View Full Version : Would you go underground for tarot?
Logiatrix
23-07-2004, 19:26
If tarot were to suddenly become illegal, to the extent that you could be jailed, would you still keep it in your life?
I'm not talking about a situation like the times of burning, or a sudden shift to a Communist state; let's just assume there is no moral or political connection here.
My imaginary scenario only changes this one thing: that the use and ownership of tarot cards results in a hefty fine and imprisonment.
Would you keep a deck hidden, openly protest, or just resign yourself to the law?
:smoker:
For a while, I'd keep my deck hidden, and deny the truth. However, during the time I would find some other rebels, and then start protesting.
Thats the first scenario.
The second.
I would either protest away, or go litterally underground. Hopefully with others.
Kind of similar to D&D, people believing it was the Devil's works. And how it was the reason people were converted to Santanism, did sacrificial rituals, and commited suicide.
Oh, keep it for sure.
It's been in my life for 31 years, I would not give it up.
I thought about this very thing not so long ago, after I read the Handmaid's Tale. (I included books, but I will exclude them here) I would have Ken build me a secret closet or three in our house, where I would keep all my decks.
I would protest, and write letters, give money, and (if I wasn't working full time) volunteer my time.
morandia
23-07-2004, 20:45
well, if I know how to read well enough, I could use blank index cards (shamelessly swiped from another post), so wouldn't need to have a deck.... so could still read, and meditate on what I have in my mind....
Imagemaker
23-07-2004, 20:56
Depending on the Big Brother eye watching every move and finding people (in this scenario are friends and family reporting our moves?), I'd hide decks. Otherwise, I'd create a disguised way to code the cards onto another material.
How about 78 buttons, each one representing a card without being in suits or marked in any way.
When repression is great enough, the oppressed get creative. In fact, in "Woman with the Alabaster Jar," Margaret Starbird says the tarot IS that disguised information already.
I'd go underground AND protest.
Same with Firearms.
Same with Marijuana.
Same with the spiritual.
Same with Freemasonry. Back in Nazi era, Freemason's were rounded up and sent to the showers with others. The Square and Compass was replaced by a pin of the 'forget-me-not'. I remember seeing at an auction a nazi officers dagger, with a forget-me-not inlaid in the middle of the swastika.
:smoker:
Moongold
23-07-2004, 22:15
Originally posted by Logiatrix
If tarot were to suddenly become illegal, to the extent that you could be jailed, would you still keep it in your life?
I'm not talking about a situation like the times of burning, or a sudden shift to a Communist state; let's just assume there is no moral or political connection here.
My imaginary scenario only changes this one thing: that the use and ownership of tarot cards results in a hefty fine and imprisonment.
Would you keep a deck hidden, openly protest, or just resign yourself to the law?
:smoker:
Hey Logiatrix... have you taken up smoking? :D
I would keep my tarot decks. What was that book where "they" banned and burned books. Was it Fahrenheit451?
You might ban things of the spirit and the mind but they just grow stronger.
It was indeed "Fahrenheit 451"--written by Ray Bradbury.
Such a scenario would likely have snitchers ratting out on those who were Tarot-friendly to collect "rewards". No way could I hide my Tarot. I would do as Umbrae: go underground & protest.
I picture myself leading an underground cell of tarot activists! We secretly gather and divine the fall of the oppresive regime. ACK!
We have been found!!! A snitch has ratted us out! Quickly activate cloaking device and change room into Mah Jongg Parlour. Suddenly, Laser beam secretly brands snitch and intruders. Now its my imagination and I can have all the secret devices I want!--Tao
Logiatrix
24-07-2004, 03:35
Originally posted by tao51
I picture myself leading an underground cell of tarot activists! We secretly gather and divine the fall of the oppresive regime. ACK!
We have been found!!! A snitch has ratted us out! Quickly activate cloaking device and change room into Mah Jongg Parlour. Suddenly, Laser beam secretly brands snitch and intruders. Now its my imagination and I can have all the secret devices I want!--Tao
LMAO!!! :laugh:
I want to be a tarot activist!
