tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-143440332012-02-16T08:07:34.573-06:00My thoughts on the TarotSteve B.noreply@blogger.comBlogger141100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14344033.post-13566678839147085832011-05-31T11:26:00.001-05:002011-05-31T11:26:40.618-05:00

5 StaffsToday will be a struggle, but you are well prepared and ready for the challenge.- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Steve B.noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14344033.post-1129417992491580262005-10-15T18:12:00.000-05:002005-10-15T18:13:12.500-05:00

To begin, I would like to dispense with two of the most prevalent myths about the Tarot, one on either side of the credibility divide:Myth #1: The Tarot was invented in ancient Egypt and passed down through secret societies like the Templars and the Masons until emerging in Renaissance Europe. Alternatively, the pictures on the 22 so-called "Major Arcana" refer to secrets discovered by the

Steve B.noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14344033.post-1129318137176728852005-10-14T14:28:00.000-05:002005-10-14T14:28:57.183-05:00

In addition to the far-too-many Tarotists who blithely pass on completely discredited misinformation about the history of the Tarot, either from ignorance or chicanery, there is a slightly smaller group that does at least recognize the value of historical scholarship, but is so heavily invested in the belief that the Tarot represents "ancient wisdom" that they endeavor to keep as much as possible

Steve B.noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14344033.post-1129245292632354912005-10-13T18:14:00.000-05:002005-10-13T18:14:52.636-05:00

That many Tarotists still quote de Gebelin's version of where the word "Tarot" comes from (see last post) is unfortunate, not only because it reveals those individuals to be ignorant of a subject they presume to lecture others about, but because it gives the Historians ammunition to paint all Tarotists as careless about facts. Indeed, far too many Tarotists dismiss the importance of historical

Steve B.noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14344033.post-1129158003459501432005-10-12T17:59:00.000-05:002005-10-12T18:00:03.466-05:00

The Tarot is an oracle, which means it is a tool for getting in touch with something or someone outside our ordinary human consciousness. Some believe they are communing with God, others that they are merely dredging up things from deep in their own subconscious. Still others theorize that the Tarot puts us in touch with pagan gods, or mysterious but natural forces we don't yet understand. In any

Steve B.noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14344033.post-1128921215037512262005-10-10T00:14:00.000-05:002005-10-10T00:13:35.056-05:00

Here are two definitions of Tarot:1) The Tarot is an oracle -- that is, a tool for getting in touch with something or someone outside our conscious minds -- consisting of 78 cards, 22 of which have symbolic pictures that are rich with symbolic meanings and reference ideas, entities, and/or forces that have been known to at least the intellectual and spiritual elites of all ages and places. Most

Steve B.noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14344033.post-1125791686499169762005-09-03T10:41:00.000-05:002005-09-03T18:55:38.216-05:00

Here are a list of statements "by" each of the Tarot trumps, with some possible alternates:I - The Magician - I shape (I work, I manipulate, I assert, I make, I will)II - The Priestess - I know (I comprehend, I perceive, I understand, I believe, I intuit, I feel, I conceal)III - The Empress - I give (I bestow, I nurture, I cultivate, I develop, I support)IV - The Emperor - I rule (I order, I

Steve B.noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14344033.post-1125787941410296842005-09-02T17:51:00.000-05:002005-09-03T18:55:06.526-05:00

Q: When did the moon become the sun?A: When Delight became Delirium.

Steve B.noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14344033.post-1125356767547446752005-08-29T18:19:00.000-05:002005-08-30T01:48:09.866-05:00

I'm starting over from the beginning. If I ever write the book, this is where it will start:Whenever I pull out a deck of Tarot cards, there are a few questions everyone not already familiar with the Tarot immediately asks me:"Why are there pictures on them?""Can you really tell the future with them?""Can anybody do that, or do you have to be psychic?"My answers vary to some extent, depending on

Steve B.noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14344033.post-1124924162688076322005-08-24T22:53:00.000-05:002005-08-29T16:50:51.246-05:00

I've decided I'm not really ready yet to unveil my theory of the origin of the Tarot deck (still got a few things I need to work out). So I'm going to jump right into the symbolism and meaning of the cards.First, let me make an important point: I do not believe that the cards original creators had any intention of using the suits to symbolize the four elements of alchemy; indeed, it is quite

Steve B.noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14344033.post-1124572822477406222005-08-20T10:19:00.000-05:002005-08-29T16:47:32.633-05:00

I'll get into the actual symbolism and meaning of the Tarot cards later. For now, I'll just say that the original cards depicted a fairly standard Christian allegorical sequence of the time. Those who find hidden Neoplatonic, residual pagan, alchemical or astrological symbols in it are both right and wrong. Right, because those things are inescapably part of the symbolism involved. Wrong, because

Steve B.noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14344033.post-1124489631771045972005-08-18T23:11:00.000-05:002005-08-29T16:46:46.816-05:00

We have some idea of what these allegorical processions were like from a poem by Petrarch called "I Trionphi" (an alternate spelling), in which we are presented first with the figure of Love in the form of a beautiful woman. But the poet's Love for this woman is no match for her Chastity, which triumphs in this life. But even the best men and women must fall prey to Death. Ah, but her Fame may

Steve B.noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14344033.post-1124406223365767472005-08-17T22:17:00.000-05:002005-08-29T16:47:00.910-05:00

If the Tarot was not intended as a way to secretly transmit esoteric wisdom under the noses of the Church, how can it also be true that there was symbolic content indicative of deeper meaning in it from the very beginning?To understand this seeming paradox, you must understand the world in which the Tarot was born, a world quite different from our own. It is hard for those of us living in a

Steve B.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14344033.post-1124320231281940672005-08-16T22:10:00.000-05:002005-08-29T16:44:11.620-05:00

Despite what you may have read elsewhere, the Tarot did not originate in Egypt as the "Book of Thoth," nor was it devised by a gathering of magi in Morocco in 1200. It was not a medium for the secret transmission of dangerous esoteric knowledge during the centuries of Roman Catholic dominance in Europe. Originally, the Tarot was a game.What we now call the Tarot began somewhere in northern Italy

Steve B.noreply@blogger.com0