THE
ARCANE
ARCHIVE
a cache of usenet and other text files pertaining
to occult, mystical, and spiritual subjects.


TOP | OCCULTISM | DIVINATION | TAROT

Tarot and Qabalah

To: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.magick,alt.tarot,alt.divination
From: nagasiva 
Subject: Re: Tarot and Qabalah (was ...)
Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 08:13:18 GMT

50020324 VI

ahoy Jess.
 
"J. Karlin" :
> Occult Tarot is based on a (not necessarily THE) 
> Kabbalistic myth.

so do you consider those decks which barely hold to form,
favouring a theme of art or character (Hello Kitty Tarot,
Halloween Tarot, etc.), along with those decks that purport 
to be "occult" or by "occult authors" whose actual content 
doesn't resemble the work of prominent or even unknown 
occultists using Kabbalistic myth as their basis, to be 
'pseudo-Tarot'? how much can a deck stray before it stops
being 'Occult Tarot'?
 
nagasiva:
>> what some people call their tarot was based on what they
>> called their qabalah.
>
> You can be less restrained than that.

as much as I may wish to defend. I can do so and abide your
preferences, I gather, but we are aligned in a great many areas.

> While I understand that the idea of accepting certain facts 
> as irrefutable makes some people automatically start looking 
> for mind-altering drugs to cope with (or maybe for a lawyer 
> to get them out of it), the truth is that Tarot WAS a card game, 
> then it became ALSO a fortune-telling device, then it became 
> ALSO an occult encyclopedia and Kabbalistic key to the cosmos, 
> then it became ALSO a product to be mass-marketed to simpletons.

well said.

> Of course there's a way in which you might say it was always
> all these things and, in all these manifestations, Tarot has 
> also been a tool for swindlers (of numerous stripes and 
> convictions).

perhaps, but I don't think this is as easily supported as your
other assertions.

> All the while, still a game, and all the while still played
> as a game.

it is actually quite an enjoyable game. friends and I got together
and played Tarocci using a set of rules off a website and the Alice
in Wonderland deck. I recommend a deck with visible corner markings,
for easier reference when holding a good many cards. tarot cards of
an occult type will not always work well for this purpose (it also
depends on how well the players know tarotic ennumeration and 
structure). 

so I'm imagining a gradation of Tarot:

	Occult Tarot -- composed to transmit the mysteries with
		reference to Kabbalistic myth, e.g. Smith-Waite,
		Harris-Crowley;

	Playing Tarot Decks (Tarocci) -- sometimes masquerading
		as Occult Tarot decks or mimicking regular playing
		cards in form, e.g. Alice in Wonderland Tarot

	Theme & Celebrity Tarot Decks -- designed to showcase 
	        something other than tarotic imagery or serve a 
		purpose other than gaming or mysticism, 
		e.g. Dali Tarot Deck(?).

non-Tarot decks that aren't intended to be Fortune-Telling Cards
are sometimes quite amusing, some even more popular amongst my 
elder friends than conventional decks (e.g. the Morgan Deck, 
and the Gypsy Witch cards, though the latter can be used as 
player cards also, with some difficulty).

n
a       B
g      l         b
a     e        e
s    s       a
i   s      s
v  e     t
a d    !
@yronwode.com

The Arcane Archive is copyright by the authors cited.
Send comments to the Arcane Archivist: tyaginator@arcane-archive.org.

Did you like what you read here? Find it useful?
Then please click on the Paypal Secure Server logo and make a small
donation to the site maintainer for the creation and upkeep of this site.

The ARCANE ARCHIVE is a large domain,
organized into a number of sub-directories,
each dealing with a different branch of
religion, mysticism, occultism, or esoteric knowledge.
Here are the major ARCANE ARCHIVE directories you can visit:
interdisciplinary: geometry, natural proportion, ratio, archaeoastronomy
mysticism: enlightenment, self-realization, trance, meditation, consciousness
occultism: divination, hermeticism, amulets, sigils, magick, witchcraft, spells
religion: buddhism, christianity, hinduism, islam, judaism, taoism, wicca, voodoo
societies and fraternal orders: freemasonry, golden dawn, rosicrucians, etc.

SEARCH THE ARCANE ARCHIVE

There are thousands of web pages at the ARCANE ARCHIVE. You can use ATOMZ.COM
to search for a single word (like witchcraft, hoodoo, pagan, or magic) or an
exact phrase (like Kwan Yin, golden ratio, or book of shadows):

Search For:
Match:  Any word All words Exact phrase

OTHER ESOTERIC AND OCCULT SITES OF INTEREST

Southern Spirits: 19th and 20th century accounts of hoodoo, including slave narratives & interviews
Hoodoo in Theory and Practice by cat yronwode: an introduction to African-American rootwork
Lucky W Amulet Archive by cat yronwode: an online museum of worldwide talismans and charms
Sacred Sex: essays and articles on tantra yoga, neo-tantra, karezza, sex magic, and sex worship
Sacred Landscape: essays and articles on archaeoastronomy, sacred architecture, and sacred geometry
Lucky Mojo Forum: practitioners answer queries on conjure; sponsored by the Lucky Mojo Curio Co.
Herb Magic: illustrated descriptions of magic herbs with free spells, recipes, and an ordering option
Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers: ethical diviners and hoodoo spell-casters
Freemasonry for Women by cat yronwode: a history of mixed-gender Freemasonic lodges
Missionary Independent Spiritual Church: spirit-led, inter-faith, the Smallest Church in the World
Satan Service Org: an archive presenting the theory, practice, and history of Satanism and Satanists
Gospel of Satan: the story of Jesus and the angels, from the perspective of the God of this World
Lucky Mojo Usenet FAQ Archive: FAQs and REFs for occult and magical usenet newsgroups
Candles and Curios: essays and articles on traditional African American conjure and folk magic
Aleister Crowley Text Archive: a multitude of texts by an early 20th century ceremonial occultist
Spiritual Spells: lessons in folk magic and spell casting from an eclectic Wiccan perspective
The Mystic Tea Room: divination by reading tea-leaves, with a museum of antique fortune telling cups
Yronwode Institution for the Preservation and Popularization of Indigenous Ethnomagicology
Yronwode Home: personal pages of catherine yronwode and nagasiva yronwode, magical archivists
Lucky Mojo Magic Spells Archives: love spells, money spells, luck spells, protection spells, etc.
      Free Love Spell Archive: love spells, attraction spells, sex magick, romance spells, and lust spells
      Free Money Spell Archive: money spells, prosperity spells, and wealth spells for job and business
      Free Protection Spell Archive: protection spells against witchcraft, jinxes, hexes, and the evil eye
      Free Gambling Luck Spell Archive: lucky gambling spells for the lottery, casinos, and races