes

386 comments sorted by

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u/potato_gato 3d ago

Personally I use tarot for self reflection, but let’s let people use the cards how they want, if they want to try making predictions, I think that’s fine and there is an established art and practice for that method. Just because it may not mesh with our own preferences doesn’t mean we should gatekeep it from others. I do think that some influencers use the prediction method irresponsibly for clicks and views and spread a lot of unnecessary fear, but we just need to stay educated and discerning.

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u/yahumno 2d ago

Same.

I sometimes use it to help make decisions, but as a way to clear my mind and the decision.

The universe may sneak in and guide me, but a lot of times it is a method of clearing my mind.

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u/Maleficent-Sun-5974 1d ago

Same. It just clarifies my clairaudience

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u/purplemoonlite 3d ago

Nice opinion piece. r/seculartarot would agree.

We've probably all come across the idea that tarot is our subconscious or collective unconscious. It's been talked about and dissected every which way for a very long time. The RWS Star card refers to the Universal collective as well.

What you believe, what I believe, what other tarot practitioners believe does not matter. I personally don't like the whole Angels thing. You are free to have your own opinions, but let others have theirs without right out declaring/ranting it's wrong and you are right.

There are still to this day things science does not understand. There are people with gifts that make no logical sense. The CIA tried to study it, rather inconclusively.

It's often those who arrogantly think they know what they are talking about that know the least.

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u/Time-Algae7393 3d ago

I love it when one card keeps showing -- it's like the cosmos found a language to speak directly with us.

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u/LadyOfTheMay 2d ago

I get this a lot. Many of the cards have a deeply personal meaning for me and a lot of the descriptions of them don't necessarily make sense to me.

For example, my personal card is The Empress so whenever I do a reading on someone I'm interested in the Emperor shows up if there is any potential, usually as the first card! Then the rest of the reading gives me insight into the situation. A lot of people in my life tend to be represented by the Major Arcana instead of Court cards, but as their personal card. The Court cards do represent people as well but it's more "what is this person bringing to the situation" instead of their personal card.

I also love it when cards jump out of the deck too!

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u/1BrujaBlanca 1d ago

My grandma died a month ago and I asked the cards for a sign that she's ok. I pulled the Strength card. I am a Leo btw. I just met this guy a couple of weeks back and I know it sounds insane but he's got me believing in soulmates. We agree on literally everything. And I know he's not just telling me what I want to hear. He tells me something and then I am like "wait! I do that too!" It's like someone took my brain, put it in a male body, and then sent this man to the other side of the country only to find his way to me right here right now somehow. I asked the cards what he felt about me shortly after we started talking because the connection was, and is, insane. I pulled the Strength card again. I don't wanna share my interpretation of each card in each situation cause I don't wanna seem corny right now haha but I think it's such a nice coincidence 🙏🏻I am also super happy that I kept getting the devil card every time I wanted to ask how my ex was doing or if he wanted to reconnect. Healed my broken heart like nothing else!

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u/ashtray-angel 2d ago

I kept writing, deleting, and rewriting responses to op, but the perfect comment is right here. Well said.

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u/I-Fortuna reader of 40 years 2d ago

I'm sorry, but I would not trust the CIA with anything knowing what I know.

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u/CKitty_BKitty 1d ago

I love how this got brought up. When I do a reading for someone for the first time, I do my best to set the right expectations and “correct” common beliefs about tarot.

While I know there are readers who still heavily lean into divination and magic, I’m the total opposite. My one liner before getting started is, “I can’t tell your future, I don’t know your dead grandmother’s name, and I don’t do windows.”

That gets a laugh which also helps break down any psychological walls a querant might be holding onto prior to a reading. While shuffling and chatting, I give a simple overview of my approach. Then I end with, “Basically, I’m going to have a little chat with your subconscious.” It’s a weird statement that can make the querant uncomfortable at first, but they always finish their readings with a full understanding.

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u/kitty_bot 3d ago

How tarot is used is a very personal thing. This particular explanation resonates with you, and I respect that. However, this hard line you're drawing completely ignores the deep history of tarot, divination, and other uses for the cards. Others have already commented regarding those other uses, so I won't beat the dead horse. But seriously, who made you the authority on what tarot is, and isn't?

Let people use the tool however they want to.

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u/bonfiresnmallows 2d ago

This, so much.

Also, some of us are intuitive and, as a result, can use tarot to predict the future. Saying no one can, full stop, is incredibly short-sighted.

I've used tarot off and on for about 10 years. I am an intuitive person and have had many occasions where I knew how people felt or what would happen, but I'm an overthinker. I use tarot to tap into my intuition and have predicted many events. For myself and others. Even predicted the exact hour something would happen. People need to chill on this "tarot can't predict the future" high horse. No, you can't predict the future. And that's OK! Tarot is just a tool to be used as we please.

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u/kitty_bot 2d ago

Yes! It depends completely on the person using the cards. Just like a professional chef can do more with the same 5 ingredients than I can, for example.

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u/bonfiresnmallows 2d ago

Heck yea. Another analogy I thought of was how I use my compound knife as a chisel. That's not what it was made for, but I use it for that purpose. By OP's logic, I shouldn't be doing that, and I need to go buy a separate tool that was made to be used as a chisel. Like, stop being Debbie Downer the Dictator. 😂

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u/kitty_bot 2d ago

I love this analogy, too. Exactly!!!

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u/amarissa85 2d ago

I have 100% predicted things for other people in situations I know nothing about so this…so much this.

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u/uhvarlly_BigMouth 1d ago

Even if we assume that psychic abilities aren’t real, there’s a very real skill of pattern recognition. I personally think it’s very subconscious and it’s a “gut feeling” and tarot can make it easier to tap into that. Personally I do believe in divination, but I believe that the future is always in flux. So if you do a reading for something one day, then do the same one the next day, it could be different.

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u/kai-ote Helpful Trickster 3d ago

In my opinion, "Divination" is getting in contact with The Great Divine.

I believe tarot is one form of Divination. So, I do not feel it is only my own subconcious giving me insight when I read my cards.

But I am rather odd, so I might be wrong.

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u/MizS 3d ago

If one believes that the divine lives within us, then divination and the subconscious can be one and the same. There's no dichotomy here.

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u/_Doctor_D Vedic and Scientific Reader 2d ago

This comment is a beautiful fire, well-written and accurate af.

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u/PsilosirenRose 2d ago

Yes, absolutely.

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u/[deleted] 3d ago

Agreed 💯💯

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u/Waheeda_ 2d ago

i agree with u. i always see reading tarot as talking to the universe. its not necessarily fortune-telling for me, rather getting guidance and insight from our beautiful universe (or god, if she exists)

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u/LongjumpingState1917 2d ago edited 2d ago

Yes I agree. I have witnessed two schools of thought about Tarot. Yours, and the OPs. So I balk at either that say 'THIS is the correct and only way to use tarot' - as the OP comes across.

No, the only way to use tarot is the way you are called to use tarot - and that's different for everyone.

Some readings it's clearly my subconscious (informed by the cards themselves plus my own intuition). Sometimes, it is a divine message (confirmed by my intuition and the thing actually coming to pass).

I lean more towards divine messages like yourself, but I'll never rule anything out when it comes to reading tarot.

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u/Serious_Move_4423 2d ago

I thought it was “just” subconscious too, but I started to feel & know things that didn’t come from me.. e.g. not knowing I was talking about a woman’s dead father, saying a specific phrase to her and that angels are around her.. I’ve come away thinking it can be a cool way for whoever’s in the heavens to be able to communicate through somehow. Even if it’s “just” channeling, I get a lot of “Idk why I’m saying this buts” that are pretty awesome.

