The Source of Tarot's Power: A Question.

[Rynnshng]

Hello.

Here are 8 suggestions on the source of Tarot's power. Which do you feel is appropriate , based on your understanding of how they work?

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1. That there is a special quality in the imagery or cards themselves that is accessed.

2. That the Reader themselves possess a special quality to make use of 1. or empowers ordinary cards toward fortune telling ability.

3. That neither the tarot not the reader are special, but the special animating quality resides in the subconscious and the collective archetypal pool posited by Carl Jung (and others).

4. That some other force higher than the reader but lower than God imbues the cards with special qualities.

5. That the process is a trick of the imagination and will, a placebo effect but sufficient to be indistinguishable from any other reality.

6. That the combination of card and reader creates a special connection that provides a special quality.

7. That the ritual of laying, shuffling, arranging and reading provides the special quality via the magical framework.

8. A combination of the above to greater or lesser degree.

 

[Ohana]

I at first thought 5 but now I think its neither of the options listed and instead the spirits of the dead people/animals/plants. They might have a larger vantage point of time or their perspective is at better angle to see situations at hand so give tarot its current.

Maybe for major readings major spirits are evoked. Thats my thought process at least.

 

[Firetree]

8

 

[OberonFromTheHills]

1) and 2) : any divination tool works through a system, limits and rules. Occulists from the 18th to today shaped systems we all learn.

That being said, im sure somebody who has no knowlege about what mystics wrote about Tarot still can use it with their own system.

3) i don't believe in that one

4) i believe Tarot developped its own egregores and has some entities that are linked it to. The GD had an "angel" (aka a survitor) that was called to help reading it. You can also connect Tarot to countless of spirits. However, the game itself has no particular power. You have to make the connections yourself.

5) that can work. I dont mean any magick perform with tarot is a placebo effect. But it can totally have it on some persons.

6) that is a huge possibility. Similar to a vision board. Spreading cards create a story. They can help you to visualize the story and """"""manifest it"""""

 

[Robert Ramsay]

Most divination systems work the same way. You have some predetermined objects (or identical objects to be arranged in patterns) and you randomly select from those objects (or those patterns). As with Tarot, you optionally have the choice of arranging the randomly selected objects in a framework which narrows down the area they apply to.

All systems of this description will be equally effective at a basic level, because, like all magical systems, they all depend on the same principle.

The Tarot gains its particular effectiveness from the densely packed visual symbolism it contains, allowing a wider range of interpretation than, say, the I Ching.

So I would say 1 & 2, but I would strike out the word 'special' from both. And it's the imagery, not the cards themselves.