Signs & Wonders - Tarot Cards for Christians

[Masa]

These links are so fascinating! Many silly things, but a handful of awesome things, too. If nothing else, seeing how other people think about this stuff is always an enriching exercise in anthropology. Thanks for the heads-up.

(One of the silly things: On the "Sun" page (which I clicked randomly), the writer misspells "Ephesians" and talks about something Paul says in the Book of Effusions. Tee hee!)

Seriously, though, there are a few things mixed in here that are pretty cool.

[AJ]

Originally Posted by Masa

(One of the silly things: On the "Sun" page (which I clicked randomly), the writer misspells "Ephesians" and talks about something Paul says in the Book of Effusions. Tee hee!)

.

A giveaway the book is self-published with no editors guidance. There are millions of them on Amazon ebooks now.

[gregory]

The grammar is - deeply flawed, she said politely....

Jesus was willing to die to His self.

It does look rather dubious.

[AJ]

English may be second language.

Every time I see this thread I read it as 'for Christmas'

[Carla]

Originally Posted by AJ

English may be second language.

Sorry, but I was born in Tennessee and raised in the church and lots of folks who should know better but don't say things like 'die to his self'. It's common parlance.

[Masa]

Originally Posted by Carla

Sorry, but I was born in Tennessee and raised in the church and lots of folks who should know better but don't say things like 'die to his self'. It's common parlance.

But what does it mean?

[tarotbear]

I read about 12 sentences (one for each Apostle) and said NOPE! Another attempt by pseudo-Christians to borrow (read: STEAL) something that they have no connection to and 'make' it Christian by default ... like the Mormons baptizing Anne Frank.

Did I ever tell you the one about the Dead-Again Christian co-worker I had who told me she 'could never' send me an email because my screen name contained the word 'Tarot' in it? She threw a party every Hallowe'en - but the children had to 'come dressed as Bible characters' or she wouldn't let them in? How's THAT for Christians stealing a Pagan concept and 'making it Christian?'

[gregory]

Originally Posted by Carla

Sorry, but I was born in Tennessee and raised in the church and lots of folks who should know better but don't say things like 'die to his self'. It's common parlance.

Originally Posted by Masa

But what does it mean?

Exactly....

[Carla]

To die to oneself is to put your personal needs at the bottom of your priorities and put God's will at the top. I haven't read what was said on the website in question, but I would expect that would be the context for such a statement in a Bible believin' country church.

[bogiesan]

Originally Posted by tarotbear

I read about 12 sentences (one for each Apostle) and said NOPE! Another attempt by pseudo-Christians to borrow (read: STEAL) something that they have no connection to and 'make' it Christian by default ... like the Mormons baptizing Anne Frank.
Did I ever tell you the one about the Dead-Again Christian co-worker I had who told me she 'could never' send me an email because my screen name contained the word 'Tarot' in it? She threw a party every Hallowe'en - but the children had to 'come dressed as Bible characters' or she wouldn't let them in? How's THAT for Christians stealing a Pagan concept and 'making it Christian?'

It's a big world. Lots of room for the bizarre and the silly.

Aren't there just as many weird — some might say absurd — attempts by characters within this community to brand, rebrand, steal, impress upon, or rebuild tarot to accommodate their particular belief systems, artistic vision or profit motive?

How does one rationalize wrapping, say, vampires, faeries, robots, Tolkien, Norse, Greek or George Lucas's mythos around a foundation of tarot, which, in itself, is a smoothie of fantasy, theology, myth and unproven — yet we like to think they are undeniable — universal archetypes that span all of humanity? Not just the Western Tradition, but all of humanity. That's a kind of hubris we casually dismiss.

The subject of the thread has applied his own peculiar gloss onto the Old and New Testaments and found something that calls to him from tarot. How odd, but typical, of a believer to twist his foundations to suit his own vision. His manifesto is entertaining in much the same way we read the workbook for a deck such as Sim's Pearls of Wisdom or Wilkes's Austen; we devour and absorb, compare and contrast, laugh and enjoy, perhaps we shake our heads and sneer — but hopefully we think — and we take what we like.

An earlier comment noted he or she had seen this thread in the forum list as "Tarot for Christmas." I still do.