What's the point? Allow me to begin with a brief self-introduction. I was raised in a strict Protestant environment, and until I was in my 30's, remained a devout Christian. But some questions nagged me: How did I know my faith was true, and others were not? By what external authority can the Bible be validated? Is what I learned in my religion classes all there is to know about spirituality, or can I dig deeper?
At first, these questions led to an interest in Hermetic mysticism -- Kaballah combined with Golden Dawn-derived teachings about applied magick and related topics. It felt silly at times, and highly inconvenient (Try maintaining a relationship with a fiancee while performing daily banishing rituals at a homemade altar); but I felt there must be something more to religion than prayer and worship.
Eventually, I dropped my interest in magick, deciding that it amounted to little more than positive thinking woo. Shortly after that, I abandoned religious faith entirely. I am a product of the new internet atheist movement -- a loyal SGU listener, a reader of Sagan and Hitchens. The greatest positive change in my life did not come through rituals or church fellowship, but through the realization that we have one short life, and then it's over.
Recently, while sifting through a junk drawer, I came across my copy of the Crowley Thoth version of the Tarot deck, and felt a twinge of nostalgia. I still appreciate the beautiful artwork and imagery in the Tarot, and how the cards so effectively organize symbolic archetypes -- concepts that are universal to the human experience. How, I wondered, could I use this deck for something that did not require a belief in the supernatural?
By "supernatural," I not only mean pertaining to occult forces. I also consider the alleged effects of "positive thinking," touted by self-help gurus, to be mostly in conflict with what science tells us about nature.
I decided to explore the deck from a rationalist perspective, and make it the subject of regular meditations. Not meditations of the transcendental type, but moments of calm introspection. How can an image containing symbols that are relevant to our shared human experiences stimulate a personal reflection on one's present condition? Our thoughts, actions, relationships, desires...they deserve careful inspection, and why not use the Tarot as a springboard?
I will post my insights to this blog as I progress through regular, random drawings from the deck. Each card will be interpreted against established readings of its meaning. My goal is to strip the Tarot of its occult foundations and treat it more as I would a Rorschach blot, or Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies deck.
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