Tarot Under Attack...

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 15 Sep 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

ming	15 Sep 2002
I attended for the first time yesterday, a development class in mediumship at our local college of parapsychology. The principle there told me they frowned on the Tarot cards, because it "pertains to the future, ie fortune-telling, and as such is open to fraud/speculation." I thought what a bloody cheek ! As if there are no fraudulent mediums??? I explained that if it wasn't for the tarot cards I wouldn't be aware of spirits at all, and it was the tarot which brought me here in the first place. So then a lady kindly explained to me that if you can see or talk to spirits through "a bit of cardboard then you are a medium, plain & simple, ---just throw them away--they're only a prop & not serving any useful purpose"...You'd expect them, of all people, to be a bit more open-minded, wouldn't you ??I got the feeling that they felt themselves on a higher plane, you know---abocve all that sort of frippery...Pretentious or wot ?Although at the same time I was very impressed by their abilities...& saw a weird and wonderful display of table-turning....

Kazz	15 Sep 2002
Ming, Hi I find that really strange, as I am in a (once a month) study group for the tarot and one of the women there is a medium and runs a spiritual church, she is all for the tarot, she has been doing this for a very long time (as she is quite elderly) and she thinks that everyone has their own little ways to explore this journey, with whatever preference. Personally I think that if you can become aware of spirits through tarot cards, then how much different is that to a medium who isn't using the cards. I'ts still gets the same result doesn't it??? I must admit that I do not know a great deal on that subject, and I find, the more I explore my tarot cards the more doors I am opening. There is alot more to the tarot, and there are people who only see them as "fortune telling" and that is it. But as you said "It was the tarot that bought you there". I am with you on that. Cheers Kazz :TQC

Mojo	15 Sep 2002
Wait... let me make sure that I have this right... We have a COLLEGE OF PARAPSYCHOLOGY that is offering a CLASS ON MEDIUMSHIP claiming that something else is OPEN TO FRAUD AND SPECULATION. Thank you. I haven't laughed that hard in months.

David River	15 Sep 2002
They sound very uptight to me. Arrogant also. It really shows a lack of awareness. Nuff said. David River

blackthorn	15 Sep 2002
As Mojo said thank you for the laugh it has been a long weekend,,,I needed that ..lol The things people will say..lol

Kiama	15 Sep 2002
Hi Ming! I'm sorry to hear about what you had to put up with. I doubt the people who said those thisg to out fully unerstand all the OTHER uses for Tarot... Things like pathworking, spellwork, storytelling, counselling, etc... Maybe it would be agood idea for you to offer to give a talkto the rest of the group on the Tarot, include something about why it isn't just about 'fortune-telling', and thus try and help them uderstandhow it has all it's other uses. Also call me a prude, but mediumship... Isn't it's predictions fairly set in stone? At least the Tarot shows you what COULD happen if you carry on doing what you're doing, not what definitely WILL happen. Maybe the mediums you met have ignored this factor. Kiama

Umbrae	15 Sep 2002
It was once said that,” a mind is like a parachute. It only works when it is open”. I love open minded enlightened people. Many of them become the enemy with whom they wage their wars. ...And know not, that they are plummeting like a homesick rock. 8)

Laurel	15 Sep 2002
Just one more example of the "One True Way" mode of thinking where people are so desperate to have 'their way' accepted that they go to enormous lengths to reject both complementary and opposing points of view. Ick, Ming.

Liliana	15 Sep 2002
Fundies are fundies whether they quote God or the Goddess and apparently they are if they quote spirits too lol :THP

sparrowspirit	15 Sep 2002
It has been my (very limited), experience that, even though a person may have a particular skill, or gift, or education, doesn't mean that they are particulary insightful nor spiritually advanced. Any truly spiritual person knows that there are many paths to enlightenment, and who is to say that tea leaves or cowry shells are any less useful than tarot or ones own inner sense? It seems to me that the universe is designed such that our lessons are all around us; in the breezes that blow, in the pattern of raindrops on the ground. Are we aware enough to take our lessons? Who hasn't had a particular problem that they just can't seem to solve, decided to take a walk, or listen a song, and suddenly got the answer in the lyrics of a song that "just happened" to be playing? About two years ago, I started learning about numerology. I was talking to my mother about it and she chastized me saying "don't you know the only true art of that type is astrology?" I thought that was so hilarious. Then again, my mother isn't necessarily very spiritually advanced, (not to sound judgemental, we are all on our own journies, at our own pace), nor spiritually aware.

MeeWah	15 Sep 2002
Ming: That is *so* strange, considering the source! There is a metaphysical church in the next town that emphasizes "spiritism" (not sure if I have the correct term) or mediumship; holds classes on the subject, hosts visiting mediums but also offers Tarot readers. I agree with everyone else's comments, especially Sparrowspirit & Liliana. My mother is no stranger to the paranormal & used to consult a soothsayer in the old country, but she takes a dim view of my Tarot. That floors me.

Molly	15 Sep 2002
well, the older I get, the more weird I find people to be... LOL. I always thought that as I aged I would have figured more stuff out and been better able to predict (ha ha ha) patterns and reactions in people. Instead, as I age, I find that there is no normal, everyone is weird, the world is in flux, there are limitless patterns, and there is irony under every rock. And the future is never exactly as I expect it to be. And sometimes I laugh and sometimes I feel like crying and, geez, sometimes I just want to do both. (But this would definitely be of the laughing catagory.) *G*

ming	16 Sep 2002
Thanks all for welcome reassurance/support ! Its not finished yet, because i just booked up for another course, in Trance (?) So I'll go back and get my bit in again ....I have to add that one or two, as always, were ok about the tarot, but not the "high ups".Naturally, because they know everything !!

catlin	16 Sep 2002
Hi Ming, I am sorry to hear that you have made such a bad experience. Close minded ppl exist everywhere so don't let this distrub you.

Jewel	16 Sep 2002
Quote: Originally posted by ming I have to add that one or two, as always, were ok about the tarot, but not the "high ups".Naturally, because they know everything !! ~giggles~ don't you just love meeting the ohhhhh so enlightened ...

Eyes of Night	16 Sep 2002
I find it very odd because it came from that particular source. My catholic religion teacher says it can be possible, as long as you believe.

midnightmerry	16 Sep 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Molly Instead, as I age, I find that there is no normal, everyone is weird To quote the quote I have framed and hanging on my study wall: "Normal is the average of deviance." Think about it.

Molly	17 Sep 2002
<<< "Normal is the average of deviance." >>> I really like this! *G*

ming	17 Sep 2002
molly---swap house with me...we had 5 feet of snow last winter...spent hours digging the car oot and then found out it was the wrong one....

Molly	17 Sep 2002
ROTFL... I'm sorry, I'm still laughing. Geez, it probably wasn't funny at the time. I bet your neighbors said thanks though!

Eyes of Night	17 Sep 2002
We have people to do that, but we got to keep our car in the garage. The worst of all is when the service stops and it snows, IN MAY!!! ( happened last year, and a few times before that. Funny part is it hardly snowed in January)

The Tarot Under Attack... thread was originally posted on 15 Sep 2002 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.