"Hey. Wow, tarot. Earth-style tarot. Nostalgia hit... Looking at things from new angles, eh... I could use a lil bit of that while maybe keeping some things vague?"

"I can promise that I won't share what you tell me willingly to others, but make no guarantees it could be acquired against my will. I will also not hide the fact that you asked questions of me. In any case, vague is fine, though I will probably be less helpful. What question do you have? I assume this isn't the first time you've gotten a reading?"

"If I did, it was a long, long time ago. I just... Remember it. Reincarnation situation."

She sits, tail in lap.

"Uhh... As for actual questions, I found milliways! This place is great! And there's a few things I'm sort of concerned about bringing back to my world, because of potential negative knock-on effects. Diamonds are very expensive because they are very magically useful, but if I import the necessary tools and knowledge to build high temperature high pressure press rigs... Someone is going to get hella rich, probably not me because I know I have no patience for that kind of thing, and lots more magic stuff is going to get made in the next decade or three, and it just might... Be a mess. Especially given some politics. Trade secret wizard cabals, at a gloss. So the actual question is... What do."

The man smiles. "Yes, Milliways is great. I have had to reevaluate my entire life now knowing magic exists. So, relatable."

He starts riffle shuffling the cards. "Right. Neither I or the cards can tell you what to do, but they can point to things it would be good to look out for."

He stops at seven riffle shuffles and draws three cards. "Here we go."

"Okay. Seven of Pentacles means...assessing, figuring things out, but also the potential to reap a reward. You see how the man is standing there, looking at the...okay, I guess they're not really fruit, they're pentacles. But they sort of have that fruity vibe. And it's reversed. I typically interpret reversals as being...the energy of the card is not being fully realized or expressed, that something is blocking it, or that it is starting to enter or is leaving.

Nine of Wands has two main aspects, for me. The first is endurance or stamina or perseverance. This man has successfully put up eight of these wands. So you get that vibe from it, that he worked hard for it. And the second aspect is paranoia. The wands are being put up as something like a fence, and the man is looking warily outside. So there's this feeling of having to defend one's self, or of being put upon.

Queen of Swords is about...so Queens have this, internal or intuitive focus, and Swords is about logic, intellect, rational thinking. Which seem kind of contrary to each other, but they're not. Queen of Swords represents...so the Queen of Swords is like — you cannot bullshit her. She will see through you. And she's very direct and honest and she is not afraid to say that. She has seen it all and she is not afraid to, put people in their place, so to speak. But not in a directly hostile way, but simply in a way where she just tells it how it is."

He rests his chin on his hand.

"Nine of Wands and Queen of Swords together imply, to me, that people will absolutely want to take advantage of you and you need to be wise to that, and you need to be on guard for that, or find someone who is able to perform these functions for you — court cards, the Page, Knight, Queen, King, often are interpreted to mean specific people. And that you need to have, or have someone who has the cutting energy of Swords, who can cut through and provide clarity to you. I don't know whether or not finding such a person is possible for you, though.

Seven of Pentacles say to me, especially in the reverse position...so, Seven of Pentacles is about having put in the hard work, and now thinking of what to do next. But what I ask of you is: why do this? Why do you want to bring that back to your world, given that you know it's messy and you have no patience for it? What drives you to do that? And what is your end goal? In so doing this, what do you seek to achieve? The Seven of Pentacles and Nine of Wands say to me that it will be long and difficult, and you need to have, kind of a guiding star, or a lodestone that you are able to consult at all times, to say, 'Yes, this is what I want, this is what I am working towards'. Do you have that?"

"You can choose to ask a different question or a follow up question, or ask me to draw an additional background card — it's an extra card I sometimes draw to represent the context or surroundings of a situation."

She pinches the bridge of her nose.

"So, it's just perspective, really, but Queen of Swords absolutely sounds like the goddess Galasa... The Light Gods will be weighing in on something this big, for sure. They intervene directly often enough. Maybe the wands are... All the effort wizards use to guard against each other, or something... Or my own agonizing on risk mitigation. As for what drives me to this, that's obvious. I want to help people. It's hard in ambiguous situations because I have, I exist at a high enough level of stakes that people have lived and died by my decisions, and I dwell on it. And I hate that. Mm... Should I abrogate this to the gods and other people? I know a genius wizard, who is not good nor evil... Throw it out and hands off? The gods are good, in the moral sense, from all I've seen for decades."

"Alright, I'll try to see what I can get for you on the question of delegating."

He riffle shuffles seven times again, and draws four cards, three from the top, and one from the bottom.

"Justice! First major arcana. Justice is what it sounds like — justice, but also about karma, cause and effect, great and stately decisions that must be made with care.