Heck, why wait?
Tarot Activists Unite!!!
:cool:
Dark Inquisitor
24-07-2004, 03:45
I would hide all the decks in a very strange place not yet determined, and then choose 22 different crystal stones to represent the major arcana and mix them in with some other rocks in a lovely natural arrangement so no one would guess what they really were.
lunalafey
24-07-2004, 03:53
My thought is this-
It's not against the law until you get caught.
I would hide my decks very well and keep on reading.
I too would find others who are readers and have 'sewing circles'
we would have dues for the 'club' and put the money towards the lottery- then when we won some gazillion dollars we would buy an island in the South Pacific and name it Isle of Tarot.
I would then find another way of using it even in the open.
Stones, a regular deck of cards "conveniently forgetting to remove the three jokers who just happen to have ever so slite differences between them", sugarpackages, numbered sticks, counting the chairs in cafes and devining by the querents choice of chair... Oh the ways are endless. :o)
A coincollection could work, the years on them representing different cards, or a stampcollection... Oh, goodness, imagination running wild here...
And I would probably have about 78 or so crystals or mirrors in one of the rooms in my home aswell, just for the heck of it. ;o)
I'd go underground AND protest.
Same with Firearms.
Same with Marijuana.
Same with the spiritual.
Umbrae, you're a man after my own heart (except for the firearms) :D :smoker:
Definately, go underground and protest :D
Love
Sulis xx
Moongold
24-07-2004, 11:10
I have just woken from a dream where there is a team of people who go around reinforcing each Tarot thread underground. The team had buckets of water and they had to pay articular attention to the joints.
Each thread had to be converted to Marseilles purity in order to preserve it. For some reason (I heve no idea why) there were lots of hearts in these underground tunnels. The hearts were red and would just appear in the tunnels. When I asked them why they were changing all the threads the leader said that it had to be done if the threads were going to last.
As we went on I realise that we were in the threads themselves and they were catacombs. Fot some reason Huck was there but I did not know anyone else. Some of the threads grew up though the catacomb ground and became trees in groups of three. These trees and very deep green leaves so they could catch the sun and feed it back down undergound so that everything could live.
We had to decide whther to keep the trees in groups of three in case their function was discovered. And then I woke up.
I think this dream is somehow connected with this thread which I read and contributed to yesterday afternoon. :)
Lunalafey,
You are a woman of my own tribe.
It most certainly is NOT illegal until you get caught. :)
I have this old beloved navy blue T-shirt from a couple of decades ago that features a white ovel of flowers on the front.
Inside the flowers in fancy script it says:
Ladies Sewing Circle and Terroist Society.
What's funny is that very few peole actually read the words, it looks so innocuous, Ladies and Needlework, How Nice.
I very much like the concept of hiding in plain sight, while protesting in extremely sneaky and annoying ways.
Mau-mau the oppressors is what I say!!
so save a pincusion for me, Luna :D
(edited for spelling; I try. really)
And, of course, winning the lottery would be perfect. Would we have to sneak our decks and books through customs, somewhere along the line?
MuffinTops
24-07-2004, 15:08
I guess I am the lone dissenter...
If it meant losing my life and freedom, I would give them up.
(or I would sell them to you guys. ;) )
lunalafey
24-07-2004, 15:16
Muffin-
we will just put you in a big crate with all our decks and paint the outside with warnings of a horrible beast within- DO NOT OPEN!!!
Can you make scary GGGrrrr noises???
then again- If we won the lottery- we could just pay someone off right???
after all- we would be outlaws, gotta live up to the expectations.
No-one could ever take the Tarot away from me by any law.
Because the Tarot is not a bunch of cards. Tarot is a path to enlightenment, and if someone could take that away by a law, it would be a useless path.
Tarot is in my heart and is part of my soul. No-one can see what I carry in my heart and most definitely cannot take away my soul. Because my soul I carry with me in my little bag, which Le Mat (The Fool) carries on his stick that he carries. Le Mat is INDESTRUCTIBLE.... and we are all Le Mat. (Some people even think he carries the Tarot in his bag.)