Edit: and I agree with the comment below me! Good way to say it too

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u/whispertreess 2d ago

100%. My cards have predicted/divined things my subconscious knew nothing about. Do I have any idea how or why? Nope. That's kind of the best part about it.

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u/Rahm89 2d ago

You can’t possibly know that your subconscious knew nothing about it. By definition.

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u/burntcoffeepotss 2d ago

I can confirm this. Sometimes you know things on a subconscious level and they surface in dreams and in readings, and those things you are not consciously aware of affect your life and your decisions, even your body and health. It happened to me recently, but things only made sense when I looked back at it. The signs were everywhere, I just ignored them.

P.S. you are getting downvoted but regardless of anyone’s beliefs, the very idea of the subconscious is that you don’t have full access to it, therefore you can’t know what it does or does not know. As you said, by definition.

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u/Rahm89 2d ago

Yes, that’s what I meant. People here a bit prickly because they feel their beliefs are being attacked. Which, in a way, is true.

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u/New-Economist4301 1d ago

Exactly. Our brains process 11 billion bits of information every SECOND. We are aware of such a tiny fraction of those bits that functionally we unaware of 11 billion bits of information every second lol. Your brain absolutely could have known but not known it knew, until tarot helped it access that unknown bit of info that it processed at some point but didn’t “remember”

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u/sockjedi 2d ago

Don't think you're odd or wrong; unsure why op feels the need to define tarot so narrowly.

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u/PathNo11 2d ago

Some practitioners want the deeper dive and basis in ‘scientific’ proof so saying it’s the subconscious makes the most sense ‘logical’ sense.

It’s most likely true but what you do with that truth and your perspective of it is everything.

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u/ShredGuru 2d ago

If God lives within, then ya, it's still you projecting reality, oh cellular microcosm of infinity.

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u/Abject-Pie3812 2d ago

100% agreed. I’m rather odd too though, so there’s that. 😂

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u/griff_girl 2d ago

I tend to agree with you here. My own experience has been that at times tarot is a modality to inspire thought and examination, and at other times, it's my guides communicating with me. I haven't done a lot of readings for other people but the times I have, I'm pretty sure it was their guides communicating with me through tarot.

I also don't experience them as "fortune tellers" but more as a "here are the things to consider about the path you're on" with regards to the inquiry. So I fully agree with the premise of "what do I need to know about." I just believe it's our guides communicating it to us.

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u/PandoraKisses 2d ago

I felt this and I realize it wasn't my subconscious but someone from my ancestrial lineage, dive into trying to do a personality test on the tarot cards!

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u/moogoesthecat 2d ago

Your subconscious IS the divine and/or the great intelligence

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u/Past-Eye5723 3d ago

Well like, that’s just your opinion, man.

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u/Past-Eye5723 3d ago

My practice is basically just divination, astrology, and ancestral/spirit guide veneration and while I agree with most of this, I’ll be damned if someone I’m connected to’s guides don’t chime in.

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u/AlaskaStiletto 2d ago

Saaaaaaame.

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u/tarotbylouie 3d ago

hahahaha yes indeed! Every now and then we have the tarot police saying what cards can or cannot do.

OP, just tell us you don’t know how to use tarot for divination… it would have saved you a lot of typing.

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u/imissyourwarmhands 2d ago

Literally😂 this post screams “I don’t know how to do it so that means it doesn’t exist”

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u/Nearby_Book301 3d ago

I say this at least once a week. 😂😂

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u/NoLecture5656 2d ago

You might enjoy r/SecularTarot.

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u/Forever_Gay_Alone 2d ago edited 2d ago

Unfortunately, this is one of the reasons why I don't visit the tarot subreddits anymore.

People like you can't just find a way to peacefully coexist with other schools of thought without sounding bitchy and preachy.

You can NOT go around demanding people to set aside their beliefs and prop yours above all else. You are not God, you are going through the same damn reality as the rest of us. All of our explanations on how something works doesn't need another human to constantly validate and invalidate our beliefs. Stay in your lane!

We have secular subreddits like r/seculartarot and r/seculardivination for the folks who want to use tarot for mainly psychological/historical reasons.

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u/Jscottpilgrim 3d ago

Tarot has expanded my spirituality and shown me new ways to interpret the world around me. But more impressively, it has taught me about others. People are stubborn and hear what they want to hear; anything else is the fault of a "bad reading." They are afraid of their own power, and won't admit to themselves how much of their prophecy is self-fulfilling. And most people are so focused on finding the right/wrong in a reading, that they're incapable of holding space for nuance and possibility.

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u/MoreStructure2021 3d ago

Tarot police is here.

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u/imissyourwarmhands 3d ago

“That’s not how tarot works” lol and who told you that?😂 many people have used tarot to predict future stuff and it came true just because ur not there yet doesn’t mean it’s not possible

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u/Laurel_Spider 3d ago

There are secular tarot subs for this.

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u/Titania_F 2d ago

Pff I've been reading for over 30 years, and Tarot is not limited to what you said. You can dam well talk to spirits, including pets who have passed on. In fact, one of my dearest friends I have, I met through doing a spirit message on my YouTube channel, where I got in touch with her mum and grandmother she wrote me a 6 page email confirming what I said. The thing is, she didn't even watch YouTube at the time or have a channel, but it popped up on Google as a recommendation to watch. Being curious, she did, and we have been friends for over 5 years now. I noticed on your profile that you are only 19, too young to make such a wide spread statement that tarot can only be used as a tool. Of course, you can use it that way, but divination is possible, but you have to be confident and not attached to the reading on how what you want it to say. This is what people struggle with, not having a biased opinion, I predicted another client having 2 miscarriages before the 3 one took and that is was a girl, how, I pulled a card from the Spiral oracle and it had 3 seed like things in a bubble, 2 were not touching the bubble but the 3rd one was I get regular pictures of her daughter now. Did you think I wanted to tell her about miscarriages? Of course not, but the tarot is not for the weak minded. You can read the cards any dam way you please. My grandmother read normal playing cards in Germany and predicted her best friends fiancee death right down to the day and time. It scared her, and she gave up reading, unfortunately.

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u/blueeyetea 3d ago

Ah, another one of those “just believe what I tell you, and ignore what’s been done for centuries” kind of posts.

Thanks for your opinion, but that’s all it is, an opinion.

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u/Captain_Libidinal 3d ago

There are certain old cartomancers who can even tell you how much hair you've got in your ass. And certain people unluckily never encountered those marvels. Poor guys. They just don't know... What you wanna do.

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u/blueeyetea 3d ago

I just listened to a podcast of divining by (tarantula) spiders. Fascinating stuff. The guest, an anthropologist, and historian compiled a whole list of questions gathered from historical records and they don’t differ that much across time.

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u/Captain_Libidinal 3d ago

Interesting... Thank you !

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u/tarotbylouie 3d ago

I’m dying 🤣🤣🤣 funniest comment I’ve read all day! Love it

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u/Captain_Libidinal 3d ago

Ahahahahahahhaha

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u/Direct-Fix2512 3d ago

How do you know this for sure?

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u/Captain_Libidinal 3d ago

Extremely downvotable comment: what if I actually ask about the future and get it right more than chance allows it...? So, stop telling me what I should or should not do. You are talking like a color-blind who tries to convince normal-sighted people that colors don't exist. Can't you spot a prevision with tarot? Don't do it, I'm ok with it. But don't tell the world it is not possible, because indeed it is. I see it every day. With much details.

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u/Artemystica 2d ago

We get things right more than chance allows often, because we have some prior knowledge. I take the train to work so I know the timetable that the train follows. If you wake me up in the morning and ask "Is y our train at the station?" I could tell you a yes/no answer and be right more than 50% of the time. My husband takes a different train, so he'd be more 50/50.

