Reading without God/ess

[Annabelle]

I voted for two options - "I am psychic" and "Other."

By "other," I mean that I feel that I'm channeling/tapping into the universal Archetypes when I read. I'm not a monotheist, nor do I believe in spirits and spirit guides. I do believe in the possibility, even probability of multiple Gods and Goddesses, but I don't adhere to any particular pantheon at the moment.

Really, though, when I'm reading for someone face to face I'm not thinking about any of the above. It's all about me and the person sitting across from me...

 

[Crowqueen]

I would have answered (a) and (b), given the opportunity.

I am not sure who gives me the ability to read Tarot, but since I am religious AND believe that psychic abilities are gifts from Above, then it figures that I should attribute the talent of foresight to Whoever made us.

However, as long as you believe what you are getting, the tarot works for anyone, even a sceptic such as my boyfriend (came up perfectly for him!) so I suppose I am firmly in the Other category in that synchronicity can be explained in various ways. My boyfriend is a Catholic, but although he goes to religious events such as Taize I wouldn't say he has thought very deeply about religion, and he doesn't really believe in an activist God. However after meeting me he has started to get more inclined towards looking at his own faith. He wasn't actually that surprised at how accurately the tarot both explained his present and predicted his future - I was using my "fortune-telling" spread and patter with him, and I am fully accepting of the fact that tarot can and does predict what is going to happen tomorrow or in a week's time or in a year's time; I have no problem with that as the information is still cryptic enough to give us latitude to exercise free will; I know roughly what the political future of the UK is, at least for the next year or so, but not knowing how it will happen or when it will occur I still have a role to play in politics; I know full well that my spirit guide has given me several big kicks in the a*** lately to get me moving and making waves out there. In fact the major cause of the depression I have suffered for the last two years is knowing too much rather than too little and not being able to articulate it in any coherent form or back it up with authoritative statistics. Understanding a psychic or spiritual form of guidance, whether through tarot or other augury, is making a whole lot more sense than previously, and also helping focus my own work in those areas which I have chosen or been chosen to focus on so that the goals are achieved and what is destined comes to pass.

That is why I am not sure that I want to go into tarot as a full-time pracitioner: during a sermon on the Holy Spirit this morning (it being Pentecost) the preacher told us all the ways we could use Spirit to bolster the Church of England, and not all the ways we could use it to help the world. I will give her the benefit of the doubt and say she was taking it for granted that we were good citizens, each in our own way, and applied our beliefs to the way we work in the world, but still, the Church saw itself as an end in itself rather than a means to effect change based on its beliefs.

But at the end of the day, none of us know as mortals what is out there, and so we are all entitled to our own view of how things work. Most agnostics or religious sceptics I know, actually, are more turned off by the antics of religious politics than by any idea of God/dess or Spirit. I have also met clergy who are bordering on the atheist but who are able to justify their faith through their belief in community and fellowship of worship rather than any mystical tradition.

Horses for courses I suppose.

 

[brenmck]

....during a sermon on the Holy Spirit this morning (it being Pentecost) the preacher told us all the ways we could use Spirit to bolster the Church of England, and not all the ways we could use it to help the world. I will give her the benefit of the doubt and say she was taking it for granted that we were good citizens, each in our own way, and applied our beliefs to the way we work in the world, but still, the Church saw itself as an end in itself rather than a means to effect change based on its beliefs.

But at the end of the day, none of us know as mortals what is out there, and so we are all entitled to our own view of how things work. Most agnostics or religious sceptics I know, actually, are more turned off by the antics of religious politics than by any idea of God/dess or Spirit. I have also met clergy who are bordering on the atheist but who are able to justify their faith through their belief in community and fellowship of worship rather than any mystical tradition.

Not asking the HS to help the world, and most definitely don't have the audacity to ask for personal assistance! During my two years of theology I heard every other day how the HS lives in the Vatican to serve the Magisterium (when they were really stuck, I suppose) but never, ever a personal reflection about the action of the HS from the most learned PhD priests. It's all about the collective, never about the parts of the sum. But the clergy elite may be nearing the end of their run. The "mystical tradition" is far too dangerous to them; when we truly discover that the kingdom of God is within us we may figure out some of these bills we've been paying are unnecessary.

Horses for courses I suppose.

Love the golfer's expression! St Andrew, preserve us!

~B~

 

[MoonLitCrystal]

I voted that the cards fall into a meaningful pattern. While I don't always understand this pattern right away, I do believe that a specific card appeared in a specific spot for a reason. It might click days later and I'll go, "Ohhhh THAT'S what it was trying to tell me..."

 

[Nuncle]

Hi there.

