B.O.T.A., anyone?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 28 Mar 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Richard	28 Mar 2003
I asked this before as a reply in another thread, but as no one answered, I'm giving it a little more prominence here...I stopped by the Builders of the Adytum recently, and was excited by some things and turned off by others. The Tarot instruction seemed to have remarkable depth, but some of the stuff in the pamphlets they gave me seemed rather cultish... Has anyone taken a course there, either physically or by correspondence? Is it worth it?

MeeWah	29 Mar 2003
Richard: Some years back, I enrolled in their correspondence course. The course is *very intensive* & based on a qabalistic approach; western mysticism. I do not find the organization cultish, but to be possessed of spiritual integrity, dedicated to the enlightenment of mankind. They work closely with the student much like The Rosicrucian Fellowship (which teaches western mysticism, not Tarot) & like the latter, ask for donations rather than actual fees.

Richard	31 Mar 2003
Thanks, MeeWah...I'll check 'em out. 12 bucks a month sounds pretty good for Enlightenment...;)

Strange2	31 Mar 2003
I have been taking the BOTA correspondence courses for about a year now, and have gained many deep insights into Tarot from them. Some of their supplementary material (newsletters) tends to have a christian mystic flavor, but I have found the lessons themselves to be non "denominational", clear and profound. Well worth the $12 a month, thus far.

Alex	31 Mar 2003
What is B.O.T.A.? Alex_The_Ignorant.

Strange2	31 Mar 2003
B.O.T.A. stands for Builders of the Adytum. It is a Mystery School in the Western traidtion, with a focus on Tarot and the Qabalah. Here's a link for their web site: http://www.bota.org/

Richard	31 Mar 2003
Thanks, again...I just colored my Fool card last night...it doesn't look "professional" by any stretch, but it looks pretty darn good to my eyes. I have to say that's finally what started getting me thinking that this wasn't just some fringe cult: the "Highlights of Tarot" booklet that came with the deck. I've been doing A LOT of Tarot research, and in a mere 70 pages, it managed to surprise me. And I'm not really against the Christian Mystic approach...it's the tradition that the Golden Dawn sprang from, and it's integral to any good GD derived deck, in my view (Yes, even the Thoth).

Lee	19 Dec 2003
I'm reviving this thread to see if there are any new members have any experience with the BOTA courses, or if any of the folks who posted here originally have any new insights after the passage of time. I'd be curious to know whether the courses get into the Golden Dawn's astrological correlations for the pip cards, or if they focus mainly on the Majors; and also, whether divination is gone into at all, as opposed to only using the cards for meditational and philosophical purposes. -- Lee

MeeWah	19 Dec 2003
Lee: There is some reference to astrological correspondences as they are related to the Major Arcana or Keys. The focus is on the Majors. Divination or fortune telling is not promoted nor seen as a purpose of Tarot. Tarot is seen as a body of occult teachings to aid the spiritual development & enlightenment through a concerted effort in developing the inner life. Btw: this was & is my primary interest in Tarot. The divination aspect seemed to occur naturally--or already existed.

Lee	19 Dec 2003
Thanks, MeeWah! :) -- Lee

The B.O.T.A., anyone? thread was originally posted on 28 Mar 2003 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.