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Also I feel like Tarot cards are so much more interesting in fiction then they are irl. I was considering buying a pack and then kinda just sat there thinking “what the hell am I going to do with these?”
Tbh it feels kinda oversaturated in fiction, or maybe just an easy way to do symbolism without investing time and effort.
“Oh we need a way to represent change”
“Ope here’s the death tarot card”.
“We need a way to represent the start of the adventure”
“Here’s the fool tarot card.” Etc. Etc.
It’s kinda cheap since tarot cards in fiction inherently work via the chekovs gun and similar rules
I used to read tarot for people when I was a homeless wanderer. Tarot are way cooler than you think. They are a mentalist trick like cold reading but they have beneficial uses. The purpose isn’t to blow peoples minds by tricking them into thinking you know things you shouldn’t know (though it might seem that way) the purpose is to provide a new perspective for people think through their issues. They are a tool for single issue therapy sessions, A Dear Abby column where you don’t have to expose yourself to anyone to get personal advice.
They get people to reconsider the inputs and outputs of their current situation some of them being glaringly obvious and others being obscure things they hadn’t considered. Then they spell out a potential resolution of the situation based on those inputs.
If you spend lots of time around groups of people who are also wasting time they are a great way to pick up some pocket change or just make conversations with people.
more indepth explanation of the mechanics
Each card represents an archetype, a state of being, a mood or a type of transition and have keywords or phrases to express their meaning that everyone can identify with. The position of the card in the spread is where in the person being read’s life that archetype or situation is. (so in a 3 card spread its past on the left present in the center and future to the right) Most of the cards tell a little story of their own in order to highlight what ideas they represent. (like the 3 of wands is a guy on a hill watching some boats, The boats are his and they are carrying his work off to another port and when they return he will get paid, and it symbolizes waiting for the results of your actions.)
A person asks a question which sets their brain up to focus on the part of their life that the cards will relate to. (I don’t like them to say it out loud.) The more specifically worded the question the more focused the person is on the situation and more direct the cards can address it. (things like Will I get that job/promotion? How can I move my romantic interest to a romantic partnership? how can I help that that rad lib become a comrade?)
The reader then begins laying out cards, first explaining the meaning of the position, placing the card and explaining the meaning of the card.
The cards cast a bit of a wide net so the person reading the cards needs to pick up on which aspect of the card connects with the questioner. Depending on what the question was the questioner’s mind will relate the description of the card to a specific person or situation and they will exhibit a subtle indication that this has happened. This is usually done subconsciously on the part of both the reader and the questioner which is why it seems like magic.
When all the cards are out the reader then reads out the whole spread saying only the parts of the cards meaning that the questioner reacted to. They tell a generic outline of a story and the questioner fills in all the details in their mind. The cards point the questioner at details that have contributed to their situation that they may not have considered or reaffirm their suspicions about their involvement.
So the meaning of the cards is really interpreted by the questioner. The reader is just facilitating a reexamination of the questioners situation with new context.
Its like the reader explains a synopses of a movie that they haven’t seen but the questioner has seen. Some of the details the reader says are things that the questioner didn’t really notice and suddenly they come into glaring focus and allow them to get a deeper understanding of the story. The reader also read a synopses of a potential sequel and the questioner is left to decide how to make the sequel better than suggested.
Side note: The reader and the questioner not knowing each other leads to the best results because the reader’s job is not to think, it is just to read the cards and the questioners reactions to the cards. That way the reader acts as a catalyst for the questioner to talk to themselves. The less information the reader has the less personal conjecture they can accidentally slip in.