[saltyfamiliar]

> I've never met any proponent of technical analysis who maintains that they can divine patterns purely from the shape of the candles, without knowing what they're trading or what day it is?

I have. The theory is that the fundamentals of the security are reflected in it's price movements, so reading its price action is roughly analogous to reading news relevant to the instrument. Also it's not really about looking at the "shapes of candles." That's a frankly primitive approach to technical analysis, and one of the biggest reasons that people keep drawing comparisons to astrology, numerology, divination, etc..