I want discuss a phenomenon that most experienced diviners (tarotists, scryers, psychics, rune casters and the like) probably understand. Newer readers may find this phenomenon confusing when it happens to them.

Many folks have said that divination is like GPS for the soul. Some of us use a similar, but more low-tech, analogy.

Divination is like a roadmap. It points to a place and says, “You are here.” It shows you what is in your rear view mirror, what your destination may be, and some of the local attractions. It may predict the road hazards and rest stops along the way.

Sometimes, when making a future prediction, we get ideas, either from the cards (or other tools) or from our own intuition and vision. We are able to give details that may not come specifically from the cards. We might suggest that the romantic interest our client will soon meet will be a carpenter, or that the house they will buy will be green, or that the job they land will have a long commute to the north.

Clients appreciate these kinds of details because it gives them something specific to watch for.

When we hear back from our clients, sometimes we hear that our prediction was correct, sort of. Yes, the client did date a carpenter, just as predicted. She did get married, just as predicted. However, she didn’t marry the carpenter.  She married the dentist she met the same week. Another client did make an offer on the green house you predicted, but ended up buying the yellow house next door.

This phenomenon doesn’t happen often, but it happens often enough that we need to pay attention and recognize the possibility exists for this to occur, and understand what they may mean.

I call these points that emerge in a reading “signposts,” or “mile markers.”

The carpenter wasn’t the right guy, but meeting the carpenter was a signpost, or a marker, on the way to the dentist.

So why couldn’t the reading just reveal the dentist and leave the carpenter alone? Why couldn’t the reading skip over the green house and just focus on the yellow?

Well, sometimes that is exactly what happens.  Sometimes we are simply led to say “I think you will buy a yellow house.”

What does it mean, then, when a reading points to a precursor, or something in proximity to the goal, rather than the goal itself?

Sometimes it’s worth doing a reading on that very question. Sometimes the precursor is an important part of the journey.

Other times, though, the answer is even simpler. Like all weary travelers on the highway, we look for signposts. We look for the markers that tell us we are almost home. “When you see the old oak tree, you’ll know you are less than a mile away,” translates into, “When you meet the carpenter, you’ll be close to your goal.”

Most diviners realize that the Universe sometimes speaks in riddles. Perhaps this is to keep the element of surprise and the integrity of free will intact. Perhaps this is because divination pushes the boundaries of what is possible, or what we believe to be possible, to the point that some things get hazy. When traveling, we can’t always see the whole landscape ahead of us. Certain things shine more brightly than others do. Sometimes the things that shine brightest serve no purpose other than to light the way and let us know we are almost home.

The anomalies that occasionally occur may be a reason some diviners shy away from predictive reading. Clearly, predictions are rarely black-and-white or written in stone. The Universe speaks in symbol and allegory. Rather than celebrating this language of the Universe, we reject the miracle of divination for its occasional imprecision.

If we can appreciate these signposts as helpful hints along the way, we can more easily use the tool of psychic prediction without courting disappointment or confusion.