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To: alt.tarot,alt.magick.tyagi,alt.magick
From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (nagasiva)
Subject: Emblems/Symbols, Meditation/Reading and Case-workers (was Re: Plotinus, evil, ....)
Date: 16 May 1997 02:14:16 -0700

49970515 AA1  Hail Satan!  (B.Bunny: "as you know, this means war!")

	an assertion regarding the Karlin/Brzustowicz Case-workers

in other threads, "J. Karlin"  writes:
#...to most people 'meditation' is staring blankly at a 
#card until some gibberish pops into their heads. 

this is not my understanding of what people mean by
'meditation on tarot cards', though I agree it is
reasonable, given the prevalence of 'meditation' as 
it is associated with zazen, for this to be inferred.


#That's NOT what Case, or any other occultist means by that term.

#Please quote to me from Case's writings where he says
#that tarot symbolism's 'specific meanings' can be
#'uncovered by concentrated effort' where 'effort'
#is taken to mean SOLELY 'meditation' or 'intuition'
#without a proper occult education.

here we see Mr. Karlin's source for his dogmatic insistence.
it appears that he is a Case-worker, trained by some BOTA-
factory to profess the True and Accepted Interpretation of
a deck of cards which no occultist originated yet through
which they may have sought to convey some specific meaning,
only approachable by the Adepti who had delved into the
"True Meanings" of the cards as adapted by the Inspired.


#His 'books of meditations', at least on tarot (such as
#'Book of Tokens') are certainly NOT intended to make
#any sense to anyone who is not familiar with kabbala
#(or who perhaps is using the book to begin learning
#it). 

does anyone have a review as to Mr. Case's understanding
and bias as regards "kabbala"?  it might tell us something
about what Mr. Karlin is getting at.


#It has commentaries on each chapter written in
#plain English, not 'meditative' language, so clearly
#he had a concern that people no go off on flights
#of fancy about 'what it means'.

It appears (from text here and below) that Mr. Case was
also very concerned with people fabricating new meanings
to the cards which he considered to be instructional
'Keys to the Wisdom of the Ancients'.


#[Case] was talking about people who had 'entered' [into 
#"ever-deeper interpretations of meaning"].  Most people 
#never do, since they waste time thinking that their 
#personal views about tarot symbolism are the door.

it does appear to be the bias of at least Mr. Karlin and
quite possibly Mr. Case that this latter method is totally
devoid of value, and that there is but "One Door" to the
"Important and Worthwile Meaning" the cards relate.


#[Words alone] sure as hell CAN SAY a great deal and to ignore
#them because you think 'meditation' can substitute for
#study is just absurd and I DON'T think Paul Case would
#have taught anyone that.

and this is one of the important elements of Mr. Karlin's
favored paradigm: that he considers his ideas on Case (whom
he apparently reveres as having cornered the market on what
tarot is about and what wisdom it may display and how) to
be very important, his knowledge about Case and that which
Case instructed or pointed toward in his explication of
tarot as more important than that which others might in
good faith bring to the alt.tarot forum.

all of this without saying it simply as I have just done
(perhaps he has made it clear in his lengthy REF).  instead,
making a big fuss, making others out as 'wrong', promoting 
himself and his peculiar knowledge as that which is More 
Valuable than any other.

now I ask you again, are you sure that Case and the methods
which he and his organization use to provide instruction
aren't inspiring this kind of egotistical and self-
aggrandizing behavior?

I have met several 'Adepti' who have been 'converted' to the
'BOTA Way', considering themselves possessed of the 'One True
Method' of "Unlocking the Secrets of the Tarot, especially in
relation to "kaballa", in association with BOTA, meditation
on the cards, and a "Thorough Understanding" of the "Correct"
ideas about both "kaballa" and tarot's symbolism.  I don't
think that this was at all a coincidence.

