Can Tarot Predict the Future? What Two Decades of Reading Tarot Have Taught Me

I have always wanted to know.

Some people are genuinely afraid of Tarot readings. I’ve had friends and people close to me tell me they don’t want a reading because they’re scared of knowing what might be coming. I’ve always been the complete opposite.

At first, I could easily blame that curiosity on anxiety (the desire to know what happens next so I can somehow prepare for it). But actually… no. When I look at the things that have fascinated me throughout my life, I think it goes much deeper than that.

I’ve always been drawn to systems that explore patterns and potentialities: astrology, palmistry, numerology, runes, the I Ching, and so many others, oh and of course, the tarot. Even careers that once interested me—actuarial science, statistics, market research, meteorology—share a strangely similar thread. Predictive sciences. Not necessarily prediction as certainty, but the fascinating possibility that if we pay close enough attention to what is happening now, we might catch a glimpse of what could happen next.

Tarot, however, spoke to me differently.

I started reading cards when I was around 15 or 16 years old. My first deck was The Gilded Tarot, gifted to me by a woman who had read my cards herself. Something about the language of Tarot felt immediately familiar, like I already understood it in a way I couldn’t explain.

I joke that I can read cards more easily than I can read words. It’s funny because it’s true.

That doesn’t mean I never studied Tarot. I did. I’ve taken courses, learned traditional card meanings, attended workshops, and spent time connecting with other Tarotists and learning from them. But memorizing definitions was never the part that made Tarot come alive for me. The real learning was figuring out how to listen without immediately judging what I heard.

Tarot gave me permission and confidence, to trust messages that were already arriving. Two decades later, it still does.

How Does Tarot Actually Work?

I don’t believe there is one universal answer to this. I can only tell you what happens when I read Tarot.

I work with Spirit Guides, Angels & Light Beings, but I also believe some of what I receive comes through my own intuitive consciousness. Sometimes I hear something. Sometimes I see something. And sometimes I’ll look at a card I’ve worked with for decades and suddenly notice a tiny detail I’ve somehow never seen before.

That’s one of the strangest and most beautiful parts of reading Tarot: how you can look at the same image hundreds of times and suddenly see something that feels as though it wasn’t there ever before.

For me, the card becomes a portal.

My deeper belief is that we are already connected to one another, to the Earth, to animals, to nature, and to a greater collective frequency. The closer I get to the ground, the trees, my cats, and nature in general, the more tuned in I feel to that frequency.

When I read for someone, I don’t necessarily believe I’m accessing something unavailable to them. Sometimes I think I’m simply acting as a clearer channel when their own signal has too much static. And we all get static...especially when something is close to home. Fear, worry, anxiety, attachment to a particular outcome, all of these can cloud perception.

It’s one reason I can sometimes see something for another person with incredible clarity while struggling to receive the same clarity about something happening in my own life. This is where Tarot becomes incredibly important for me.

Think about traveling from Point A to Point B. You could walk, ride a bicycle, take a bus, take a train, drive, or fly. For me, Tarot is the car. Sometimes it’s the plane. Could I potentially get there without it? Yes. But the cards help me get there differently. I honestly don’t know exactly why Tarot is my vehicle, and I don’t believe it has to be everyone’s. But it is mine.

Pause + Journal

What helps you hear yourself most clearly? Is it silence, nature, prayer, music, movement, writing, or something else entirely? And perhaps more importantly, what creates static between you and your own inner knowing?

Can Tarot Predict the Future?

Does Tarot itself predict the future? I don’t believe it does.

Have I predicted future events while using Tarot? ABSOFUCKING-lutely.

I’ve had readings where information has come through down to the date, the hour, the type of job someone would get, physical characteristics, places, and details I had absolutely no logical way of knowing. But this is where the distinction matters: I don’t necessarily believe the cards themselves are predicting these things. The cards become portals.

I once read for a client who wanted to know whether she would be able to move. While looking at the cards, I began seeing the inside of a home. It wasn’t simply, “Yes, I think you’ll move.” I could see details: a beige, carpeted staircase, a particular feeling inside the home, a window from the kitchen leading toward the backyard. Those details weren’t literally illustrated on the card in front of me. Looking at the card seemed to open something that allowed me to see beyond it, I received this guidance in visions.

