Aleta Sira Ras turns over the Page of Wands and tells me I'm finally getting a good grip on life. I'm still waiting for an exact direction, but I'm getting there. Pretty safe pronouncement to any 29-year-old.

This is my first tarot card reading and I'm a skeptic. I know how this game works: She'll give advice and predictions that are vague enough that I can make it fit my life. After all, the human mind is great at giving meaning to chaos. And we love to have someone focus on us for a half hour - whether it's at a tarot reading or on a psychiatrist's couch.

I'll admit it, my skepticism is also fueled by a niggling fear of tarot cards. Maybe it was my Christian upbringing or those enigmatic pictures on the cards. They're a little spooky. Much of the reading conforms to my expectations of vague descriptions that apply to nearly everyone.

She turns over the Three of Pentacles, which reveals a "true desire to be the master craftsman of what you do." The Nine of Swords means my brain is going like a hamster on a wheel as I try to work through old baggage. I may feel absolutely stuck in life, but it's only perceived. A brother (I have none) or male friend of mine will finally get things together this year. My deepest desire is simply to enjoy my family. Yadda, yadda.

Even if I don't believe she is seeing into the future, I'm having a pretty good time. Sira Ras is casual and easygoing, as if we were two old friends chatting. I guess I had imagined someone more like Professor Trelawney from the Harry Potter books, making dramatic and ridiculous proclamations.

And I don't feel evil emanating from the cards or hear the voice of the devil behind her predictions. It's just skepticism that colors my reading. Then, however, Sira Ras grabs my attention when she begins taking a few risks.

She tells me I have a wonderful relationship with my wife. "This is somebody you can definitely do the dance of life with - that's nice to see these days," she comments as if she's watching a TV version of my life somewhere over my right shoulder. That's more risky. What if I was on the verge of a divorce or having an affair? Marital harmony is not a given.

Then, Sira Ras cranks it up another notch. "Don't be surprised if you're only at The Gazette for nine months or a year," she says. "There's a big opportunity coming." Hmmm. That's more detail than I expected. She's out on a limb now.

Then the knockout punch. She looks at me and says earnestly, "Does your dad have a health concern?" (Again, it's not the safest question to ask: My dad could be dead or absentee for all she knows.) She tells me he's going to have a health scare that whips him into shape. Unbeknownst to her, he had a heart-attack scare a few weeks ago and has launched a program of exercise and better eating. Intriguing.

In the end, I'm not convinced Sira Ras can see my future unfold before her (although, if The New York Times calls in nine months, I might reconsider.) But, in the end, that's not the point. My mental tests and skepticism aren't what this experience is about. Whether there's magic in the cards or not, they helped me reflect on where my life is headed. Receiving a tarot reading is a journey of exploration for those willing to go. It is a trip to the future - the one you are busy creating.