Mellifluous
I think they can be wrong. The cards, not just the reader.
However, I think they are right more often than wrong. I tell people when I read for them in person, the cards (and/or I) can be wrong, so don't take it too seriously, but tarot's a fair bit more accurate than, say, the weather report.
I seem to (vaguely) recall another thread on here, some time ago, asking if people here believed that you're sometimes actively steered into things by tarot (like romantic relationships, for example), because you're meant to have that experience and learn from it. You might avoid a new relationship altogether if you were told from the start that it wasn't going to last or exactly what problems you'd encounter within it. lol I can't remember if I ever replied on that thread - probably not - but I thought and still think there's some truth in the notion.
Same goes for just 'not warning' in advance about some things that might be inevitable (like major illness).
However, over such a long period of time to feel that literally nothing has been accurate, I could only suggest doing just what you already are doing... looking back over the readings, comparing them to actual events, and thereby learning new meanings and nuances for those cards. Clearly, there have been some issues with interpretation. (Speaking of your own readings, here. It's probably not even worth trying to figure out what may or may not have happened with any reading done by someone else for money.)
That's not a criticism. It's just part of the tarot journey.
I am perpetually in a state of learning and testing with the tarot, and I've been reading for the better part of twenty years now. It's always a grand and exciting experiment to me, to see if what they say - or what I think they're saying - really comes to pass. Sometimes I feel weird about that, after all this time, but it always comes back to me eventually why it's the best spirit (for me, at least) in which to approach the whole experience. It keeps tarot alive and fresh, keeps me curious, reminds me to always think for myself no matter how fascinated with tarot I am or how much I've come to trust it and my ability to interpret it, reminds me to always be prepared for a curveball of a new meaning or facet of meaning in a card, etc., etc. There's lots of benefits to it, really.
Mostly that it keeps you actively living, thinking critically, and (wonderfully-paradoxically) trusting your own intuition, instead of relying on the cards too much. I believe their purpose - or perhaps, the purpose of learning to read them - is to strengthen your intuition. So, if you learn when to go off book, so to speak, (or just that sometimes you'll have to), so much the better.
But yes, to actually improve accuracy in prediction, press on and learn all you can from relating the cards you actually drew to what's actually been happening in your life. That hindsight is invaluable. Don't be discouraged or throw in the tarot towel.
However, I think they are right more often than wrong. I tell people when I read for them in person, the cards (and/or I) can be wrong, so don't take it too seriously, but tarot's a fair bit more accurate than, say, the weather report.
I seem to (vaguely) recall another thread on here, some time ago, asking if people here believed that you're sometimes actively steered into things by tarot (like romantic relationships, for example), because you're meant to have that experience and learn from it. You might avoid a new relationship altogether if you were told from the start that it wasn't going to last or exactly what problems you'd encounter within it. lol I can't remember if I ever replied on that thread - probably not - but I thought and still think there's some truth in the notion.
Same goes for just 'not warning' in advance about some things that might be inevitable (like major illness).
However, over such a long period of time to feel that literally nothing has been accurate, I could only suggest doing just what you already are doing... looking back over the readings, comparing them to actual events, and thereby learning new meanings and nuances for those cards. Clearly, there have been some issues with interpretation. (Speaking of your own readings, here. It's probably not even worth trying to figure out what may or may not have happened with any reading done by someone else for money.)
That's not a criticism. It's just part of the tarot journey.
I am perpetually in a state of learning and testing with the tarot, and I've been reading for the better part of twenty years now. It's always a grand and exciting experiment to me, to see if what they say - or what I think they're saying - really comes to pass. Sometimes I feel weird about that, after all this time, but it always comes back to me eventually why it's the best spirit (for me, at least) in which to approach the whole experience. It keeps tarot alive and fresh, keeps me curious, reminds me to always think for myself no matter how fascinated with tarot I am or how much I've come to trust it and my ability to interpret it, reminds me to always be prepared for a curveball of a new meaning or facet of meaning in a card, etc., etc. There's lots of benefits to it, really.
Mostly that it keeps you actively living, thinking critically, and (wonderfully-paradoxically) trusting your own intuition, instead of relying on the cards too much. I believe their purpose - or perhaps, the purpose of learning to read them - is to strengthen your intuition. So, if you learn when to go off book, so to speak, (or just that sometimes you'll have to), so much the better.
But yes, to actually improve accuracy in prediction, press on and learn all you can from relating the cards you actually drew to what's actually been happening in your life. That hindsight is invaluable. Don't be discouraged or throw in the tarot towel.