Med. on the Tarot - Letter 1

[Shalott]

I tend to take things literally. Which is one big reason I am struggling with this book in general. I am not spiritual, I don't believe in any form of spirit realm, let alone the Christian one, with which I have to deal in in order to read this book. Thus far I find myself agreeing with Moongold's idea the most. I have no idea what this Course in Miracles tmgrl and Holmes are talking about is...and if it deals in exclusively Christian theology I probably won't, no matter how strongly it's recommended.

However, I feel like I "got" Letter 1...La Bateleur exists in the material realm, and this is something I comprehend. He is working, I believe this picture we have of him catches him in the midst of his job - that of entertainer, magician (like Penn & Teller, not like a high priest), troubador, running a shell game...but what his job is isn't what was so important, it's how easily he does it. He doesn't have to think about it, his hands know how to do it without his absolute concentration...something we perhaps all aim for in our work or hobbies. I do like that Holmes mentioned "my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (I'm not ignorant of Christianity, I just don't believe in it.)

Maybe I am kinda dense but I really don't think it goes much deeper than that.

 

[Moongold]

I can see what you mean, Shalott. You probably know this but the Book is based on Christian Herneticism which is a kind of system of belief based philosophical mystical and esoteric considerations. Hermetics believe we are on a spiritual journey towards unification with the Divine. I believe that even now, although I am not longer a Catholic or Christian.

Bear with me for a moment. Have you ever gone outside into the garden, or down to the beach, or for a quiet stroll along the river and felt that a sense of immense peace and oneness with the world? Have you every been with family or friends and felt truly loved and respected, connected with them in a magical way? For me, those moments are just as mystical and spiritual as anything else I have ever experienced.

As I read through Meditations...... I experience with interest but increasingly more distance. I can still get a lot from it and can make the right connections. If we look at le Bateleur himself, he is the simplest and most apparently innocent of characters,

I remember going to Midnight mass one night several years ago at a homeless shelter and the Jesuit Priest sat down to say the Mass as a gesture of respect to the nuns who ran the shelter. He was so respectful of their genuine spirituality and goodness that he wanted to diminish the outward signs of male authority in the Church. I was so impressed. He later said when speaking about the meaning of the nativity that Mary was most llikely a peasant woman

I guess my point in all of this is that this is a more humble kind of spirituality with just the same connections to the Divine as that evident in the Meditations .... The Mediitations...... are very intelectualised but the concepts can be transferred to other situationsin a much more pragmatic way.

I am VERY tired and not sure that I have made sense or just rambled .

 

[Shalott]

I am aware that this book is based on Christian Hermeticism, and I do have a basic knowledge of what they believe. However, I am an atheist, making this very interesting going to say the least. There are times when I seriously ask myself why I am reading it. I can't come up with a very good answer, other than wanting more out of Tarot. No, I have never really felt anything when I have been out and about. And I don't feel like I'm missing anything. I don't feel a gap in my life because of lack of spirituality. I realize that I am WAY in the minority here, particularly on these forums. I realize that Tarot, Marseille specifically, was created by Christians, and therefore, reading this book would give me a deeper insight into what it's all about. But, refering to Letter 2, I am one of the dry eyed types, and very firmly so. I don't think this causes me any problems in life in general, but it makes this book that much more difficult for me.

 

[HOLMES]

ah shalott

the book course in miracles does deal wtih christian terminology but it isn't a theology in the sense where it preaches fear based terms like hell, and judgement, and being righteous. it deals with new age concepts , concepts like ego is the basis for the problems in the world and to clear away attack thoughts. for to attack your brother is insane for your brother is you, which makes the ego insane. you can do a search here in spirituality for course in miracles discussion on both sides of the french. i even think i did a reading on it once, in self readings.

the magican does exist in the material realm that is for sure. what i like about him is the teaching behind his juggling, the focused thought without effort. i dont know much about christainity terms i just quoted the book "my yoke is easy and burden is light" but i did like how the magican teaching from the letter sheds new light on it.

we have to take the letters according to our experiences, and thoughts, and ideas. if you have a spiritual life, it will attract you on that level, pratical earth appraoch will bring you to look at the letters in a pratical reader.

it is the true with the tarot, a pratical person wouldn't be concerned with the spiritial growth appraoch but the actual divination of the tarot. yes ?

moongold
i too went to midnight mass, it was christmas eve in town and there was nothing going on,, i felt i had to something so i was walking in the coldest night of the year and there was the light on in the church, i walked in expecting to be told YOU HEATHEN WHAT DO YOU DEFILE THIS HOLY PLACE (
at least that was my fear ) but of course i was welcome and they sang and i felt happy to be there . gee that was almost 10 years ago now.

shalott what might help is a contrast and compare method, which i am not meaning the comparative method taught by valerie sims.
but the contrasting and comparing of how zen, psychology and church, and jesus teachings compare in the tarot.
(that would be the osho zen, buddha, jungian tarot, soul tiding truth cards, and the master tarot ) .
of course i been using this method for a while now but i have't made a great deal of headway and i am still on the major arcana.(i dont' have the buddha tarot )
yet i must say that it has improved my tarot understanding if not my tarot readings.

and so a great study of the mediations will help indeed. what i do is not to mediate on it.. (not yet )
but wrote down my notes of the what the author was saying and adding in some insights of my own or putting what he said in differnt way.
notice in the book , the author says that is above can be like that is below. to which i said , that is above is that is below. a subtle differnce but a big powerful differnce.

of course i was coloured already going into the mediations for i alwasy had an understanding of the magican as the son of the god, and the son of god within ourselves. i am sure if i walked in seeing the magican as the master alien who directs our lives my appraoch to the letters would be differnt indeed ( the alien remark is a joke which just put a smile on my face eheh )

 

[HOLMES]

ah moongold

when you say you experience with interest but increasingly more distance.

does that means you are taking a more neutral, spock appraoch from logic to the letters? when before you were more closer and more connected to it from the heart ?.

my approach to the letters so far has been to rewrite the letters to what it means to me.
then i will come back and take a more differnt approach.. perhaps a more mediative approach.
i think i am too distance from the letters or like to think i am. as the ideas hit me in the mind not the heart and i say oh nice and i sit there for a minute in a mental euthporia before starting to write again on my notepad

 

[Shalott]

Teehee - THAT'S IT! I'm Spock!

Sorry, Holmes, it has been a short while since I got done with Letter 1, so I didn't recall the "my yoke is easy and my burden is light" quote in there, but that does sum up much of what I got out of Letter 1. Also, the "as above, so below" idea: Le Bateleur would be the "below."

 

[catlin]

Thanks

for bringing up the Meditations, I came across this book some time ago and now and then I am still toying with getting a copy of it but could not make up my mind whether I'd try to get a French copy or the German translation (there are 2 large volumes and several split-ups in print but this is done so confusingly I do not trust the German edition, talking about edition a and b???).

Edit: I ordered the large 2 volumes German edition at my book seller to get an idea of the books but found them too Christian for my taste.