Question from a newcomer to Tarot

Hi Everyone,

I want to thank you all for your feedback and advice, and being so welcoming to a newcomer! I feel more free now to explore a deck that has consistently drawn me to it. I think it's important in that regard to follow your heart and instincts.

As for a tattoo, I think I will hold on to that desire for a while and let it live with me and sit with me and see what becomes of it before making a choice. You're right, as I begin working with this deck and the card's imagery, its meaning may change. It could become something that I learn from and then am ready to move on or it could become even more special. In either case, it's best to wait I think.

I'm sure I'll be posting again in the future as I begin my journey into Tarot. Thanks, everyone!

Peace,
Beatrix

beatrix said:

I think it's important in that regard to follow your heart and instincts.

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I agree with you completely.

beatrix said:

As for a tattoo, I think I will hold on to that desire for a while and let it live with me and sit with me and see what becomes of it before making a choice.

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A wise decision IMO, this way when and if you do end up getting one it will have an even deeper meaning.

beatrix said:

You're right, as I begin working with this deck and the card's imagery, its meaning may change.

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Most definitely it will.

Here is a fun thing to do in the mean time, get a friend to paint the tattoo on you where you want it in tattoo ink. It'will last a few days, see how you like it.

As far as the tattoo, I'd certainly recommend being absolutely sure before having something like that permanently marked on yourself. I'd say that for anything, but it seems even more important in the case of this tattoo. Get the deck and work with it, and if the card still draws you to getting the tattoo, do it. As far as Crowley himself, I had issues with his reputation when I was thinking about buying the deck myself. The conclusions I came to are as follows: Yes, there are things about him that I'm not fond of. However, the cards are nothing more than a tool, to be used in the way that you see fit. Whatever else Crowley might have been, he was unquestionably one of the greatest magicians of the age, and if you're looking for a spiritual or magical tool, you could do worse than to choose one designed by such a person. You don't need to subscribe to his views or approve of his actions in order to effectively use the cards that he put his mystical knowledge into creating. As far as being a beginner, they are definitely a more advanced deck, but I'm very much a beginner myself, and I'm finding that you can grow into them. Start using them as you would any other deck, and as your knowledge grows, so will your ability to use the deck to it's fullest. Anyway, just my 2 cents...

Edge said:

The OTO is a tax exempt religious organization the mission of which is to promote the philosophy/religious doctrines of Thelema. While I respect your right to whatever opinion you wish, some do however consider AC a prophet and gnostic saint. This could be likened to making offensive remarks about prophets and saints of other tax exempt religious organizations. The doing so of which I hope would NOT be tolerated in this forum.

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I have said nothing about the OTO, nor Thelema. The life of AC speaks for itself. To take the example to an extreme, perhaps there are people who still consider Hitler a god. Therefore , none of us could give anything but a glowing opinion of him.

Tax exemptions do not make saints.

Razordance said:

You don't need to subscribe to his views or approve of his actions in order to effectively use the cards that he put his mystical knowledge into creating.

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I absolutely agree, well said!!

hmm

the toth tarot is now gaining acceptance due to the wealth of books being published about it as a fine deck to learn on ..
but it has many systems in it that requires great study,, kabbalah, astrology.
let alone mr crowley own blunt mysticism when it comes to the occult symbols upon the toth tarot itself.

if you do decide to study the toth tarot, a good book for it would be lon milo duquette work on it.
before getting into other works on it.

as for crowley himself, a few good searches into his life will find both good and bad press about him.
I much like lon milo duquette primer on him myself in his book.

I have no idea why tax exemption is important,
but crowley it is said , loved to eschew his own image, he probaly even laughed at himself.
so the fact is,, he was a degenerate for his times,, and more then that.

to say it otherwise would be to look at johnny cash, and forget his drug use,
but johnny was more then a druggie,
and so the same applies to aleister ..
he was more then a degenerate.. but that part of him was still there.

I am a begginner also, so my veiws are kind of like an outsiders, who really knows nothing about the question at hand, but still has opinions.

As for this Crowley guy, every one in the thread has made him to seem interesting, so I will be looking up on him, but just because he made the deck doesnt mean you shouldnt experience it. I mean, his spirit doesnt dwelve within, so I would say go for it. But I did look up the pictures (I just had to see what you were considering to get tattooed) and it looks like its alot to learn, so good luck with that.

As for the tattoo, saying that you shouldnt do it would be hypocritical, considering tomorrow or sunday I am getting the triquetra on my ankle. Its a symbol that has alot of meaning to me, (NOT "Charmed", though I love the show, the triquetra does Not mean "The Power Of Three"). Its stuck in my mind since I first saw it, and I love its symbolism to me, protection.

Follow your heart, and your intuition. Good luck.

Emily

Edge said:

The OTO is a tax exempt religious organization the mission of which is to promote the philosophy/religious doctrines of Thelema. While I respect your right to whatever opinion you wish, some do however consider AC a prophet and gnostic saint. This could be likened to making offensive remarks about prophets and saints of other tax exempt religious organizations. The doing so of which I hope would NOT be tolerated in this forum.

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Erm - well, I don't want to get into yet another Crowley controversy - I'm not bothered by Uncle Al myself. I don't consider him a saint by any stretch of the imagination. "Free thinking libertine" - and I'll add clever, wide-ranging with a great turn of phrase - describes him well enough for me, though some might call him degenerate and others, a holy man. But the fact that OTO is tax exempt in some countries (not in mine), does not mean that Crowley the Man is exempt from criticism. He was a Tarot creator and we are on a tarot forum, not a religious forum.

That said, I think a lot of nonsense was written and said about "evil Crowley". I fell for it once, until I read more about him. I don't like or approve of everything he did, but then neither do I approve of everything many great men and women did. Crowley was a rebel Victorian who rejected Christianity and its life-restricting morality (though not Jesus Christ), and that's enough to make him an object of horror to some. He was a ceremonial magician, so what he wrote and did is meant to have power. The power he and Lady Harris put into the Lust card is the power of the vital flow of life. The image is meant both to evoke and invoke it. Sounds like a good tattoo to me

Dark Inquisitor said:

The life of AC speaks for itself.

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That's strange, I don't recall the life of AC being the focus of the thread. But I do agree it's difficult to have any discussion on Thoth tarot and his name not come up.

Dark Inquisitor said:

To take the example to an extreme, perhaps there are people who still consider Hitler a god.

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Not only is this an "extreme" comparison but a bit absurd as well.

Dark Inquisitor said:

Tax exemptions do not make saints.

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No they do not and this comment reveals the lack of understanding the point.

Helvetica said:

some might call him degenerate and others, a holy man.

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Agreed, and this is my point. So you could imagine the possiabliity that crass comments could be considered offensive to some.

Helvetica said:

But the fact that OTO is tax exempt in some countries (not in mine), does not mean that Crowley the Man is exempt from criticism. He was a Tarot creator and we are on a tarot forum,

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Again this is true tarot creators may be subject to criticism, but I'm not sure this was the nature of the original question.