Online Readings

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 06 May 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

zoso	06 May 2004
I'm sure there has been a thread like this before, but I'm curious What are your opinions about online readings? I heard that no computer can generate truly random cards, at least for gambing purposes, but do you take online readings seriously?

September Pixie	06 May 2004
At web sites - never. From people - definately. :)

WalesWoman	06 May 2004
Funny thing is, today I popped into one of the places that "made" me get into learning Tarot in the first place- an online free reading site and my spread for the day couldn't have reflected reality more than if I had drawn them myself. Just goes to show, heck if I know.

Niomi	06 May 2004
Being a computer nerd, my main hobby is/was coding things... I make web pages, talk to people online more than on the phone, I even draw on the computer with my nifty pencil shaped mouse. And while that's awfully nice, it's nice to have a hobby involving something tangible. something that I can hold, something I can touch, smell, and shuffle. I even buy ebooks and download most of the books I read onto my PDA, but with tarot I've printed and bought real, PAPER books that have pages and ink! It's nice to curl up in bed and write in my tarot journal, with a LEAD pencil and a spiral bound notebook. I could get a reading from someone else through the internet-- the touching, the literal use of the cards is still there, even if the information is transferred via the internet. But having the actual 'cards' on the computer and not in the real, physical sense ruins the effect for me. My two cents. :)

ncefafn	07 May 2004
My problem with the automated reading sites is not that the cards are computer generated, but that the interpretations are. To say that the Fool has only one or two meanings, irrespective of the position of the card, its relation to the cards around it, is . . . well, foolish. Kim

Phoenix Rising	07 May 2004
Well remember too guys that we have our own computor generated reading website here at AT Tarot.com! Have you had a look at the site? Although I don't know whether to take it seriously or not.

Marion	07 May 2004
I have used tarot.com several times, and the cards are quite good, as generally are the interpretations. I prefer to use my own cards. If I use the computer site it is usually under stress at work. :)

isthmus nekoi	07 May 2004
I used to think that online readings would be different b/c I too felt the need for that tactile aspect. But then, on a whim, I started visited the tori tarot frequently for daily one card readings. Just like any physical deck, certain cards that I get more I got more, and others that usually don't appear, didn't appear (I've only gotten the Empress once after all these months!!). So that changed my mind significantly about the validity of online readings - so much so, that I made my own online deck to give readings too!! Having said that, I agree w/the narrowness of the interpretations, but I think of them as the online version of a LWB. Some ppl need them.

Imagemaker	07 May 2004
Whenever I use the Thoth readings at hrih.hypermart.net/divinations/tarot/openings/index.htm I get amazing things and do use their lwb (click each individual card for a variety of extra material). Otherwise, with an RWS deck/site, I go with my own intuitive interpretation.

Arnaud	07 May 2004
About the random generation: you re right, computers do not generate real random numbers. They can't. They use instead a mathematical function that enumerate numbers in a fashion what *looks like* random, but is in fact completly deterministic. So, this could be a problem if you think that the intuitive card choice of the querent, or a true random element in the universe manipulated by external forces, is partly responsible for the accuracy of a Tarot reading. Because in the case of a computer, no external forces may be implied: the numbers generated are not generated randomly. The numbers *you* receive (the cards that are generated for you) only depends on the particular number in the deterministic enumeration you happen to begin your reading with (if the computer has the following enumeration: 2,4,74,35,64,10, ... and if you happen to ask for a reading when the computer has arrived to 74, then your reading will be 74,35,64,10 ...). You could actually consider that the precise moment in time you choose to use these websites contains by itself the random element (because for any moment, you would generate different numbers, due to others people interacting with the pseudo random generator and pushing it forward in the deterministic enumeration). Hmmm ... i am not very clear, and my english is particularly bad today, i am sorry :-) Hope this help a little anyway :-) Arnaud

zoso	07 May 2004
Thank you for the clarification! I wondered about the "random" aspect of online readings, so I guess there is that factor considering WHEN you actually choose to get a reading. This whole subject really interests me especially after doing a reading for prk001, where the question of incorporating arcane technologies with computer technologies came up. Mostly, though the sites make me want to get more decks after having such a variety to choose from!!

The Online Readings thread was originally posted on 06 May 2004 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.