Can tarot predict the future?

How do you feel about the future? Do you believe it's predestined, something that you're automatically working your way towards? Or do you believe it's something you create? Something you have say, and choice in?

I tackle the age old question, can tarot predict the future? And what does the predicting the future actually mean?

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

How do you feel about the future? Do you believe it's predestined, something that you are automatically working your way towards? Or do you believe it's something that you create that you have choice and say in? Hi there, and welcome to Beyond the Shuffle, a podcast where we explore the wild ride of the human experience through the lens of Tarot. I'm Adrian Amari, your host, guide, and lover of all theories multiple universe. So settle in, open your mind, and let's go beyond the shuffle. On this week's episode, I want to talk about something that maybe people find a little controversial, and that is whether or not Tarot can predict the future. Now, I was sick last week and I'm still recovering, so I do apologize for my voice being still a little bit raspy and my nose a bit stuffed. But the question of can Tarot predict the future is something I've been thinking a lot of recently. I've also been seeing videos popping up all over social media saying that yes, Tarot has to be used to divine the future, and that's the best way and the right way to use it the correct way, the way it was intended. Which I personally don't agree with because it's been well documented that Tarot was started as a playing card game. And I think that tools need to change and evolve in the way that people use them. Because if they don't, if they don't change to stay relevant, to stay necessary, to stay needed, then they just become relics of the past. And there is so much built into the tarot that if you want to use it for games and creativity, great. If you want to use it as a tool to divine the future, go for it. And if you want to use it for self-development, reflection, introspection, by all means. I always try to compare a tarot deck to a hammer. It's a tool. A hammer can be used to nail a nail into a piece of wood, but it can also be used to pry it out. It can be used to smash or break something, and it can be used as a weapon. So just like a hammer, tarot has many different uses too. But I digress. Let's go back to our question of this episode. Can Tarot predict the future? My short answer is yes. I think Tarot can tell you the natural inclination of where things are going. But I also think that we get to choose our future. I don't believe in a preset destiny or a path that we have to follow. I believe that there are lessons that we're here to learn, but we might not learn them, and if we don't, then we try again. I believe that Tarot can read the energy as it is now because I believe the only time that really exists is the here and the now. The future at this point is nothing but probability and possibility. It doesn't exist because we haven't created it. And the past, since we're in this area, it doesn't exist either. All the past is is a collection of memories that your brain recreates every time you recall them. It's patterns and beliefs that we've stored that run on autopilot in the background. It's old photos and mementos, but it no longer exists. And I'm not trying to make this sound deep or intense or bad in any way because I actually find this line of thinking very freeing. Now let's go back to the future where I said it's just filled with possibilities and probabilities. And if you've been into manifestation at all, you've probably heard of the double slit experiment. In the double slit experiment, scientists found that when they fired tiny particles at a barrier, the particles acted like waves of potential passing through two paths at once until the moment they were observed or measured. This observation forced them to pick a side. It forced them to collapse into a singular reality, which proves that reality is a fluid cloud of possibilities that only solidifies when we engage with it. And what that means to me, or the way I look at it, is that the future isn't a pre-recorded preset destination or movie. It's a quantum field of inclinations, of probabilities that we help click into place with our own awareness and with the choices we make. And maybe you just listened to all that and you're thinking, cool, Adrian, what the heck does that have to do with predicting things with tarot cards? Well, all that to say is how can we predict a future which doesn't yet exist? So that's why I believe that tarot can read the energy of the here and the now, and it can show you the possibilities, it can predict the inclination of how that energy will grow and expand and shift and change. But does that mean that's what has to happen? No. Because you have choice, you have awareness, you have agency in your own life. And sometimes the problems I get caught up with when it comes to making cold, hard predictions is that people don't always think that same way. They think that if the cards say this, if the reader read it this way, this is how it's going to be. And it's very easy to absolve yourself from that kind of responsibility by saying, you know, I don't guarantee outcomes or future's not set in stone. But just because that's what you say, that doesn't mean people will receive it that way. And I do think some of the responsibility does fall on the reader. Some, not all. Because at the end of the day, we have absolutely no control on how somebody receives a message, but we do have to do our best to deliver that message. And when it comes to predicting the future, I think a lot of the time it can do more harm than good. And I don't mean harm like ruining someone's life. Let's