Perspectives

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 10 Jan 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

dangerdork	10 Jan 2003
We play many roles in our lives – Child, Friend, Consumer, Student, Explorer, Protégé, Mentor, Lover, Parent, Provider, Advisor, Nurturer… fill in your own. Most of us are expected to play different roles in different situations, and we are often judged on our performance from the perspective of the observer. A great worker might be a lousy parent, or vice versa. That absent-minded waitress who spilled your coffee may be paying her way through medical school, and save your life one day. That big, scary looking guy you avoided in the parking lot that night might just have been dangerdork… In the final analysis, is it reasonable to believe that the sum of the perspectives of all of those whom we touch and affect is a valid measure of the worth and significance of our lives? That’s one way of looking at it, anyway. But the thing is, why should we be restricted to only one way of looking at it? When we judge our own lives, do we define ourselves only by others’ perceptions, only by our problems, our children, our money, our loves, our adventures, our current job title? Or is it a combination of all these things and more -- the more Temperance the better? Hold up a cylinder – turn it this way, you see a square, that way a circle, another way an oval. But you don’t say “This IS a square, a circle, an oval.” You understand its dimensions. The point I’m trying to make is this: The tarot is best observed from multiple perspectives. The symbolism therein is an abstraction of the human experience, and the many decks are different portraits of one universal human personality. It’s the original comic book, an infinite illustrated personal mythology. A tarot spread, or even an individual card, is a song in an unknown tongue which can only improve in translation, a story to be discovered and shared with an eager audience. Why restrict yourself? Examine it from as many angles as possible. The beauty of this thing Solandia has built is that the extensive collection of images (like a great family album of the tarot), and the discussions thereof, have attracted a wonderful and diverse community of seekers to this ethereal museum, herein to discover a forum where all of our voices and perspectives can be collected like some great Alexandrian library and laboratory. We may establish pseudosocial relationships and interpersonal opinions, but above all else this is DATA. This Forum is like reading Nietzsche or Jung or Rand or even Gandhi -- there is some fluff here, and some crap to wade through here and there, but if you keep your eyes open and dig deep you are certain to find some very valuable stuff, in the most unexpected of places. So when any one perspective is offered, it should be taken as a gift. All of us are capable of looking in many directions. At least that’s how I see it.

firemaiden	10 Jan 2003
I love this, Dangerdork. It is getting printed out and going in my Tarot notebook!

dangerdork	10 Jan 2003
I'm very flattered.

The Perspectives thread was originally posted on 10 Jan 2003 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.