The magical result of non-magical manipulations or board games as a way to understand yourself. There is a wonderful game Dixit (or Imaginarium). A set of pictures where everyone must name their associations with these pictures. A similar mechanism is used when working with one of the psychological tools - MAC (metaphorical associative cards). This is a set of pictures, very different - from complete abstraction to very specific situations. The meaning is put in by the person himself, and the projective mechanism of our psyche is at work here - after all, we will not see in the picture what is not in us. One will note sadness in the symbols, another - inspiration, the third - conflict. We project our qualities, experience, attitudes onto what we see in the map. Working with symbols helps you to abstract yourself from the situation, look from the outside, and see what you had not noticed before. Therefore, the rule “the owner of the card is the owner of the interpretation” is very important to follow. And remember that there are no right or wrong answers. Wikipedia indicates the use of MAC as a tool for counseling, psychotherapy, improving communication, as well as a means of education and social interactive games. I will add that cards are actively used in coaching, psychodiagnostics, mediation, business consulting, family psychotherapy, as well as when working with individual categories of clients - children, teenagers, addicts, etc. Interaction with cards simplifies the process of work for the individual due to the “output” of the experience to the outside, into a symbol, into a “picture”, which allows you to bypass the protective mechanisms of the psyche, awkwardness, shame during self-disclosure. It can be easier to talk about a picture than to talk about yourself and your experiences. The very first deck of such cards was called “OH-cards” - after the impression we get when we just turn over the card. “Oooh”, this exhalation is usually the first reaction to the card (surprise). This is imaginarium in its purest form - marking your associations.😈 MAC for playing with friends is completely legal and interesting, and no professional knowledge is needed. 👿If you include them in psychological and psychotherapeutic work, then it is no longer enough to simply buy a deck and study recommendations for its use. It is important to know the rules of how the psyche works, because a traumatic experience can also arise, and then you will need skills to work through it or bring the state back to normal, at a minimum. And, importantly, this is not fortune telling. Not tarot. Not predicting the future, etc. This is the work of the individual himself to find answers. This is the work of accepting responsibility - whether to “take” the interpretation for yourself, whether to “refuse” it, or try to “shift” it to your life. In this activity, a psychologist is a guide who will help (with questions, not answers and his own interpretations) to reach some conclusion, or obtain some kind of internal resource. It is not the map that gives these answers, but our psyche, the person himself, who finds it. I invite you to the “Meaning Associations” training, where working with MAK will allow you to take stock of the past year, make plans for the next and find an internal resource and support https://www.b17.ru/trainings/smyslovye_mac/