What if you discovered your favourite deck was painted by a Trump supporter?

linnie

Feeling strongly about people's energies, and energies in general, I believe I'd be really unhappy to discover that the creator's views clearly opposed my own take of the world, if that involved my favourite deck, but I don't think that a deck that felt so right to be as to become my favourite would be created by someone with such opposing views... Perhaps I'm naive ...

I was willing to buy the Osho Zen deck, regardless of its creator, but when I found the "Master" card, I choked a bit and then rid myself of that deck very quickly! Most of the artwork in the Osho deck was quite nice, for memory, but, to me, personally, there's no chance it could have become my favourite ... it's energy and mine just didn't gel :neutral:

I strongly suspect that I would have to break ties with my favourite deck, too, if I learned of such things, but I'm quietly confident that the above situation would be N/A in this instance

I'm not a collector, I just love the feel of some decks...

Having said all that, some observant people below have noted that we wouldn't necessarily know how the creator voted, or why.... But... if I discovered that, well... I'd wonder why I fell in love with it in the first place ..

linnie

YDM42 said:
I view the images on those cards as seeds of the divine- since they speak to my unconscious. SO it depends on the creative process and how you relate to art. Just like all artist, there are some artist you just try to paint pretty pictures of things that already exist, trying to copy it as closely as possible, in other words replicating and re-rendering. That is one type of energy- As an artist -I understand some artist who pursue art differently in that they are trying to communicate things unseen or transfer information of understandings that they are grasping beyond what already exist. That is the exchange of energy I am speaking of. Some cards IMO come with spiritual knowledge and energy. Those are they types of decks I own, and when I have those decks I am usually very engage with the ideas, thoughts and life of the artist or creator. TO me that is an exchange of energy, when I use their knowledge and understanding as a tool to expand my knowledge and understanding of the unknown. Something with crystals and other types of tools I use to divine.

Precisely... and I think that energy comes through if that is the energy behind the creation of those cards....

gregory

cirom said:
I don't think it would be dangerous, just intrusive and the thin edge of the wedge. In terms of boycot maybe that might be a result, it has in my case on a few occasions, but I don't think that is the main concern at least not to me.
As for comparisons with celebrities, I haven't heard of any tarot designers needing security to protect them from the hoard of paparazzi camped outside their homes. Although I was asked to sign a napkin at a Cheescake Factory once, so that ain't too shabby.

Thin end of the wedge. Exactly. Voting is by secret ballot. We all have the absolute right to that privacy. I do agree that someone who trumpets their view on placards outside the tube station is probably OK with people knowing - but that doesn't mean it's OK to go around and advertise that he did so. That's his privilege, not yours.

Le Fanu said:
I don't find it a difficult position, to be honest - you go with your gut. And I don't subscribe to the "but where do you draw the line?" because I know very well where to draw the line thank you. You go where your own gut feelings take you.

I think it's enough to say "this bothers me" and react privately accordingly.

LunaRosa said:
It wouldn’t in of itself make a difference to me and here’s why:

One person’s rationale for voting for someone might be radically different from the next person’s rationale for voting for the same individual. The last thing I’d ever want to be guilty of is assuming I know someone’s inner thoughts, feelings or fears, because I resent when that very thing is done to me.

For example, I know a Bernie supporter who voted for Trump, mainly to spite the DNC because of information that later came out about the primaries. I also have a Russian friend with family members still living in her native country who was genuinely terrified that Hillary would start a war with Russia (something that even Green Party candidate Jill Stein expressed concern over) and so she too opted for Trump.

I mean shoot, if a firefighter rescued me or my child from a burning building, I wouldn’t care one iota about who he/she voted for.

This exactly. I would have had huge reservations about areas of Hillary's platform too - I was appalled that she was the Democrats' candidate. And the dynasty thing. I could not have voted for Cherie Blair if she'd been up there in the UK.

decan said:
Concerning this topic, I don't think I would know if the artist is a Trump supporter or no.
I mean, and this can appear a bit selfish, but I am just interested in the deck itself, not really in the artist life and his/her beliefs (and beliefs can change easily as well, maybe a Trump supporter now was a Obama supporter yesterday and perhaps a Trump opponent tomorrow, who really knows? Many people are inconsistent!)

A deck should be something beyond political views or religions, more linked to the Universe only, our sublunary sphere is just quite imperfect!

And for me, too, the deck stands on its own merits. I don't even happen to believe it "connects with the divine". It just is. I can (with difficulty) even see beyond the dreadful Master card; I just can't get to grips with the deck as a whole. There are terrible cards in many decks. That is far harder to get past.

linnie

gregory said:
And for me, too, the deck stands on its own merits. I don't even happen to believe it "connects with the divine". It just is. I can (with difficulty) even see beyond the dreadful Master card; I just can't get to grips with the deck as a whole. There are terrible cards in many decks. That is far harder to get past.