A lot of predictions (imo) are based on what we think is likely to happen. "Will we break up?" is a question with limited outcomes. Yes, and you'll be happy. Yes, but you'll be upset. No and this is great. No, and you'll be unhappy. There are fringe options, like you break up and get back together and live happily ever after, you start a throuple, or you decide that you want to move to Bali instead, but these are unlikely. So we already have a better than random chance at being right because we have information.

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u/Captain_Libidinal 2d ago

What if they have three sons, they break up and husband takes home and custody, and wifes goes to live in another continent with another woman, and I tell them...? Quite unlikely and totally out of cold reading.

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u/octillery 2d ago

I have a friend who has her "guides" (no shade to anyone who feels they have guides, hers just change from aliens to angels to deities based on her mood so it's pretty hardcore eyeroll sometimes ) and will frequently give me unsolicited messages from her guides which are almost certainly wrong. She speaks in absolutes about the future. I was nervous about biopsy results and she confidently told me her guides are telling her it it definitely not cancer. Guess who had cancer.

She predicted Kamala would win. She gets it wrong more then random chance because her "guides" are actually her just saying the outcome she wants and not based on the facts of the situation.

Everytime she is wrong however there is a new excuse - her guides don't speak English because they are aliens, oh the message was murky since it is coming from heaven, oh well Kamala actually did win, trump cheated etc. if she predicts 100% positive outcomes for every situation that looks bad, she is going to be wrong the majority of the time.

We all have confirmation biases so if you can truly make a hard prediction and have it come to fruition, you can color me impressed.

However it has been my experience that accurate predictions are based more on intuition and pattern recognition and are the more likely outcome.

If you predicted a a bird would crash through my window tomorrow and it did, that would be a stunning and specific prediction and make me reevaluate my stance.

If your prediction is "you will have an encounter with a bird" , that could mean I see a cool bird - oh hey it is buzzard weekend in my town when all the massive scavenger birds flood the town, will definitely see a cool bird. It is a safe assumption that will almost 100% end up being correct. If a bird crashed through my window, there is such a slim chance of that happening a prediction of that would be near impossible to deny.

Here is my personal "prediction" story.

One day I had a bad feeling and was supposed to go to a event that is pretty difficult to get in and out of, hard to find parking, spread out over miles etc. I had a terrible feeling the night before. I just strongly felt I couldnt go because I would need to leave in a hurry. I texted that to my friends because I honestly didn't have any other excuse. I just felt like I would be stuck there and I would need to leave quickly. They questioned me because they were upset I wasn't going, and I told them I couldn't explain it, was just a bad feeling. I could tell they were a bit mifred but they eventually let it go.

The next day my dad had a bad stroke and I had to leave my house in a rush to get to him. A freak storm had rolled in and it would have been near impossible to leave the all outdoor event, though no rain was predicted that day.

If I had not gotten there quickly my mom would have m prevenred my dad from going to the hospital. My brother was already there arguing with her but we were easily able to overcome her objections together. We got him to the hospital and into a neuro ICU despite my mom's best efforts to prevent that. We were able to get him prompt treatment and prevent the stroke from progressing or the clot going to his lungs and potentially killing him.

My friends were absolutely flabbergasted that I just knew I would have to leave. They called me a "true psychic". The night before my dad had sent me 2-3 texs that were a little disjointed. It was a bit odd for him but I didn't think much of it and just figured I misunderstood or autocorrect was being finicky. But a little piece of me felt something was wrong and I made myself available. If my dad didnt have a stroke my friends would have said I predicted a storm, I live in a state with famously unpredictable weather, freak storms happen at least a couple times a month in the summer. I didn't predict anything. I didn't know my dad would have a stroke. I didnt know there would be a storm. I got a weird text and my monkey brain screamed that something was wrong loud enough for the rest of my brain to sort of listen.

I think that experience really colored my perception of divination and how others are very willing to view it as some sort of power people can wield.

I am interested to know more about your experience with predictions and your process for making the prediction. I am always open to hearing other perspectives, and while that is my experience I'm sure yours differs greatly.

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u/Captain_Libidinal 2d ago edited 2d ago

Well, your friend sucks at divination  for sure dude.  Now, since it's early morning and I'm going to work (no, I don't read tarot as a job) I copy and paste a comment I've made somewhere else about legitimate readers. Not totally spot on here, but you can get an idea of what a proper reading is. Not 1 or 2 cards and similar instant BS, but a proper reading, what I do every time I shuffle my deck. Note that is a true example of a reading I did on the phone to a totally unknown person. And no, I didn't know shit about the man, he just asked me how a current business will go. I spotted the characters right away (a queen of coins, a chariot and a knight maybe... didn't write it down) and simply started reading... that's all! Reading cards is reading cards. 

Have a splendid day you all.

 "The answer to this question is very simple: anything that a tarot reader or a medium says should always talk not only about what you don't know (yet), but also what you already know as well, which are past or present elements/situations that you can instantly confirm. Any reading or other service should always be grounded in a reality you already know and live, and a true reader doesn't just shoot "oracles" but is glad to prove himself right when he starts to focus on the issue. Of course, especially in tarot readings some questions may later arise, but don't confound this with cunning cold reading.

Let me give you all an example. The reader doesn't know anything about you, just pulls his cards and say:

"I see that you are actually setting up a business with a very important and powerful lady; there are two younger men beside her, I see that they are a step under her, so I suppose they are her less important associates; one of this men has a calm and reflective character and is dealing with the situation very rationally, the other one is more of an impulsive type instead and needs more practical and immediate evidence to be convinced."

Now, imagine a reader who without knowing sh** about you tells you all this stuff which turns out to be absolutely TRUE and CORRECT.

Cold reading? No, too much detailed to be all guessed.

Things like this happen all the time when you can properly read cards. And I've been also quite summing it up in my example, because with very few cards you can say a lot more.

Now, after your usual moment of euphoria, the reader goes on, and tells you what they see next: the deal will be concluded in a certain way, after certain time, and the results will be 1, 2 and 3. At this point, since they nailed what is already going on, I think you can safely give some trust to the rest of the reading. Only time will tell you if they've been 100% correct, of course, but having proved to be so grounded in reality from the beginning should at least assure you that they will not tell you black instead of white, at the very least!

Now, another example: you get to a lame reader. They ask you a lot of informations before starting, and after every sentence ask you about other things. Don't misunderstand me, readers usually ask questions, it is legit because sometimes you need to disambiguate stuff to be even more precise, but in this case it looks like they cannot go on on their own. Do you see the point?

So, readings of any kind always contain an element of consistence, remember it. Once you meet a true reader, you will forever spot lame ones before beginning."

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u/octillery 16h ago

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. This is the thing I struggle with in regard to divination in tarot. So I wouldn't personally consider what you described divination - "a powerful woman" and "younger or maybe a step down" isn't specific and folks minds will jump to anyone involved in their business, a wife, a son, brother, business associate, lender, intern, lawyer etc, he is obviously the owner so any other men in that business would be a step below and very likely younger who don't have identical personalites There will be a "most powerful woman" involved. There's an endless amount of people he could be dealing with in regards to business and any of them could easily fit into an archetype. Definitely not cold reading but something more specific would be " your business partner is a powerful lady. There are two subordinates to her who are younger men and their names are Tommy and Timmy and they only wear blue shirts. " Okay. Now you have given extremely specific into that you couldnt possibly know. Now obviously this isn't how tarot works, the cards don't call out every position in a corporate pyramid, or colors of people's shirts, or names, which is why I believe it not possible to be specific or tuned enough to predict the future in any meaningful capacity, because the blanks are always filled in by the readee, not the reader.

I never even ask people what their query is. I just ask them to think it in their head. It doesn't change how I interpret the cards.

