Tarot...do you believe it or not?

So, for the first time in years, literally, I picked up my tarot deck. I haven't done a reading since probably sophomore year of college? Actually, further back than that...maybe senior year of high school? It's been a long time. Needless to say, I did 3 readings and all were pretty accurate. One I did on myself (yeah yeah, I know, you aren't supposed to read on yourself but I mainly do that for practice so I can remember the meanings of the cards) and that turned out to be scarily accurate. I've never actually been able to do an accurate reading on myself before. I think because I know what I'm thinking or what I'm going through better than anyone else the cards never seem to fit unless I stretch their meaning. Tonight wasn't the case though, it was dead on every time. Creepy. Then I read for a friend of mine who I haven't spoken to in months. He accused me of spying on him because even though we hadn't talked, I was still really accurate. Then I did one on one of my close friends and that one turned out pretty accurate to but he says that's because I know him and what's going on in his life.

So my question is, what do you think of tarot? Is it really a way to see the future?

For me, tarot isn't about reading the future. The cards that deal with the future I actually tend not to focus on. Because honestly, that's a shot in the dark. I think I do that because honestly, I don't believe that we have a set fate. So trying to read what the future is is a useless endeavor. What our future will be today could be different tomorrow after we've made some decision that we think may be completely unimportant. What I like about tarot is it helps people understand their motivations, their fears, and how their environment is affecting them. Sometimes it brings to light things that people weren't really thinking about but end up making sense in the grand scheme of things. I prefer to do readings around a certain subject. I'm not one of those people who will be like "okay, let's read about your life!" Because in life there are just so many options and so many ways you can skew things and make them fit how you want them to. I prefer asking them to think of a specific situation they want to know more about. Be it getting into school, a relationship, a job...something like that. With that starting point it's easier to stop yourself from going off on some random tangent because you think it sounds cool. Speaking of tangents...there I go again.

What I find most interesting about tarot actually has nothing to do with the querent...or the person you're reading for. It actually says a lot about the person reading. You could give two people who read tarot the exact same set of cards and both will come up with totally different readings. That's the way the cards are set up. There are several options as far as meaning so it's up to the reader to pick the one they think makes the most sense or is the most likely. I would say I'm a relatively optimistic reader. For example, the fool card can mean either an individual who is unconventional but believes in him or herself so completely that they persevere regardless of the fact that they are "strange". It means faith in oneself. On the other side, the fool card can signify calamity. The fool is walking close to the edge of a cliff. He is heading for tragedy and is too naive, unobservant, or stupid to realize it. I almost ALWAYS pick the first of the two. In some scenarios it's clear that it's the second option but when there's a chance it could go both ways, I always pick the positive.

Basically, I look at tarot as not some mystical way of seeing into the future. For me, it's about reading people. And I think the more you understand people the better a reader you are. And, it's really fun too. I mean, I love doing it. It's interesting, it's something that not everyone can do, and it's a way to kill time.

So...thoughts? Opinions? Am I totally crazy?