It seems "divination" is often misunderstood. Large element of it is very rational.
Our minds work in a way that we learn and then repeat patterns in our life. For instance, somebody will end up bad in relationships that are bad in a strikingly similar way.
These patterns must be unconsciously known to the person repeating them -- otherwise they would be unable to repeat them. So, in a way, unless you change something, you will repeat these patterns. So it is trivially so that unless something changes, your future is known. People are not conscious of the patterns, however. If they become conscious of the pattern, it loses its grip.
Much of "divination", such as Tarot cards, is getting a different perspective of your challenges, and becoming more conscious of the patterns you repeat. So, if "divination" works, then actually instead of divining the future, you will become free of the future that would have happened.
We are getting a bit off topic, which is fine for me, but I totally agree with you. I relate this to the ideas of Edward de Bono [1]. He had a set of practices to encourage creativity called "lateral thinking" which I apply to Tarot cards and other devices.
One example practice he suggested was to pick a topic you are interested in having creative ideas about, then choose a random word from a dictionary. He argued that the process of trying to connect the word in the dictionary to your topic would force you to connect ideas that were not normally connected in your everyday thinking.
In some way, Tarot cards are very similar to this practice. They provide a source for the random starting point that a person can use to connect ideas. Tarot cards are full of ambiguous symbolism which makes them an even more fecund source of creativity compared to random dictionary words.
However, I ardently oppose any notion that the selection of the random cards in themself reflect any intervention from a divine or some spirit world. It is very easy and surprisingly tempting to start seeing significance in the particular cards selected at random.
Our minds work in a way that we learn and then repeat patterns in our life. For instance, somebody will end up bad in relationships that are bad in a strikingly similar way.
These patterns must be unconsciously known to the person repeating them -- otherwise they would be unable to repeat them. So, in a way, unless you change something, you will repeat these patterns. So it is trivially so that unless something changes, your future is known. People are not conscious of the patterns, however. If they become conscious of the pattern, it loses its grip.
Much of "divination", such as Tarot cards, is getting a different perspective of your challenges, and becoming more conscious of the patterns you repeat. So, if "divination" works, then actually instead of divining the future, you will become free of the future that would have happened.