Jason Streetz
No.
Do I think that the Tarot is entrenched in ancient Egyptian, or other aloof, mythical origin?
No.
Do I think that Tarot was, and still is, a tool for those who practice the occult?
I suppose, but I couldn't tell you why. I mean, they're cards. If you're convinced that the cards are somehow mystical just because some occultists said they were, keep in mind that so then are the four elements, the planets, the stars, certain animals, and a variety of ordinary geometric shapes. I mean, com'on.
Let's face it. Tarot cards nowadays are published by gaming companies. And originally, they were made by painters and artists to serve as a distraction for the rich or noble, used in games not unlike today's playing cards. (In fact, they share common ancestry) It was only somewhere in the middle that Tarot cards were crafted by the wackos. Whackos who attributed special meanings to basic geometric shapes wrought in chicken blood and all manner of other nonsense. Whackos who organized themselves in special secret meetings wherein they engaged in simultaneous make-believe that something metaphysical was happening. Any yet regardless of the wackos and their attempts to subvert the nature of the Tarot, it started as a game, and it shall remain a game. Nothing more.
Tarot cards. Intriguing for both their true and imagined origins. Fascinating because of their symbology. Valuable as collector's items. Still, just cards.
So if you continue to cling to some half-begotten feeling that Tarot cards are "mystical" or "evil" in some way, consider this. Who is the dumber? Those who had originally invented disturbing implications upon the Tarot (read: the wackos), or those who believe and perpetuate them?
Tarot. Cards. Done.
So, as a casual collector, I've picked up a few decks for variety's sake.
I guess no page on Tarot would be complete without something having been said about the author and divination.
Do I know how to "read" the Tarot cards?
Yes.
And once more, do I "believe" in them?
No more than I believe in rolling dice or closing your eyes, spinning and picking a direction as a means of divination.
Here's what I believe. There's a part of the human subconscious that overlaps with "intuition". Nothing magical or mystical here, just plane old human nature.
The mind tends to pick out and assign "meaning" to certain symbols or themes from the environment depending on mood, thought or preoccupation.
It seems to work in reverse, as well.
That is, use symbols or themes in a fixed environment (the Tarot deck) as a way to poke the intutition and provoke ruminations on "meaning".
No thoughts or "meaning" that weren't there inside before, they just needed the right stimulation to think them. Sorta like an enema for the subconscious.
Like any other kind of "magic", Tarot sold as a divination tool is plain old charlatanism. The skills of "reading people" are not magical. The skills of manipulating them aren't either. And yet for a person who wants to believe, anything can seem magical.
So I have this to say on the matter of Tarot used for divination. Save your money and buy a ticket to David Copperfield. Because magic's all the same. At least with a magician, society has come to see his "magic" for what it is -- a staged manipulation of the senses meant for entertainment. If you feel the need to pay someone for some serious advice, stick with the basics. Tax accountants, lawyers and doctors. At least they purport to have measurable, real causal impact here and there.