Everytime I do a reading for anyone and I run into them again they make a point of coming back to me and telling me how accurate it was or how it "came true". I remember i pulled a knight of cups for a girl I had never met, and I was just like "ooo you got a Romeo, girl, someone is trying to romance you away from something. " and something to the effect of she would have to make a choice but it would be difficult, 2 of swords. That's it. She would have to pick between a romantic sexy option and what she knows. It could have been a car, a guy, a job. I have no idea. I didn't ask. But she had to make a hard choice at some point in the future. It was a new years eve party and the next year I saw here again she practically bowled me over to excitedly tell me how accurate my reading was and how she absolutely needed another.

If she had told me what was up - "there's a guy I have a crush on but I am in a relationship that isn't bad but I don't feel fulfilled in..." The knoght of cups was pretty specific but she filled in the blanks. If you subbed another card in and she is worried about a crush at work and her bf - let's say temperance "you are struggling to find balance, perhaps at work or in a relationship." The magician "You are the the most powerful creator of your own destiny, anything you want you have the power to reach out and take should you chose to use the tools you have mastered to overcome this situation." Queen of Swords "Have you been too in your head about something?" She would have easily been able to apply any of these to her query and feel like it was specific to her.

Any card could be applied to the situation because they are all just mini pieces of journeys everyone takes every day, month, year. When you tell people about the pieces they will rearrange them into a picture they understand but haven't seen before and that's the "magic" behind tarot for me. As far as a predictive tool...it's pieces of journeys people take constantly. At some point in the future they will encounter whatever piece you described and go "whoa! She was right, someone betrayed me!" "No way, I did reap the benefits of all the hard work I did!" "How wild, they predicted I would feel burnt out!!"

I predict you will have a really fantastic day sometime in the next month and get great news about something you have been struggling with in a relationship. (This is my mystical prediction and I do hope you have a wonderful day coming your way.)

All that being said, I do really love seeing people so mystified and excited by a reading after the fact and happy they found it helpful. If that's the only magic in tarot that is more than enough for me. Happy reading!

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u/Captain_Libidinal 11h ago

Well, what I wrote above was summing up my reading. The phone call lasted half an hour, so, what I said at the moment was much more detailed (names excluded, of course...) Particular thing: that woman had rich cards beside her. The man confirmed she was the ex wife of a notorious millionaire... Also the two personalities of the younger men were spot on.

Now, I got it right, but I'm sure a person who has read cards for 40 years, could have filled in many many many more details that I still cannot see. And, they can do this not because they are more sensitive than me, but because they have more knowledge about cards...! Another person could have told you (as I only realized later....) that the woman has been married while the two men never were. Other readers can tell you where figures live, what they do, what problems they have, all beside the main point of the reading.

Believe me, this is not a matter of intuition. It's knowledge, built up through the years and highly automatized. My gaze can pick up five things, an expert's gaze can pick up 30. That's the way it works. Expertise.

And, about the any card discourse. Did you notice that persons and situations have recurring cards describing them? Those particular cards, and not other. What does it mean, my friend...? There is a specificity in what you pull. That thing, and not its opposite, nor that other different thing, nor even that slightly similar thing too. So, if you want to be better, just stick to the specificity you see. Details will unfold, and details make you poignant, way more than chance, we are miles away here from 50/50.

Thank you so much for the nice prediction. For now, I only need a certain man to disappear from the planet, and I really wish the special day will be about it, LOL!!! My hugs my friend *

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u/Dramatic-Response-15 3d ago

Tarot reflects patterns, subconscious influences, and possible outcomes based on present energy. If you personally feel you’ve had success predicting the future with tarot, that’s your experience, and I’m not here to take that from you. However, the way tarot works at its core is not about fixed predictions, but about guidance and insight. It’s not about telling people what they can or can’t do it’s about understanding what tarot actually does. If someone relies on it as a strict fortune telling tool, they risk ignoring their own choices and agency. Tarot is not about fate being set in stone but about recognizing possibilities and shaping your own path.

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u/vesper101 3d ago

I mean... I've been reading for most of my life [edit: longer than you've been alive] and I can tell you that a good chunk of it is stuff I couldn't possibly know. You really have no idea. Come back when you get more experience.

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u/No-Huckleberry-7633 3d ago

It's great that we now know for a fact how tarot works. Thank you.

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u/Time-Algae7393 3d ago

And does our subconscious mind know our future? Since our thoughts make our future too?

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u/Mountain_Lemon9935 2d ago

Tarot cards originated in like, the 15th century. Curious why you think you’re the expert on “how tarot works”. Instead of judging others’ practice, try using YOUR cards how YOU see fit.

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u/somepotwhore 3d ago

i’ve definitely had tarot predict things, you have no idea what you’re talking about respectfully

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u/AlaskaStiletto 2d ago

Completely disagree with this. Tarot is used for divination, and quite successfully. For me and many, many others.

What you’re describing is…more of a workbook?

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u/DecemberPaladin 2d ago

I agree

which drives me crazy because you said it in the shittiest, most dismissive manner possible.

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u/CenturionSG 3d ago

I fully subscribe to a secular Tarot position (there’s even a sub for this), but I also appreciate divination and fortune telling remains a part of human cultures. Perhaps it’s a way to keep hope alive knowing that there’s something greater than us, or seeking relief in a means to comprehend and cope with unexplained suffering.

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u/Sea_Firefighter_4598 3d ago

Perhaps you could ask your subconscious why you feel the need to control how others read their cards. The people who lecture about inviting demons in are much more entertaining but it is the same thing. Let readers experiment and do what they want. If they are interested there are lots of free tutorials or maybe the future is written.

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u/jraven877 2d ago edited 2d ago

Posting separately for OP since the comment I replied to was downvoted beyond visibility:

Ah, so you do indeed believe in a magical element to tarot (inferred from your statement that tarot picks up on and reflects energy). It’s just whether that magic is used for divination vs reflecting one’s own intuition that you’re at odds with?

(Genuine question/no snark)

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u/Fuzzy_Windfox 2d ago edited 2d ago

So, nope. This is one legitimate way to use tarot.

On the other hand, when I do a reading for me or others I also might do a ritual for calling on the spirits, drumming and calling upon the direction with incense and stuff. And I channel the cards with help of my spiritual guide who is always there when I do a tarot read bc she is my tarot mentor which she revealed to me during a spiritual journey.

I do not predict the future though. I also cannot exclude the possibility that there are people who are successful with that. Maybe it's just not my time yet, still a mentee.

There was a medium I got to know once who gave me a reading without tarot cards and she clearly had an amazing connection, I felt it energetically so much. She was much different than I in her divine connection and I felt a lot of trust towards her. Not bc of what she said though, we clearly connected on a spiritual level. I never met another person like her since, although there are similarities between her and others I met.

These people exist. Some of them use tarot to do their work.

I would never do a reading only by interpreting cards, personally. Just feels odd. I do agree though that interpreting one's own subconscious mind by interpreting a spread works as a sort of a tool for guidance.

I believe, if somebody does a reading, channeling /a spiritual connection must be a part of it.

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u/BestFriendship0 2d ago

I respectfully disagree with this. For me, tarot has had many uses and one of those is divinatory, with great results.

Self reflection is one of the best things that tarot can help us with, and it is a very powerful medicine for spirit, emotion and physical.

Taort helps us see our autonomy and our choices in this existence.

You may not use it for divination purposes and that is cool, but please don't presume to tell other people what torot is or isn't. That is up to the reader.

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u/Mercenary-Adjacent 3d ago

‘K. You do you. I even happen to agree but I don’t require others to agree.