I know there are a number of people on here who relate Tarot to some kind of formal religious practice, or more generally to God or Goddess, or in its most general form, Spirit. For me, however, I have a hard time with invoking God. I can perhaps accept the idea of Spirit because I see that as a human quality--or a quality developed between humans--and not the image of a superior being. Spirit I can also se as the "communication" behind the meanigful pattern. Maybe I'm talking about being psychic--though I don't think I am. Intuitive would be better. I don;t think it's just random--or not random all the time. Tough one, though, because humans can find meaning in anything. I think the cards present a meaningful pattern. How? I don't know. I do feel a sense of connection, sometimes, when reading. Maybe the pattern is meaningful only to me.

Confused,
Nuncle

 

[greycats]

I believe that "matter" and "spirit" are two sides of the same coin, which is exactly how I see the "random" vs. "meaningful" dichotomy in regard to the cards. Human beings created the cards which depict or symbolize a range of concerns and events which are important to us. So the cards are always "meaningful." The cards are placed in certain positions according to a certain order (the spread) which modifies the meaning of each card yet more. The only randomness is the selection of cards from the deck, and we have to work to be sure that the selection is, indeed, as random as we can reasonably make it. The randomness is what makes the exercise a reading and not a meditation, after all.

So, tarot reading to me is both meaningful and random in its patterns. The randomness makes each reading unique and interesting, but the fixed (if somewhat flexible) card meanings and spread patterns ensure some modicum of continuity and coherence.

 

[Crowqueen]

Not asking the HS to help the world, and most definitely don't have the audacity to ask for personal assistance! During my two years of theology I heard every other day how the HS lives in the Vatican to serve the Magisterium (when they were really stuck, I suppose) but never, ever a personal reflection about the action of the HS from the most learned PhD priests. It's all about the collective, never about the parts of the sum. But the clergy elite may be nearing the end of their run. The "mystical tradition" is far too dangerous to them; when we truly discover that the kingdom of God is within us we may figure out some of these bills we've been paying are unnecessary.



Love the golfer's expression! St Andrew, preserve us!

~B~

The preacher in question is married to the most interesting vicar I have ever known (and is a very spiritual woman herself, although I think she is kept in check by her husband; we have had wonderful conversations about politics so that is why I am giving her the benefit of the doubt; her husband's idea of political action is to write to Blair about Guantanamo Bay (Ash Wednesday 2006 - though it could have been Ash Wednesday 2002 - he must trot that one out every year ), though, so he is not exactly what I'd call an activist!). Although he is so rational he verges on atheism , he issued a prayer card telling us to mentally walk round our villages and look for ways in which we could take care of them.

If that's not astral projection or remote viewing, I don't know what is. So I am giving them the benefit of the doubt on this one.

 

[Crowqueen]

Maybe I'm talking about being psychic--though I don't think I am. Intuitive would be better. I don;t think it's just random--or not random all the time.

Nurturing intuition leads to nurturing the psychic. I like your conception of Spirit a lot; humans are not just animals, though animals also have their own conceptions, as you can see looking at the attachment dogs make to humans - one belonging to a friend prefigured her owner's serious illness; and they have been known to die alongside their owners (though thankfully not in my friend's case - he recovered and is out of hospital ).

If you look for meaning in the world you will find it (and it makes one much happier than if you go round thinking life has no meaning, which is the more depressing idea); Denise Linn wrote a very good book on "Signposts" which is mostly dictionary but has some very good articles on the subject of searching for meaning. On a nature walk yesterday I found nature gave me a lot of insight into the political system of the UK, just in poppies and "poohsticks". A good clairvoyant - as I'm fond of quoting - can get a reading from a piece of string. Most of us on here use Tarot, as it's a bit easier to guide us, what with the pictures and all.

 

[catlin]

I voted for other because I still have not found an answer what makes the tarot work for me. Maybe it is tapping into the common unconscious or into the unconscious of the querent.

 

[WolfSpirit]

I voted both
"the cards fall into meaningful patterns" and
"the cards fall randomly"
and it is always one of the two my common sense says it is randomly; if I had to tell a non-believer what I do with tarot, I would say randomly as well and explain why it still helps me. But since using tarot, I've also seen lots of instants where the cards were not at random: thinking of a certain situation and pulling exactly the right card; pulling the same cards for weeks on end in my daily readings and other readings, to mention a few instances.
So I really think it can be both, I don't know why.
I think what greycats said a few posts back makes a lot of sense to me (but I may have to read it again to make sure I understand )

For the record: I don't use the terms God/Godess, I do believe in some sort of universal spirit, but I do not know how this fits into tarot. I don't try to connect with spirit when I use the cards.