The Emperor card. Information, please?

Wow. Ravenest, you have gone through great lengths to prove your point and your article is impressive.

I won't be as presumptuous as to claim Crowley was schizo, I asked if he was because somewhere in history, many great perople were discovered to have suffered from some form of neurosis.

To claim Jesus was neurotic, I wonder how that would appear so to anyone when he did no harm. To claim Mohammed was neurotic, well, then Moses would have been neurotic as well, they shared similiarities in the their leadership of a people oppressed. If we look for a crack in someone, we will find it. Sometimes we stumble upon it but then again, even the chosen by God were men when they walked upon the earth. Difference is they acted according to their principles and in the end, we make our choices to accept or reject their messages based on that, don't we?

I am a Muslim and if you asked me, there is a difference between a zealot and a believer. One practises according to one's faith, the other seeks to impose his/her believes on others regardless of the damage done.

Who really knows who is mad until madness shows itself in harmful ways not to oneself but in the action one does that effect the masses.

On that topic, how many people (I don't keep track, maybe some here knows) have lead cults that ended in mass suicide? How many people have ordered their followers to harm those outside their camps simply because they are unbelievers? Were the leaders of these cults divinely inspired or simply suffering from delusions? Who really knows?

We change our minds often enough, villian today and hero tomorrow. But if we are seeking answers, is it wrong to question or is it acceptable to follow blindly the masses who are already in the "herd" mentality?

There may be some unspoken friction between psychology and the tarot, each camp views the other with distain but in reality, they cover similiar ground using jargons specific to the "inner" circle. Sort of like the pot calling the kettle black.

Back to the topic though, I think that when there is a crack in a theory, it means that the theory may have a fraction of the entire thruth but does not encompass the entire truth. Because if there are inconsistancies in a theory and humans aren't perfect, it's not unreasonable to deduct that theories thought up by humans may be flawed.

From your article, ravenest, it seemed that these gentlemen were on their personal journey to seek answers themselves but whether they found it, the followers of each camp are still argueing their stand to this day.

Ash

Actually Ash, there are several scriptures that indicate Jesus doing harm. Most of them are apocryphal, but there are some in the bible. Harm can be a rather subjective topic though, as we all know.

I have heard that a lot of psychologists use tarot in their practice. I know from experience that many practice magic along with psychology. A good percentage of what magic is is only applied psychology though, so that figures.

I think it's pretty evident that religious experiences are delusions. A person's illusions are a part of them. We need them to give our lives purpose. We all live in our own world, some more so than others.

By the scriptures, do you mean the bible, J? That too has been tampered with so I can't say I'd swallow that whole.

Apocryphal means it could have been made up, stories people tell to one another embellished to make it more juicy so again. Questions after question as to the authenticity of it all.

As for psychologists using the tarot in their practice, my mentor is a psychologist. In fact, she was the one who opened up the door for me to reading and understanding the cards with some decency.

However, I do know that the mention of tarot in my class brings sniggers, the mention of psychology is discussed with suspicion in some threads. Those who have the best of both worlds are fortunate indeed.

Ash

I meant the bible and the scriptures that didn't get included in the bible. Of course there are questions to the authenticity of it all, and we know that many scriptures were ghostwritten and backdated, but they nonetheless exist. There are some scriptures pertaining to Jesus' youth in Egypt where he put curses on children who harassed him. For example, he killed one kid for knocking down his sandcastle.

lampkin said:

There are some scriptures pertaining to Jesus' youth in Egypt where he put curses on children who harassed him. For example, he killed one kid for knocking down his sandcastle.

Click to expand...

What juicy bit of info.... I heard that he had a temper too but he was nonetheless special. There are many stories I've heard about "misdemeanors" even from prophets.

Whatever the case, I think he eventually came up with a gem. The one about casting the first stone... I like that best of all I think.

The site you asked me to look at, by the child Akaine had several gorgeous portraits of him and the one with him kneeling amongst the stars was my favorite.

Ash

Yes Ash, Akiane is amazing. Her ideas are very alchemical, though I somehow doubt she knows anything of that art. Her inspiration is clearly divine. She's even got that painting of a lion called Strength that she did at age 7.