Fortune telling using cards is a popular pastime and profitable industry. Halloween is the time of year where it makes a strong comeback along with other forms of divination, including hovering pendulums, casting runes and gazing into balls made of obsidian or quartz.

I’ve always believed in drawing a card from a deck as a way to find a viable answer, but probably not for the reasons you might think. Let’s ignore the traditional idea of fortune telling – and instead I propose that tarot readings are far more introspective instead. 

Are we reading our fortunes – or reading ourselves? 

The Driving Need for Answers

Most people who book a tarot reading are going in with a specific question. If they aren’t, they definitely know what their question is once the reader has started shuffling the cards. People get tarot readings because they want guidance and answers. They want to know how to approach certain situations, whether it affects their everyday livelihood, love life or careers.

The thing is, by the time most people have booked a tarot reading for a specific question, they have already thought about this question a thousand times over. 

What are the pros? What are the cons? What can happen? 

Whether admitting it to themselves or not, anyone who sits down for a tarot reading realizes that there are two options ahead: 

• They will be pleased with the answer. 
• They won’t be pleased with the answer.

This can help to – in itself – give you the answer to the question you were trying to figure out. As someone who has done tarot readings for other people, I’ve heard almost everything being asked – and many questions are things that people already know the answer to.

A wife who asks whether her husband is cheating on her has some subconscious idea (usually right) that it’s already happening. A person wondering if they should go on a second date with someone they’ve just met has already planned out the date in their head by the time they ask. Someone asking whether they should work harder for a promotion at work has likely already started. 

It can be compared to flipping a coin and wondering about the outcome while it flies through the air. While the deck is being shuffled, what are you hoping for? 

Tarot reading is often less fortune telling, and more an introspective look at your goals, questions and how you plan to get there.