People are fascinated with divination, or foretelling futures. Some visit fortune-tellers or psychics, hoping to gaze into a crystal ball. Some read horoscopes based on their zodiac signs. Others try to contact the spirit world through Ouija Boards, hoping to ask the dead questions about the past, present, and, of course, what the future holds in store.

When a person gazes into a crystal ball, it is said that they reach an altered state of mind which allows them to see pictures or images inside their head that then require interpretation - which is why a fortune-teller or psychic often asks questions about the images that they see.

Creating horoscopes, too, require interpretation; people watch and translate the movement of the stars and the sun to find patterns, as well as study astrology charts, because they believe that the location of the various pieces of the solar system when a person is born can affect their career, relationships, and other aspects of a person's future. By interpreting the skies, people can create daily, monthly, and yearly horoscopes for each of the 12 Zodiac signs. Horoscopes offer readers predictions of the future.

Modern-day Ouija boards look somewhat like a game board; they are inscribed with the alphabet, the words, "Yes," "No," "Maybe," and "Goodbye," and the numbers zero through nine. Believers see Ouija boards as a portal for communicating with the dead.

Whereas horoscopes are a passive reading activity for those searching for what their day or month might bring, Ouija boards are quite active, with participants placing their hands on a planchette, or a pointer that slides around, as they ask questions of the spirit world. Once a question is posed, the planchette moves around, guided by spirits of the deceased. Sometimes it will answer by pointing to "Yes" or "No"; other times, it will spell out an answer using the letters of the alphabet.

Skeptics believe that Ouija board participants are actually moving the pointer, either consciously or unconsciously, instead of believing that supernatural forces are acting as the guide. On the other hand, believers think spirits sometimes provide information that no one - let alone, the participants with their hands on the planchette - could have possibly known. In this way, the future can be ascertained through questions posed to the dead.

Crystal balls, horoscopes, and Ouija boards offer just a few ways of accessing and seeing the future. Tea reading and tarot cards also require interpretation in order to understand what the future has in store, but all these methods allow humans to get a glimpse into what was once thought the unknowable.