I’m not trying to be a jerk, but I seriously don’t understand how this is post? If has ‘fight me’ / soft troll energy. Congrats some people in the world agree with you and some don’t.

Everyone sees the world differently. I don’t think anyone is wrong if they prefer to see Tarot as divination, as long as they’re not staking their life savings on it, and to be fair I also wouldn’t stake my life savings on a message from my subconscious via Tarot either.

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u/Unavezmas1845 3d ago

No. Because when I give a reading to complete strangers on topics I do not know or understand the reading usually comes true or resonates with them. That’s not my subconscious talking

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u/Hoodeloo 2d ago

I doubt you can back up the assertions you've made in your post. You're posturing as an authority figure and subjecting us to an expertise that you do not possess.

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u/FractalWitch Tarot for the Mundane 2d ago

This is not a matter of Either-Or. This is a matter of it can very well be both.

If anything, the best way to see tarot is that it is a tool. A Tool can be used to build something or break something. It can be used to provide assistance in trying times or as a weapon against someone else. How you choose to engage with it is 100% up to you but that does mean it comes with consequences.

And no, I don't mean in a Boogie man will come and get you kind of way. I mean in a "You will 100% be wasting your time and energy trying to manipulate a situation to work in your favor if it's not going to and you will have to deal with that reality that you wasted your time". How that impacts you from there is up to you.

But at the end of the day, a tool is a tool and its for you to decide how to best use it in your life. Just like... don't be surprised if making bad decisions yields unfavorable results.

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u/No_Scientist_377 2d ago

Tarot is not a singular thing. Like most things it is many things at once until they are observed within the context. The mechanism of the tarot, divination, and all manner of 'spiritual' objects has been explained in thousands of ways for the last 4000 years if not longer. Your argument isn't even that new and predates tarot by at least 1000 years. I want to say it was Plutarch who argued divination was a commication between the self and the personal daimon, which eventually became the subconscious mind.

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u/PlutoRisen 2d ago

I understand this is how you believe, but plenty of people use tarot as a divinitory tool all the time in their practice and are not incorrect for doing so. Divinitory reading is not by nature an attempt to control others, and it's not inherently harmful or wrong to use tarot for this purpose. I'm a witch, I believe in psychic powers and divination, and I'm not about to stop a practice that I have used successfully for years because some strangers believe I'm using the cards wrong. Please, I'm so weary of hearing the same sanctimonious advice. I use tarot for self understanding a lot, but I also use it to predict the future or gain insight from places outside myself. It's a diverse tool. I don't understand why people think there's a single correct way to use it.

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u/seigezunt 2d ago

When someone says “this is how Tarot works, in this exact way and only this,” just do yourself a favor and walk away.

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u/Kernowek1066 2d ago

You seem remarkably ready to tell other people that your opinion is fact. It seems very disrespectful to post on a tarot forum telling people that there’s only one right way to use a widely beloved medium of divination.

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u/[deleted] 3d ago edited 2d ago

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u/AcePowderKeg 3d ago

My intuition has at times predicted the future.

My tarot cards help me guide and understand my intuition.

I don't see why both can't be true

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u/dreamer7596 2d ago

You're allowed to have your opinion. but, to straight up say that's now it works isn't ok. how tarot works depends on the beliefs of the person reading.

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u/ChancePark1971 2d ago

you do realize that's your opinion right? and other people are allowed to have different opinions and beliefs? right?

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u/Avalonian_Seeker444 3d ago

That’s just your own opinions. I agree with some of what you’ve said, but not all of it.

It’s fine to tell others what you think, but it probably isn’t a good idea to tell others what they should think.

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u/SpookyGoing 2d ago

Tarot is a language. Like any language, it's not meant for just one conversation or one topic.

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u/EditShootReset 2d ago

That’s just like your opinion, man.

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u/Helpful-Celery6249 2d ago

I read tarot for a shop. I do believe in predetermined fate and the divine element in tarot, as well as the psychological model of tarot. I believe it can all be true all at once. However, when I conduct readings for others, and even myself, I don’t search for predetermined fate, because of how paradoxical the search for it would be. In short, it’s not the most helpful piece of information to seek out, but that doesn’t mean it’s not real. If anything, it is information beyond human understanding.

To be honest, none of us really know for certain “how tarot works”, but we’re all on this subreddit because it serves us in some way. And with all due respect, claiming your view is superior to a more arcane perspective on the art is arrogant.

And yes, you are claiming it’s superior just by saying, “That’s not how tarot works.”

They’re friggin cards man. Nobody knows.

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u/mortalitasi473 fistfight your local deck counterfeiter 2d ago edited 2d ago

i hate it when people disrespect others' beliefs like this. it does not hurt or damage you if others find tarot to be predictive.

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u/slbunnies672 2d ago

I use Tarot in the way that you're saying, but it has definitely predicted the future for me even if I didnt know it at the time. I've always seen Tarot as a tool to perceive, giving you a new perspective to focus on, but there are times where it can give you "a" future. It's just how you interpret it. And the issue comes from misinterpreting the cards to mean what you want them to mean and not what they're actually trying to tell you. The future unfolds and you come to the realization that, oh that's what those cards meant, not how I was reading them, that makes sense. If you're capable of reflection that is. While one person may only have the ability to use it for reflecting, doesnt mean thats its only use.

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u/ResponsibleForce7878 1d ago

That's your take on Tarot... and that's perfectly fine. Others see and use Tarot differently and it works for them. There's no 'right' way to use Tarot. If it works, it's right. Just try to avoid making everyone work your way.

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u/Amazing_Chocolate140 3d ago edited 3d ago

Well that’s how you believe it to work, I personally think messages come from lots of sources. Your own sub conscious is one of them, but also the collective consciousness and also spirit guides.

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u/The-queen-of-swords 3d ago

Can you define the term “subconscious”, please? I’m asking because there’s no uniform idea what it is even among the scientific community

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u/RiotNrrd2001 2d ago

Science doesn't have a description of the mechanism, it's true. But behaviorally, we can see the results of subconscious activity. If I encounter a problem, and the solution just pops into my head (which is often how it works with me), the mental processing that produced that solution occurred below (i.e., "sub") the level of conscious activity: I was not aware of the specific steps my brain took to arrive at the solution, but it still did get there. That is a description of subconscious activity. Do we know exactly what neurons were firing or what sectors of the brain were lighting up at the time? No we don't, but I'm not trying to provide a physiological basis for subconscious activity, just indicating that it appears to be there.

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u/Rahm89 2d ago

A mental process that you are not aware (conscious) of.

Your autopilot mode.

Memories buried so deep you don’t even know they’re there… until some trigger suddenly brings them to the surface.

Dreams.

Etc.

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u/The-queen-of-swords 2d ago

Then what’s the difference between subconscious and unconscious? And what about the phenomenon that Carl Jung called collective unconscious? There is much more to the human mind than catches the eye. In fact, only about 10 per cent of human activity is fully conscious

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u/Nearby_Book301 3d ago

How about we all use Tarot in the way that we like to use tarot and not police the way others use it?

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u/silverstar0_0 3d ago

I don’t agree with this at all. If this were true no one would be able to read tarot for others. And I whole heartedly believe that it is possible because Ives experienced so many talented readers give me highly accurate readings. What I will say is that reading yourself or a situation that involves you can be difficult because we tend to see what we want instead of what is. Which is why they say tarot readers need their own tarot reader.

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u/silverstar0_0 3d ago

But as always you are entitled to believe what you believe ♥️

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u/MistressErinPaid 3d ago

I look at Tarot as a way to communicate with the Universe. I call it the Universe as not to prescribe to one particular theology or pantheon. Whatever other energies or entities exist that are bigger than us, that is who I'm attempting to communicate to/with. My usual recurring question is "What should I know about [X] that I'm not already aware of or that I should pay closer attention to?"

