Tarot Cards: A Literature Review and Evaluation of Psychic versus Psychological Explanations

Tarot cards, considered by some a tool to predict the future and understand one's inner issues, originated in ancient Egypt and remain popular in our day. The clash between the paranormal and the nonparanormal explanations revolves around people's claims that the cards accurately reflect their own individual issues. The paranormal explanation claims that the cards portray opportunities, hidden motives, and potentials, therefore allowing clarity concerning the individual's questions and conflicts. The cards, according to the paranormal explanation, provide a reflection of the client's inner processes. The nonparanormal explanation, on the other hand, is based upon two psychological explanations: the Barnum effect and "cold reading." The Barnum effect refers to our tendency to interpret general statements as applying specifically and accurately to one's own unique circumstances, whereas "cold reading" refers to a set of deceptive psychological techniques that are being used in the psychic reading to create the impression that the reader has paranormal ability. This review juxtaposes these two perspectives while reporting stuthes that involve tarot cards.