No, it’s not you naughty boy!! :no-no:
It’s a game of pure strategy and intelligence and some clairvoyance, hence the name, Tarot.
It seems some are saying “it helps, so what’s the problem?” Worshiping the sun and moon might help your feelings but ultimately one is a ball of hydrogen and the other is probably a lump hacked off the Earth by a passing asteroid. It makes you feel good, or even helps make decisions - great, but it’s still not actually true that they’re gods in the literal sense -even though the sun is the bringer of all energy (except nuclear) and thus life .
He gave me a reading over the phone, which I thought was very weird. I thought of a question without saying it to him and he told me something. He said I could think of any question I liked - however when I thought of a meaningful question with a verifiable answer, it turned out any question wasn’t quite what he’d meant. Wrong kind of question and I was accused of testing him - which is true and quite fair enough given the claims of looking into my head from the other side of the world.
To anyone with an modicum of intelligence and imagination that would prove no problem 30, 50 or 100 years ago. Or even in Da Vinci’s time. In fact H G Wells and Jules Verne probably wrote about exactly that. Conceptually, it involves no fundamental changes in the rules - it’s a machine on a smaller scale.
It’s also possible to speculate rationally about time travel or teleportation using current knowledge and both of which are possible in some sense. Building/growing complex objects (tables?) using DNA (information) - I remember thinking of that as a kid.
But a deck of cards foretelling the future - that involves a pretty fundamental change in how the world works.
On a good day, I’m tolerant of others’ beliefs.
On a bad day, I’m with Dawkins - “you’re clearly a very nice, genuine person, but you are deluded/hallucinating.” and such beliefs (if taken to be literally true) are a sign of intellectual paucity.
[quote=“fruitloop”]On a good day, I’m tolerant of others’ beliefs.
On a bad day… such beliefs (if taken to be literally true) are a sign of intellectual paucity.[/quote]
On any day, I am of both minds.
As for tolerance, if you know someone and care about your relationship with them, and they happen to strongly hold what you feel are unscientific and irrational beliefs, then voicing criticism of those beliefs and associated behaviors not only is unlikely to turn them into a rational person and put an end to those beliefs and behaviors, but may even damage your relationship with them. While it’s best to walk without a crutch, if you see a one-legged man walking with the assistance of a crutch, it does neither of you any good if you yank his crutch away.
In any case, I’d rather worship the sun than God. For one thing, the sun actually exists!
The reason Tarot cards actually work is because of the principle of synchronicity. Buddhism says there is not a single dust particle that is in the wrong place. Augustinian Christianity says absolutely everything that happens in this world is God’s will. Both are correct. Tarot cards work because there is no such thing as randomness/chaos/probabilily. Those things are illusions of the Matrix world we live in.
In any case, I’d rather worship the sun than God. For one thing, the sun actually exists![/quote]
I pray to the sun and moon each day. Because they are there. Because I am grateful they are there. The lake, the stars, the mountains, the trees, I am grateful for the abundance I have in life. Who ever put them there, I am thankful to him/her/the lot of them.
Except that there is. Especially at the quantum level.
[quote=“fruitloop”]But a deck of cards foretelling the future - that involves a pretty fundamental change in how the world works.
On a good day, I’m tolerant of others’ beliefs.
On a bad day, I’m with Dawkins - “you’re clearly a very nice, genuine person, but you are deluded/hallucinating.” and such beliefs (if taken to be literally true) are a sign of intellectual paucity.[/quote]
You are playing with a full deck because you already know how you feel about Tarot. And you should. You are right to feel it’s just a load of twaddle. Stick to what you believe and use reason to make your own decisions. In your OP you asked for somebody to explain the use of tarot to you logically. You know that nobody can do that.
But listen to DragonBones. There’s no point in alienating loved ones. As DB says, people aren’t going to give up their crutches.
While I truly believe that belief in any hocus pocus or superstition isn’t helping human development and sometimes harms it (and it certainly needs to be given up before we can progress to a new level of morality), many people just aren’t ready to give up belief in the supernatural. For many, it’s too alarming to look at the world through the cold hard lens of scientific truth. I have no choice now and spend pretty much most of my day alarmed. 
So, while I despair for family members or friends who cling to beliefs that shouldn’t stand up in a court of law (but probably would due to the pervasive belief in some sort of supernatural force pervading the world), I’m not gonna waste too much energy telling other people they’re wrong. It really won’t get me anywhere. People cling to belief and don’t really look at evidence. They’ll only listen if they are ready.
When I was a newbie atheist I went nuts and was all fired up, ready to preach the good news. It did make for some interesting arguments and heated debates at parties or at work. And I did manage to scrawl off and send a 15 page missive on the evils of religion to everyone I knew. But it was as if my seeds fell on rocky ground.
I don’t think getting all hardcore on your brother will get you anywhere. You’re allowed to believe in different things. Geez - my family is a bunch of whackjobs! Some have their rosaries, others speak in tongues in their free time, one believes celebrating Christmas is a sin.
So, when appropriate, I take a stand for my belief in only believing in things which have evidence. Other times I just let it go (they know what I believe after all). If I had decided to piss off friends who believe in silly things, they would simply have been left with only the silly things and without the care and iota of rationality I can give them.
It’s going to take some time before people can face the randomness and then thereafter be bale to love life for what it is - and what it is is pretty fucking awesome.
You should also remember that using tarot isn’t the same as joining a sect or even entering an established religion. He’s not going to a Church of Tarot, is he? The whole thing might just blow over if there isn’t that same sense of community that exists in churches and temples. Right now, you are just in shock and unable to comprehend how a sane mind could go in for this. I’m with you there. But stick to your own beliefs and don’t alienate him unnecessarily as he needs you and there are more important things to life. Your bro’s gone into this because he - like everyone else - is looking for meaning. You describe him as a reasonably intelligent guy. Trust him to sort it out for himself.
Except that there is. Especially at the quantum level.[/quote]
Science operates on a lot of incorrect assumptions. For one, there is no causality. That is the biggest mistake science made. Things that happen in this world are not caused by anything. They just happened. One simple analogy is an actor wonders why in a movie everyone wants to kill him. The answer is there is no reason. The movie script is written that way. We are basically all just watching a movie unfold in this life. There is almost no free will and no cause and effect.
Well, I am not trying to prove it to you over the internet. Just keep this in mind, and maybe you will change your mind someday.
[quote=“Joeman_0”]
Science operates on a lot of incorrect assumptions. For one, there is no causality. That is the biggest mistake science made. Things that happen in this world are not caused by anything. They just happened. [/quote]
I thought science was all about cause and effect? Causes, effects, and evidence.
[quote=“ThreadKiller”][quote=“Joeman_0”]
Science operates on a lot of incorrect assumptions. For one, there is no causality. That is the biggest mistake science made. Things that happen in this world are not caused by anything. They just happened. [/quote]
I thought science was all about cause and effect? Causes, effects, and evidence.[/quote]
Are you thick or something, ThreadKiller? The bloke’s an OPERATING THETAN! Show some respect!
Oops! 
My bad. I get confused. I move between threads and there is that “Draw Mohamed Day” thread. I just never know which religions are up for grabs at any point in time.