Is The Future Set?

Tarot cards, runes, astrology, the list of ways we have tried to see into the future goes on, some dating hundreds or even thousands of years. The first question that should be asked before we even consider if they work should be 'is the future set?'. If the future is set it would make our actions meaningless as the outcome would be the same regardless of what we did. If the future is not set then how can people claim to be able to read the future and foretell what will happen.

To my thinking the future is not set but like a snowball rolling down a hill it gains weight and momentum the longer it doesn't encounter obstacles to the path it chooses. The larger the force of our snowball, the larger the obstacle has to be to divert it from its path and the same holds true with our futures. Our habits, routines and behaviours largely remain unchanged and this can lead to a very predictable future which can be changed only by a conscious effort or by unforeseen events.

Thus we have the beginning of the two types of divination, those that deal with behaviours and those that are external. Most methods of divination touch on both aspects but they seem clearly separate or are they? We are complex creatures with equally complex behaviors some of which are predictable but not as noticeably so. Dieting, changing jobs, moving home or relationship break ups can actually be following a cycle although we are usually blind to these things when it comes to ourselves.

There are noticeable exceptions whereby people have either been told or chosen to avoid a course of action that would have potentially led to disaster. A sudden, unexplained reluctance to board a particular flight, take a particular road, or keep a particular appointment — these accounts are common enough, across enough unconnected lives, that they resist being waved away entirely, even without a mechanism to explain them. Whether the source is genuine foresight or simply a mind noticing patterns faster than it can articulate them, the pull to listen is real, and so is the discomfort of not being able to say why.

The example above was based on a feeling but more commonly people seek advice through a medium such as astrological chart, runes, or tarot cards, the reading being done by another person or by themselves. Having read tarot cards myself, I have found them surprisingly accurate when I have read for other people but less successful when I try and read my own. It is hard to put aside your own will and wishes in self divination.

The methods used are loaded with symbolism and it is the reader's job to translate those symbols in such a way that the message can be conveyed with meaning to the recipient. This require a clearness of mind and an almost meditative state to prevent the readers thoughts, knowledge and other clues that might distract the reader and alter the outcome.

The outcome of any divination can usually fall into one of two areas, either to forwarn of a event or situation to allow the person to be mentally prepared or (as in the example above), give an outright warning to avoid an event completely. Sadly, even when good warning has been given people often fail to change and meet the unwanted event even though it could have been avoided.