If they told me to burn my cards, I would light a match and burn them and warm my hands over the fire. The fire would only purify their Essence even further (if that is possible).
blackroseivy
24-07-2004, 17:38
*I* feel already sorta underground, as part of a tiny but close-knit rural community as a new-comer - it doesn't get any easier here in the Bible Belt! How about, Terrorists unite!!? :P
How about Taroists Unite!!!! 78 windows lead to victory! Beware of the taroinjas they use razorsharp cards and throw them with great accuracy while reading the victims future. The government agency for stopping tarot activity have undercovered the tarot people. There are groups of 78 people in an enclave each assumed the name of a card and are constantly repeating meanings. They stand on their heads and give reverse meanings. They form a Celtic cross to formulate a concerted effort. (Apologies to Ray Bradbury.)--Tao
I would still do it, I would protest, and if that didn't work I'd look for a place to live where it was legal. If mine were confiscated I'd make myself new ones.
Nevada
Originally posted by Diana
No-one could ever take the Tarot away from me by any law.
Because the Tarot is not a bunch of cards. Tarot is a path to enlightenment, and if someone could take that away by a law, it would be a useless path.
Thank you Diana! for saying it the way "I" think of it! It isn't just 78 piece of colored card stock, it is a way of thinking and exploring the universe. Mind-control? Escape underground? NUTS! I will fight to the death to think as I wish!
Barb
colusaskye
24-07-2004, 20:09
as of right now i have to hide my cards under the couch and wait for everyone to leave the house before i use them, my actual religion of choice is kept hidden inside me, because letting things out would create some big problems around here.
so it might as well be already illegal here, and I'm still reading my cards!
If push comes to shove though, i could substitute with a regular card deck, mixed with a few cards from go-fish and old maid, eh?
it's my new card game! it's a new form of a version of solitaire!
I would be terribly sad if I had to resort to that though.
Imagemaker
24-07-2004, 20:15
I have this old beloved navy blue T-shirt from a couple of decades ago that features a white ovel of flowers on the front.
Inside the flowers in fancy script it says:
Ladies Sewing Circle and Terrorist Society.
Magpie, I have one of those, too! Doubt it fits me anymore, but it was always one of my favorites.
I love Tao51's scenario of each of us being a card and expressing our individual meanings. Performance art!
Underground and protest...using firearms if necessary!
Kind of fun (since it's not real, at this point!) to think about us uniting and fighting evil oppressors and sneaking around with our cards, coming up with codes and stuff. (I can't wait to see your new embroidery pattern!)
As for burning them...well, I OFFICIALLY only have 3 decks (I'll pick ones I never use!) so here, Tarot Gestapo, take these!
(Um, I think you guys are meaning to spell "Terro-ist" society? Hi, Tom Ridge.)
lunalafey
25-07-2004, 00:27
TAROTIST ?
lol- boy are we in trouble now....
some one might hear that wrong
Phantom Goddess
25-07-2004, 01:25
I would protest. I would also go underground. I believe in Tarot and I have to follow what I believe in. Tarot has a permanent place in my heart and I would never lose them.
So are we creating the Terrifying Ninja Seamstress Tarotists, Latest incarnation of the Hole in the Wall Gang, progeny of Edward Abby and the mysterioso 78, out of simplicity patterns?
Cool. I get dibs on being the Sundance Kid. Who wants to be Butch? Emma? Thelma? Louise? Dr. No? Billy the kid? Che Gueverra? Geronimo?
We could have a slogan...something like, Ummm, "You Can Take Our Cards But You Can't Take Our Cards" While they're figureing that out, we can escape in boxes that make growling sounds and sound sort of... shuffled? when stacked for shipping....
(Somebody help me, I'm babbling and can't get up.........:D)
laura_borealis
25-07-2004, 02:05
I used to have the same t-shirt y'all are talking about -- I have felt funny about wearing a shirt that says "Terrorist" on it in recent years though. (There have been a couple of incidents where people who took themselves much too seriously told me it wasn't funny at all.)
