Tarot And Religion

mystic mal

Oh Solitaire..if only he would just let me explain that in just 4 cards which he could read from my Tarot book he could SEE himself and what its all about.The EMPEROR..rigid and self righteous in his beliefs which crush all human feelings....The Heirophant...Living by the higher spiritual laws and ignoring the fact that we also have a baser side as humans and the HERMIT where he spends hours alone praying and enjoying solitude.In the HANGED MAN he has sacrificed everything for his faith.IS that healthy? He is missing out on so much because of his Catholic faith and beliefs.I sometimes feel like the "temptress" and I respect what he believes in...why cant he with mine?
 

Pook

I'm not really sure what religion I even could claim. I'm not sure that any orgnized religion would even let me in the door with the mismatched plethora of spiritual beliefs I have.

I've had some interesting experiences with religion.
To start all the way at the beginning, my parents decided against baptism and went for the, as I understand it, Baptist ritual of dedication. Which basically means that were dedicating themselves to raise me the right way and in the Baptist church so that I would, once I understood the ideology, decide on my own to be Baptised.
So far, this has not happened.

I went to a smattering of Baptist churches in the first 15 years or so of my life. I like the sense of community and togetherness you get from a small town chuch. The pastor's wife actually ended up being my 11th grade English teacher. But it's hard when you don't feel the same as the other people in the group.
I left that behind when I realized I was going to church for the people, and not the religious experience or for God.

In comes tarot....

I still don't go to church, but I admit, I still like the idea of it. A gathering of people who have similar ideas, strong fated pulls in the same directions in life and who you can trust to say what you really feel. I love the sound of church bells, and the lighting of candles. But that's not who I am.

I guess I would say that I am a mix-and-match spiritualist. I think someone here once described it as a "salad-bar spirituality."
I believe that all religions have merit, as long as they encourage people to live peacefully and lovingly. I believe that we all worship the same God, regardless of the Name that we call him/her when we pray. I believe in Heaven. And I believe that tarot is a useful spiritual tool.

I'm sorry I dont remember off the top of my head who already said this here, but, I agree with the idea that as long as we are open to hear it, God can speak to us thru whatever medium he wishes. That includes Tarot cards.
 

MistressNatasha

Whoa!

I leave for two days and all this happens! Haha! Monday night I bought the Gilded Tarot (AMAZING!!!), and, of course, there's school that takes up about 7-8 hours and last night I had a choir concert so I haven't had a whole lot of time until now to check this. And, might I say, this thread has ground so much. It's really quite amazing and interesting. :) Everyone's stories are incredible.

~Mistress Natasha
 

Psiweapon

Religion? well... I think I have a weird view about it.

I, for one, refuse to worship any being. I might feel reverence, awe, or acknowledgement (heck! I can feel that towards human beings!) but I refuse to kneel down to anything.

And those three reactions I might feel are quite hard to pry from me.

I don't really believe in aything except perhaps infinity... I do believe that existence must extend in any way possible. I can't really find the arguments but I still kind of trust in that idea, so I think that's the closest to a religious thought in me. If existence is infinite, I'm a dot, but a hypothetical god also is. Perhaps there's an omnipotent god up there but... if there is, I can't understand it or its motives, so what do I care about it; and if it's omnipotent, what does he need me for.

But if existence is actually infinite... there must be every combination possible, so there must be not a god, but an infinity of them. And yeah, by a definition, a god is quite important. But hey, the Milky Way is quite more important than Phobos and Deimos, and what do they care?

About tarot... Well, I like it. I think it's really a beautiful thing. It's also fun, and makes you think. Its simbology its quite powerful - it has quite a way of stimulating imagination. If existence is an infinity, maybe it's fractal-like. If it's fractal-like, it mimicks itself in different scales. And reality does mimick itself in different scales - look at orbits, a structure expressed in a lot of scales. Maybe if we focus the right part of reality... we can look at something that's repeated on another scale. That way we could extract information from an apparently disconnected source...

Perhaps the tarot is an example of that. Perhaps not. Perhaps what I said is just bollocks XD I'm not even sure of it myself (nor want to!)

I also feel that existence is beautiful, but that's an aesthetical thing. Perhaps not absolutely beautiful - but mostly so. And if not beautiful or enjoyable, at least entertaining.

Perhaps divination techniques are attempts at getting passwords for decoding noise (I really like information theories), perhaps it's just a bunch of lies, but I don't care about that: I like it and that's what matters for me.
 

SolSionnach

Alamaris said:
Just a little clarification so folks don't get the wrong idea... she didn't want to exorcise me because I'm LGBT. :D She thought I had a negative spirit/entity in me that was causing my depression and anger, and after a very graphic and horrifying explanation of what I would likely experience in the "exorcism" (tongue turning black, screaming, cursing, losing control of my body), I said, "Nooo thank you!"

I left the course after that episode, needless to say.

As for the other point you mentioned -- I wonder if there's an online resource for finding LGBT friendly churches in one's area. I hear people saying they know of them or have heard of them, but I haven't located one yet. *lol*

Cheers!
- Alamaris

Oh, mercy! I'm so sorry that you had the threat of that experience. Depression is hard enough to deal with without someone saying that you're demon-possessed. :(

As far as LGBT-friendly churches, I'd do one or two things. Ask in the gay community (certainly there's SOMEONE who knows of these things, particularly among the elders in the community), or look in your phone book. Any church ad that uses words like diverse or inclusive is very likely to be welcoming. Also consider the United Church of Christ (I believe that's the one) has *advertisements* that include LGBT couples. You might google them. Then I'd pick up the phone and just *call* and straightforwardly ask. You might get a volunteer receptionist who would stammer a bit, but if they are LGBT-friendly, that will eventually come out.

If you were in San Antonio, I'd tell you were to go!

oops. that didn't come out right! lol

Good luck on your search!
 

SarahRose

I'm a Christian, non-denominational. Wicca is my second "religion of choice," lol.

I'm also gay. Go figure. LOL :p
 

Honda Civic

sravana said:
Also consider the United Church of Christ (I believe that's the one) has *advertisements* that include LGBT couples.

Yep! They are "open and affirming", which is the secret phrase for "bring 'em on in, we don't mind at all". I go to a UCC church and really like it there.
 

Cup_of_Fire

I am merely quite spiritual though I used to be wiccan.

My close friend is hard-core Mormon though, and I got her interested in the cards and even bought her the Medieval deck. She uses it occasionally.