Have you seen this ROOTS OF ASIA artist/creator interview?? Kind of shocking.

caridwen

sheesh that's impressive. How many decks are created without much knowledge of tarot by artists - a heck of a lot

That is exactly my point. The amount of decks that are rushed out especially by those who a) have very little understanding of Tarot and b) can't draw for toffee c) play upon the infantile is possibly countless.

I'm sick of threads entitled look what I just pulled out of my a"£$hole now hand me some cash.

I don't particularly like Buddhism (of any tenent) but he has at least given some thought to the deck. He does not pretend that it is anything other than pushing foward Dharma philosophy. Druid decks push Druidism, as do Pagan as do Christian as do Magic or Occult as do the infantile;)
 

Dee Ell

Of course, if someone researched Tarot for four years, and then came to the conclusion that Tarot reading is 5000 thousand years old and comes from ancient Egypt, that in itself casts grave doubts on how good his research actually is.

hahahahahahahaha - thanks for making me smile :)
 

Dee Ell

That is exactly my point. The amount of decks that are rushed out especially by those who a) have very little understanding of Tarot and b) can't draw for toffee c) play upon the infantile is possibly countless.

I'm sick of threads entitled look what I just pulled out of my a"£$hole now hand me some cash.

I don't particularly like Buddhism (of any tenent) but he has at least given some thought to the deck. He does not pretend that it is anything other than pushing foward Dharma philosophy. Druid decks push Druidism, as do Pagan as do Christian as do Magic or Occult as do the infantile;)

Having looked at ALL of the decks featured on this site, I agree it's shocking how many are poorly executed (to put it nicely) and/or an obvious cash grab.

However, I would disagree that "druid decks push Druidism, as do Pagan as do Christian as do Magic or Occult..." etc etc -- there is a big difference between showing a preference or displaying a certain theme, and pushing an agenda.

If the intent upon creation is to convert people to your path via your product and message, then that is pushing an agenda and proselytizing. If it's simply to share your love of something with likeminded people (and if, in the process others discover their love of what you love, then great) that's totally different.
 

caridwen

Having looked at ALL of the decks featured on this site, I agree it's shocking how many are poorly executed (to put it nicely) and/or an obvious cash grab.

However, I would disagree that "druid decks push Druidism, as do Pagan as do Christian as do Magic or Occult..." etc etc -- there is a big difference between showing a preference or displaying a certain theme, and pushing an agenda.

If the intent upon creation is to convert people to your path via your product and message, then that is pushing an agenda and proselytizing. If it's simply to share your love of something with likeminded people (and if, in the process others discover their love of what you love, then great) that's totally different.

It depends how you look on it. Most RWS for example use Christian proselytizing which is unquestioned by the author. Most GD based use Tree of Life. I doubt any deck is devoid of 'agenda' even if their agenda is to have no agenda.

Whether it's Jewish mysticism, Christianity, Druidry, Buddhism etc et al it all has an underlying theme, philosophy and way of living your life. None of us live in a vacuum. An anti Christian deck still has a definition of Christianity with which to negate.
 

seedcake

It's not even a normal interview, just putting in the text his words. It's so easy to lose the context.

What's the use of one knowing about the future without knowing how to walk through the present to a good future? Conventional tarot readings lack perspective, insight and practical guidelines that would lead us to a more fulfilled life. Mostly, the predictions tell us about the ends rather than the means. But we need to know wise means in order to achieve good ends to fix problems

Amen to that. There's more readers who like to tell that you're going to meet love of your life next month. And the querent is waiting instead doing anything to change situation. I'm sorry, but really, I see such thinking much more than deeper insights in the problem. Even my best friend told me that I read cards for her and not tell what will happen in the future - relationship or something like that. She wanted something concrete when I'd rather to communicate about her feelings and what to do with her love life, not just waiting anything to happen, just make it real.

caridwen said:
He wants to spread the word of a certain type of Indian Buddhism (Dhama). He certainly has an agenda and I don't agree that Buddhism and fortune telling are incompatible when we consider the Yi Jing and Yarrow. However, most Tarot decks have an agenda.