I think I'm going to have to make a Ladies Sewing Circle and Tarotist Society t-shirt. :) Now to come up with a good design...
laura_borealis
25-07-2004, 02:07
Originally posted by magpie9
So are we creating the Terrifying Ninja Seamstress Tarotists, Latest incarnation of the Hole in the Wall Gang, progeny of Edward Abby and the mysterioso 78, out of simplicity patterns?
Cool. I get dibs on being the Sundance Kid. Who wants to be Butch? Emma? Thelma? Louise? Dr. No? Billy the kid? Che Gueverra? Geronimo?
We could have a slogan...something like, Ummm, "You Can Take Our Cards But You Can't Take Our Cards" While they're figureing that out, we can escape in boxes that make growling sounds and sound sort of... shuffled? when stacked for shipping....
(Somebody help me, I'm babbling and can't get up.........:D)
:D :laugh: :joke: :laugh: :D
The 78th Fool
25-07-2004, 04:57
Certain of my really close friends who I've known for years and treasure would fear my involvement with tarot, let alone understand it if they knew. Nevertheless, their input into my life is too precious for words.
In this small way, I've gone underground for years and my experience is probably quite common. Doesn't it make you realise that if you go this far on a daily basis you probably wouldn't even think about going much further if you had to.
Chris. x
Sillanza
25-07-2004, 12:53
First things first: it's not illegal now? Oh, heck. Now I don't want to practice it any more. :D
Ok, now that the obvious joke is out of the way ...
Sign me up as a member of the Mysterioso 78 Sewing Circle (actually, I knit ... is that OK?). I am a firm believer that anything is legal until you get caught; as a cop's daughter, I think I know whereof I speak! I would definitely keep and hide my cards until forced to say, "I have no idea where those came from." Giving up the physical cards would be hard, but not impossible since as others said better than I, no one can take what's in your heart and mind.
Laura, if you start selling t-shirts, let us all know!
Seed Crystal
25-07-2004, 17:56
Oddly enough, I have kind of been in this situation. Long ago in Catholic school, I read a normal card deck. I got in minor trouble for supposedly running a poker game; no one mentioned anything else, and once it was clear nobody was betting money we still could have cards at recess.
And I had a friend who went to communist china for a couple of years as grad student. She decided not to take "controversial" books and items. And she was discreet/avoided connecting with like-minded folks because at the time all foreigners were under close observation. (I don't know about now.) She was glad to return.
In the dooms-day scenario of repression: I'd probably keep my decks for myself, and develop skills in other methods. Can't stop me from dreaming, looking at flames or rocks or water or patterns in ceiling or floor tiles... And I'd start collecting decks to preserve them. MuffinTops, I think I'd have a go at convincing you to GIVE them to us... or if you really want the profit, get seriously into the black market by selling multiple copies ;-)
Magpie I loved the Ladies T-shirt too.
Aside from _The Hand Maid's Tale_ has anyone read the _Native Tongue_ series by Suzette Haden Elgin?
in lovingkindness,
Logiatrix
25-07-2004, 17:58
Yes, I want a t-shirt...but I'll have to learn some sort of needlecraft now, to keep my cover!
:joke:
It is true, tarot is in your head, so it really just comes down to how important the physical accoutrements are to you...
That being said, I'd be seriously bummed about hiding or even losing my cards, but I think I'd be able to move on--and happily rebel.
Heck, I'm used to living on the fringe!
:D
diane drizzy
26-07-2004, 14:44
I see myself as in the olden days having to "hide" my cards and adapt to the expectations of society. I guess sort of like they did in some countries when the Catholic church settled in. They simply went along with the program and incorporated their own beliefs.
Or else I'd be a Winston Smith in 1984, and simply hide them.
firemaiden
26-07-2004, 16:24
Interesting thing is... it is precisely such prohibitions which give us historical dates on early playing card and tarot usage. What is it about tarot that makes people want to prohibit it? What?
