"It may be that the Tarot deck was devised as a means of preserving teachings as humanity entered a long dark cycle"
From what I've read (BOTA, elsewhere) that is a major part of it. In part because the "teachings" are already "within", the imagery has been specifically designed by Adepts (some decks anyways...) to evoke them. The other major function is for the student/neophyte to learn how to concentrate, visualize, and build/internalize a symbolic language. Since Tarot is so tightly intertwined with Qabalah and the Tree of Life, it is a full representation/repository of zodiacal and elemental energies. For these reasons it is hard for me to accept that Tarot might slow students down, but there is a lot I don't know.
You can get more with a simple prayer and a Thompson sub-machinegun than you can with a simple prayer alone.
>hard for me to accept that Tarot might slow students down
It is not so much slowing down as being immersed in an energy field that belongs to the previous planetary cycle. This is appropriate for those learning the lessons of that cycle.
paul, I thought you may have missed the post once it´s the last one in the previous page, so I´m posting it again.
Post by lazarus on 18 hours ago
'For humans that have completed those lessons, it may be that practicing old disciplines will delay their progress'
by 'old disciplines' you mean subconscious suggestioning through imagery as a method or you´re talking specifically about the kind of imagery depicted in Tarot?
>or you´re talking specifically about the kind of imagery
Neither.
As far as I can tell all spiritual exercises operate within the aura of particular beings. It is important therefore to choose exercises that belong to beings that are well suited to the needs of the practitioner.
In my viewing the Tarot exists within the aura of a being that I do not need to engage with and whose purposes are not mine.
So having written that I must look to see which being overlights the Flame in the Heart exercise. When I do that I am drawn to the center of the galaxy.
I have just tried a sample of people I know and they all, by somewhat circuitous paths, connect to the center of the galaxy when they do the exercise.
The being overlighting the Tarot is much more localized and by a circuitous route connects to the back of the Lord of the World (Sanat Kumara). I rather think that connecting the front of SK is more desirable for most people.
The Being at the center of the galaxy (using the galaxy as Her means of incarnation) is labeled in the current scientific media as a black hole. That serves as a temporary image.