the legitimacy of Tarot cards

My mom used to be very large into Tarot cards. She goes through many spiritual evolutions in her life (as do I). As a consequence of this she ended up buying me 4 different kinds of Tarot card decks, and 3 books on layouts for the cards and their meanings. I used them a little bit a few years ago and remembered being a bit surprised with their accuracy, so I decided to try them out again this morning just for the hell of it. I did a basic three card layout, 1st card represents past, 2nd represents present, 3rd represents future. Here are the results:
---------------------

Past: Five of Cups. Grief. Loss. Many regrets. Setbacks. Loss of a relationship, friend, or valued possession. Disappointment in love and friendship. End of a marriage or love relationship. You have strength of spirit to endure. Hope for a better future. Choose a creative solution to your problems. This is a temporary period and will pass.

How it relates to me: I spent a large majority of my college life dating this certain girl whom brought me into contact with the group of friends I now hang with on a dialy basis, etc. We broke up when she graduated (she was two years ahead of me) on fairly bad terms. She continually cheated on me, etc, and was generally considered to be evil incarnate for those of us fortunate enough to have dated her. Anyway, to make a long story less long, she is a very large disappointment in my past life, probably my biggest regret was not breaking up sooner with her, etc. So this card fits (don't worry, the other two connect even better).

--------

Present: Nine of Cups: This is the "Wish" Card - your deepest desire is granted. A problem is solved. Satisfying sexual relationships. Emotional peace. Goals are achieved. Dreams come true. Take time to enjoy your success and revel in its rewards. Material possessions are attained. Physical fitness and beauty.

How it relates to me: I'm a senior in college right now, but I've been stressing out over if I'll be graduating or not. It's a fairly complicated situation, but there is a lot of pressure on me from many classes and many people to finish up one degree this semester and then finish the next one this coming semester (my 9th semester). In other words, this card is telling me this shit will work itself out OK.

-------- (and now the most interesting one)

Future: Eight of Cups: Disappointment. Dissatisfaction. Tired of the current situation. You have a bad attitude. Take action. Leave your current relationship or job. Indicates travel or relocation. Look elsewhere for happiness. Make dramatic changes in your life. Carry through with plans.

How it relates to me: After I get my degrees, I'm planning on moving to Japan for a few years to teach! My friend told me about a program where if you have a 4 year degree you can go to Japan to teach English. He's going this year, and I talked to my family about signing up for it so they're prepared for me to be gone for a while.

------------

So in summary, these three cards really do represent the strongest emotions I feel towards my past, present and future. My past is largely filled with regret about my relationships, my present is focused on being able to graduate and get everything done on time, and my future is focused on moving to Japan.

Are these cards legitimate, or is it just a case of me drawing my own connections between my life and fairly general card meanings?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Quote:

There is NO correlation that I can see between what you are saying about your current life and what the card is supposed to say.

Trying to hold "present" down to this exact moment I'm living currently is limiting your scope. You're purposely limiting my terms of "past, present, future" in order to be able to immediately dismiss them. The present is more accurately stated as my feelings concerning my current situation in life. And Tarot cards aren't limited to simply STATING how I'm doing, they're a predictive force, so if we want to encompass both present AND prediction, we have to consider the possiblity of it being a future prediction directly affecting my current life. But I'm sure you'll disagree and stick to your literalist-guns.

Quote:

Few people don't look to the future with the hopes of moving on or somewhere.

This card doesn't simply represent "moving on," it also represents "travel or relocation" - which is exactly what I plan on doing DUE to my dissatisfaction concerning the possibilities when staying local. The picture on the card shows a man with a walking stick going off in the distance - the imagery represent literal relocation.

Also, consider the fact that this card represents future and not past or present. This card would have little to do with my past or present, and in fact would contradict my past because I chose to stay where I was rather then the very real option of relocation or moving during that period of my life. The present card would make very little sense if it were Past, or at least remain extremely vague, but it could be applied to future. The Past card could represent either disappointment in present or future love, but it's extremely appropriate in Past considering how my relationship with that girl has shadowed almost my entire college experience.

Don't look at just the meaning, look at the placement as well.

Quote:

You have to critically analyze stuff like this, and it doesn't seem like you are.

I believe I am, but critical analysis doesn't equate to automatic dismissal.

Most amazing jew boots

Quote:

If the reasons and possibilities for why the aforementioned thought could be wrong (in this case, "are these tarot cards legit?") overwhelms the reasons and possibilities for it to be right, then one would have to logically conclude that it is more likely wrong than right.

So what exactly is your case against the possiblity of Tarot cards really working? Do you have a case for logic against supernatural powers working in cards? This argument boils down to, is it more likely a supernatural explanation is true or a natural exlanation is true? If you hold the preconcieved notion that there are no supernatural connections with Tarot cards, you'll obviously lean towards the natural argument whether or not a better case can be made for the supernatural in this specific instance - which is what you're doing. I myself think this case is fairly supportive of a supernatural possiblity if looking at it without bias. If we accept both spiritual divination and natural probability as two EQUAL, legitimate causes, don't you agree that this specific outcome would lean more towards the supernatural?