For me, images can actually take me on a journey to where I feel more connected to whatever place it is that intuition or an inner knowing, almost.. comes from. The decks that don't feel clear and beautiful to me (and I don't mean pretty and fluffy), and so will never become happy companions, simply don't 'touch' my core, as my favourite decks do. For me the images speak, but only if they have a certain energy.

And, yes, really horrible cards within an otherwise beautiful deck can ruin it for me... I also find it hard to get past those.

If I were to stop using a deck because of a connection to a certain person, it would be more because the energy of the deck felt tainted, somehow, rather than as a strictly political statement. Politics sucks. If I have a least favourite day that comes around in cycles, election day is it. Sadly, it seems to almost always offer only the lesser of two evils, rather than anything more hopeful. Meh!

Mi-Shell

YDM42 said:
I think social marketing and branding is and will continue to deeply impact this- as this is direction of marketing any product now and days. The idea is to have clean, responsible companies, who respect the environment, animals and human rights. And the opposite of that - the benefit for the companies, and producers is to not simply sell a deck of have a customer, or sell a product, but to develop relationships with consumers and to be a part of their everyday life. This is the new advertising- being a responsible human being. I don't think its detrimental and you make a great point, but I don't think we can resist where this is going in terms of personal responsibility and spiritual growth of human beings. Behind it is a deep awakening and understanding concerning the footprints we leave and how we contribute to the whole as individuals. I don't think that this is going to reverse itself, I think it will become more of the norm. Conscious living.

It took me all yesterday night to - with much interest -read through the whole thread.
Thank you guys, for every word!
Well, YMD, if this will grow into becoming the new norm, I personally - and many Canadian citizens would be in biiiig trouble.
All us Tarot and card readers could of course freely decide, where and which decks from whom we will buy and which we toss out and which end up in some sad back bin for being beautiful but made by the -for us personally - "wrong" person.
But what about putting our hard earned money where our mouth, our gut feeling and our ethics lead / command us? Most Canadians are rather disgusted at Trump and his supporters. But where could we turn? In our little town of Bracebridge we only have 2 grocery stores: Wall Mart and Mr Grocer. One is waaaay cheaper than the other and provides much needed jobs here, even if they are minimum wage and require people to do morning callisthenics.
So what to do? buy our salad - from Mexico - there or not?
Boycotting the store and have our friends and sisters loose the only job there is during the winter season? They are Not supporters of that system, they just neeeed to somehow feed their kids.....
And in the summer all the wealthy Trump supporters come up here to their cottages, providing more much needed jobs and spending their trumpish money.....
They also buy my jewellery.... :bugeyed:

Well, guys, you will have to boycott me

I will have to do so myself, especially because I just filled up at the gas station of a company that proudly supported "Mr Goldylock"
And what about some of my clients????
There is this wealthy lady from Arizona, she and her brother both are vehement "T-ists" having giver LOTS of money to his campaign.... Now they just e-mailed me and asked for Night Blessings because they both face another round of chemo......
Which of my Tarot decks are "safe" enough so I can trust it to ask, what I should do?
My personal ethics are clashing with my calling as a healer!?
Do no harm!
Where does harm start?

G6

Mi-Shell said:
It took me all yesterday night to - with much interest -read through the whole thread.
Thank you guys, for every word!
Well, YMD, if this will grow into becoming the new norm, I personally - and many Canadian citizens would be in biiiig trouble.
All us Tarot and card readers could of course freely decide, where and which decks from whom we will buy and which we toss out and which end up in some sad back bin for being beautiful but made by the -for us personally - "wrong" person.
But what about putting our hard earned money where our mouth, our gut feeling and our ethics lead / command us? Most Canadians are rather disgusted at Trump and his supporters. But where could we turn? In our little town of Bracebridge we only have 2 grocery stores: Wall Mart and Mr Grocer. One is waaaay cheaper than the other and provides much needed jobs here, even if they are minimum wage and require people to do morning callisthenics.
So what to do? buy our salad - from Mexico - there or not?
Boycotting the store and have our friends and sisters loose the only job there is during the winter season? They are Not supporters of that system, they just neeeed to somehow feed their kids.....
And in the summer all the wealthy Trump supporters come up here to their cottages, providing more much needed jobs and spending their trumpish money.....
They also buy my jewellery....
Well, guys, you will have to boycott me
I will have to do so myself, especially because I just filled up at the gas station of a company that proudly supported "Mr Goldylock"
And what about some of my clients????
There is this wealthy lady from Arizona, she and her brother both are vehement "T-ists" having giver LOTS of money to his campaign.... Now they just e-mailed me and asked for Night Blessings because they both face another round of chemo......
Which of my Tarot decks are "safe" enough so I can trust it to ask, what I should do?
My personal ethics are clashing with my calling as a healer!?
Do no harm!
Where does harm start?

