An Objective Look at Tarot and Divination

Today, we understand that the Tarot is a deck of cards used primarily for divination purposes, but it originated as a deck of playing cards. Many early occultists who, like many modern ones, claimed to have access to ancient esoteric knowledge traced the deck to ancient Egypt, where much divine wisdom allegedly originated. 

There are some problems with this story: First, we have no record of Tarot in Egyptian lore. Connections drawn between the modern deck and Egyptian mythology are based largely on the imagery that was added to the cards' artwork centuries after the invention of the deck. We also know that the deck was used for card games well before its first recorded uses as a means of divination.

What we do know is that if something exists, the occult community will appropriate it -- animal entrails, tea leaves, the lines on our palms, the bumps in our heads, the stars in the sky. Regular playing cards were already being used for divination before the Tarot.

There is no reason to believe in the efficacy of any method of divination. For a claim to be true it must satisfy at least one of these criteria: It must be theoretically possible, and it must be proven effective in trials. 

No one can offer an explanation for the Tarot's ability to predict the future that does not contradict what we know about time and causality. How would information travel backward in time? Tarot believers might use language that sounds academic, involving terms like "energy" and "spirit," but these are nebulous concepts that lack a standard definition, let alone empirical verification. 

Never minding how it would work, does it work at all? That is easy to test. While the Tarot specifically doesn't seem to have been the subject of much testing, other forms of divination, like astrology and dowsing, have been soundly debunked many times over. If anyone does think they can prove the Tarot's effectiveness at predicting the future, the James Randi Educational Foundation has a million dollar prize waiting for them.

None of this means the deck is useless to the skeptic. I have read the Bible since I deconverted from Christianity, but out of interest in the book as a work of historical literature. Just as an atheist can enter a cathedral and marvel at the artwork, or experience the bliss of listening to Bach's sacred music, so also a rationalist can appreciate the Tarot as a work of art, and a product of human tradition that calls to attention our shared struggles and desires. Discard all claims of supernatural power, and what remains is a picture book that speaks of universal human experiences.