Crystal ball readings, palmistry, numerology, Tarot cards, water divining, the reading of tea leaves, and astrological horoscopes featured strongly in past ages. Some still do today. Many of these practices ended their title with the suffix ‘mancy’, which refers to the practice of reading the future.

They included anthropomancy (analyse human entrails), bibliomancy (open a book and predict something with the first word you see), dactylomancy (suspend a wedding ring with a fine thread over a table with letters and allow the swinging movement to spell out your answer), pyromancy (predict the future through the movement of flames) and oneiromancy (predict the future with dreams).

An endless range of other strange prediction options have thankfully passed their use-by date. Around the 1850s in Northern Ireland, women forecast the character of their future husbands by analysing the slimier parts of a herring. I’m not sure what that says about the quality of the men in that time. The Old Egyptian Fortune-Teller’s Last Legacy was published in London in 1775 and claimed that one way to foresee the future was by interpreting the moles on your face and body. For example, “a mole on the buttock denotes honour to a man and riches to a woman.”

There is no scientific evidence that accurate prediction can result from any of these practices listed above, although there are two opposing perspectives on that lack of verification. One is that, without clinical evidence, they must be the work of charlatans. The other is that, in your own opinion, some other-worldly concepts cannot be scientifically validated, and that their spiritual complexity places them beyond the reach of modern measurement.

If you believe that random cards can decide your future, then you would definitely reside in the latter group. Cartomancy refers to fortune-telling by shuffling a deck of cards. The first use of cards for playing games and predicting the future occurred around the mid-15th century, although they gained increased popularity in the 18th century. A standard pack of 52 cards could be extended to 78 cards with a Tarot pack, which featured such luminaries as the Fool, the Juggler, the Empress, and the Lovers. When used for telling the future, the cartomancer would help the client to clarify a question. Cards would then be drawn at random, and a narrative would be woven that aligned with the cards on the table.

In the 21st century, card readers commonly use the tarot pack to support clients in understanding aspects of their past and present life. This has some merit in itself without using cards. However, unless the card reader truly does possess predictive powers, you would derive more value by investing in some lottery tickets. The random drawing of the cards is pure chance and cannot be affected by your energy or theirs.

Palmistry has a chequered history. Partly referenced in the Book of Job, its origins are dated somewhere between the 7th and 4th centuries BC. Reading of the palm to decipher your future has been practiced in most cultures around the world. Persia, Arabia, India, Nepal, China, and Tibet have all featured palmistry readings. Some of these cultures demonstrated quite different interpretations of the practice. Palm readers attest that some lines on your hand – such as the Head Line and the Heart Line – and the mounts e.g. Mars Positive and Luna mount, can be interpreted to predict your future.

A baby’s hands form at very early stages, and palm readers contend that they become a record of the child’s development through life. No credible scientific evidence supports this contention. Your palms may give some indication of certain dermatological conditions, but that is because of the condition of your aging skin.