Morality of Reading in Church

First some brief information:

I have been in Alcoholics Anonymous for the past 5+ years and we go on Matt Talbot retreats at St Elizabeth collage.

In the building where we have retreat at there is a small chapel that we have free use of.

I was Raised Roman Catholic in a typical Irish American house hold. I am A mixed bag of Pagan beliefs now.

We were on retreat a few months ago and we were using the chapel after hours to do some meditation from a book by a jesuit priest and I had my DruidCraft deck with me.

When we were done we and a person who pretty much believes in things the same way as me where the last ones to leave. The alter( cant remember if that is the correct word for it) was right there would have made a perfect reading table but something said not to.

I would not have done anything wrong and I have the utmost respect for everything there but I just could not bring my self to do it also the other guy was really against it as well.


But next time I go I plan on doing a Celtic cross spread when I am alone I am just not sure if it is wrong or offencive.

Let me ask you this: You would like people to respect you and your tarot alter and not bring the Bible into your church, so,...............why would you disrespect the chapel (granted it is mortar and brick) but it was put there for a more traditional way of worship? To me, and not that you should hide your cards, but I would appeal to the authorities and ask permission. After all, if I came into your house with a Bible with the intent of worship I would first ask permission. Just my opinion.


Baroli

Well In AA we have a concept of " this is spiritual not religious" I pay just as much as everyone else and I in fact have a few bibles in my room from my first retreat.

Tarot is just my way of talking with my higher power.

Thanks for your opinion we can discuss this at our meet-up in NYC!!

First of all, congratulations on that 5+ years!! What a miracle you are! I got sober in '85 and back then the statistics were that only 5% of those in recovery ever make 5 years of continuous recovery. I don't think the picture has changed much since then, so you're a bigger miracle than you might know.

The Catholic church has done a lot to help alcoholics by sponsoring retreats like this ever since AA began. Many priests and sisters were very instrumental in helping alcoholics into recovery and through it. They've been very tolerant of all kinds of things us alkies have brought along with us. While I don't think anyone is going to come along and tap you on the shoulder to throw you out for using your cards, I think it's a matter of you considering what's respectful of them, though. If you only had 30 days or three months of sobriety------maybe. But with 5+ years I think it's time to consider the bigger picture and be respectful of the beliefs of the Catholic church so I'm glad to see you're doing that. If you're using them privately just for yourself to communicate with your HP but not doing readings for others, then I don't see anything wrong with that.

For myself, I think I'd just use the retreat time for prayer and meditation along the lines the Catholic church would have intended. There are many ways of being in contact with your Higher Power, after all, and it never hurts to do something different for a little while. I tend to have tunnel vision, being an alcoholic, so widening my view is always refreshing and helpful. My cards are always here to come back to and my appreciation of them would be enhanced by concentrating in a different direction for a little while. In fact, I purposely do focus somewhere else now and then.

Maybe next time you could find a pagan retreat for alcoholics. If there aren't any, what a great idea to organize one, huh?

In Sainte Chapelle, in Paris - they sell Tarot cards at the souvenir stand in the main cathedral. The images from the majors are found on and in cathedrals all across Europe.

It’s not disrespectful, it’s not immoral.

No, it's not disrespectful or immoral. But you're talking about Europe, not America, and here the views of the Catholics I've known aren't as liberal as in Europe.

I see nothing wrong with it but then again, I am a sinner.

Solitaire* said:

But you're talking about Europe, not America, and here the views of the Catholics I've known aren't as liberal as in Europe.

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Has little to do with 'Liberal' views - in Europe, they still play the game - in the US, they say, "Game? What game?" In Europe, they are informed. In the US, they think they know it all.

It all depends on the attitude of your hosts. I used to go to a Buddhist summer school at a place which had a little chapel that we used for meditation. We would put a Buddha and candles and incense on the altar and there was no problem. Then the management of the retreat centre changed and the new people asked us not to, as it was primarily a Christian chapel. So we didn't.

I think the thing to do is to ask . . . they will respect you for asking, even if they say no. That would be far better than to do it without asking and, perhaps, cause a rumpus.

coyoteblack said:

Tarot is just my way of talking with my higher power.

Thanks for your opinion we can discuss this at our meet-up in NYC!!

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As is praying and reading the Bible is mine as well as the Tarot. We probably

won't get to discuss this as I do not like going into NYC, which was why I

was hoping for a different meetup place.


The truth is, is that if I were to come into my church and do a reading on the alter, (which I never thought really is a great place, nice smooth surface, etc), I would be tarred and feathered and lectured on how Jesus threw the moneylenders out of the temple because they were selling on Sunday, or some other moralistic story from the Bible.

That is the mindset I grew up with; that is the mindset I am desparately trying to work through because I find it so,..............illogical to place such a high premium on a place that was built out of stone and mortar. I am just saying that, that is the argument you might get if you were to do that, and no offense was meant.

Sheesh a gal just won the right to bury her husband, a pagan, in a US military cemetary and have a Pagan sign on the headstone after much debate with people who yet again have that same mindset.

Baroli