Rite or Religion

<smile> Agreed. You can't get more secular than petty personal lusts.

Rite is ceremonial act.
Religion is a process to worship deities.

Paganism is a religion that has many rites and practices to worship old gods.

Tarot is a tool to pull information out of your brain. Same as this, just pritier.

bluelagune said:

Tarot is a tool to pull information out of your brain. Same as this, just pritier.

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I think it is interesting that no other explanation is needed for Tarot other than assuming that it is a projection device. At the most minimalist level this seems to be the most verifiable explanation. And yet few tarotists want to leave it at that. Personally, I see no reason why a half-dozen other explanations couldn't also be considered. https://marygreer.wordpress.com/2015/03/15/stephen-hawking-on-prediction-and-astrology/

Why should we even need explanations? I don't need to understand the complex physics and pages-long formulae involved when I pick up my hammer and drive a nail into my wall, I just do it. Same with Tarot. I don't need to know, I just pick it up and use it. Just as I wouldn't use a deck to hammer in a nail, I wouldn't (well, haven't yet) tried to divine using a hammer. The right tool for the right job, an that's really all I need to know.

Teheuti said:

I think it is interesting that no other explanation is needed for Tarot other than assuming that it is a projection device. At the most minimalist level this seems to be the most verifiable explanation. And yet few tarotists want to leave it at that. Personally, I see no reason why a half-dozen other explanations couldn't also be considered. https://marygreer.wordpress.com/2015/03/15/stephen-hawking-on-prediction-and-astrology/

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Left hemisphere of human brain calculates probabilities based on past experiences and all tarot does is alows those probabilities be projections in a comprehensible language. Well unless you see a devine hand of God within tarot and someone decides to worship it. People have worshiped worst things than tarot cards

nisaba said:

Why should we even need explanations? I don't need to understand the complex physics and pages-long formulae involved when I pick up my hammer and drive a nail into my wall, I just do it. Same with Tarot. I don't need to know, I just pick it up and use it. Just as I wouldn't use a deck to hammer in a nail, I wouldn't (well, haven't yet) tried to divine using a hammer. The right tool for the right job, an that's really all I need to know.

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No, perhaps you don't need to know the physics involved in using a hammer, but some fundamental and insatiable curiosity within me wants to know. Plus, understanding the mechanics of the force you apply and the angle at which you apply it can allow for a more effective use of said hammer.

But that's a conversation that probably belongs more in one of the "How Tarot Works" threads.

alchemist1248 said:

I looked back at my original post and I realized that I was a little lazy with the language I used. Belief, to me, is not the main commonality of a religion. Practice is. Religion is something that we do outside of ourselves. Something that we practice together. Part of what I'm trying to ask is whether we have that much in common at all.

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Okay, so religion is defined by a commonality of rites rather than just a commonality of belief. This is a good starting point for us.

But what commonalities do you see? I've said before (as have others on this thread) that I have difficulty perceiving anything beyond the simple fact of reading Tarot cards. Some people predict the future; others are vehemently opposed to this practice. Some people place candles and crystals on their reading spaces, and others do not. Some readers on here don't even perform readings for other people, preferring only to use the cards as a personal tool for growth--or, on the flip side, don't read for themselves and will only draw cards for another's question.

Now, all of this could just as easily be considered a question of diversity, and a religious community can still be diverse. (Just look at the variety of beliefs and practices under the Christian umbrella.) But in order for it to be a community, and not just an eclectic hodge-podge of people, there must be both a shared set of beliefs (i.e. what Tarot is, how and why it works) and a shared set of practices (e.g. ethical concerns regarding which questions a reader will answer). And on top of that, all members of the community need to identify themselves as belonging to that religious group.

Do you see this unity in the Tarot world? I have difficulty finding it. And this is not just a question of belief regarding how the cards work, but is also a matter of practice. For example, I personally am vehemently opposed to third-party readings and do not offer them. However, other readers on this forum have no qualms about performing a reading regarding someone without their knowledge.

Or even if we step out of the ethical realm and just into the mundane mechanics of reading the cards, I, for example, riffle shuffle my cards. Many readers in this community consider that treatment of a deck on par with heresy.

I'm willing to accept all of these differences as facets of a variegated but ultimately unified whole, but only if you can show me exactly what the bond is that ties Tarot readers together despite these differences. In my opinion, the simple fact of reading Tarot cards is not sufficient.

Is tarot a religion?

Only if you pray to your deck.

nisaba said:

<smile> Agreed. You can't get more secular than petty personal lusts.

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Yes. I'm surprised more people don't use those erotic decks that are out there for this sort of thing (unless it's just not putting a pretty enough face on it). Some of those get right to the prod . . . er, point.

Teheuti said:

Speaking of commonalities: I think you'll find that the single most common question or spread position that people ask about in the Using Tarot section is "What does person X think/feel about person Y?" I'm sorry but that just doesn't seem very religious to me.

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Actually, some religions are centered around pleasing other people in addition to a higher being. Considering the aforementioned, what someone thinks of person A, B, or C would be acceptable foci for a religion.

I see that there is a newly instituted "First Church of Cannabis" in Indiana, so I don't see why there couldn't be a "First Church of Tarot" - however I would never join either one of them.