Ace of Swords is...Aces represent the beginning of all the suits, and they represent all the formless energy of that suit in a positive way. The Ace of Swords represents the cutting energy of the Swords suit, and it represents uprightness and honesty and fortitude, and it represents logic and reason, and it also represents justice or fairness.

Page of Swords is...okay, it's actually a very similar meaning to the Ace of Swords. But here it's more...Pages represent youth and the possibility of growth. Swords is a suit associated with challenges and the overcoming of challenges — in general it is the 'saddest' of the suits." He makes quotation marks in the air.

"So what the card implies is: it is possible for problems to be sources of growth. That you may not necessarily feel equipped to do something, but that it is possible to grow to become equipped to do them. You learn by doing, so to speak, and if you wait to be one hundred percent ready, then you may not act at all. And it reinforces the theme of: you absolutely must act fairly, justly, ethically, honestly, forthrightly, and that you cannot dissemble or 'soften the blow' or be confused or wishy-washy about what you want."

He draws his lips when the reversed Ten of Swords is drawn from the bottom of the deck.

"A lot of Swords today. This is the context card. Ten of Swords reversed. The first meaning of Ten of Swords is very obvious — it means total defeat, tragedy, the very bottom. Ten is the number of fruition in Tarot — they represent culmination. The second, less obvious meaning is...martyrdom, or victimization.

Okay, so, the feeling that I'm getting from all of this is...I haven't drawn any Cups cards yet. Cups is the suit of emotions and relationships. The Ten of Swords is present, but it's reversed, so its energy is not fully present yet. The vibe I'm getting is...and again, I know little about your situation and I don't mean to condescend, or cast aspersions. But the vibe that I'm getting is that, you believe, very strongly, that you have to help people by bringing this technology or power to them, or that you must do it, to benefit them. Which is very good and noble of you. But it seems to be arising from a more superegoic place, and that, hm, on the level of deep emotions or drives, there is a tension or conflict. And I think that resolving this before you do anything irreversible is good. The previous reading and this one suggest that not resolving it will haunt you, later on, that the Ten of Swords's energy will come to pass and you will feel like, resentful or misanthropic, that you have to carry the weight of the whole world on your back.

Sorry, that was besides the point and is unrelated to your question. As for delegating: the very strong Swords energy suggests that you should find someone who is very trustworthy and just. Someone who has principles and will stick by them, and who can be trusted to act predictably and with conviction. And that you, yourself, have to approach this situation with justness and with principles. No favoritism, nothing like that. You have to state how you will act and do as you say.

The Page of Swords suggests that...it could either mean that there is someone or some god who could be suitable who, on the face of it, wouldn't seem like they would be, or that you yourself could be suitable and don't see that aspect in yourself. That you have more capacity for fortitude and patience and principledness than you think, and that you could grow into that."

"Mmm...... It's just tarot in the end. You're not wrong that I'm conflicted. I have a sort of rule for myself that I mostly fight monsters, not people... Be impersonal and impartial about it...Well, I'll think on all this. Thanks."

Really, it's nothing new to her, it's not news that the world is vast, and complicated, and that dealing with vast complicated societal issues requires clearheadedness, neutral judgement, and consideration.

Does she hate herself for not being the hero she wishes she was? That is the conclusion she came to, once upon a time, and it keeps rearing its ugly head again and again... And in the end all she can do is keep moving.

"Yes, my tarot is not magical! I'm glad you seemed to have gotten something out of it, at least. Welcome, and goodbye."

He updates the sign to include:

I can promise not that I won't share what you tell me willingly to others, but make no guarantees it could be acquired against my will. I will also not hide the fact that you asked questions of me.

A grumpy blonde approaches. She reads the sign, glancing occasionally at the seated man.

"...so how's this work, exactly?"

"Hello. The way tarot readings work is that you ask a question, and then I draw cards. The cards have meaning and symbolism attached to them that suggest things about the question or the situation. And then I try to interpret what they are trying to say. My cards have no magical power and can't be used for prediction. The way I use them is: the cards force you to look at things in a way you aren't currently, or aren't used to, and this can often clarify why or how you feel about a situation.

Do you want an example? You can also ask a question now and I'll tell you whether or not it is suitable, or how to make it suitable. Alternatively, you can just describe a situation or a problem and I'll just draw cards about it to see what its vibe is. Sometimes I do that, in lieu of specific questions, though it's harder and often less useful."

"...well, the question on my mind is 'should I break up with my boyfriend'. Can you work with that?"

"I can draw cards to try to look at the dynamic of your boyfriend and you, and what elements are playing into wanting to or not wanting to break up with him. And then you can decide whether or not it's accurate. It's still useful to have the cards say things which are, or seem, facially untrue — it either represents the fact that you must face up to something you have been in denial about, or it makes your convictions more certain and removes doubt.

Neither the cards or I have special power to predict what will happen, and ultimately the decision to do so or not do so has to be yours.