I've been mostly underground anyway, because of the anti-spirituality bias in this household.
What? I took out my cards in front of the family and guests this weekend.
"Oh, I don't believe in that stuff" "oh, I don't go for religion" "oh, I don't like belief systems"-- just a few of the silly comments I heard.
"Whatever, its a tool", I said, "these are just pretty pictures - no belief required".
You should have seen the relief on their faces...
(I should have said "don't worry, spririt is not going to nab you right off the bat, you get some lead time")
lawguy51
26-07-2004, 17:16
I'm with Firemaiden on this one. We're already there. Like with most intolerances, the intolerant sneak up on you slowly, until it's too late. That's why I keep my Tarot cards IN my gun locker. Well, no, I don't, but now you've got me all paranoid (but even paranoids have enemies, right?)
Lawguy51 :smoker: (in disguise, pretending to be Umbrae)
So, now that Tarot cards have been made illegal--we now find the Tarot Read-easies! You need to know the password. Then there are bootleg decks that have harsh or strange colors. --Tao
Logiatrix
27-07-2004, 00:11
Originally posted by tao51
So, now that Tarot cards have been made illegal--we now find the Tarot Read-easies! You need to know the password. Then there are bootleg decks that have harsh or strange colors. --Tao
Now I know what I'm gonna do--I'll be the proprietor of a Read-easy!
It'll look like a dry-cleaners to those not "in the know," but if you are a tarot-ist bringing in a dust ruffle (of a predetermined color and design), you will be allowed to slip past the press-boards to the back.
Of course, you'll have to slide the password, "Marseille," into small-talk first... ;)
I can see it now:
New taroist in town strides into the ordinary looking dry cleaning shop, florishing a purple and peagree calico dust ruffle. He slaps it down on the counter, then shakes it, (cough cough) and cries:
"Oh goodness, I could have sworn I had my Marseille cloak with this," (wink wink) "and I had so wanted to wear it at the ..Ummm..Poetry reading saturday. I say, do you have it anywhere here?"
At which the counter person responds, "Certainly, sir, we can check our lost and found for it. Of course, you'll have to fill out a card"
To which the correct response is, "And I was so sure that my Mercury had gone retrograde, but now it seems to be direct"
The clark inquires, "who told you it had gone retrograde?"
"Joe the magician "
"In that case, I'm sure we have it here sir, If you'll walk this way"
Counter person duck-walks away, with customer duckwalking behind.
:D :D
Originally posted by Logiatrix
...Of course, you'll have to slide the password, "Marseille," into small-talk first... ;)
"Psssst…I got this duvet in marsailles…Hay-dare…can you make it innocent? Or is that a big…Zero?"
Originally posted by Umbrae
"Psssst…I got this duvet in marsailles…Hay-dare…can you make it innocent? Or is that a big…Zero?"
ROFLMAO!!!!! Hey, Bud Ise wearun my bes' Marsay foh duh okayshun.
Read-easies! I love it - my great aunt was a flapper and hung out in Speak Easies...we'd have retractable reading tables, and the wall that displayed decks for sale would turn all the way around...would we have live bands playing ragtime? Or classical for the Marseille room and New age in the Robin Wood room...and they'd make wild silent movies about us with hapless Gumshoes trying to track us down HA!
If there's anybody in film school here, I think I've got a project for ya!
Logiatrix
27-07-2004, 01:35
...so there you are--you made it past the steam, past the crates of starch, past the boxes of unclaimed ties.
Through a door under the stairs (isn't always a door under the stairs?), and down a narrow passage way, you are lead by candle light--for effect, mostly--until you reach a beaded curtain (again, for effect).
Through the curtain and into a large room, there they all are...table after table, covered with cards and crowded with Aeclecticians from all over the world--the premier faction of the Underground Lady's and Men's Sewing Circle and Tarot-ists Society.
They await you, draped in their dust ruffles.
;)
Now I'm having visions of the opening of "Get Smart!"
