Tarot Cards, need help

[Sirach]

I rec’d an email from a friend for a link to her girlfriends tarot card site. She is not Catholic and doesn’t realize why this is wrong. I would appreciate any convincing argument to help her to realize that tarot cards are not of God. Thank you very much! Mary

 

[jennstall]

Instead of trying to approach her with a convincing argument, why don’t you write her back thanking her for the link and include a very brief explanation as to why you won’t be visiting the site. For instance, you could just say that as a Catholic you refrain from participating in attempts at divination or however you want to express it. That way, you’re inviting her curiousity without forcing your own position on her and she may just ask you to talk about it a bit more. It gives you an opening to evangelize without being acrimonious. Does that seem a fair way to handle it?

 

[cowgirl]

She is not Catholic

is she any christian religion? if she is, you could mention that you dont believe in giving something, or someone, power credence belief etc power credence belief etc that belongs to God. in other words, when you use something like that, you’re giving something else more trust than you are giving God. and on top of it, it is most likely a power opposite God.

Rachel <><

ps
jennstall, i like your approach, definately no finger pointing or accusing “tone of voice”.

 

[Fr_Ambrose]

I do not approve of this, but it the Irish Benedictines of Glenstal Abbey have published a book on the use of the tarot as a Christian tool.

Here are two links…

Interview in the “Limerick Leader” with Dom Hederman of Glenstal Abbey, on the use of the Tarot cards in Catholic spirituality.
http://www.limerick-leader.ie/issues/20030726/interview.html

TAROT: Talisman or Taboo?
http://www.glenstal.org/talismanortaboo.htm

This is sent only for the sake of information. I personally think that Dom Hederman has been standing outside in the Irish rain for too long. So be aware of it, but stay away from it.

 

[jennstall]

He’s not wrong about the Christian symbolism on the cards. There’s a fair amount of it, but there’s much more alchemical, and Qabalahistic. The cards are not “pagan” and never have been. But the so-called Christian use of the cards he has just “invented” is not new and it’s not Christian – it is Jungian. There’s a vast array of books on using a Jungian approach with Tarot cards. And even the Jungian approach is not new since occult practitioners have been applying the same kind of ideas to Tarot long before Jung ever showed any interest them.

As for their history, here’s a quote I have on the History of Tarot from the Builders of the Adytum who are the experts on the tarot. They consider it the primary vehicle to esoteric and occult knowledgea and spiritual growth.

This strange pack of cards has no exoteric history prior to the fourteenth century. The oldest examples of Tarot designs preserved in museums were probably drawn about 1390. Occult tradition, however, places the date of its appearance at about the year 1200.

Here’s another one that talks about the cards’ symbology:
The Tarot represents a summary of the Hermetic sciences – the Qabalah, Alchemy, Astrology and Magic with their different divisions. All these sciences represent one system of a very broad and deep psychological investigation of the nature of man.

I’m not sure that this symbology can effectively be Christianized or why even that anyone would want to. The Bible is a rich source of spiritual growth and I think you’d barely reach its depths in a lifetime so why go to outside sources of dubious origin?

 

[Fr_Ambrose]

From the same Abbey which gave you the Tarot, but to be fair they normally have a reputation for scholarship.

---

The Glenstal History Conference is a biennial event dedicated to exploring Irish Religious history. It takes place in Glenstal Abbey, a Benedictine monastery near the village of Murroe, Co Limerick.

Drawing on the expertise of scholars from a wide range of academic disciplines, this year’s conference,

Seeing and Believing: Art and Devotion in late Medieval Ireland,

examines the various ways in which religious sentiment found artistic expression in Ireland from the twelfth to sixteenth centuries.

The conference programme and booking details can be accessed at www.glenstal.org

The proceedings of the 2002 conference; The Irish Benedictines: a history, will be published by Columba Press, Dublin in early 2005.

It would be wonderful if some of you could make it! I would also be very grateful if you could draw the programme to the attention of others you know who might be interested.

