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Tarot Purpose, Knowledge, and Occult Philosophy

To: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.magick,alt.tarot,alt.divination,alt.pagan.magick
From: nagasiva 
Subject: Tarot Purpose, Knowledge, and Occult Philosophy
Date: Sun, 04 Jan 2004 08:31:11 GMT

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

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