Another time, while reading for a client about an estranged lover, I suddenly saw a pebbled beach. I asked her, “Have you two ever been near or on a pebbled beach?” She told me they had...she couldn’t believe I was describing that exact place. A few weeks later, they unexpectedly bumped into each other at that very place.

I’ve even had cards show me physical details about people. I might look at a cat depicted on a Tarot card and suddenly become completely focused on its eyes. “Does this person have grey eyes?” Sometimes the client says yes. Sometimes they say, “No—but, but I'm the one with the grey eyes.” Either way, the eyes meant something.

That’s what fascinates me after all these years. The card contains an image, but sometimes that image becomes the doorway to information far beyond the traditional meaning printed in a guidebook. And yet, despite experiences like these, I still don’t believe the future is entirely fixed. Free will matters. Your choices matter. Other people’s choices matter. Circumstances change.

Tarot can show us where energy appears to be moving. It can illuminate a potentiality with astonishing specificity. But potentiality is not destiny.

Pause + Journal

Where in my life am I looking for certainty when what I may actually need is trust? If I knew the future could change through my choices, what would I choose differently today?

Do You Need to Be Psychic to Read Tarot?

No. You absolutely do not need to identify as psychic to learn Tarot.

Anyone can study the cards, learn traditional meanings, understand symbolism, recognize patterns, and develop a relationship with a deck. However, I do believe there can be a difference between a reading that comes primarily from technical knowledge and one that also incorporates developed intuition.

Neither is better. They’re simply different ways of working with the same tool. Technical knowledge gives you a foundation. Intuition allows you to notice what is happening beyond the definition.

Maybe you pull the Nine of Pentacles and understand its traditional associations with independence, abundance, and self-sufficiency. That’s knowledge. But perhaps you’re reading for someone and suddenly you can’t stop looking at one tiny window in the image, and something inside you says: ask about the house. That’s intuition.

And intuition can be developed. Start by noticing what catches your attention before you reach for the guidebook. What emotion comes up? What word appears? What memory or image flashes through your mind? Then learn the traditional meanings too. Let them speak to each other.

Are There Bad Questions to Ask Tarot?

There’s a popular idea that certain questions are too simple for Tarot: “Will he come back?” “Will I get the job?” “Does she have feelings for me?”

I don’t actually have a problem with those questions. They’re human. If your heart is hurting, I’m not going to pretend your deepest concern is suddenly some elevated spiritual inquiry. Maybe eventually...but right now, you just want to know if he’s coming back. Ask your question.

The important part is being willing to receive something bigger than a yes or no.

A reading might show reconciliation while also revealing a pattern that needs to change. It might show imbalance, emotional neglect, or a cycle you’re repeating. Or it might show that whether or not someone returns is not actually the most important part of the message.

A good Tarot question doesn’t need to sound spiritual. It requires openness and accountability.

Can Tarot Be Wrong?

Absolutely.

I think pretending otherwise gives Tarot too much authority and weight.

Tarot is a vehicle for reading energy, and energy changes, constantly. Most situations involve multiple people, shifting circumstances, timing, and free will. Something can appear to be unfolding clearly, and then everything changes because someone makes a different choice or because the reader simply misinterprets the guidance.

Tarot readers are human too. Intuition is not immune to emotion, or expectation. That’s why Tarot should never become an unquestionable verdict over someone’s life. It should return you to your own discernment.

What I Wish Everyone Understood About Tarot

After nearly two decades, I don’t see Tarot as something that fixes or controls life. I see it as a tool for awareness.

It can illuminate patterns. It can show you where energy is moving. It can offer perspective when you’re too close to see clearly. And sometimes, it can offer startling glimpses of what is coming up ahead.

But then you still have to live your life. You still have to make the call, set the boundary, apply for the job, leave, stay, rest, risk, or begin again. Tarot is not here to live your life for you. And maybe that’s why I still love it so much.

The cards haven’t taught me how to control the future. They’ve taught me how to listen more closely to the guidance.

The cards can show you the path. They cannot walk it for you.