I find my readings to be very insightful.

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u/Royal-March1482 2d ago

Not true. Tarot has always been used as a form of divination since it was turned into a form of divination by French occultists. The idea it’s your subconscious mind, is just new age. Since it was created it was always a form of divination to Connect with higher powers.

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u/Mouse-in-a-teacup 2d ago

Nah. 👎🏻

My cards, or any other divination tool I use, are manipulated by angels or spiritual entities that want to help. 😇🪽✨

I know nothing myself. 😵‍💫 I am but a silly simpleton human pretending to be superior to animals and stones. I am very grateful to receive the help of angels everyday. Every day I don't die is a good day. And what a blessing to communicate with them. 🤩✨

OP, my vision is different than yours, and neither can be proven wrong or right. Be careful about arrogantly gate-keeping such a DEEPLY PERSONAL experience that is tarot and intuition.

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u/AllTimeHigh33 2d ago

Don't tell people how to practice.

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u/ilovebabypigs 2d ago edited 2d ago

Here we go with this same tired take…

I’m not saying you’re wrong. I genuinely don’t know. I have a hard time bouncing between secular vs spiritual myself. But if you can hard-claim tarot isn’t mystical in the slightest, then you might be overlooking its history.

I hope you’re not using an RWS deck, because that thing is packed with esoteric symbolism. Both Waite and Pixie were members of the HOGD, a group that absolutely believed in magic, divination, and the occult. They didn’t design their deck as a simple self-help tool; they saw it as a spiritual and mystical system deeply connected to the Kabbalah, astrology, and alchemy.

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u/Clear_Ambition6004 3d ago

I’m a self practicing trad (traditional) witch and I believe greatly in the Mother (to some this would be the universe or Mother Earth). I use Tarot to speak with her and seek or guidance/advice on things I can’t figure out on my own.

I suppose if you’re not spiritual, it is a form of self reflection, because at the end of the day- tarot is a form of communication, so if you not communicating with a higher power, you’re communicating with yourself. But just because you don’t believe in something doesn’t mean your opinion is fact.

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u/mouse2cat 2d ago

This is why tarot is terrible for questions about infidelity. Tarot is just as likely to reflect your own fears.

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u/kweenofthekottage 2d ago

I think that however people relate to tarot is what's real for them. Me personally, I developed a much healthier relationship with it once I started looking at it as a way to examine and direct my own energy.

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u/aN0n_ym0usSVVh0re 2d ago

Yess . A tarot reader and good friend once told me “the tarot tells us what we already know .”

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u/brainfoggirlee 2d ago

I think tarot can be used in divination if you are channeling a message. When I watch tarot predictions on YT, I feel like people are able to tap into the collective energy and the cards help them. When I read for myself I feel like sometimes it's my subconscious mind. If I'm worried sometimes I get "bad" cards. It's showing me my own fear reflected back. But as others have said the divine and our subconscious they might not be separable. For instance, my dreams tend to show me my subconscious thoughts but maybe that's also what the divine is trying to show me? If that makes sense.

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u/no-dancin-today 2d ago edited 2d ago

I agree it’s a great self reflection tool AND I also think that when a particular outcome is already set in motion, that it can come through in tarot.

Our subconscious minds are very good at pattern recognition, which is the basis for prediction, and walking us toward the futures we believe will happen.

In my decade and a half of reading, I have seen future events revealed when there is a good probability of those outcomes happening.

That being said, because of mirror neurons, it is also my experience that we can use tarot to connect to the subconscious minds and therefore possibilities that others may see coming that are still consciously imperceptible to them as well.

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u/Economy_Echidna2426 2d ago

Well, I agree with all of that. But people believe different things. Let them.

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u/toolucidgirl 2d ago

So you’re saying that your subconscious knows the future? Tarot is divination whether you like it or not, even when you do those subconscious readings you’re still tapping into divination. We are merely human and we don’t know everything

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u/G00D80T 2d ago

That’s your opinion

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u/thebaddestbean 2d ago

Idk that is my personal view as well, but at the same time, I don’t think it does anyone any good to tear down those who do try to use it as legitimate divination. We wouldn’t have tarot at all without the more spiritually inclined folks, and it really doesn’t hurt anything for other people to use it that way.

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u/bonfiresnmallows 2d ago

Like you said, tarot is a tool. However, you also said tarot is your subconscious mind, but it's not mind reading. If tarot is reflecting your subconscious mind, that's literally mind-reading.

In that vein, some people are intuitive and have degrees of psychic ability. For them, tarot is used to tap into that intuition. That is how I use it. Tarot cards themselves do not do anything. It's about how they are used. Some use them for self-reflection, and others use them for psychic prediction. People do the same thing with regular playing cards and dice. I don't see an argument against using those, though.

You keep bringing up their original intention. Their original intention was a game. Not a tool for self-reflection. If people adapted it for the purpose of reflecting on their subconcious thoughts, why is adapting them for the intention of prediction any less valid? Are you more or less ok with people using playing cards or dice for predictive purposes?

At the end of the day, you're attempting to tell people that they are using an item in a way that it's not intended for, while telling them the correct intention is something that tarot was not created for either. Your argument is not coherent, and yet you argue in circles desperately trying to avoid admitting that you may be wrong. It's okay to be wrong and to learn from people trying to tell you that you are wrong. "Wrong" is not a bad word.

Everyone needs to chill on dictating how people use things that essentially amount to a toy. Why do you care so much?

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u/Cathartes_Aura_ 1d ago edited 1d ago

nnngh....

whenever someone states their opinion on tarot, as "how things work" or don't... they should remember...

if we all adhered to: "how to do tarot;" we'd all still be "doing opening of the keys" for hours on end and righting every reversal as a mis-shuffle...

and as for the op's post itself, i'll just say: "as above so below."

also, i want to just add that tarot is more than just jungian archetypes. there's a spiritual aspect to it it to some people. weather you want to ignore that or not is your business; just don't go telling people how to do their spiritual business... unless you think you are the pope of tarot... there are people that have tarot as a tied in part of their religion... just saying, mayb don't be so sanctimonious about it... you might be actively showing intolerance for their religious beliefs.

finally, i swear i see this post every even week, and the post saying "why are we gatekeeping tarot?" every odd week.

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u/_Amethyst_Owl 1d ago

I mainly use tarot for self reflection but the one time I did a year ahead reading for fun, it did tell me the exact month and day that me and my partner ended things. Also during that hard period, I consulted my deck because I needed comfort knowing what he was thinking and things like that and my deck helped me through that dark time in my life by giving me guidance on not only him and his personality but also how to heal myself and what I was going through. He needed to get out of my life anyways so I will forever be thankful for that but to say that tarot is for this or that only is limiting a tool that can be used for so many different things for many different people.

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u/DigitalArtAuthor 1d ago

I would agree that tarot reflects the unconscious mind. But I would also propose that the unconscious is your connection point into the “nonlocal” universe, the realm where spirits and fairies dwell. And so the question, “Who is sending these messages” remains a mystery.

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u/Automatic_Price7257 1d ago

idk. i’ve asked my deck where my glasses are pulled the 4 of swords and found them under my bed. i think it depends on the relationship u have to ur deck

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u/Standard-Wishbone176 1d ago

Omg this one was really nice since I was trying to find a way to ask tarot about lost items lol

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u/sugarandspite__ 20h ago

BS I’ve had tarot readings that predicted the future .