not get too dramatic here. But I do think tarot can be so helpful and so empowering and can help us make choices to create the future that we want, that hard predicted outcomes take away from some of that. And I understand why people want predictions. I understand wanting to know if things are going to get better, if it's going to get worse before it gets better, if there's hope that you'll find that person or get that job. I'm not trying to say it's not a worthwhile venture. I think we just need to be aware and realistic about what it really means. And I have to say, when someone comes back to me and they're like, it went exactly as the cards said, or it went just like you said it was going to, yeah, that does feel good. It's a nice bout of validation. But I'm not here to be right or wrong. And the good or the bad thing is I've had it come up in both ways, with things that went great and things that weren't so fun to experience. But that's all part of life, isn't it? So I can see where predictions can be really helpful. And that's why I don't 100% discount them or say that I don't do them. Because again, yes, the cards can tell you the natural inclination. But do you have to go in that direction? No. Is it going to happen no matter what you do? Also, no. And while I don't believe we actually have total free will, because neuroscience pretty much shows us that we don't, we do have some semblance of it. We do get to choose what paths we go down. And even if you do believe at a fated destiny, a path that you're meant to follow, I hope you can agree that there are different routes we can take to get there. Otherwise, what would be the point of living? Okay, we're not going down that road too much. I think it's really easy for a lot of readers to absolve themselves of responsibility. And I don't think readers or anyone is responsible for the actions that somebody else takes at the end of the day. But I do think that the information you provide can influence those choices. And my job or my goal is to always empower people to make the choices that they want for their lives so they can be living the life they want to be living. And when it comes to prediction, I also wonder if part of it is self-fulfilling prophecy. What if you plant the idea and then subconsciously the person makes choices to drive themselves in that direction because they think that has to be the outcome? And I'm not trying to blame anyone or say it's anybody's fault for this to happen, but I do think it's something that we need to consider. One thought experiment I always like to do is let's say somebody comes for a reading about their career and they want to know if they're going to get the promotion. And the cards come up great. They say, Yeah, full speed ahead. People love what you do, you're good at your job, they see your experience. It looks really good. It looks like you're gonna get it. Now, the person probably feels pretty darn good, right? They're feeling happy, they're on cloud nine, they're like, woohoo, promotion, here I come. And then they continue on, but they don't continue working in the way they've always worked. Maybe because they think it's a done deal, they start to slack off. They start coming in late for work, they miss meetings, they don't reply to emails with the same professionalism. And now they've missed the opportunity and they got passed over for their promotion. Well, I realize that yes, the person made the choices to not continue on in the way they were and not put in the work and the effort that they were before, they did so because of the information they gleaned from the reading. And this isn't something that's actually happened. I just think about things like this probably far too often. And in readings, I try to make it very clear that yes, but you have to keep doing what you're doing. You have to keep following that trajectory, following that path to get that result. So as a reader, I can do my job to pass that message on, and responsibility still falls on the client, but what if they had never come for a reading and never heard that? Then they probably would have kept doing what they're doing and have gotten the promotion. And of course, we'll never know. It's all hypothetical, anyways, because both possibilities 100% exist. But that's why I think as tarot readers or people who get tarot readings, we just have to really be considerate of what prediction means. Now, this wasn't a tarot reading. I got an energy reading back in the autumn as part of an exchange. And I had never really had that type of thing done before, so it was definitely an interesting experience. But in the report, the reader said that I would meet someone romantically by the end of March this year. And I'm not someone who puts too much stock in predictions because, as you can tell by this whole episode, I'm very much on the fence about it, and I understand energy shifts and changes, and we grow and shift and change, and so do our futures and our needs and what we want for ourselves. So this isn't meant as a way to throw shade or anything like that, but of course, I didn't meet anyone by March. And it's funny because when I read it, I kind of chuckled and I thought, whatever, we'll be open to seeing what happens, but I don't really care either way. But if I was someone who was dead set on wanting to meet someone by a specific date and was told that, I would be pretty crushed right now. I would be wondering, what is wrong with me? Did I miss a chance or opportunity? Was that person I bumped into and then didn't stay and have a conversation with the person I was supposed to talk to? And I think for a lot of people who are looking for those hard answers, it's really easy to turn it inwards and go, well, what's wrong with me? Why is it my fault? And that's not a healthy place to be in. And