Well Worn Path sequel: The Hidden Path

Loewenzahnhexe said:

But you have to learn bevor the concepts / principles of tarot, which are based on ceremonial magic rather than on natur principles / natur laws. You must learn it. By the path decks you must not learn the principle, you must understand and feel it.

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Just a quick aside. While not all tarot decks are based on ceremonial magic, Wicca is heavily laden with it....in it's rituals, beliefs etc.

If you don`t know the difference between Greenman, Stage horned God, Oak King and Holly King it is difficult for you to read the cards. If you know all these aspectes of the great God, each of this cards contains a big source of information you can use by your reading and you could not understand, how anybody can be confused about "these are all the same".

Each card is the sum of a complete principle, what is much greater, than it`s parts. Through this, one card offers much more than a tarot card can do. A tarot card bases at archetypes (major arcana) and suit and number (little arcana). And that is all, what they are doing. If you know the archetypes, suits and numbers you are able, to read the tarot cards better. But you have to learn bevor the concepts / principles of tarot, which are based on ceremonial magic rather than on natur principles / natur laws. You must learn it. By the path decks you must not learn the principle, you must understand and feel it.

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Now, I spoke with the creators of both decks Raven Grimassi and Stephanie Taylor both who are pagan. After much teasing of the Christian (that's me) wanting to use their decks, I was assured that using the decks, even though I am not familiar with the lore and legends and beliefs of wiccan will be quite alright and in fact a spiritual experience for myself learning about my path and The path. So to say that if you don't know the differences of the Horned man, Green Man, etc. that it will be difficult to read with these decks is a bit inflated as I think that using the decks, actually using them will teach the novice or the Christian the differences.

The other thing is this; I don't know where you were shown how to read the Tarot, but not everyone memorizes the pat meanings found in a book. I am totally an intuitive reader. Don't open books, don't like them. Why spoil the messages being picked up by your mind? I do the same with the aforementioned oracles as well. Makes for an interesting reading session.

Baroli

Baroli said:

The other thing is this; I don't know where you were shown how to read the Tarot, but not everyone memorizes the pat meanings found in a book. I am totally an intuitive reader. Don't open books, don't like them. Why spoil the messages being picked up by your mind? I do the same with the aforementioned oracles as well. Makes for an interesting reading session.

Baroli

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Yes, what I was thinking as well. Everything she mentioned about going deeper into a card and "feeling" it...making the card intensely personal, is exactly what a lot of people do concerning tarot (myself included).

I was asked to say, why this Deck is the best deck ever for me and how I did readings with it. I have tried it.

Most of my Tarot-Readings during the last years were done with Druid-Craft Tarot (bevor that I have done Tarot-Readings with Thot), the pictures of the cards inspiered my intuition but I had to learn the "number 5 means..."thing. The first time, I had well worn path in my hands there was an answer to all questions, without learning a number-5-thing. It is much more feeling the card than looking at the picture and open the mind.

For me is this the difference. That does not mean, that this should be the difference for all other people and that they have to use these cards the way I do, and it does not mean, that a Christian could not work with the deck, if he does not know a difference between Gods. It is just my explanation, why I do all readings with this deck and to show, that they have not the same meaning.

I had never written, that no intuition is needed for a Tarot-Reading. The context was the different underlying concepts from the path-deck and Tarot and the way to understand or feel the concept. Sorry, I had at the beginnings from my Tarot-Readings feeling or intuition for just the pictures and archetypes - but not for numbes (which are part of the underlying concepts of tarot); and so I had to learn the number-concept. Once again: that does not mean, that no intuition is needed for a Tarot-Reading.

6 Haunted Days said:

Just a quick aside. While not all tarot decks are based on ceremonial magic, Wicca is heavily laden with it....in it's rituals, beliefs etc.

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I have spoken from natur laws / nature principles, not from Wicca. And I have thought, 40 of the cards from a Tarot deck bases of numbers, not "all the pictures from all Tarot-Decks are based on ceremonial magic". It does not matter if you hold an rider-white or an native amerikan deck in your hand: the numbers are the same (maybe the suits, majors and arkana are a bit different).

Loewenzahnhexe said:

I have spoken from natur laws / nature principles, not from Wicca. And I have thought, 40 of the cards from a Tarot deck bases of numbers, not "all the pictures from all Tarot-Decks are based on ceremonial magic". It does not matter if you hold an rider-white or an native amerikan deck in your hand: the numbers are the same (maybe the suits, majors and arkana are a bit different).

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I think I am confused So the study and meanings of numbers (numerology) is based on ceremonial magic? Now that I know isn't true.

I was thinking more the early and 1st known tarot's were defo not ceremonial magic based, so the basic structure and reason behind tarot isn't related to ceremonial magic, the Golden Dawn (and some before) are the big culprits and that was only infused in the tarot in the late 19th. century. Perhaps I am misunderstanding.

Either way, I am glad you've really connected wth the oracle, that's always a wonderful thing

If you are interested, I´d like to have a further discussion about that, it is interesting.

I don´t think, that Golden Dawn was the first ceremonial magic "society". For example the egyptians and the jews (...Kabbalah) uses a style of magic, that I would call ceremonial, because it is more scientifical than based on Nature. Puh, it is hard to explain, but I try... Mathematics and Physics are based on Nature, but more abstract, if I had to sort them in a category, I`ll would put them to cermonial magic, not to a pagan religion / ideology. For me is numerolgy not so concrete than for example herbalism. I know, that the druids got a form from astrology, but it was not so abstract than astrology is today. I would put modern Astrology rather to ceremonial than to pagan.

What do you think about that?

I would love to go to a trade show or some kind of convention for tarot with classes. I can't seem to find many and they are far away.

I never knew there was a sequel to the well worn path. I have enjoyed working with the 1st and excited to hear you can use the 2 decks together.
I am tempted by this but I am looking for a deck with stonehenge on one of the cards. does this deck have a card with this on it?

LunaFae

6 Haunted Days said:

I think I am confused So the study and meanings of numbers (numerology) is based on ceremonial magic? Now that I know isn't true.

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From one perspective I think the inverse is true. A lot of modern ceremonial magic is actually based on the meanings of numbers, which was further developed and expanded in the context of magic systems. The meanings we use for the numbers comes from many traditions, but I think most clearly from the Greek philosopher's, Pythagorus et al. So 400BC or so maybe.

But why were meanings for numbers first developed....