Do you want to go ahead?"

She thinks about it.

"...eh, can't be worse than dithering angrily about it for weeks. Sure."

"Alright." He will do the same thing as previously: riffle shuffle seven times, draw three cards off the top, and one from the bottom.

"The Star is a major arcana card. Major arcana cards, compared to the minor arcana, typically represent...bigger things, things we cannot necessarily change, things which are not quotidian. The Star represents...hope and serenity. You see in the card how the stars shine bright against the dark sky. And it also represents...giving, being generous. You see the woman pouring water to form the lake and the rivers. It is about being stable and sure of one's self and then being so full that one is outpouring with love. The Star comes just after the Tower card, in the major arcana — the Tower represents total devastation and the upending of things.

The Three of Wands represents...foresight. It represents taking the long view, of stepping back. You see how the person is looking out at the horizon, surveying it, very calmly. And it's also about...exploration, leadership, taking the lead. Looking far out so you know how things will go when you and your group set out on your journey.

The Seven of Pentacles represents assessing, considering. You see how there are these...golden fruits, I guess, on the bushes, ready to harvest. So they give the sense of patient waiting and the fruition of that patient waiting, or nearly so. There's an anticipating quality there, an anxious quality, of being like, 'I put in all this work, and now, will it pay off?' It being reversed suggests — this is how I read reversals — that the energy of the card is not being fully expressed, that something is blocking it, or that it is entering or exiting. I'm not the sort of reader who interpret reversals as literal opposites.

This card is the context card. I use the context card to interpret...things which are more subtle, or which are in the background of the main cards. It's a technique I learned from a friend. The Knight of Wands represents...Knight cards represent the energy of their suite at a very strong level, unlike Pages, but without the maturity of Kings and Queens. So they often have this, positives and negatives quality to them. The Knight of Wands is adventurous, loves new experiences, restless, wants to keep going and going. And he's very charming, but this charm often has a fleeting quality to it, or a superficial quality to it — it doesn't have the stability of Pentacles or the conviction of Swords or the earnestness of Cups. He is very confident and passionate but it's not necessarily tempered with caution. And it's in a reversed position."

The man inhales and sharply exhales.

"Okay. I have very little context or knowledge of your situation, but I'll try my best to interpret.

The cards suggest that you two have been in a relationship for a while. And there's this creeping sense of...is this all going to be worth it? I get the sense, from the combination of Star and Seven of Pentacles, that...you have been giving and giving and giving, but you don't know whether all that giving is being received with thanks, that it's actually amounting to everything. And there's this sense of, from the Knight of Wands, that there is still a lack of stability, that it still feels like a casual fling even though the amount of investment that has been put in would typically have advanced the relationship to the next level, that there will be more commitment, but that commitment is lacking. But that this energy hasn't fully developed yet, otherwise, the relationship would probably have been ended already.

The center card, the Three of Wands, I think, is what the cards suggest you to do, which is — take the long view. Do you imagine yourself being with this person one, five, ten years from now? Do you want to marry or otherwise solidify your relationship? It's totally fine to just want something low key and short term, but you have to be clear that that's what you want, and invest or not invest in the relationship accordingly. If you don't see a long future with them, then think about whether this situation — I imagine something happened or things are happening which are causing you to consider breaking up — is enough for you to break up. But if you see a longer future with them, then...you have to lead, you have to take the first step, and have a plan, or have thought things through, as the card suggests. Say to him what you want, what your intentions are, and if his wants are in accordance with yours, then ask him for a commitment and to make amends. Otherwise, you should more seriously consider leaving."

She listens through this whole recitation, studying the cards and thinking about the words. ("Confident and passionate, but it's not necessarily tempered with caution" gets a snort out of her.)

"...huh," she says, a few seconds after he concludes. "I can see what you mean about seeing things from new angles. That's... huh."

She pulls out her phone and takes a picture of the arrangement of cards.

The man smiles slightly as she makes thinking noises.

"I hope that was helpful to you. Do you want to make a followup question or a second, unrelated question?"

She thinks it over for a few seconds, then concludes, "Can't think of anything. ...thanks, though. I think it was helpful."

"No problem, goodbye!

She's trying to sneak a peak at what the man is doing with the cards, while not being obvious about it.

Divination by cards... sounds fun!

"Could I also get a question answered?"

The man doesn't mind! He looks up at her when she approaches.

"Of course. What question do you have?"

Will she ever love me?

"There is this person and... she's sending me mixed signals, she seems to have a great opinion of me and not shy away from physical proximity, and she wants to talk to me often, but I fear it's just all part of the role we're playing in society, and I'd like to get to know her more but don't know how to do that and I'm scared I'm misinterpreting friendliness for something different and..."

She forces herself to stop and take a breath.

"That, basically."