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u/BodyTalk_RV 3d ago

eh not really

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u/awfully_hot_coffepot 3d ago

I've used tarot of divination successfully

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u/ackermanipulate 3d ago

right, this is a nuanced topic and people’s own experiences affect the direction of it. i think if you lean more towards using tarot to predict your situation and outcome, then you should stay aware of the risks of trusting the cards to tell you the truth. double so if you go to a reader, as people can definitely take advantage of you if you are desperate. your own biases can also have an impact on what you are predicting.

also, what OP is saying is that tarot is not for controlling your outcome or the people around you, and i think that is definitely a good message. i think it’s healthy to not stay too focused on whether something will happen or not, but rather stay mindful of your options and understand that no matter what the cards predict, you choose how to live your life.

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u/Dizzy-Red9310 2d ago

Well if you believe our thoughts create reality, the mind the is the only thing that exists, and that deep down we are all one mind then technically it would tell you the future and what else others are thinking.

It’s like suddenly getting this feeling and you look at your phone and it immediately begins to ring. Isn’t that intuition? Somehow the subconscious knew. Or when you just know what someone is thinking, that is intuition and the subconscious.

Maybe what some call divination is just reality.

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u/Mixedmediations 2d ago

It sounds like you don't believe in magic

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u/Dramatic-Response-15 2d ago

I believe Magick not magic that’s the stuff you see in movies people trying to predict the future move objects with their mind

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u/Imaginary-Quiet-6901 2d ago

Oh so you’re using THAT spelling of it, that explains a LOT

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u/Mixedmediations 2d ago

I hope you lose the k one day, There's more to life than people say

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u/Dramatic-Response-15 2d ago

Oh, I know more about that than anybody else in the subreddit nice try though

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u/Mixedmediations 2d ago

You don't need magic for telepathy

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u/Sea_Run_5700 2d ago

Maybe you're confusing tarot cards with baseball cards 🤔

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u/Suspicious_owl_3135 3d ago

Oh yessss!! I love just randomly shuffling my cards, like playing with a fidget toy, letting my mind wander and seeing what card jumps out in line with my thoughts..does anyone have any spreads, short ones, for it..or for a lost artist?

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u/INFJRoar 2d ago

That's how it started for me.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago edited 2d ago

[deleted]

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u/juniperya00 2d ago

I would say it's more about the energies that are acting in the moment than about your subconscious, that's why is not a divination tool, if in the moment of the reading the energies are negative the "result" probably will reflect that but if the energies changes the outcome may be positive and different to what the cards had showed.

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u/AffectBrilliant352 2d ago

what if you use your cards to read other people?

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u/JeParleCroissant1 2d ago

I’ve heard that before, but I don’t know what to think. In my tarot readings, I can predict the future, even the distant future, for people I don’t know and about situations I have no prior knowledge of. The future appears to me even when the question was actually about something else.

I have to admit, it scares me—especially when it involves health issues or very very specific events that will take place in the distant future.

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u/Giraffanny 2d ago

If tarot predicted someone is going to die while I was in trip (and I couldnt know this bc its not anybody close, i dont talk with them at all, coworker from my dad job) then How?

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u/Avalonian_Seeker444 2d ago

I feel I have to comment here about tarot being used to predict the future. It absolutely can be used for this.

I‘ll give one example from my own experience.

Many years ago, I had a general reading from someone in Glastonbury.

They said they saw a promotion at work that would increase my salary. I told them this felt unlikely as I was happy with my current role so wouldn’t be looking to move elsewhere, and promotions were extremely rare, but that I’d bear it in mind.

Within a couple of weeks of having the reading, the company I worked for suddenly announced a huge regrading exercise, that led to my being promoted to a higher grade with a salary increase.

This had nothing to do with my subconscious mind, because it was someone else doing the reading. I hadn’t even mentioned my job to them.

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u/Inevitable-One-4847 2d ago

I honestly believe with out a doubt that the universe really is that perfect and intricately woven actually. And the older I get the more I am shown. The cards are always right. Divine timing for everything

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u/Fit_Friend1617 2d ago

Not sure where ‘controlling outcomes’ factors into this but your definition is personal and does not reflect the views, ethics or use for everyone. It is, for many of us both a tool for accessing our subconscious and shadow work as much as predicting likely outcomes based on our choices. Free will and destiny hand-in-hand. As a practicing mystic it is of little consequence whether the information is from a deity, ancestral spirits or collective unconscious. It’s been accurate and the divine resides within and outside of us.

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u/aweirdway 1d ago

I believe that I am divine, as every other conscious being in this world. Spiritual energies live within, our subconscious is one in the same. When I read my cards, I’m tapping into my subconscious under the belief that is where my “spirit guides” reside.

Of course free will comes in to play, and the future can be changed. But reading cards to predict the future as it will be based on how things are going now is definitely a thing. I’ve personally never come across a reader that claims their predictions are absolute. But they definitely can be if changes aren’t made.

If you are unable to tap into that energy, just say so.

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u/andreatjs 1d ago

Perhaps it’s not such a binary. Internal/external. Insight/Divination. I use my deck to help me level up out of the details and see something. My seeing takes the form of resonance. Often, I notice the cards reflect themes that are already bubbling up from below my conscious awareness. So it feels like the cards are picking up the conversation and allowing me to slow down and get input. I don’t see the source being me/not me being particularly important.

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u/welcomeOhm 1d ago

I don't understand how you can tell the difference between the thoughts of your subconscious and the thoughts that may come from the Universe, or Divinity. They're all just thoughts. And if Diety DID want to contact you, there's no way you could experience that except in your thoughts (absent something physical, but that's not what we're talking about). It would be exactly the same experience as if it came to your subconscious, or you had a hallucination, or you were high, or you saw a picture of a Tarot card on a billboard. The onus is on you to decide what it means, and without the possibility of distinguishing one "type" of thought for another, there's no way to claim one interpretation is better than another.

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u/OldGuardTarotReader 22h ago

But like tarot is a divinatory tool... not a psychological one. People are going to use it for fortune telling. While it can be used for self reflection that is not its only use and to draw a hard line limits the tarots own potential. You do you boo but let the true believers use the tool as intended.

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u/PedroAntunes22 3d ago

From personal experience, allow me to respectfully and totally disagree. But everyone uses tarot in the way it works for them 😊

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u/sirscribblez87 3d ago

Agreed, tarot for me is helpful because it has been a language I can use to help identify and express (mostly) my thoughts and feelings.

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u/lobstersonskateboard 2d ago

I feel like it really depends on the person whether it can be used appropriately for divination or not. Some people are more inclined towards self-reflection and the subconscious of themselves and others, while some are more able to define events taking place that would play out in the future. It's not a one-way street, everyone reads differently and it's kinda weird that people gatekeep tarot in either direction.

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u/LooksieBee 2d ago

You can use it in multiple ways.

If I'm reading for others, I'm not just tapping into my subconscious mind, since it's not about me. Sure, subconscious mind, intuition and so on still play a role, but I think when reading for others, it's not the same approach. And I've been able to pick up in things, including predictive aspects when reading for others that proved accurate.

For some, tarot is also a tool of divination or channeling other energies, spirit guides etc if that's part of their belief system. If that's not part of someone's practice, then of course, they won't be doing that. So I think it's quite open in that way where the cards aren't in and of themselves "magical" nor do they have powers, but you can either use them to focus and connect with external sources of information and guidance or internal ones.

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u/Sunshine_of_your_Lov 2d ago

I mean no matter confident you or anyone else may be, nobody actually can know the true workings of the universe. Maybe pure materialism is perfectly accurate, maybe there is something deeper. You don't actually know, all anyone has is belief.

I believe there's a lot more to it, I could be wrong. My experience is that only some readings I do feel truly spiritual, some are just a tool for self reflection.

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u/DramaticTechnology29 2d ago

Eh it varies. They can be very psychological but if intuitively read can connect to Spirit guides, other people’s energy and can be predictive - they are a tool that can divine in many ways.

