巫术研究一直是人类学的经典议题，占卜是其中一种重要的表现形式。近十几年来，国内兴起了一种名为“塔罗牌”的占卜方式，大学生群体是其中的主要参与者。本研究是一项关于塔罗牌的质性研究，旨在回答的核心问题是：为何大学生会参与到塔罗牌占卜的活动中？进一步而言，本研究聚焦于两类更具有张力的现象。一是大学生虽然找塔罗师占卜，却常常不按照占卜的结果行事。二是塔罗牌占卜的结果经常不准确，大家却依然乐此不疲。

针对这一问题，目前学界讨论的核心集中在大学生参与其中的社会性与功能性原因。本研究通过回顾人类学历史上关于“原始人心智”的争论，指出以列维·布留尔等人为代表的研究中，曾涉及巫术中的游戏成分，但未能得到充分的论述。承接这一线索，本研究回顾了赫伊津哈等人对游戏的定义，在此基础上形成分析框架，对塔罗牌的游戏性进行探讨。

通过参与式观察和半结构化访谈的方式，本研究收集了22位塔罗爱好者的经验材料。基于这些经验材料，研究发现塔罗牌中具有一种被前人忽视的游戏属性。正是这一属性，使得大学生们不断参与其中。即使占卜的结果并不准确，也不影响他们对于塔罗牌的喜爱。因为他们始终保持着“算着玩”的心态，既享受神秘的氛围，也享受游戏的乐趣。具体而言，本研究首先交代了塔罗牌的实践过程和环境，说明塔罗牌的操作方法以及占卜环境的特点。随后研究者考察了爱好者们对于塔罗牌的文化认知。通过对具有跨文化占卜经历的塔罗爱好者们进行访谈，本研究指出塔罗牌在爱好者们心中具有禁忌少、问题具体、效力短等特点，这些认知构成塔罗牌作为游戏的基础。随后，研究者将塔罗牌的实践流程划分为三个阶段，着重分析其中蕴含的不同游戏元素，具体可以分为抽牌、叙事以及猜谜三种游戏。

通过分析塔罗牌占卜的游戏属性，本研究致敬了人类学中业已失落的“游戏”传统。这种学术层面的旧事重提，既是对列维·布留尔等人未能充分展开讨论的部分进行经验上的补充，同时也更细腻地刻画了人的非理性侧面。

The study of witchcraft has always been a classic topic in anthropology. In recent decades, a form of divination called "tarot" has emerged in China, in which university students are the main participants. This study is a qualitative study of tarot cards and aims to answer the core question: why do college students participate in tarot card divination? Further, this study focuses on two more types of tensions in the tarot divination process. One is that college students often do not act on the results of their tarot results, even though they still seek out tarot readers. Second, the results of tarot divination are often inaccurate, yet people still enjoy it.

In response to this problem, the core of previous academic discussions has been to identify the social and functional reasons for college students' participation in it. By reviewing the historical debate on the "primitive mind," this study points out that studies such as Lévy-Bruhl have addressed the playfulness of witchcraft. There is a certain affinity between this kind of game study and anthropology. Therefore, this study reviews the definition of play by Huizinga and others. On this basis, an analytical framework is formed to explore the playfulness of tarot cards.

Through participant observation and semi-structured interviews, this study collected empirical materials from 22 tarot enthusiasts. Based on these empirical materials, the study found that there is an attribute of play in tarot that has been overlooked by previous authors, and it is this attribute that keeps college students engaged in it. Even if the results of the divination were not accurate, it did not affect their love for tarot. Because they always have a "divine for fun" mentality, they enjoy both the atmosphere of metaphysics and the fun of the game. Specifically, this study first explains the process and environment of tarot practice, specifying how tarot cards are manipulated and the characteristics of the atmosphere created. The researcher then examined the cultural perceptions of the enthusiasts about tarot cards. Through interviews with tarot enthusiasts with cross-cultural divination experiences, the study pointed out the characteristics of fewer taboos, specific questions, and shorter validity in the minds of the enthusiasts, and then pointed out its tendency to be entertaining. Subsequently, the researcher divided the process of tarot practice into three stages, focusing on the different game elements contained in it, which can be divided into three games: card drawing, narrative, and puzzle.

By analyzing the playful nature of tarot divination, this study pays homage to a lost tradition of "play" in anthropology. This academic revisiting of the past is an empirical addition to what Levi Breuer and others have not been able to fully discuss and at the same time a more detailed portrayal of the irrational side of the human subject.