----------------------------------------------------------------

in addition we have 

nobody@REPLAY.COM (Anonymous/Damian):
#In 'The True and Invisible Rosicrucian Order' Case describes the 
#Tarot as being a storehouse for the knowledge of the Order, which 
#can be reconstituted, even if ALL other knowledge is lost, by 
#contemplation on the cards. (My emphasis.)  I am not saying I 
#could do it, merely that Case said it was possible. He obviously 
#didn't think it a universal method, which is why he wrote at 
#length as you describe. Further, Case states that contemplation of 
#the cards leads to changes in the body's chemistry which leads to 
#a condition where such wisdom can be received, but that this effect 
#takes time. I am using the word contemplation not as a direct quote, 
#but to distinguish it from meditation following on from intense 
#study of a subject, which is the method Case recommended more often. 
#I know that the word has other meanings, which I do not mean here, 
#but I want to be clear that it is not just 'looking blankly'.

by this text it is clear that Case had a very concise metaphysic
which allowed for the constraint to his One Dogmatism of Wisdom
as being the Perfect Key through metamorphasis.  it is but one
more Official System based upon false presumptions, such as:

#He also wrote about symbols having a universal non-verbal meaning 
#that could be discerned by contemplating the cards....

and bolstered by a myopic disrespect of competing ideologies, as
indicated by the assertion that:

#Case...  could be quite dismissive of alternative interpretations 
#to his own....

------------------------------------------------------------------

however, this doesn't mean that the propaganda promoted by Mr. Case,
Mr. Karlin and Mr. Brzustowicz is necessarily FALSE!  I only oppose
it here because of the fruits to which it appears to lead and its
blatant resemblance to a variety of other con-games I have seen in
the occult world.  for balance, I allow the second voice who appears
bent on being a Case-worker:

brz@u.washington.edu (R Brzustowicz):
#...the Tarot emblems were not (as emblem sequences) unique sets -- 
#and ...there is a realm of images situated between the realm of purely 
#arbitrary conventional *signs* (like "=" and "+" and "-") and the 
#realm of symbols, ie, the realm of emblems.
#
#In other words, I am suggesting that it's helpful to think of Tarot
#images as "emblematic," not simply as "symbolic".  (In the same way, there
#are symbolic images in heraldry, but to say of something that it is
#heraldric can be more helpful than simply saying it's symbolic. --
#Especially if there are people around claiming that a coat of arms can and
#should be interpreted simply according to one's intuition, that there is
#no particular "true meaning" to a coat of arms other than the meaning
#given to it by the person looking at it, that heraldric conventions are
#irrelevant to understanding coats of arms, etc, etc.)

[uncited]
#>...tarot cards do not strictly (to the degree one can be strict 
#>about these things) match the definition of 'emblems' which DID 
#>usually have a textual portion as well as the graphic. I don't
#>think the mere application of a title (and on most early
#>cards there IS NO title) is the same thing.
#
#I agree -- although I think there are emblem sequences that have only
#title and image, text is important for emblems of the emblem-book variety.
#(The word "emblem" is already recorded for English in what seems to be a
#less formal sense in 1430.)

here the paradigm from which the tarot is viewed is fleshed out: a 
directed communication from some undefined intelligence which one may 
discern through intentional and guided (get the instructions from the 
Adepti) contemplation after having "learned the Correct Interpretation 
of the cards".

it therefore becomes imperative to presume that one *has* the Correct
Perspective -- since to admit the possibility of relative truths about
the cards' meanings undermines the authority vested by BOTA and the
BOTA-Adepti.  Case is the prophet of a New Order of tarot dogmatists,
ones who must view the "Proper" usage of the tarot for study and
meditation rather than "mere readings", view the cards as "emblems",
conveying a particular and vaunted "Wisdom", and dismiss the rest of
the tarot-using public as 'know-nothings' in order to artificially
bolster their own sense of superiority. 

unfortunately, this type of 'wisdom' can be unravelled and shown for 
what it probably is: dogmatism and charlatanry at the expense of honor.

tyagi
-- 
see http://www.hollyfeld.org/~tyagi/nagasiva.html  and  call: 408/2-666-SLUG!!!
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