Musing on…Objects d’Prognosticate

Some of the most discredited diversions people choose to enjoy involve prognostications via horoscopes, tarot, runes, i ching, etc. Test after test show that their inherent generality doesn’t really reveal insights into events or personality.

I concur. Sort of.

Without reservation, I grant that basing your actions on any of these devices is not a great way to live one’s life. However, if they aren’t used in that way, I think that using of any or all of these methods can be useful. Think of them as Rorschach tests for the uninitiated. After all, the folded-ink test doesn’t really represent anything. It’s simply a tool psychologists and their ilk use to gain insight into how an individual sees the world. And so it is with these "tools of sorcery and divination".

Consider the horoscope. Personally, I think you’re a fool if you think you can divine anything from the gravitation influence of the planetary bodies and their motions around the celestial orb at the time you left the womb (afterall, the doctor standing next to you when you were born had a greater gravitational influence). But, if you use the horoscope (or more than one horoscope) to help you focus on what it is you want to do, then it can be a useful tool. As when people pick out those parts of a natal reading that they like and feel describes them, so too will conflicting horoscopes help a person in focusing who it is they want to be…even if that is not their intent.

As a writer, I use tarot cards a fair bit. They serve as a useful tool in story development. While I initially meant to have them be a way to create characters without my own desires clouding the issue, I found that I’d work the interpretations so I more-or-less got the sorts of characters I wanted. I believe the same can be said for actual people if they do more than simply take what a tarot reader tells them as gospel. When reading tarot, the first instruction isn’t to look up the card’s meaning, but it’s to look at the card and see what it means to you. What do you see? What do you think of based on the cards it is next to? The result is simply another way to gain insight into self.

See, the trick in all of this is to use the tools for what they are instead of trying to make a hammer into a saw. As a tool, even a subconscious tool, for self-awareness, these silly little scams can be a great help. I know a lot of people will be upset because I think that there are better ways of directing your future than trying to divine the meanings of metaphysical symbols; and there are others who think that all of these tools are nothing but the playthings of a malevolent being…honestly, I’m not here to change anyone’s mind. Y’all are going to believe what you want. I’m just saying that sometimes it’s helpful if you look deeper into things.

(For those who might be wondering, I like using Crowley’s Thoth Deck. The artwork alone is a feast for the mind’s eye.)