What does the word "spiritual" really MEAN?

This is tarot-related, because I am trying to figure out what people really mean when they make claims such as "tarot is a spiritual tool" and "I prefer to ask spiritual questions of the tarot." When it comes down to it, what does this word "spiritual" mean?

It can't mean the same thing as "self- reflective." No, that's different. Surely it can't mean "religious."

This spread talks about spirituality but doesn't explain it:

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=164176

What does this word mean and how does tarot relate to it?

Dammit all, posting on a aphone and it posted too soon.

Was going to add that I have a vague idea that certain decks of mine (those of Julie Cuccia Watts, and the Star tarot, and the Wheel of Change and the Rumi) are "spiritual." But why do I think that? What does this word mean?

And why do we have an instinctive belief that we need whatever this word means, even if we don't know what it means?

Religious and spiritual are two different concepts. Take AA for instance. They have a spiritual program, not a religious one. Religious indicates a belief in a specific deity (or deities) and you follow actions or non-actions that are laid down in laws given by that deity. In a spiritual program or practice, it's more of an agnostic thing. You're acknowledging a Higher Power (and conceding that you're NOT one) and you strive to develop a relationship with that Higher Power of your own choosing, but it's more a voluntary relationship and not a necessary, required one. In AA, people are free to believe as they want to spiritually, whereas with an organized religion, they're expected to believe as they're instructed to.

I don't know if that's much help in answering your question, but it's the only illustration I could come up with without coffee circulating yet.

I don't really have an answer for you, especially not a neat and tidy one, but I've been trying to grasp what spirituality really means (to me) for a while now (not limited to tarot), so I'm curious to see everyone's input here!

For now, I use "spirituality" and "spiritual" as a sort of umbrella term for everything that goes beyond the limits of natural science, everything that's related to "non-material" (on this "side" of everyday reality) beings or forces/powers (spirits, deities, ghosts, guides, angels, fairies, "energy," the Universe, and whatever else people believe in) and our interactions with them. So basically, its a huge box with a mess of random concepts, worldviews, and beliefs in it.

The most difficult things for me (at the moment) is drawing a line between spirituality and ethics/politics (not the kind that is related to voting and parliaments but the everyday dealing with power dynamics and groups of people and such). Whenever I try, it all runs into each other until I eventually give up and decide that maybe these things aren't supposed to be separated from each other anyway...

Chiriku said:

This is tarot-related, because I am trying to figure out what people really mean when they make claims such as "tarot is a spiritual tool" and "I prefer to ask spiritual questions of the tarot." When it comes down to it, what does this word "spiritual" mean?

It can't mean the same thing as "self- reflective." No, that's different. Surely it can't mean "religious."

This spread talks about spirituality but doesn't explain it:

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=164176

What does this word mean and how does tarot relate to it?

Click to expand...

Spirituality is something that is learned from within and refined to a particular individual as they grow through their life. Religion is something that is taught collectively to groups of people under specific doctrines. Spirituality is more like, "All for one" and religion is more like, "One for all". So you see how they can go hand-in-hand.

To understand one's spirituality, they must be self-reflective. But essentially, (and this is all from my own point-of-view) spirituality is what radiates outward from us, from our individual souls, our internal divine spark that keeps our physical engine running... and religion and/or our way of life help shape it in the physical world... to define it further would be impossible because then you would be delving into the ethereal body we each have within us, and which are totally unique to each person.

Tarot can help us reach to find our "purest" sense.

To me it's akin to what Grizabella said, though I think I may have a slightly simpler way to explain it.

Spiritual has to do with things that help us connect with Spirit. That being said, note that I capitalized spirit to indicate the divine however one may perceive it to be as opposed to ghostly types of spirits. Many possibly feel a connection between them and spirituality in the sense in which I've defined it, but IMO that is a view that can differ from one person to another. So... anything that helps us connect with Spirit (the divine).

It's difficult to give a definitive answer since "spirituality" means so many different things to different people. One can use descriptive terms to try to explain what it means to him/her but often these words sound more like new age buzzwords and will mean little to people for whom they are unfamiliar or uninteresting. I've experienced this myself when trying to explain the tarot or other spiritual interests of mine to people who are either skeptics (that's healthy) or downright hostile to spirituality (that's not healthy, imo).

Nevertheless, all I can say is that tarot is spiritual to me because it helps me explore myself, what is within, and makes me how I fit in with the universe around me and how I connect with it. It's also a tool for inspiration and, hopefully, wisdom through both the answers it provides as well as the questions it gives birth to (often more questions than answers)
Last but not least, it's also a way to help other people on their own life paths and that in itself is spiritual to me.

Edited to add: I dont connect it with any particular "spirits" though.

Hmmmmm....


Well certainly religion is spiritual, although spiritual is not religion.
Kinda like that whole rectangle / square mess.
Im not especially religious, just wanted to point out the two are not exclusive to each other.

According to Webster:
Religion-
(1) : the service and worship of God or the supernatural

(2) : commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance

2: a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices

3: archaic : scrupulous conformity

4: a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith


With the exception of 3 (which is extremely negative) all these definitions could also apply for spirituality.


.o2

In some quarters, "spiritual" has a close connection to "noumenal."

"The noumenon is a posited object or event that is known (if at all) without the use of the senses. The term is generally used in contrast with, or in relation to "phenomenon", which refers to anything that appears to, or is an object of, the senses."

In the realm of metaphysical practices, psychism and mediumship come to mind, but I've always thought of it as the concept that there is a higher form of consciousness at large in the universe that MIGHT (and that's a mighty big "might," as any Deist will tell you) have an interest in how things play out on a human scale for it's own inscrutable purposes. But I'm not holding my breath, waiting for any sort of incontestable sign of its presence (no matter how many bibles are thrown at me).

'Spiritual' means 'of the spirit' and 'spirit' means different things to different people.

Tarot as a spiritual tool? Well, when you hear someone say that, ask her what she means.

Best way to get an accurate answer.

Some people use tarot as a service to others. Some use it as a means of personal insight and development. Some use it to communicate with their 'higher power' whatever that is.

All of those uses may be regarded as 'spiritual'. Depends on your perspective.