Computer Generated Readings

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 05 Jun 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

VisionQuest	05 Jun 2005
Ok, is it a bad thing that I get better (clearer?) readings from online sites that give computer generated readings? LOL One site in particular, seems to give the best readings, even when I don't enter any question at all in the little box, but merely concentrate on the question. Is it sad that I aspire to be as good as this software ? LOL :) ;) :D

Alta	05 Jun 2005
I used to use the online sites when I was at work (occasionally). Mostly tarot.com and the Gaian oracle. It must be what some intuitives say about the the Internet being an electronic medium and conveying thoughts and impressions well. Plus, the interpretations at those two sites were written by very experienced tarotists.

tarotbear	05 Jun 2005
I miss Annikin.com! I was a subscriber for years, and even though it was PC generated, it was usually so accurate that it made me pause. I used to get a daily half Tarot/half astrology reading. I found the three-card pyramid told me best what to expect. With the demise of Annikin,com, I turned to a CDROM program I have had for years titled "Tarot Magic" - it too has a three-card reading but I have learned that it reads different that Annikin; it seems that even though I ask a daily question that the results are more future-oriented than immediate. It has taken an adjustment to this program to understand it effectively. No, visionquest, it is not sad to aspire to be as accurate as a PC program. However, don't let it stop you from doing many, many live readings for others. Since I feel that I cannot do an accurrate reading (any longer) for myself, using a PC generated one is the next best thing to having Meewah come and do a reading for me! :smoker:

Citrin	05 Jun 2005
That's good! :) I've tried those a few times, but honestly, they just confused me and I couldn't get anything accurate really. They just didn't feel personal to me. Very cool that they help you though. A role-model is always nice to have, even though it might be a computer. ;)

Fudugazi	05 Jun 2005
I sometimes use a computer-generated reading on internet when I am reading for myself and not feeling sufficiently detached from the question to look at my own cards properly. But they are not ideal, for me - because you get, of course, computer generated set meanings.

Ace	05 Jun 2005
A computer generated reading (and I too miss Anniken.com badly!) is good for a person doing it for themselves. I can't separate me enough to not fudge on a reading for myself. I lay out the cards and use the LWB (that is the ONLY time using it is valid!) and get a good reading that way. Which site are you taking about, VisionQuest? Ace

MeeWah	05 Jun 2005
VisionQuest: I also find that the computer-generated readings seem clearer than my own. Perhaps it is the impersonal quality that makes it more effective. I tried them from a couple of places & found Tarot.com quite accurate for the reasons Marion mentions. Also the Gaian Oracle--an absolutely gorgeous self-published Majors only deck. Another is an I-Ching site that produces intriguing results--I seem to be dismal at the self I-Ching. I have a Tarot CD-Rom a dear friend gave as a gift. A fascinating tool in its own right, I have not gotten the hang of using it & this discussion reminds me to dig it up again.

tarotbear	05 Jun 2005
Please do! hehehehe :smoker:

Emeraldgirl	06 Jun 2005
I really like the readings at facade.com they also have rune readings and I think I-ching which is good. They seem pretty accurate for me and they are free which is great. I have a tarot CD rom at home which I don't use cause I don't think a lot of it's accuracy for me. I prefer face to face readings but I will use or recommend a site also.

Fulgour	06 Jun 2005
"Welcome to Aleph Tarot" Aleph Tarot is the centre of the Tarot in the Internet. We devote our service to the wisdom of the Tarot and offer an honest admittance to these fascinating cards. http://www.aleph-tarot.com/ :) And you can see ALL the cards... http://www.aleph-tarot.com/c1.php?id=3&karte=1 It's a little weird though, because they give Thoth Standard :eek: meanings lots of times.

Astra	06 Jun 2005
This looks like a good thread to ask a question in. In the next couple of months I'll be putting readings back on my site. I'd taken them off because my deck was well displayed on Anniken (sigh). What would people like to see? Standard CC, and a one card draw, both with and without interps, are currently on the drawing board, but there are countless other spreads, and I could spend the next six months writing code without coming to an end. Suggestions?

VisionQuest	06 Jun 2005
Good good, I'm not the only one, lol ;) I've been using Facade.com. You can pick the deck and the spread, you can choose whether or not to use reversals and you can pick whether or not to use significators(sp?). I was entering little questions, but it was so eerily accurate, I thought it was rigged to alter the reading based on keywords in my question, lol, so I just leave the question blank and the name left at "anonymous", and it's still very accurate lol.

cormac	06 Jun 2005
Fulgour wrote: "Welcome to Aleph Tarot" Aleph Tarot is the centre of the Tarot in the Internet. We devote our service to the wisdom of the Tarot and offer an honest admittance to these fascinating cards. http://www.aleph-tarot.com/ :) And you can see ALL the cards... http://www.aleph-tarot.com/c1.php?id=3&karte=1 It's a little weird though, because they give Thoth Standard :eek: meanings lots of times. thanks Fulgour -- i hadn't come across that site yet -- very interesting :) -- i like the look of the deck as well -- hadn't seen that before either :) i imagine most have seen this site but here is a thoth online reading -- also you can save your readings online at the site which is a very nice feature http://www.fourthdimension.net/thoth/

tarotbear	06 Jun 2005
My favorite Annikin reading was a three-card spread 'Your Daily Pyramid'. Card #1 was the start of the day, #2 (at the peak of the pryamid) was the peak of your day, #3 was the ending of your day. Resonated well with me. The 3-card spread I now use on 'Tarot Magic' is #1- Situation, #2 - Advice, #3 - Near Future. It just does not work the same way even though they both had 3 cards! :smoker:

