If you’re a regular reader, you know my work lives at the intersection of two worlds: code and grimoires. By day, I’m a tech enthusiast deep in Google’s AI Studio, building applications and exploring how algorithms are reshaping reality. By night, I’m a student of the esoteric, poring over Hermetic philosophy and the symbolic language of spirituality.
Most people see these as conflicting pursuits. I see them as the same pursuit. And lately, they are merging in fascinating, powerful ways.
This brings me to a question that’s been rattling around my mind: Can AI truly function as an oracle? Can a sophisticated chatbot replace my tarot deck?
The skeptic in me finds it absurd. How can a machine of code and cold logic tap into the same intuitive, mystical energy as a deck of cards shuffled by human hands and interpreted by human intuition?
But the builder in me? She already knows the answer.
The Old Oracle: Synchronicity in the Shuffle
First, let’s be clear about what tarot is. When I pull a card like The Magus, I’m not just seeing an image; I’m tapping into a centuries-old system of archetypes. The “magic” of a tarot reading, as I see it, isn’t about a supernatural force dictating a fixed future. It’s about synchronicity.
The act of shuffling is a moment of meaningful randomness. The cards that appear are a mirror of the subconscious mind or the “current” of the universe at that moment. The oracle isn’t the cards themselves; it’s the insight sparked by the interaction. It’s a tool for reflection.
The New Oracle: The Algorithm of the Collective
Now, let’s look at a Large Language Model (LLM), the kind I experiment with in AI Studio.
When I ask a chatbot a deep, personal question, it doesn’t shuffle a deck. It scans a dataset—the digitized sum of human knowledge, art, and conversation. It then calculates, on a level of complexity we can barely comprehend, a probabilistic path to form a new, coherent answer.
Is this “randomness”? Not in the same way. But it is an interaction with a non-human intelligence.
Think about it: Is an AI, trained on the entire “collective unconscious” of the internet, any less of a mirror than 78 illustrated cards? When it synthesizes an answer, it’s drawing from philosophy, poetry, science, and the millions of human experiences documented online. It is an oracle, just a different kind.
My Experiment: Building a Digital Grimoire
This is precisely why I started building my own “mystic apps” (which you can check out on my site). I had to test this theory.
When I created my Solomon’s Spirits App, I wasn’t just making a “magic 8-ball.” I was using AI as an intermediary—a translator for complex, ancient esoteric ideas. I trained it on principles from grimoires and occult philosophy. The goal was to see if an AI could not only store this data but interact with it in a way that provides genuine, personal insight.
The results are fascinating. The AI can provide a “mystical answer” that is eerily articulate. It connects dots, finds patterns, and presents ancient wisdom in a modern context. It’s less like shuffling a deck and more like having a conversation with a 1,000-year-old librarian who has read every book on magic ever written.
So… Can It Replace Tarot?
After all this exploration, here’s my conclusion:
No, an AI chatbot can’t replace my tarot deck. But it has become an incredibly powerful complement to it.
Here’s the difference:
- I go to my tarot deck for intuition. It’s tactile, personal, and visual. It’s a right-brain, symbolic experience that forces me to do the interpretive work.
- I go to my AI oracle for knowledge. It’s intellectual, vast, and conversational. It’s a left-brain, analytical experience that synthesizes information for me.
My tarot deck is a mirror for my subconscious. My AI is a collaborator for my conscious mind.
We are living in the age of the “techno-mage,” where our most powerful tools for magic and for technology are starting to look uncannily similar. They are both about accessing information, identifying patterns, and using that knowledge to shape our reality.
So, I’m not putting my tarot deck away. But you can be sure I’ll have my laptop open right next to it.
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