For Ajeng, a 22-year-old university student who recently underwent a tarot card reading, delving into the world of cartomancy was about learning how to make the right decisions.

“It’s more about looking for the right way to solve problems. I get a different perspective in looking into [my problems], but I don’t want to rely entirely on the reading,” Ajeng told The Jakarta Post, adding that she had wanted to have her fortune read for quite some time but only recently tried it out as it was pricey.

She found a tarot card reader on the internet and met up with them, paying a total of Rp 400,000 (US$28.78) for a one-hour-session.

Ajeng plans on being more patient in 2020, as suggested by the reader.

For Yara, not her real name, tarot card reading was a platform that allowed her to confide in others over problems both past and present.

“I am more comfortable in sharing with those I am not very close with. There are no trust issues, neither judgment nor subjectivity. The secrets are kept to themselves,” said the 24-year-old private employee, who has been interested in tarot cards since 2016.

She added that tarot readings helped her when making decisions, especially when it came to workplace dilemmas.

Yara disclosed that she had yet to have a tarot reading for 2020 as she did not have the time for it and because the rate for full-year reads in Jakarta was high. She cited one reader who offered the service for Rp 1 million for a two-hour session.

Fortune-telling is not always costly. There are many options available with services now digitized and mediated by technology.

Through apps Faladdin and The Pattern, tarot readers utilize YouTube to broadcast their so-called powers and readers are available through messaging services and emails for relatively low prices.

Dea, a 22-year-old employee working in hospitality, said she normally used an app-based astrology reader to analyze her love life and career.

She first came to know about astrology — a pseudoscience — from a Twitter user who explained it was essentially about how the placement of celestial bodies influenced human affairs.

“It doesn’t necessarily affect my decision-making [but] it eases me sometimes when I’m having anxiety,” Dea told the Post.

As popular as they are, there is still skepticism over app-based readings because they are generated by computers, Ajeng told the Post. She prefers meeting directly with the reader but she mostly uses tarot and astrology apps for their convenience.

To tap into the growing market of people seeking nontraditional ways of having their fortunes read, tarot reader Audifax, along with six others, established Light Givers in 2013 and are now growing their fortune reading and consultation services online.

Their community has more than a hundred readers, with around 20 readers offering online services.

Audifax himself was leading an online reading through a messaging service when the Post came to visit the business at their office on Monday in Central Jakarta.

“Most of the youngsters ask about their love life,” said the 47-year-old, explaining the market segment of his consumers; those between the ages of 18 and 30 whose lives are integrated with technology.

Despite the appeal for some, Neta, not her real name, only needed to get a single fortune reading to know it was not for her.

Before she tried it out in January 2019, she was skeptical, but because her friend who went before her claimed their experience was accurate and specific, she decided to give it a shot.

“I was hoping the reading could tell me things I should’ve realized but it didn’t. So it wasn’t a way to predict the future and more of an analysis of the status quo,” the 21-year-old university student said. (ydp)

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