AUTHOR’S NOTE: Arguably the most common question put to the tarot after “Does my ex want to come back to me?” is “What does Joe or Mary think or feel about me?” (A bit of wry humor there: inquiries about the mental state of a prospective love interest far exceed those exploring possible reconciliation with a previous lover.) Although I dodge this rather useless query by not asking to know the seeker’s specific goal in advance, when I realize that it’s afoot I won’t normally address it (not because it’s invasive but because its normally futile).

My belief is that, rather than speaking directly to the question, the cards will typically reflect what the querent hopes or fears the person of interest is thinking or feeling; the reading becomes a mirror of suppressed desire or morbid suspicion (the “boomerang effect” of the title) rather than an objective indication of the truth of the matter. Bringing this subterfuge to a diviner for validation is no better than “push” marketing where entrepreneurs presume to “count their chickens before they hatch.”

I prefer to answer what the other person might do about the querent’s interest should it be revealed (not a common occurrence when the fact of consultation suggests that the seeker is “hiding behind the tarot”). If there is no outreach after an encouraging reading and thus no gesture or token of acknowledgement from the other person, my time and the client’s money have been wasted.

I’ve received flak about this reluctance from other professionals who say that contemplating an act and performing it are two sides of the same coin, so if we can predict the latter we can foretell its cognitive precursor. But attempting to figure out what someone is thinking or feeling is pure conjecture while behaviors instigated by those thoughts are observable if brought to that level of objectification. I’ve never found tarot to be much good for mind-reading, while it is at least serviceable for anticipating the outcome of a projected action.

I do think that tarot can reveal aspects of character when it is signified by court cards in a spread, and those qualities often translate into likely attitudes and behaviors, but it’s too much of a stretch to also claim that they (or any other cards) can convey what the target of the reading has on his or her mind at the instant the prediction is made. This amounts to a misuse of the cards for the purpose of what is almost certainly “confirmation bias.”

Even if I can make money doing it, I don’t want to play that game. Not only is it pointless, it is devious to tell a client something that has no basis in reality beyond a whim and a prayer or, more technically, unsubstantiated guesswork on my part and wishful thinking by the sitter. (Sorry about the mangled aphorism, I couldn’t resist.) It may be a lucrative scam for those with no conscience, but – while I may be cynical about many other aspects of modern tarot reading – I’m an ethical reader who won’t stoop to that level of charlatanism masquerading as psychic proficiency with the cards as “props.”