Just certain type of Buddhism, not Indian. He's Thai so he's into Theravada tradition which is kinda close to the traditions from India but after long time, it changed. Buddhism in every country is different, even in Europe or US. Buddhism is not against fortune-telling or magic (or magick) in general. This is not dogmatic philosphy. If you like Tarot, do it. But when you consider way of Buddha your own way, then you should (not must) think how to incorporate it in your life. Simple.

Yi Jing is part of Taoism ;)
 

caridwen

Just certain type of Buddhism, not Indian. He's Thai so he's into Theravada tradition which is kinda close to the traditions from India but after long time, it changed. Buddhism in every country is different, even in Europe or US. Buddhism is not against fortune-telling or magic (or magick) in general. This is not dogmatic philosphy. If you like Tarot, do it. But when you consider way of Buddha your own way, then you should (not must) think how to incorporate it in your life. Simple.

Yi Jing is part of Taoism ;)

All Buddhism is derived from India. But yes all countries have variations. There is no such thing as 'Thai' buddism and he specifically states it's Dhamma. My point re Yi Jing and Yarrow is that they have been used by Buddhists for centuries and monks were often fortune tellers in their communities ;) ;)
 

seedcake

All Buddhism is derived from India. But yes all countries have variations. There is no such thing as 'Thai' buddism and he specifically states it's Dhamma. My point re Yi Jing and Yarrow is that they have been used by Buddhists for centuries and monks were often fortune tellers in their communities ;) ;)

The core is from India, I agree in more than 100% but. Maybe Thailand is not a good example since they base on Theravada. Mahayana in China and Japan is totally different cup of tea. They changed Buddhism a lot and gave their own unique touches what is logical since cultures of China or Japan are not similiar in the slightest to the Indian culture. That's why in Chinese Mahayana is not a problem to use Yi Jing. I'm not sure about fortune-telling in India except being sure that they concentrate a lot on astrology and they're using it daily. Using Indian word like "dhamma" doesn't mean we're talking about Indian tradition per se. Most of the Buddhists around the world use it, Mahayana or Hinayana or Tantric or what else you can find. The same is with European buddhists. So the point is - it's not about Indian Buddhism, it's about Buddhism in general, as universal philosophy. It's not agenda about specific place but some ideas. And well, Theravada tradition is kinda hard because if you want to be a buddha, you should stay in the monastery.

"Dhamma" is not only about Buddhism, it's a kind of umbrella term for many traditions from India (by India I mean not only modern India but quite a lot of smaller and bigger countries around). "Dhamma" is pretty more than this what was said in the interview. And my favourite cultural barrier - in Far Eastern cultures based on Buddhism (or "Dhamma" in general), our talk would be pointless 'cause they're not fans of such classifications. They're a way more open about modifications, that's why Buddhism has so many different faces. Personally, I look at Buddhism as universal philosophy, just like Christianity or Islam are considered as universal religions. All those stopped to be in only one country or ethnic group, they spread around. So Buddhist from Thailand, China, India or Japan is a Buddhist, not thinking if it's from India or not. If we want to classify it so much, well, we should say that Buddhism is from Nepal ;)
 

Myrrha

You might not like the tone of the roots of Asia LWB either. He is a Theraveda Buddhist and for many cards it will say something like "we must remember the seven somethings that inhibit our search for enlightenment the seven something's are: (lists them)." He uses many cards to present Buddhist technical terms and concepts. Nothing wrong with that but it is very cut-and-dried and not what you might expect from the style of the artwork. He uses a tone that I have heard before from Buddhist teachers and even regular Theravedan Buddhists when they start talking about Buddhist concepts. I don't think it is meant to sound condescending but to emphasize that these are important sacred truths and it is important to start using them in the time we have left.
 

seedcake

Thank you Myrrha for this info. It is kinda good thing, I think. It can make you search for the new things, if you're not familiar with Buddhism in general. Chances like that are always great. When I've seen pictures of this deck I had some knowledge which is growing with time (I hope). In case of this deck, I don't think it's so important to follow LWB. General knowledge of Buddhism and being open are the most important subjects in this case. And of course, beauty of the deck is giving many thoughts ;)

I really want to own this deck and after all discussions more and more.