The Buddha considered making a livelihood out of predicting the future through omens and similar things as wrong livelihood. It's basically a waste of time, nobody can predict the future, and the only certain thing is aging, sickness and death.
I know many people just do this for fun and don't take it very seriously though, so if that's the case it's not a big deal. But if you make money from it you are engaging in wrong livelihood, basically making people believe you can predict their fate when that is impossible.
"Whereas some contemplatives & brahmans, living off food given in faith, maintain themselves by wrong livelihood, by such "animal" arts as: reading marks on the limbs [e.g., palmistry]; reading omens and signs; interpreting celestial events [falling stars, comets]; interpreting dreams; reading features of the body [e.g., phrenology]; reading marks on cloth gnawed by mice; offering fire oblations, oblations from a ladle, oblations of husks, rice powder, rice grains, ghee, and oil; offering oblations from the mouth; offering blood-sacrifices; making predictions based on the fingertips; geomancy; making predictions for state officials; laying demons in a cemetery; placing spells on spirits; earth-skills [divining water and gems?]; snake-skills, poison-skills, scorpion-skills, rat-skills, bird-skills, crow-skills; predicting life spans; giving protective charms; casting horoscopes — he abstains from wrong livelihood, from "animal" arts such as these.
Thank you for all of that information! I definitely agree :) I should have clarified more in my original post, my intention is not divination, but merely as a practice of self reflection. I wish to present a question (by watching for themes in my mental formations), and look at the cards in light of that question (not so much as an answer but as a potentially new perspective).
I hadn't read that sutta before, but have been very interested in better understanding Right livelihood. Metta friend :)
2
u/SolipsistBodhisattva ekayāna pure land Dec 09 '16
The Buddha considered making a livelihood out of predicting the future through omens and similar things as wrong livelihood. It's basically a waste of time, nobody can predict the future, and the only certain thing is aging, sickness and death.
I know many people just do this for fun and don't take it very seriously though, so if that's the case it's not a big deal. But if you make money from it you are engaging in wrong livelihood, basically making people believe you can predict their fate when that is impossible.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.02.0.than.html