:D
SongDeva
27-07-2004, 15:47
Originally posted by VGimlet
Oh, keep it for sure.
It's been in my life for 31 years, I would not give it up.
Maybe your collection would be grandfathered, VCG. ;)
Originally posted by Logiatrix
...past the boxes of unclaimed ties.
Umbrae looks at his tie that he 'sniped' from Khatruman (http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=317303#post317303) (sorry buddy, but all's fair in love - war - and e-bay). "Damn...wearing this will get me jailed, or worse...but as long as there are Read-Easy's, I'll have a place to wear it..."
I would keep my favorite and most treasured deck, Thoth, Rider Waite Smith, and a Marseilles deck safely tucked away in a safety deposit box until the new laws blow over, or I move to New Zealand... whichever comes first. :)
Just standing around stirring up a batch of Mar-say soup for my 22 seat hole-in-the-wall greasy spoon across the street from that drycleaners. The one with he faded dust-ruffles for sale sign in the window. I'm thinking that they might do better if they were selling T-shirts or something, not that many dust-ruffle conneseurs left, nowadays, since they nabbed Ms Martha.
And another thing,It's kinda weird how many people go in there carrying sewing boxes. Juli, Micks kid, thinks they must have some kinda sewing class in the back, maybe even quilters, like for the toilet paper. Old Mrs Jaminski says it's some kind of an evil plot, but everybody knows she's had evil plots on her mind since her husband made off with a blonde and the bank account back in '72.
Personally, I'm thinking that maybe these are the Menders, somebody's gotta do the mending, right? There's something strange about them, they act nervious and they talk funny. Maybe they're illegal aliens, or something.
Sometimes a bunch of them come over here afterwards, have those crazy conversations, eat a lot of grilled cheeze sandwitches, real fond of my Mar-say soup. Takes all kinds to make a world.
cartarum
31-07-2004, 14:55
i did go underground for along time when my parents decreed that i was not to do it anymore. but i didnt listen. even after most of my books were thrown away, i kept at it.
~A~
Originally posted by magpie9
Just standing around stirring up a batch of Mar-say soup for my 22 seat hole-in-the-wall greasy spoon across the street from that drycleaners. The one with he faded dust-ruffles for sale sign in the window. I'm thinking that they might do better if they were selling T-shirts or something, not that many dust-ruffle conneseurs left, nowadays, since they nabbed Ms Martha.
And another thing,It's kinda weird how many people go in there carrying sewing boxes. Juli, Micks kid, thinks they must have some kinda sewing class in the back, maybe even quilters, like for the toilet paper. Old Mrs Jaminski says it's some kind of an evil plot, but everybody knows she's had evil plots on her mind since her husband made off with a blonde and the bank account back in '72.
Personally, I'm thinking that maybe these are the Menders, somebody's gotta do the mending, right? There's something strange about them, they act nervious and they talk funny. Maybe they're illegal aliens, or something.
Sometimes a bunch of them come over here afterwards, have those crazy conversations, eat a lot of grilled cheeze sandwitches, real fond of my Mar-say soup. Takes all kinds to make a world.
Maggie9 I think you should write a book!
After reading your post I wanted to read more.
Cerulean
31-07-2004, 18:34
What a fun storylike snapshot.
Across the street, in a dim window, look there!
The small woman in a summer sleeveless and gym shoes is thinking:
I'm tucking my Egyptian pseudo-history appreciation cards in my satchel. No one at this Asian tearoom reads Italian subtitles of Egyptian hieroglyphic paintings. No one of the radicals-turned-reactionary censors ever seriously read anything that had the stamp of Etteilla or Egyptian, so I'm safe from prying eyes. And any secret romantic would not dare to give me away---how could they explain their former idoltry to the false prophets?
Hahaha...my roses safe among the thorns...and those darn " 'gyptiens " had some use after all!
