The collection is not comprehensive, but it gives an overview of how I think historical price action can and can't be used. (tsi-blog.com)
This is done by comparing current price action with historical price action to identify patterns that can suggest probable future price movement. (pepperstone.com)
Putting it another way, a market's future price action almost certainly will be similar to the price action of that market or some other market at an earlier time, but while it is happening you can never be certain which historical price action is being replicated. (tsi-blog.com)