this post was submitted on 30 Aug 2024
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I wonder if tarot card tastings are be done over the internet?
Idk about tastings, but yes, there are those who do readings over zoom and such. Scammers gotta be scamming haha
I can do them, but I dont believe in them really. Not in the way that those psychics would think. I think it's just a neat way to get the answers you already know. Something "objective" that will guide you to things you may only know subconsciously, or something you may not want to meet, or just validation that you have inner strength to rely on. It doesn't tell the future ๐
Also, funnily enough, Tarot cards originated in Italy, and it was just a card game. No divination or anything, just a fun card game. Then in the 1800s, French Occultists (think Alistair Crowley) made up the idea that tarot cards were used in Egypt since ancient times to tell the future. And because there was no real way for the common man to fact check that, that lie propagated out until today. Tarot readings isn't really a thing in Europe, where tarot games were played, but it's popular in Western countries because of those Occultists travelling to America and touring their silly occult "artifacts" and shit.
It's so funny to me. Tarot games (tarrocci, iirc, in Italian, the name of the original game and prolly where the word "tarot" comes from) have nothing to do with divination at all. They were more akin to the card games Thirteen, Poker, and such.
Edit: see below for corrections!!
Crowley was an abusive dickhead that used occultism as a power trip. And not French but English, unfortunately, and early 1900s not 1800s. He was active in the 1920s and 30s before he met a well deserved fate. Maybe you're thinking of the 18th century libertine movement, which also experimented with denying the power of organised christian religion, and did not quibble at doing transgressive behaviour. Eg the Marquis de Sade, and truth to tell, Voltaire.
On tarot cards, try reading up on Madame Blavatsky and how her shtick connected with the Theosophical movement so popular in the 1920s and 30s. The consonance with today's CBT is sooo compelling. 'Every day in every way I am getting better and better' as a daily mantra. And this is where the whole power of positive thinking got started too. I've played tarrocco and enjoyed it - having the extra cards lends a whole new dimension to strategy. I'd call it as closer to classic whist or contract bridge - its not similar to poker at all as it's trick based.
The actual cards in the current format have been around since late medieval times - mostly used for card playing. Using cards for divination (and a whole lot of other things too such as the flight of birds and entrails of sacrificial animals) has been popular since the roman empire, and possibly since humanity was invented. As a species we really do want to believe that we can get a cheat code on the future.
Thank you for the corrections! I read about it ages ago and forgot the pertinent details ๐
I didn't want to get into Crowley because he's gross AF.
I appreciate this, I have more to look into!!! ๐
Yep, Crowley was a hagfish - everything he touched turned to slime.
For early 20th century occultism, try looking up Dion Fortune (pseudonym) who was actually quite positively focused. He/she wrote several novels, of which Psychic Self-Defence is probably the most famous. Gardnerian witchcraft is also tied into all this stuff, more or less positively depending on context. The short stories of Sylvia Townsend-Warner are a thinly disguised contemporary critique of the participants too. And very funny. This stuff is not at all fashionable, but sneaks up and bites where it matters. I recommend it as an antidote to practically all instagram occultism.
There's a few clubs that play tarrocco around in the northern suburbs - if you like card evenings they're quite fun. Only most of the people involved are eldery Italians, so if you are under 60, or just don't yet use a walking frame, prepare to be flirted with.
ooh, someone else who has read Dion Fortune.
All bunk of course.
Legacy of the hippie era - the books were re-issued then. Odd, of course, but some of the psychological insights still have value. Particularly the ones relating to credulity.
The Egyptian ones are fascinating. I used to have a book about it somewhere.
Oh ok. I wasn't aware of the origins of it.
I always thought of them as a divination tool and I guess I find tarot mildly fascinating.
With that said I do take them with a grain of salt.
I just went hunting for a set of tarot cards I got awhile ago and thank goodness I found them.
Thought I might have lost them. Nothing special, just a set of X/1999 ones I took a fancy to a long time ago.
Gah. How did that come out as tastings!