-------------------------------------------------------
Two more formally dressed beanpoles in shades and faceted chins stroll in, scanning the seated. Oh-so-casually they look over the head of the woman's
pageboy and decide she has terrible taste in art. She even looks like she's writing in chicken tracks. They toss down their Thai ice coffees and sail out for the Russian Tea Room down the road
-------------------------------------------------------
A pirate with an eyepatch and a caped crusuader amble by. They are gentlemen with their own sense of style, down to silk sachel bags hanging from the belt made of delicate and rare materials. One of them even has a tie that looks suspiciously ragged around the edges.
Indeed, many Aeclectians visit this dim cafe and vanish in the back room for a quick flick of their favorite picture book...and the wireless connection to a certain underground supplier of these forbidden joys...(the code-name this month of one these secretive links was nicknamed Jeannette, the legendary French connection).
6 Haunted Days
23-11-2007, 13:31
I had such fun and insight reading this old thread, I thought it would be wonderful to bump it up for others who might not have read it :)
And yes, I would keep my beloved decks, though greatly pared down to essentials and go underground and protest.
I'd like to think with our collective talents, passion, drive, compassion and love we as a group would be a very formidable force indeed! })
Briar Rose
23-11-2007, 14:02
As long as I lived in the United States I would definitely go underground!
Great thread! I'd probably hide my decks somewhere and leave them alone in hopes that it became legal again.
I would protest on behalf of religious freedom.
firefrost
23-11-2007, 15:54
Definitely keep my decks hidden 'til the law came back to its senses.
I would die before I stopped doing Tarot, that's like part of my life sooooo if people said to stop, screw them too XD I would hide all my decks and still do it in secret
The room is stuffy, filled with people who are laughing and jeering, and the accused, under charge of having too much fun, sits in the box, willful but worried. In the third row, fourth from the left, a middle aged woman listens and knits, and knits and listens " knit one purl 2" She knits a scarf, but an odd scarf at that, with an intricate design that looks vaguely like an Mmme D in a pomegranite... Behind her sit two other women, listening and working on patchwork quilts in a star design.. ..and in the corner a slightly crazed man with a dog napping at his feet is tossing sugar packets in the air... those old ones with "scenes of Canada" ( Ok so you have to be from here, and of a certain age - but I'm sure they had them with Mount Rushmore too). He is giggling slightly madly and saying " Saskatchewan wheatfields, crossed by the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, how auspicious!"
In or out, one deck at the local independant bookshop or 35 on the shelf at Chapters, we find a way. Frankly, there are days when I thnk it was more fun when it was slightly illicit, and Chapters didn't have shelves entitled: "Tarot & Numerology, Wicca and practical witchcraft, all next to Self help and diet.....
FlyingWitch
24-11-2007, 09:05
Of course I would go underground! I never follow rules
thorhammer
24-11-2007, 18:06
I'd like to think with our collective talents, passion, drive, compassion and love we as a group would be a very formidable force indeed! })
I think the same, mate. And once again, thanks for bumping. It's nice to see older threads revived, and fun to read others' comments from so long ago.
Me? Well, I came out of the broom closet (and also placed one foot firmly in both the other closets, if you know what I mean) whilst ensconced at a Catholic, all-girls boarding school. I practised witchcraft, Tarot and nature worship in that environment, constantly being raided by the PTB's for my incense and "contraband" books (although mine weren't seen as being as dangerous as say, Cleo magazine })) and having to hide stuff in the ceiling, bury stuff in the gardens, know ahead of time when the "raids" were going to happen, all that. I was always vocally opposed to dogmatic Catholicism and spoke out against sweeping statements even that early, in that restrictive and oppressive environment. I was alone. No one stood with me, but I stood nonetheless.
So, what do you think I would do? Of course I would continue with Tarot. I would protest, go underground if necessary (although I find martydom glorious, let's not delude ourselves. A dead "grand Tarot poobah" isn't any good to the cause, is she?). No way would I give up Tarot. It's made me who I am today. People around me could learn so much from it if they just allowed themselves to.
\m/ Kat
I'd go underground AND protest.
Same with Firearms.
Same with Marijuana.