Quote:

1) The people who make those cards are making them as a business. To make profit.

The people who make the cards now have no connection with the origins of Tarot. The cards weren't created 50 years ago in the blooming age of consumerism.

Most amazing jew boots

Quote:

The only supernatural forces I can concieve of participating in the manner in which you attempt to utilize would be of satanic origins for the sole purpose of distracting humans from what is really important.

Do you think there have been times when supernatural activity from satanic origins have influence people through things similar to tarot cards? (interested in your beliefs here )

Quote:

And you are right as well, the cards were created before the big rise of capitalism, but if you even DARE say that there was no such thing as swindlers, liars, and cheats before that time, then you are very gravely mistaken.

I agree, but my point was mainly that Tarot cards were originally created for the purpose of divination, not for the purpose of making a living by charging money to tell people's fortunes.

Quote:

Nonetheless, I am not referring so much to the cards themselves being made by the people of today, but the books which tell you how to interpret what you have drawn.

Yea, I'm not sure how the cards have come to mean what they mean now. I imagine it was through some evolutionary process over the years. I think it'd be really interesting to find out what the original meaning of each card was. Perhaps this method of fortune telling lost it's potency when humans tried to classify cards into specific categories with words instead of letting the pictures represent the impact of the card.

Quote:

I guarantee you that there is no consistency in interpretation throughout history here, and there is no longstanding tradition of psychics writing down the fortunes in these books for the benefit of all peoples the world over.

But perhaps there's no consistency due to the infiltration of scammers into the tarot culture, turning it into a circus side show? There's no way to tell if indeed everything has been made up, or if there were true Tarot card masters and understudies at one point who took their craft seriously. Maybe once this became commercialized and marketed to people it became largely a game of psychology and money making, turning from it's original supernatural nature.

Ahahah, for some reason debating this topic is a lot of fun. I've never debated on the side of a supposedly satanic cult practice before, it's pretty interesting.

Most amazing jew boots

Quote:

However, it seems like in the majority of cases nowadays, his direct participation isn't needed anymore as it was, because of the self-perpetuation of the systems he has devised. Like tarot cards, or "psychics" and "fortune tellers."

I'm going to start a thread in political palace off this topic since it interests me.

Quote:

I don't intend to sound mean; I just think you are wasting your time and brain cells, and you would be remiss to not stop messing with such frivolity.

Meh, I've wasted plenty more brain cells wrestling with Christianity over the years, it's time I gave them a work out in other spirituality departments.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Quote:

It seems your thread was ridiculously over generic, and thus it had no potential but a waste of space.

What the hell? Are you always so anal retentive? Try to have some fun in a forum sometime instead of thinking everything has to provide some kind of gigantic intellectual growth.

Quote:

What do you consider to be the essence of "spiritual?"

Simply, that which can't be classified through naturalistic/scientific means.

Quote:

Which whether they were a bunch of nutjobs or not is up to the beliefs of the particular person but they were definetly more about keeping things private and withen than circle than marketing to the masses for cash.

Interesting point, forgot about that. Crowley did make his own kind of Tarot deck and was certainly into the occult side for his own reasons, not commercial ones.

Quote:

You seem pretty determined to believe that tarot card readings have deep, mystical impart despite the total absense of any rational evidence to this effect, so whatever floats your boat. But if you're going to ask my opinion, it's a lot of ego stroking and nothing more.

Wow, someone saying that a spiritual concept can't be proven through rational evidence. That's a first. And I'm not determined to believe, I'm determined (more like, somewhat motivated) to prove. Do I think Tarot cards have spiritual associations? Most likely not. Anyone who thinks in absolutes, such as most here, will end up tripping over their own security blanket. Do I think MY specific reading was a product of spiritual associations? I dunno, I just found it interesting, that's all I just wanted opinions. The reason I'm debating it is, well, for the sake of debate. Plus I didn't want it to be a circle jerk, which it already mostly is.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Quote:

Tarot is fun. So is Numerology. So is Zodiac. So is getting drunk.

Agreed!

FELIPE NO

Quote:

That is when I believe that anyone truly believes in what they believe; when they're humble with themselves. Otherwise, people are still trying to convince themselves above all others just who they really are.

I couldn't help but realize how this is completely opposite of Christianity's recruit-a-thon philosophy.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Quote:

Except that this "recruit-a-thon philosophy" that you talk about is not a "I'm right, you are wrong, see how right I am" sort of thing(although some people act like that).

Yea, it's more like a "I'm going to heaven, you're going to hell" sort of thing. Because that's less threatening to their opinion than telling them they're wrong. <.<

Quote:

It is a command given by Jesus himself to his followers to spread the gospel to the entire earth. We would be shirking our duties if we refused to do that.

Well the gospel has spread over the entire earth and 2/3rds of the world are still going to hell because they don't believe Christ is their savior. Talk about a waste of souls, God must not want much company in heaven since He made His message so ineffective.

Most amazing jew boots