Nevada	06 Jun 2005
I've had some good readings from them. I don't think it's a bad thing at all. In fact I have two old DOS-based shareware programs that I've kept for years on my computers--one is tarot, with a Celtic cross spread, the other is I-Ching (no interpretations with that one, so I refer to a book). Here's another, if you read at all with playing cards: I developed a seven-card spread that I use by dealing a Solitaire hand on the computer. I even turn up some of the cards that aren't showing at times, by playing the game, for a more complex reading. I actually haven't done this in some time, but about a year ago I used it nearly every day for my daily reading, for several weeks. It started out of laziness, when I was seated at my computer and wanted a reading, but didn't feel like getting up to go get my cards. (Sometimes laziness is the mother of invention.) Nevada

cormac	07 Jun 2005
btw thanks again fulgour for the aleph link -- i've done a few spreads on there and am starting to warm up to the readings and the deck esp -- i think it's on my next deck wish list :)

daveyboy	07 Jun 2005
The only thing I would say is, the cards wont really be randomised - as they may be when you shuffle em. Hmm I think it's best to let the statisticians argue that! ;) Dave

Indigo Rose	07 Jun 2005
I like Llewellyn's free tarot readings. You don't input a question, but rather just focus on your question. I am amazed at the accuracy. Here is a link: http://www.llewellyn.com/free/tarot.php

Ace	07 Jun 2005
daveyboy wrote: The only thing I would say is, the cards wont really be randomised - as they may be when you shuffle em. Hmm I think it's best to let the statisticians argue that! ;) Dave Someone told me once, that if you shuffle very carefully, in seven times around you can bring the cards back to where they were at the beginning. So let the MAGICIANS and statisticians argue that point! Meanwhile, Astra: I like a 12 card circle a/k/a the horoscope spread. NOT because I like astrology (perish the thought!) but because it can give you a good fast general overview of where a person is NOW and where their problem spots are. I just did a reading for a man at a party. The cards had been showing that his problems stemmed from relationship issues, so I did a quick Horoscope throw for confirmation and sure enough, 11 positive cards and the 7th house of relationships was a negative card. (Devil or Lovers Rx or something like). Ace

autumn star	07 Jun 2005
I've used the readings a tarot.com before - they are quite good, but I prefer readings by people - just because they are more personal, to me, somehow readings from the internet don't seem as authentic, I don't know why. I woould be inclined to take them less seriously - just because they are done by a computer. But the readings that I have done are ok - sometimes to general. I've also tried facade.com & llewelyn. They also give quite good readings. But I don't like computer tarot readings when you can't pick the cards - it just seems weird to me to have a computer pick your cards. That's why I like tarot.com because you pick your own cards, and there is wider selection of decks. In the end I would much rather have my cards read by a person :)

Fulgour	08 Jun 2005
cormac wrote: btw thanks again fulgour for the aleph link -- i've done a few spreads on there and am starting to warm up to the readings and the deck esp -- i think it's on my next deck wish list :) Ancient Tarot of Lombardy (click on) $13.39 * I also supplied scans and a review here at Aeclectic, using my mysterious P.D.C. alias as a clever blind. ;) http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/ancient-lombardy/

cormac	08 Jun 2005
Fulgour wrote: Ancient Tarot of Lombardy (click on) $13.39 * I also supplied scans and a review here at Aeclectic, using my mysterious P.D.C. alias as a clever blind. ;) http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/ancient-lombardy/ oh that's who that is ;) -- well written and informative review :) -- and thanks for the link also -- hhhmmm maybe i can slip this one past my wife ;) hey and there's someone with that same name who has reviews on Amazon ;) is there a book specific to this deck? or could a marsailles book cover it? any recommendations on either account would be great :) thanks :)

Osher	10 Jun 2005
It seems therefore that computer based Tarot readings are accurate? I've never really trusted them, but maybe I should take another look? I've used the one from Tarot.com, and to be honest, it was reasonably accurate. I wonder how it all works...?

Astra	10 Jun 2005
Osher wrote: It seems therefore that computer based Tarot readings are accurate? I've never really trusted them, but maybe I should take another look? I've used the one from Tarot.com, and to be honest, it was reasonably accurate. I wonder how it all works...? If you're using a random number generator to shuffle the cards, and the seed for the generator is based on the time that the querent clicks for a reading, then what you actually get is a layout that is specific to the querent. This is one of the reasons that most pages will say something like "relax, focus on your question, and click when you are ready". How it actually connects is a very large black box, but, somehow, it generally does connect.

VisionQuest	10 Jun 2005
Ace wrote: Someone told me once, that if you shuffle very carefully, in seven times around you can bring the cards back to where they were at the beginning. So let the MAGICIANS and statisticians argue that point! I hadn't heard that, but I have been told that once you shuffle a deck 7 times it's impossible for them to get any more "shuffled". This was referring to shuffling playing cards for game purposes though. So I guess the number of cards in the deck might affect that?

Ace	13 Jun 2005
The Mathematics of . . . Shuffling A magician turned mathematician saves the casinos' shirts By Dana Mackenzie DISCOVER Vol. 23 No. 10 | October 2002 I THINK this is the article where a person shuffles playing cards 7 times and gets them back into the order they start at. It required HUGE dexterity and lots of practice. Not something I can do. Unfortunately, I can't pull up the article because I am not a Discover subscriber, so I will try to find it at the library and see if I am right about this. Stay tuned. Ace

The Computer Generated Readings thread was originally posted on 05 Jun 2005 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.