For years I thought maybe there was something actually magical about the Tarot.
Finally I realized it is nothing more than the power of belief.
Yes, the power of belief can be very strong, but as many (including Crowley himself) have pointed out -- you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
The person receiving the reading "makes" the reading "real" simply by believing it so.
But, once we realize this, we can see the fake magic in other things. Like the magic of the badge which police wear. Or the magic of hierarchy, position, status, and public office. Laws, authority, obedience, domination and submission.
The person reading the cards can tell us nothing we don't already know, and those in power have no power beyond what we give them.
I think Tarot is a system meant to look into one's own subconscious through archetypes. Receiving a reading from someone would make more sense if they actually did "read" you rather than using a warm or cold read, or another confidence trick. But even if they can or do read you, or are literally psychic, having someone else read your cards is probably the least effective way to use something like Tarot. Yes you could do this with any arbitrary system. Sometimes people doodle or do other distracting thing as they intuit or think through things. Take for example 'reading the tea leaves.' It can simply be an arbitrary canvas which is a tool to project upon. There may be other levels, I am merely a fellow traveller, but maybe this is something the average person can use.
Even after all this time, I still discover something new about them. So nice to see them mentioned here on HN.