Here’s a news bulletin.
Don’t believe a man who says his Tarot cards indicate you should have sex with him like this girl did.
“He was reading my cards and told me that I wasn’t on a good path and that I had to do these things called ‘five’ and ’seven’ to make things better,” a 15-year old testified in court Wednesday.
She told jurors that Hector Ayala, 59, tricked her into having sex with him by convincing her that it would get rid of any bad luck and help her wishes come true, according to The Daily News.
Ayala, who was a family friend, read her Tarot cards when she was 13 and told her he saw misfortune in her future, but he could take care of that by performing oral sex on her.
“I kept thinking, ‘Is this rape? Is this rape?’ ” she testified. “I thought, ‘No, it wouldn’t be, because he cares about me.’ “
That’s just sad. But, it gets worse. She isn’t the only girl he’s manipulated in the same manner, telling them all he’s lifting curses by having intercourse with them. And once is never enough, of course.
Sicko.
Anyway, I’ll use this as a jumping off point to write about the history of Tarot cards, and a fascinating history they have.
They might have been in use as early as 14th century Italy but a Catholic priest in the early 1800s is partly responsible for Tarot as it exists today. Eliphas Levi studied the cards as a means of helping his own faith.
When he created his first Tarot deck, he incorporated his knowledge of religions, the elements in nature (fire, water, earth, air), and what were believed to be powerful astrological events and symbols (most of which are still popular today). There are even references to scriptures from The Bible shown in some of the cards. Levi claimed he created the cards as a tool to aid his students in the art of spiritual enlightenment, self improvement, and self awareness.
The makers of the popular Ryder-Waite deck borrowed heavily from Levi’s set when constructing it and started selling it in 1896. A. E. Waite believed very strongly in their ability to predict future events.
It was quite the parlour game back during World War I and again now,
people are opening up to the idea of Tarot readers, Astrologers, and Psychics, yet there are still some who believe the cards are evil, or hold some kind of evil power. This is simply not true at all. The cards do not possess any mysterious powers, nor can they harm anyone if they are read in the proper perspective. The Tarot cards reflect thoughts and actions in our subconscious and conscious mind. Mind over matter to use the term loosely. They can and should be used only for positive reasons. As with anything else, if used with negative or malicious intent, the negativity (evil if you will) that is created will only come back on the invoker.
I have an Arthurian set, myself. I got it in university and did manage to dazzle a few people with accurate (albeit general) readings based on what I gleaned from my hefty reader’s manual. Honestly, I don’t know if it’s any better than a magic 8 ball or horoscopes or even flipping a coin to decide what to do next.
It’s just like any other fringe thing, I guess. It has its supporters and its denouncers. The only way to gauge accuracy is after the fact, and how many wrong predictions are ignored or forgotten in the process? A friend I had when I worked at Wal-mart swore by them and made a bit of cash on the side doing readings for people. They all left pleased and hopeful, which might be the point anyway.
Penny J. Ward, the author of the bits I’ve been quoting, offers this at the end:
Almost every religion states in one fashion or another that if you do not believe in my God, you shall be rejected on your day of judgment (you’ll go to hell). Doesn’t anyone stop to think that we are all going to hell in someone else’s eyes?
President Theodore Roosevelt once said, “The only limit to our realizations of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.”
I guess if people feel the cards are easing their doubts, it’s hardly a crime to keep reading for them — unless it becomes the bait in an illegal con job like Hector Alaya’s “readings” were. That’s just sick and wrong.
I feel bad for these girls and hope the guy has sense enough not to try this same trick with playing cards in prison…