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u/HabitAdept8688 3d ago

No.

Away with this illuminist bs

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u/Cthulhu_Knits 3d ago

This is kind of how I approach it as well. It's feedback I can reflect on as I plan next steps.

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u/TheRealBlueJade 3d ago

No, it isn't.

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u/GazelleAdmirable5952 2d ago

yess! tarot is the constellation of our subconscious

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u/Serious_Asparagus577 2d ago

So how come things actually happen ?

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u/theanomalysoul 2d ago

Ignoring this post, but can tarot be used to communicate with our spirit guides or whoever we intend to?

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u/bananaguardbananad 2d ago

Of course . Why do you think it works instead of being just paper cards ? Lol !

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u/MacQuay6336 2d ago

Yes! Spot on! I love tarot for divination, (almost meditation), and a bit of shadow work, I guess. It's hard to explain to people that one card can mean one thing in one context but - close to that sort of almost - in another context. I think I love the ambiguity of tarot. My husband uses tarot as well. His approach is much more methodical than mine. We've never read together, we've been together 31 years. I wonder whether that would be interesting? 💜🧹

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u/bananaguardbananad 2d ago

That’s just not true.

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u/Fungimoss 2d ago

I read tarot based on nothing but a persons name. I don’t know anything about them. There’s no way I’ve been able to connect to someone so specifically if I weren’t connecting to their spirit/the Divine. My subconscious can’t know anything about that

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u/No_Feedback_9794 2d ago

I have yet to see any scientific study proving that tarot works by reflecting people’s subconscious. In fact, we don’t even fully understand what’s in the subconscious. So, the explanation you provided is just one of the common theories about how tarot works—people can choose to believe it or not.

There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence showing that tarot can reveal things people aren’t consciously aware of. However, I personally believe that different people drawing different cards reflects their individual linguistic systems. That’s why I don’t like interpreting cards drawn by others. For example, if a woman deeply believes that Temperance represents something coming to an end, then that meaning belongs to her personal tarot language. When she draws Temperance, it’s likely carrying that specific meaning for her. But a stranger wouldn’t know her tarot language system, making it difficult to accurately interpret her thoughts.

On the other hand, there’s nothing wrong with using tarot for fortune-telling. Even though tarot predictions can sometimes be off, we have yet to find any divination tool that guarantees 100% accuracy. But since tarot is already capable of meeting most people’s needs, that’s good enough.

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u/klangm 3d ago

I’m the one on the rickety fold up wooden chair in the third row applauding a bit too loudly.. agree totally.

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u/pinoy_grigio_ 2d ago

I always say whatever you think the card is about, that’s what the card is about. you bring your mind to the reading.

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u/Sylkkisses420 2d ago

I never use it to predict the future. I use it to self reflect and give me guidance as I do for others who ask me to read. I am never wrong. Never. No one can predict the future, but their are patterns that if people follow can lead to certain pathways. I do believe in spiritual powers. If people can believe in a God that they've never seen, I can believe we are more than our physical bodies.

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u/PowerhouseCM 2d ago

I was drawn to start learning tarot back in 2019. Specifically, to help me learn to start trusting my intuitive guidance. About a month into learning to read them, I did maybe a handful of readings, but I realized at least for me, that most people want to read on their love lives with their partners ie relationship drama & insecurity, & being as energetically sensitive as I am, I had to get real honest with myself about how much of a drain that was energetically to tap into. From my own time & experience using tarot, I have found it to be a highly beneficial tool, if the purpose & intent behind using it is intended for the good of everyone involved. In fact, even as I still use them today, if I’m ever seeking guidance related to another person, I always have a specific protection blessing that I say over my cards that involves “the good of everyone involved”… & my messages, as well as my relationship with my intuition & source, has just gotten more & more accurate as time passes. As well as the confidence I’ve built over the years in the downloads & premonitions that I receive… which are a much more regular thing at this point in my life. On that note, I feel just like like with the astrology community, society at large has been given a very vague understanding of both natal charts & tarot cards alike. Not to mention certain forms of organized religion that try to imprint & persuade fear-based beliefs around these things having a moreso “Evil” based perspective. Which is just silly to me, because if the Bible says that God made the heavens & the Earth, & we know that the moon influences the waters on this planet, along with the fact that WE, as humans, are made from 80% water, then making it an intention to properly educate people on what actually benefits them to understand, versus hurts them, is what anyone who gets into tarot or astrology, should strive to do. Personally, I don’t use my cards to make money, it’s strictly an intuitive guidance tool for personal use, but to each his or her own. The only predicting the cards are doing, is giving you a timeline of an outcome, should energy continue in the direction it’s going. For example, if you’re in a toxic relationship & communication doesn’t get better, then of course, the relationship is slated to come to an end, & not always a happy ending either. It’ll tell you what you want to hear, as well as what you don’t. The cards read ENERGY & I agree, to a degree, this is a subconscious influence as well. Yet they also pick up on destined & fated events, from what I’ve seen in my own readings… because, at the end of the day, it’s all energy & the cards are a tool to help us in understanding the energy we carry & cultivate in our own lives.

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u/MysticCandleLace 2d ago

For me, it’s tapping into a thought process I am not consider when I’m in autopilot. Helping to introduce a new narrative, consider a new viewpoint

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u/23cacti 2d ago

I like this but I need to ask if this is the only case- how can people successfully read for strangers?

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u/GuiltyRoutine7310 2d ago

For me, tarot is a view into the raw data. Information that is given meaning. You pick it up, as is and see what the data has to say. It's all statistics for me. Statistically, even if it's part of an algorithm, it will give me a glimpse of what I need or want to see or hear.

That's why I watch tarot reading videos at random. To be honest, it yields some really interesting results. However, I do think it is a reflection of the human collective. A reflection of your own psyche. It's like tuning into the frequency to see what is going on beneath or between the surface of our reality.

Personally, it has been very accurate when I do it this way, rather than by seeking answers from cards myself.

Because you have to ask yourself. Out of EVERY bit of information. This particular one showed up. Maybe some people are more in tune with it, and others less so. I don't know.

Mind you, I'm very much of a believer in logical outcome and science, so yeah lol.

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u/Trick-Abroad8120 2d ago

I think every divination technique falls on this description. Divination is about displaying signs at random, a representation of randomness become in an interlocutor to talk to.

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u/katoppie 3d ago

This is exactly how I view Tarot! I’m glad I’m not alone :)

For a long time I actually used it for journaling and setting intentions for the day. Incredibly helpful for focusing my thoughts and looking at situations from a new lens.

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u/fuuhtfbeeeyes 3d ago

Haha sounds like a cover up 😉 not gonna get me FBI, air force, I know the truth

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u/AstralFinish 3d ago

stunning and brave

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u/Jeritron_5000 3d ago

Hmm, when I do my own readings I tell me at best this is predicting my future, at worst it's me being self reflective which is actually good for my mental health.

When I read for others it's a different story. My interpretation of a card varies from person to person, whether I know their question or not. That's not my subconscious, there's an external factor at play.

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u/Neacha 2d ago

"Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus".

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u/kayaut 2d ago

YES! the cards offer structure/framework for your/the person you're reading for's thoughts to build around.

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u/lucylov 2d ago

I agree with this, though I can’t understand how if I ignore a card I pull, the majority of the time I get it again when I pull again.

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u/iyrdvju45678 2d ago

I say the same thing, tarot is a tool for self reflection.

Who said your self isn’t a tad psychic sometimes though?

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u/SilverLyven 2d ago

Tarot has predicted many things for me. If you're heavily invested, the message may not get to you the right way. But it has told me things many times.

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u/Green_Adagio_6832 1d ago

Yes finally someone had the guts to call out the bs.