I know it's easy to say, well, take readings with a grain of salt, but for a lot of people they don't. Because a lot of people get a reading when they're feeling stuck and sad and desperate. Not everyone, of course, there's a million reasons why you might get a reading, but a lot of people wait until they're at that point to do so. And that's not a criticism or a judgment because it can really help you turn things around and see what's available there for you. But sometimes it can make you feel worse too. And that's never the goal. Well, at least I hope it's not for anybody. So, yes, well, I think tarot can be used as a tool for predicting the future, for divining the future. I think it's a better used tool for creating the future. And maybe that sounds super cheesy or I'm too hopeful or idealistic, but that's the way I'm going to continue to approach it. So if you want to use tarot for divination, for predicting the future, if that's something that means something to you and you enjoy it and you can do it responsibly, go for it. If that's not something that you're really interested in, that's okay too. Tarot is still available to you as an awesome tool. Another story that comes to mind, which I actually think I've told on the podcast before, but I'm gonna tell it again because it relates so well to this type of discourse. I was reading tarot at a big event, and I had a woman come sit down in my table, and she asked me if she would be alone forever. Now we pulled great cards. We pulled lots of cards indicating happiness and romantic love and support. But no matter what cards we pulled, she was resigned to the fact that she was going to be a cat lady, that no one would ever love her in that way, and that she would be alone forever. So where the tarot showed her one possibility that she could have that was their open door waiting for her, she decided to choose another. Now does that make the prediction element of tarot wrong? No, I don't think so. Part of me hopes that that reading gave her even a glimmer of hope to open herself a little bit, even a little bit, to receiving the love that she wanted in her life. But if she decided to remain closed off, then no amount of predicting otherwise would change that. So is the reading wrong? Maybe? Or maybe it's tapping into a potential that's there, that's very possible, and maybe that helped unlock the door for it to happen. But the fact of the matter is, I'll actually never know, and the choice really is hers. I feel like it's also worth mentioning that you can have timing built into tarot. There are different ways of looking at the cards that can help you delineate in which time frame something will happen. It's not something that I personally love to do or do that often, but there are different systems behind it, and I do find it really interesting. It's also something that I share in the tarot lab. Because even though it's not my personal favorite thing to do, that doesn't mean that there's someone out there who doesn't super connect with it and love it. The only caveat I would say if you're going to work on hard timing predictions is remind people that things can ebb and flow. That if it doesn't come to pass in the timeline the cards set out, then it doesn't mean all hope is lost that it might never happen, or maybe it just means that there's something better out there for you at that point in time. But looking back on some of the predictions for timing that I've done, because like I said, it's not my favorite, but I will do it, a good chunk of them that I know of have come true, and I just kind of assume that ones that don't, no one says anything. But if you're developing your tarot practice, I would encourage you to think about all of it. Think about what you really think the future means, if it's something that's set in stone, if it's something you think we can predict, or if like me you think it's more of a natural inclination. If timing is something that you want to look into, work with it. See how you feel, try the different systems. In tarot, there's no one right way to do anything. And I'm sorry, but anyone who tells you otherwise is either trying to sell you something or kind of full of themselves and their ego is totally getting in the way. Because tarot is a language that you build to work with the cards, with your intuition, with your subconscious, with the energy that exists within and around you. So try it. Try it all, try the predictions, see how they come out, keep a little record log or a journal if you wish. And if it's not something you love doing, know that it's still okay. And you are still 100% a valid, worthwhile tarot reader. Now, the future, as you know, I don't believe that set in stone. But I hope you'll join me in trying your best to choose an awesome one. I hope this episode of Beyond the Shuffle at least gave you some food for thought. If you enjoyed it, make sure you give it a like and subscribe wherever you love listening to podcasts. And if there's anything you ever want to hear on the podcast, just let me know. You can find me at AdrianAmari.comslash podcast or on Instagram at Beyond the Shuffle Podcast or Adrian Amari Tarot. Now let's do a little experiment in prediction. I shuffled and pulled a card on when will my voice finally go back to normal? And I pulled the sun. Now, this may not be the most conventional way of reading timing, but I thought this is just for fun. And the first thing that came to my mind is that my voice will be back to normal by the next sunny day that we get, which is not set to be until next Monday. So we'll find out next Wednesday how my voice is doing, if I'm back to normal by Monday. You can follow my journey on Instagram to find out. But thank you so much for being here. Thanks for listening, and I'll catch you next week on Beyond the Shuffle.