How Our Readings Work: Methodology, Limits and Ethics

By The Mystica Editorial Team · Checked against our editorial standards · Updated 10 October 2026 · 6 min read

This page explains exactly how the free readings on The Mystica work: how cards are drawn, where AI is involved, what the limits are and the ethical rules our tools follow.

How cards are drawn

• We use a full 78-card deck: 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana, named as in the Rider-Waite-Smith tradition.
• Cards are drawn without replacement, so the same card cannot appear twice in one reading.
• Randomness comes from cryptographically secure generators: crypto.getRandomValues in your browser for the yes or no tarot and card of the day, and PHP's random_int on our server for AI readings. Nobody, human or AI, picks your cards.
• Each card has roughly a one-in-three chance of appearing reversed. Read about reversed cards.
• Your card of the day is saved in your own browser so you see the same card all day.

Readings by question: three positions, no prediction score

The 30 readings by question draw three distinct cards in your browser and show the upright or reversed keywords for each card. Each page has its own positions and reflection prompts, a worked example and practical checks. These prompts are authored text, not AI analysis of your optional note.

The note is for your own context and is not submitted to an AI service by this tool. The draws do not calculate a yes/no likelihood, predict dates or establish another person’s thoughts. The separate single-card yes/no tool below uses a symbolic classification, not a measured probability.

How the single-card yes or no tool works

Each card has a traditional yes, no or maybe value, shown on its card page. Upright cards give that value. A reversed "yes" card becomes "maybe" and a reversed "maybe" or "no" card becomes "no". The card's advice is always shown alongside the answer, because the reason matters more than the verdict.

Where AI is used

The free psychic reading, free question and free psychic chat use an AI model, Claude by Anthropic, to write an interpretation of the cards drawn for your question. The AI receives the cards and your text and is instructed to read them in the tradition described in our card meanings. We label these tools as AI-written. The yes/no tarot, card of the day and question-specific three-card spreads do not use AI; they use card keywords and authored text.

Limits of divination

Tarot and dream interpretation are traditions of symbolism. There is no scientific evidence that they predict events. We offer them because many people find them useful for reflection: a card can prompt a question you had not asked yourself. Please treat every reading, including ours, as one perspective, not a verdict.

Ethical guidelines for sensitive topics

Our tools and editors follow these rules:

• No predictions of death, illness, pregnancy or accidents, and none about the outcome of medical tests, legal cases or exams.
• No medical, legal, financial or investment instructions. We reflect on the emotional side and suggest speaking to a qualified professional.
• Money crises: if you are struggling with debt or rent, free debt-advice services and local support organisations can help far more than any reading.
• Mental health: if worry, low mood or anxiety are affecting your life, a doctor or therapist can help. Our intuition vs anxiety guide explains the difference between the two.
• Crisis: if someone mentions suicide, self-harm, abuse, violence or being in danger, our chat stops the reading and shares crisis resources: in the US, call or text 988; elsewhere, findahelpline.com lists free helplines by country. In an emergency, call your local emergency number.
• No fear-selling: we never say that someone is cursed or needs paid rituals.

Fair-use limits

To keep the AI tools free, each visitor can use a limited number of readings and chat messages per 24 hours. The yes/no tarot and card of the day have no limit.

Your data

Chat conversations are stored only to keep the conversation going and are deleted automatically after 48 hours. We do not ask for your name or email to use the free tools. Full details are in our privacy policy.