Sincerely

Colmán Ó Clabaigh OSB
Librarian
Glenstal Abbey

---

 

[jordan]

Sirach:

I rec’d an email from a friend for a link to her girlfriends tarot card site. She is not Catholic and doesn’t realize why this is wrong. I would appreciate any convincing argument to help her to realize that tarot cards are not of God. Thank you very much! Mary

Sirach:

Here’s what the Catholic Church (CCC) teaches, and why:

2116 All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to “unveil” the future.48 Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.

2117 All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one’s service and have a supernatural power over others - even if this were for the sake of restoring their health - are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion. These practices are even more to be condemned when accompanied by the intention of harming someone, or when they have recourse to the intervention of demons. Wearing charms is also reprehensible. Spiritism often implies divination or magical practices; the Church for her part warns the faithful against it. Recourse to so-called traditional cures does not justify either the invocation of evil powers or the exploitation of another’s credulity.

If your friend is of Judaeo-Christian background, perhaps this bit from the Torah might help:

Let there not be found among you…a fortune teller, soothsayer, charmer, diviner, or caster of spells, nor one who consults ghosts and spirits or seeks oracles from the dead. Anyone who does such things is an abomination to the Lord…"
(Deuteronomy 18: 10-12)

Superstition is, in essence, a violation of the First Commandment.

God Bless.

jb

 

[PilgrimJWT]

The Church declares that such things are sinful because superstition is sinful. Even more arresting than that is the simple argument of logic. Has anyone, anywhere, shown in a scientific study that tarot cards are accurate predictors of the future???

 

[SedesDomi]

PilgrimJWT:

The Church declares that such things are sinful because superstition is sinful. Even more arresting than that is the simple argument of logic. Has anyone, anywhere, shown in a scientific study that tarot cards are accurate predictors of the future???

Asking whether Tarot cards have been proven to be scientifically accurate in predicting the future might work for some people. But in my experience, people who work with Tarot are the same people who believe in the afterlife – and the afterlife hasn’t been “scientifically” proven either, so why should science be allowed to dictate whether the Tarot is for real or not?

And then you have other people who do not use the Tarot for purposes of predictions. Instead, Tarot is used as a psychological tool – sort of like the Myers-Briggs test – in order to understand ones motivations better.

Other people might find another argument against Tarot very persuasive: “Why ask the Tarot a question, when you can go to the very Source of the Universe (God) Himself and ask the question? The Tarot, at most, would be second-hand hear-say. Better to hear it from the Boss Himself.”

Another argument is that Tarot can become addictive, since it seems to be an easy way to get answers to tough questions.

SedesDomi

 

[JCPhoenix]

I’m going to give you a real world answer I recieved once, and this may carry weight with people beyond other religions.

My friend is Wiccan, and she does psychic readings. However, back in the day when I was questioning my faith and I recieved a reading from her, she was very careful to not reveal any future events or give hints as to what may happen in the future. Once in an unrelated discussion about telling the future she told me that according to her belief she may not reveal the future even if she sees it at it can be construed as advice to the person recieving the reading.

She was also very careful not to give advice to anyone as to what they should do as it is not ethical to do so. Everyone must follow their own path.

She also told me she avoided Tarot as the plague as she’d never seen any good come of it and it originated with Satan. Tarot teaches people to follow the cards rather than any will, including their own. It teaches them to consult the cards for everything until they become entirely dependent upon them.

Horoscopes are the same thing. There are people who put their faith into horoscopes before they consult the Holy Spirit.

When this wisdom is shared by someone who does not share our religion, it may carry weight with your friends.

Officially, use of Tarot is a breach of the first commandment: I am God…have no other gods before me."

Remember this, for the people who follow Tarot are redirecting their faith into something other than God…and we know the real name behind Tarot.

Additionally, I have had Tarot readings. They do a good job of following the truth…with a twist.

Please feel free to ask me for further info as I would be happy to explain further. I would love to prevent someone else from experiencing what I have experienced.

God Bless!