A Triumphant Gathering

Five Gold Rings: A triumphant gathering of precious metals.

There were a couple of things I had kicking around for this post. A continuation from the numerology post, where I left out a couple of things. Some talk of the i-ching that I omitted from my post about variety, or the related topic of Chinese five-element theory.

Instead, I’m going to go with my original impulse, which was inspired by thinking about how five gold rings reminded me of the Olypmics rings, which are a symbol of unity — or at least the gathering of people that the Olympics brings about.

In this age of the internet, card readers have become part of a global community. People from all over the world can get together and talk about cards. This is an unprecedented privilege!

Yes, I said a privilege.

Think about what it was like in Mlle. Lenormand’s day, when a person could be fined, jailed or worse for reading the cards and daring to foretell the future. Perhaps a couple of ladies could secretly get together to talk about how their “gran” could see things in the cards, or how the way the birds flocked meant a drought coming, or whatever. There have been plenty of less permissive times throughout history where anyone with an ability or willingness to read the future was ostracized or even killed.

Today, people can meet in person and in public, whether it’s two friends at a coffee shop or a big tarot conference with international attendance. Those who can’t or don’t want to do this can still participate in virtual meetings by joining online communities to talk about card reading.

Going online to talk about our favorite topic is a privilege which is not the same as a right.It’s something we are fortunate to be able to do, and that means we should value this ability to join a community and accept diversity.

Yet apparently this privilege gives many of us a sense of entitlement and the belief that we can run roughshod over anyone who isn’t just like us. Many online communities — and this isn’t limited to those built around card reading — develop a group mind which can be harsh with those who dare to question the popular sentiment. This is no different than the well-known and studied “mob mind,” where a crowd of average people gets together and is capable of violence.

If you are part of an online community and experienced at reading, be kind and gentle to newcomers who are interested in learning. Their questions are part of their learning process, and maybe you can learn from their ideas. What’s that saying about the teacher learning from the student? Boldly declaring, “because that’s the way it’s done” is going to quash that inquisitiveness, and may even put some off card reading.

If you’re part of an online community and new to reading cards, listen with a critical ear. Do “respect your elders,” because their experience has usually been earned through hard work. They usually have good reasons to give the advice they do. Don’t follow everything blindly, anymore than you would follow someone who insists that you can eat nothing but donuts for a month to lose weight. And if advice is delivered as a “my way or the highway” statement, or in a way that belittles you, then look elsewhere.

I used to be active on a forum where the vocal majority would tell newcomers that prediction was impossible or wrong or unethical. Many of those people are now on the Lenormand bandwagon and predicting daily.

Of course, I have to give a note about tradition here. Traditional or historical methods exists because time has likely proven that it works. Just look at classical astrology, which is very predictive in nature. As with any creative process, it’s good to understand the rules before breaking them. Newcomers should respect that traditional methods exist and they have survived the test of time for good reason. Old hands should feel free to educate without shoving it down the newcomers’ throats.

I know I’ve talked about these aspects before, but I still feel it’s worth reiterating, especially for newcomers who are finding my blog for the first time. Don’t let this post dissuade you from joining online communities, but do keep awareness of your virtual surroundings and don’t feel obligated to particpaite in a group that makes you feel uncomfortable.