As mentioned in Inquisitive Mystic podcast episode 1, tarot is cool. I'm a scientific minded individual, but I'm also a mystical bitch, therefore I practice tarot daily. Famous 90's Psychic Readers Network personality, Miss Cleo proclaimed, "Da cards don't lie!" From a scientific standpoint these words are true because a tarot draw or spread really boils down to simple probability and statistics. Don't get me wrong. I freaking LOVE tarot. I use tarot daily for self-reflection and as a meditative tool. Tarot is awesome, the art is beautiful. I'm not here to offend any lovers of tarot. I personally don't base my whole life on what the cards say. I do enjoy it. The point I'm trying to make to you my curious crew, my mystical b*tches is...you do you.
However, this is a science and mystical blog so I did some tarot and probability calculations for your enjoyment.
Step 1: Ask the cards a question.
"What happens when one f*cks around? Does one indeed find out?"
You begin a tarot session or read by asking the cards a question. Questions are best if they are open-ended vs. "yes/no". I will admit for this read I asked a 2-parter and it was a "yes/no". Bad form for a classical tarot read, but entertaining for the purposes of this blog.
Step 2: Shuffle and cut the deck.
I usually do about three shuffles, sometimes two. It's really dealer's choice here. After you are finished shuffling, cut the deck.
Step 3: Turn the cards over and lay out your spread.
There are a ton of different tarot card spreads and layouts to choose from. Most often I do a single card daily draw, or a three card "past/present/future" spread. For the purposes of the probability calculator that I used I needed to do a two card spread. I call the two card spread, "What is and What will be" or "present/future."
"What Happens When One F*cks Around? Does One Indeed Find Out?"
Let's see what the cards have to say!
Oh man, it's not looking good.
The present or "what is" is represented by The Star. The Star is a major arcana. Major arcana represent major life events. A sign of hope, good, fortune, and knowing that you are on the right path...at least you were on the right path until you decided to f*ck around...
The future or "what will be" is represented by 5 of cups. There are four suits in the tarot that make up the minor arcana. Minor arcana represent more day to day emotions and activities. The four suits are: cups, wands, swords, and pentacles. Cups represent emotions. The 5 of cups symbolizes grief, sadness, or loss. You f*cked around, lost, and now you are sad. Moral of the story: Don't f*ck around and find out.
*Side note: Yes, I did write on this practice tarot deck. It helps to memorize the cards much faster.*
Probability of this 2 card tarot draw result.
I mentioned previously that math is not a strength for me. Luckily, www.calculator.net has a sweet probability calculator and it did the work for me!
There are 78 cards in a tarot deck. After shuffling I drew card A (Probability A= 1/78 = 0.0128) followed by card B drawn from the remaining 77 cards (Probability B= 1/77 = 0.0129)
According to the probability calculator my chances of drawing these 2 cards together is 0.0165%
Check it out!
I hope you enjoyed this not too tarot-fying mathematical adventure. Until next time!