Mayans

At Punta Catoche, Cortes came across Aguilar, a man who had survived a shipwreck and spent nine years as a slave to a warlord. Cortes enlisted the man; his knowledge of Maya would be invaluable to the explorer.

• The Tarot Reading that you receive will depend upon the reader, and whether it is deemed to work will be your individual judgement, and will depend upon a number of factors, starting with your expectations. Tarot is an art not a science, and readers are often very talented intuitives, with a body of knowledge gained through long study of the Tarot which is a discipline in its own right. The reader uses their knowledge of the cards and the leaps of insight or 'psychic' perception looking at them may trigger, but readers, while often deeply sincere, are only human, therefore sometimes fallible. Use them as a source of extra help. The Tarot is a tool, the Reader uses it to 'see' you and to sense the help you may need. It can be a very powerful tool indeed, for accessing unconscious thoughts and feelings that may be holding you back in some way. Identifying these can be liberating. But the Tarot is just that...a tool, although rich in symbolism and in its power for associative thinking. Go by recommendation when choosing a reader, if possible. Ask before booking what type of service they like to offer. Is it classic fortune telling, which will involve an element of forecasting (prediction) Or do they use their Tarot cards as a route to obtaining impartial help and guidance for you with your questions or concerns? Or perhaps they do both. Whether Tarot readings 'work' depends on whether you have chosen a fluent, skilful and experienced reader, have clearly formulated your expectations are, and whether you are prepared to think actively about what is being said to you... to engage instead of being a passive spectator or consumer of entertainment. For a Reading to 'work' you could engage in active listening, give your reader feedback when they are on the right path, and ask questions. It is YOUR reading.
• The cards give a 'best' answer at the time they are being read; they tell you the most immediate path for the future based upon your current actions. If you walk out of the reading and change your mind about something, the next reading will be different. Some people are more sensitive to energy than others, and these people are usually pretty good about picking up on those energies that show current paths. The answers are ambiguous, for the most part, but if they help you to make a decision or clarify something, then they helped.

• How can cards tell you the future? Not every reader includes prediction in their service these days, but it is undeniably part of Tarot's tradition and nothing to do with spiritual or religious belief. The entire notion of prediction is perhaps not a lot stranger than the notion of understanding a stranger's present or past through the cards. It depends on what one thinks Time is or is not. Some people fear prediction, and probably will not choose to have a Tarot reading, but no responsible professional reader should ever make dire or frightening predictions, or make predictions at all if this is not desired by their client. And if they do, well, they are fallible, and you do not have to believe them. The Tarot senses trends in you. As with other forms of forecasting...it is this which for some readers, not all, facilitates confident prediction. It does not mean however, that your future is cast in stone, or that you do not have free will or responsibility for your own choices. When the Tarot says anything about your future, it is sensing what seems most likely, based on your current approach. This leaves plenty of scope for change, but may serve to reassure or in rare circumstances, to offer a timely caution.

• Those who believe in Tarot say that when you shuffle the cards, your vibrations enter and the lay out will be relevant, depending on the accuracy of the interpretation of the symbolics. As far as predicting the future, the lay out may give some insight as to the probability. whether or not it becomes a reality depends entirely upon the choices you make, which means you can change the outcome. question of time frames is a complicated one in Tarot. Each reader, offering indications of time frames, is likely to have their own way of ascertaining what these are, and you can always ask to have their method explained to you.

• Tarot is a form of divination and as such has not been proven scientifically. However, there are those who believe in he value and usefulness of this form of divination which is still a thriving service today and is even used by some in business as an aid to brainstorming new creative directions, or in decision making.

• Tarot, to most pagans, is a form of divination of the self. It is intended to gain better insight into yourself, rather than with its emphasis being on predicting the future, but it's full range of uses is something that is still open to exploration by its students and practitioners.
  While some Tarot Readers may be Pagans, Wiccans, Spiritualists or even and most controversially, occultists, many others belong to no group or affiliation at all and adopt a secular approach.