THE ARCANE ARCHIVE
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To: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.divination,alt.tarot,alt.pagan.magick,alt.magick
From: nagasiva 
Subject: Fatalism/Empowering Insight and Humble Service
Date: Sun, 29 Feb 2004 08:24:13 GMT

the old Free Will vs Determinism debate ...had philosophers under
wraps for centuries. it is largely an unnecessary conundrum, much like
how brain-mind psychological models and spirit-matter metaphysics are
confused because of competing and incomplete cosmological axioms.


RE 'so much fatalism in the world'

where? "You are a Taurus. Taurean people are earth-based, have...."
sunsign astrology? "You are a number 7. Septinals are focussed on
limitations, being in planetary resonance with Saturn. They are...."
numerology? these are identity-based interpretive expressions,
rather than divinatory configurations or derivements. is the fatalism
you're seeing in people's religious beliefs? the reason that I ask
is that I notice a distinct *lack* of destiny-orientation in the
expression and experience of those with whom I generally interact,
often with a desire that more things *were* nailed down and reliable,
by whatever agency they could reliable upon. I may be surrounded by 
atheists and rationalists, of course, in the Land of Califia.
 

would it be nice to make more? "You will definitely meet the man 
of your dreams within the next 2 weeks: a dark, tall stranger, 
fluent in several languages, and a magnate of the shipping 
industry...."

this could be exceptionally reassuring and stabilizing. even if one
were to discern that one's immanent death (with Trump XIII, DEATH)
was only 3 days away, at least one might *prepare* for such news.

or do you believe that such information is *unavailable* to card
readers? the philosophy of divination admits of great leeway amongst
cosmologies and their manifestations. if there is a Supreme God, one 
may tie directly into that supremity, or one of Hir intermediaries,
and come to benefit at least from omniscience. if one were a clergy
of this god, why one might also *confer* with the deity and attempt
to negotiate difficult straits. the possibilities are innumerable.

if some kind of cosmic principles are operating (karma, even 
rudimentary and reliable principles of materiality) then the 
limitations of apparent choice (see the Trump CHOICE/LOVERS) might 
make it valuable to have advanced notice of what is difficult, by 
deduction, to predict. knowledge of the Wheel of Samsara and how 
the person's cycle fits into the overall pattern of the members 
of hir wakefulness class, would be immensely akin in some ways 
to a kind of fatalism. 

is fatalism a problem, or a drudgery, opposing our (possibly erroneus)
notions of identity, and our apparent ability to determine the quality
and nature of our behaviour? some mystical cults espouse the illusory
nature of so called "free will", for example. 'fatalism' would be one
way to characterize such cosmological paradigms, but it might also be 
considered arrogant, dismissive and ignorant by some. these kinds of
impressions are not usually those sought by businesses for readers.


RE the Query

it is instrumental in influencing the nature of the response.
ostensibly one ought receive instruction in the most efficacious
method of query-intruction from the competent reader (especially
when there is no per-minute charge :>). my favourite introduction
to this topic was given by John Blofeld in his "I Ching". 
if there is interest, I'll key in the relevant portions .


RE showing the Querent another viewpoint than strict fatalism

this approximates one respectful attitude, yes. in fact, you could
go even further than this and admit your ignorance of the cosmos and
its truths, allow for the possibilities that others suppose, and give
better advice (from consonant presuppositions) than if the Querent had
to consistently translate your foolish talk of free will to their own
more knowledgeable language in order to derive benefit from your gifts. :>
it might probably help to ascertain the perspective of the Querent by
sizing them up and gearing your reading content to their perspective.

I mean, imagine if someone believed that the Book of Thoth was really
constructed for more exalted things than mere cartomancy. given that 
they also took on the task of mastering cartomancy for discipline, and
comprehended the futility of deriving information from this mantic mode,
would it be kind of them to characterize their readings to others in
so dismissive and esoteric a manner as this:

======>	You *do* know, of course that everything I'm telling 
======>	you here is whispy phantasms, don't you? I mean, The 
======>	Book of Thoth, which I have used for cartomancy just 
======>	now, is an ancient and hallowed magical tool. It can
======>	yield the effects for which the Initiate employs it, 
======>	to the limit of hir ability, but cannot do more than 
======>	give one glimpses into the nature of the real world. 
======>
======>	Since the universe isn't determined ahead of time, 
======>	none of us can see into the future because it has 
======>	not yet come to pass. Only by reflection on the
======>	impending course of the forces in the *current* 
======>	cosmos (not some past, future, or fictional one) 
======>	will the possibilities of the future really be 
======>	at all visible to the reader or mystic.

?? the firm fatalist would consider your talent suspect, and quite
possibly desert you as a reader, leaving you to a later awakening.

in part the point is: as a service to those who are interested,
need it be suffused within or restricted based on your personal
prejudices and conclusions about the universe? sure, your own
method and how you are prone to interpret readings will influence
the type of reading you give (we can't help that, and this is one
of the reasons that I usually just do readings for myself only).
but don't you think it makes for a more enjoyable experience as
a Querent when not informed how a reading should be seen (either in 
some fatalistic mode or some empowering insight-option-enhancer)?

I totally understand your desire to avoid arrogance. it is extremely
humble to avoid giving the impression that you are looking into a 
future you don't think yet exists, or ferretting out the Destiny of
the Universe written in flames on the Big Book of Manifest Destiny.

that said, if I believed that you *did* have that capability and
were, like the illiterate geomancers scrawling in sand or soil
giving their scholar-observers something to write down, able to
contact the essence of the real and reflect unto me valuable
glimpses of the fatalist future we're all facing together, then
I wouldn't care much whether you believed in the processes or
not, or whether you thought I was an ignorant fatalist. as long
as you did what I'd asked you to do and didn't make much noise
about your mistaken views, we'd get along fine. :>
 
just as the adept Hermetic Philosopher isn't being *forced* to do 
readings for the unenlightened (she is engaging in humbling and
instructive service which will advance hir spiritual development),
so also you are not forced to do readings for fatalists. and 
yet you *may* humbly proceed within the method you know to be 
effective, and render the reading service at the agreed rate.

palms together

nagasiva