Why is Tarot here???

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 22 Nov 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Moonbow*	22 Nov 2003
I asked my 12 year old daughter if she had any questions about Tarot and she said: Why is Tarot here? Why did people start using cards to predict the future. Does anyone have an answer? Moonbow*

jmd	22 Nov 2003
The following is not the kind of answer I would provide a twelve year old... but strives to encapsulate my thoughts in less than a longish essay. With the proto-Renaissance, a new kind of consciousness appears, and three impulses, each of which have deep impact on later esoteric development, appear. One of these is the emergence of the Novel - with such classics as Perceval and Don Quixote; another is the ermergence of Freemasonry, in some ways metamorphosising the mystery traditions; and the third is the development of illuminated manuscripts and the visual 'art of memory', eventually coming to (with other impulses) the Tarot. Each of these seems to engage a different faculty - the three faculties deemed important in the esoteric development of the individual: the Imaginative faculty, in some ways connected with the Image and the visual; the Inspirational faculty, in equivalent ways connected with hearing and the Word; and the Intuitive faculty, engaging the Will in the act of ritual. It is as if, then, a period - similar to a Chrysalis state in history - was entered, into which spiritual impulses were to deeply enter and metamorphosise our ongoing development. Tarot, in my personal view, arises out of this transformative period - beyond what the individuals who may have physically given 'birth' to it may have been able to grasp or comprehend in its manifold tasks... Why is Tarot here? As a spiritual tool to assist in the development of the spiritual organ of the Imaginative faculty...

Rusty Neon	22 Nov 2003
Divination is probably as old as humanity. People used all sorts of media (e.g., clouds, dreams, fire, planets/stars, etc.) to divine the future. http://athena523.tripod.com/divination/typesdiv.htm It's only natural that when game-playing cards (such as 32 card piquet decks, 52 card decks, and tarot decks http://www.tarothermit.com/infosheet.htm) came onto the scene, that those too would be used for divination.

Nevada	22 Nov 2003
In our day-to-day dealings in the world, we tend to get stuck in left brain, linear thinking. In order to engage the intuition we need a trigger to nudge us out of those entrenched thought processes into a freer flow, almost a non-thinking process, a letting loose of the inhibitions and controls. The visual, multi-dimensional Tarot symbols help us make that transition. IMO, that's *why it works* as a divination system. As to how it evolved, I would think that when many people were illiterate, being able to see the pictures and "pips" was conducive to communication of these ideas between the educated and less educated classes of society. But I'm not a historian, haven't delved into the history of Tarot at all--yet. Nevada (with apologies for all the edits--finger slipped and sent too soon) :)

Star Spirit	22 Nov 2003
Why is anything here, the way it is today? Who knows. As for some things, I'd rather not find out :)

lilsher	22 Nov 2003
Don't you just love when children ask you things that you don't have an answer for? I recall my son asking me, "Mama, why is ---a bad word?" And my answer was, "Hmm... Well, um. Hmm... Uh, I haven't got the slightest clue. Just know that it is and leave it at that." hehe :)

Moonbow*	23 Nov 2003
Thanks for answering her question. I've learnt something here myself too! Some of this is very deep, and makes me want to do some of my own research. She's satisfied anyway. I've put the links (thanks Rusty Neon) in my favourties to read later too. M*

Moonbow*	23 Nov 2003
BTW. I see Tarot as a way of tapping into the subconscious. Theres still alot that 'we' dont understand about the brain, and it is far more powerful than we realise. I agree with both Rusty Neon and Nevada on this. I feel that all divination tools help us to draw out the subconscious whereas our ancestors had more 'natural' ways i.e. they would read stars, the weather etc. I still like to think there is a little 'magic' there but I'm sure it stems from us ourselves. M*

ros	23 Nov 2003
I think it is our guide to get through our life, just as our dreams. The Higher Intelligence wanted to help us get back home but didn't want to just give us all the answers, so we have to find them. It's the game of life. If you choose not to play do you lose? We choose to help ourselves in different ways, I this is one choice.

firemaiden	24 Nov 2003
Quote: Originally posted by jmd [...] Each of these [three developments of the proto-renaissance] seems to engage a different faculty - the three faculties deemed important in the esoteric development of the individual: the Imaginative faculty, in some ways connected with the Image and the visual; the Inspirational faculty, in equivalent ways connected with hearing and the Word; and the Intuitive faculty, engaging the Will in the act of ritual. How very beautifully expressed jmd. I have learned something wonderful. Thank you. (Bravo Perceval le Gaullois)

Cerulean	24 Nov 2003
I cannot answer your question about fortune-telling, since I don't use tarot like the fortunetellers that I have seen on television commercials. I like different kinds of card games. I've always liked pictures and things such as screens, scrolls and historical stories, especially with costumes. Many children I know really enjoy watching cartoons rather than movies, until they get older. The cartoons appeal to their imagination. Many adults like pictures as well. I like to paint and draw, as well and still watch different cartoons. A long time ago, there wasn't videos or cartoons, there were pictures and books. Books could be very expensive and not everyone could read very well long time ago--but they did learn numbers and liked to play games. Games with pictures and numbers included cards. In some countries, tarot like games are historical and people enjoy collecting the old style pictures for their charm. Some of these old fashioned games developed into gambling, some into fortune-telling, some were educational or family portraits...the tarot decks that I collect had different uses in different times. I'm learning to use them in different ways, but not like a psychic or old fashioned fortunetellers that you see on television or read about in Jane Eyre...I'm not good in any of those things.

The Why is Tarot here??? thread was originally posted on 22 Nov 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.