Path: typhoon.sonic.net!not-for-mail Newsgroups: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.magick,alt.tarot,alt.divination,alt.pagan.magick Subject: Tarot Purpose, Knowledge, and Occult Philosophy From: nagasiva Reply-To: spam@luckymojo.com User-Agent: nn/6.6.0 Lines: 61 Message-ID: Date: Sun, 04 Jan 2004 08:31:11 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 208.201.242.18 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sonic.net X-Trace: typhoon.sonic.net 1073205071 208.201.242.18 (Sun, 04 Jan 2004 00:31:11 PST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 04 Jan 2004 00:31:11 PST Xref: typhoon.sonic.net alt.magick.tyagi:43979 alt.magick:363598 alt.tarot:121025 alt.divination:22325 alt.pagan.magick:39915 Orig-To: TarotL@yahoogroups.com the spectrum of use for Tarot is intriguing. discussions of whether Tarot might be used to determine its origin amusing. # Do I want the vehicle of my spiritual belief system [Tarot] # to be used in this way [for ascertaining historical facts]? do we have any say in the matter? is it our business what anyone other than we may do with it? where is this vehicle truly located? is there a specific deck which we don't want touched or you'll feel violated? or if it was stolen, for example, would we just go out and buy another one? do we change purchased decks with every reading, or were we given one made for us by our religious master? did we make it ourselves as part of our spiritual development? there are so many possibilities here which could apply from your words. do I want my (occult! :>) Tarot used in this way? yes surely. do I want my (occult! ;>) Tarot used *by me* like this? no way. I don't want to take the chance that the magical purpose for which I'm constructing it will be lost somehow in this tangent. the Book of Thoth should be examined by anyone with interest. if they choose to use it as a doorstop, I won't waste my time trying to stop them. if they demonstrate through empiricism that it is a practical and repeatable mechanism from which to obtain reliable knowledge, that's wonderful! # Maybe, maybe not. It's like a devout Christian practicing # bibliomancy: open the Bible at random and point. The verse # that your finger lies on is the answer to your question. indeed, or the third verse so selected, or that which most suitably and succinctly addresses the inquiry from a series of such bibliomantic inquiries. there are many methods. # Certainly, you can use the Bible for this purpose, # but is it the best use of the Bible? and the answer to that differs markedly based on spacetime and identity. level of devotion and within what course of religious practice we've entered will probably determine our response. Yijing is called by some THE ideal fortune-telling device. devout Taoists consider it part of their Canon. should one's family copy of this classic religious text be itself used for bibliomancy?? does it even exist as a paper book? these questions perplex those interested in occult philosophy. despite popular academic and arcane interests mistaking what is called philosophy for stipulated doctrine, dogma even, without regard for empiricism, or real advance, the actuality of its practice, composed of general inquiry, self-examination, and breadth of exposure, is its true and lasting value. the best use for Bibles may be as compost or kindling. the same may be true of Tarot. nagasiva