Same with the spiritual.
Same with Freemasonry. Back in Nazi era, Freemason's were rounded up and sent to the showers with others. The Square and Compass was replaced by a pin of the 'forget-me-not'. I remember seeing at an auction a nazi officers dagger, with a forget-me-not inlaid in the middle of the swastika.
:smoker:
AGREED!
If it comes down to it.... I'll take a few of the goons with me, when they knock on the door in the middle of the night... and they can pry my weapon, my Bible & my deck from my cold deck hand.
As Mel Gibson [Willian Wallace] says in Braveheart ......FREEDOM....!!!!!!
Tarot Activists Unite...:D
Mac22
HearthCricket
24-11-2007, 21:42
Absolutely go underground and then find others with the same beliefs and fight for it. Very Farenheit 451 question! And I would hide several decks in several places, including places far away or woods, etc. Possibly with directions on what they are and how to use them...in case we lost the battle, but someone decades/centuries later came across them and could bring tarot back.
MoonLitCrystal
25-11-2007, 00:14
It's the same way that I feel about other things that are "illegal" but do not harm anyone: I would just do it anyway, in the privacy of my own home. I would also provide a safe haven for others who enjoy reading Tarot; they would know that their secret was safe with me.
I'd probably go underground. Honestly, I'm already sort of underground. Not for fear, exactly... more just caution. Sure, it's not illegal, but it could interfere with aspects of my professional life anyway, and I dislike dealing with other people's assumptions when I don't have to.
Wandering back to the question... I think I'd join a rebel cell if one found me, but I also think I would be too paranoid and afraid of informers and double agents to actively seek others myself. Unless the cards warned that excessive fear/caution was itself a Bad Idea. No point in preserving them if I wasn't going to pay attention to them! :)
sleepingcat
27-11-2007, 08:29
I'd go underground- Sign me up for the read-easy.
And of course, I'd run servers in 3rd world nations with few laws and less desire to run after other countries' criminals... >: 3 And seed tarot files on IRC and USENET with the file name torat.crd.
They cant keep me from tarot any more than they can keep me from nipping an mp3 here and there. > : 3
No problem,. I will build a house from my collection.... they'll never look at the WALLS.......... :D
Those who hope to be de-enabled may wish to avoid this post.....
And seriously - there is no way I would abide by a law like that. :mad:
morticia monroe
27-11-2007, 08:49
It's the same way that I feel about other things that are "illegal" but do not harm anyone: I would just do it anyway, in the privacy of my own home. I would also provide a safe haven for others who enjoy reading Tarot; they would know that their secret was safe with me.
Amen.
missycab
27-11-2007, 16:02
It depends.
If it's illegal like "downloading music from Internet", yeah, I'd go underground.
Now, if it's more like a "persecution", "Salem witch trials", then no. I guess I'd burn my cards, like my mom had to do with a book by the Che Guevara during the last dictatorship we had here.
ofbainbridge
27-11-2007, 19:08
If the thing was important to me and I felt the law unjust than yes I would go underground...I would keep doing it...I would teach it and find a way to preserve it for those who came after...
celticnoodle
27-11-2007, 19:23
yep. i'd go underground too! i'd hide my decks, and if need be all of them, save the playing cards. i'd go back to reading the 52 deck for awhile, and i'd also protest. i may keep one tarot deck hidden close by, that i could sneak out and use at appropriate times. i already have to hide them somewhat from certain family members and friends, so i'm use to that!
Skydancer
27-11-2007, 19:42
Yes; of course. I can be very sneaky. And I can go anywhere un-noticed unless I choose to be.
*S*
ZenMusic
27-11-2007, 22:01
I picture myself leading an underground cell of tarot activists! We secretly gather and divine the fall of the oppresive regime.
hmmmm.. then, why aren't you already doing that?
ZenMusic
27-11-2007, 22:04
I'd create a new deck (or buttons or something) with images that reminded of the images on the Tarot
, maybe like the Tarot was (possibly) created to hide it's sources...