Good idea pull some cards to see if you should keep a deck made by a Trump supporter.

gregory

Mi-Shell said:
My personal ethics are clashing with my calling as a healer!?
Do no harm!
Where does harm start?

G6 said:
Good idea pull some cards to see if you should keep a deck made by a Trump supporter.

I think that's a rather shallow response to a very serious question. Ethics go far further than cards. Would you take it as far as refusing to work as a healer if your patient were a Trumpette ? If you were a doctor and Trump had a heart attack in your office would you refuse to perform CPR ? If you are on minimum wage and struggling to feed your children, do you nobly let then starve rather than buy the food you can afford at Walmart ?

That's a big part of why I find this thread at times rather annoying. Surely the issue was simply whether we would find a deck created by a Trump supporter unusable because of its vibes or something ?

Padma

Mi-Shell said:
It took me all yesterday night to - with much interest -read through the whole thread.
Thank you guys, for every word!
Well, YMD, if this will grow into becoming the new norm, I personally - and many Canadian citizens would be in biiiig trouble.
All us Tarot and card readers could of course freely decide, where and which decks from whom we will buy and which we toss out and which end up in some sad back bin for being beautiful but made by the -for us personally - "wrong" person.
But what about putting our hard earned money where our mouth, our gut feeling and our ethics lead / command us? Most Canadians are rather disgusted at Trump and his supporters. But where could we turn? In our little town of Bracebridge we only have 2 grocery stores: Wall Mart and Mr Grocer. One is waaaay cheaper than the other and provides much needed jobs here, even if they are minimum wage and require people to do morning callisthenics.
So what to do? buy our salad - from Mexico - there or not?
Boycotting the store and have our friends and sisters loose the only job there is during the winter season? They are Not supporters of that system, they just neeeed to somehow feed their kids.....
And in the summer all the wealthy Trump supporters come up here to their cottages, providing more much needed jobs and spending their trumpish money.....
They also buy my jewellery....
Well, guys, you will have to boycott me
I will have to do so myself, especially because I just filled up at the gas station of a company that proudly supported "Mr Goldylock"
And what about some of my clients????
There is this wealthy lady from Arizona, she and her brother both are vehement "T-ists" having giver LOTS of money to his campaign.... Now they just e-mailed me and asked for Night Blessings because they both face another round of chemo......
Which of my Tarot decks are "safe" enough so I can trust it to ask, what I should do?
My personal ethics are clashing with my calling as a healer!?
Do no harm!
Where does harm start?

Mi-Shell...I don't think the art of healing should be influenced by any political leanings. Life is life, and is a sacred gift - regardless of politics or leanings or country or colour or leader.

I don't think I would appreciate being asked who I voted for before buying something healing or pretty for myself. Or being disallowed that thing due to my political leanings.
The way people vote, as someone said earlier, is private, unless they decide to yell it out over the streets.

If a deck works for you, it works for you. If you never knew the affiliations of the person before you bought it, and finding out doesn't bother you, keep using the deck. If it feels tainted for you afterwards, don't use it.

In regard to healing, as I said - that's a different ballgame. Harm none. I agree with you. I dunno. I see your ethical difficulty, but you really are in a situation where you need to weigh things for yourself, and draw your own boundaries.

I think LeFanu said it best in his own post - where you draw the line is a private affair, and only you can know where the fine lines are for you.

Padma

G6 said:
Good idea pull some cards to see if you should keep a deck made by a Trump supporter.

I think I am with Gregory here. This - I don't know - seems - well, tone doesn't convey well in the written word (specially with no emojis). But this sounded like a cold rebuff.

As a healer, Mi-Shell has a very different ethical situation than the one represented by a question about using a pack of cards. Or at least, a much more complicated one!

I think as always, the answer lies within the person themselves, and each must choose according to their own needs, situations, and beliefs. And, somewhere in there, reality has to count, too.

G6

gregory said:
I think that's a rather shallow response to a very serious question. Ethics go far further than cards. Would you take it as far as refusing to work as a healer if your patient were a Trumpette ? If you were a doctor and Trump had a heart attack in your office would you refuse to perform CPR ? If you are on minimum wage and struggling to feed your children, do you nobly let then starve rather than buy the food you can afford at Walmart ?

That's a big part of why I find this thread at times rather annoying. Surely the issue was simply whether we would find a deck created by a Trump supporter unusable because of its vibes or something ?

There are always alternatives to submission regardless of circumstance. I agree with LF upthread everyone knows what their moral line in the sand is; whether or not you can come up with a method to express it is another story.

What if you discovered your favourite deck was painted by a Trump supporter?

linnie

linnie

gregory

linnie

Mi-Shell

G6

gregory

Padma

Padma

G6