The star of this show was psychic John "Biggest Douche of the Universe" Edward and his Infinite Quest website. I took the time to watch Whoopi Goldberg get her Tarot reading and this show sucked ass badly, my friends! I sent my response to ABC News to inform them of a different angle from which to cover the Tarot.




"I found the segment on Tarot cards to be appalling. I play card games with Tarot cards. There is no evidence at all that Tarot cards were made for any other purpose than for playing a trick taking card game. Contrary to popular belief, the Tarot was not originally intended for telling fortunes. I wish Whoopi Goldberg were as skeptical as Joy Behar. Not one word uttered by psychic Sandy Anastasi was the truth. I don't mind if people wish to read Tarot cards but the media should stop spreading the distortions and falsehoods that these psychics often espouse. Google the terms "tarot card games" "tarock" "french tarot" or "jeu de tarot" and you will find a boatload of info on how Tarot is used for game playing. Tarot cards are not myserious. The information about them is on the internet. There is no excuse for this poor quality of journalism."

Tags: abc, john edward, psychic, sandy anastasi, tarot, the view, whoopi goldberg
Current Mood: accomplished

What's Tarock you ask?
It's a type of card game similar to Sheepshead or Spades. It is also known as Tarokk, Tarok, Tarocchi, and, yes, Tarot! If you thought that Tarot cards are only used for fortune telling, you were wrong. They are also used to play actual card games. In fact, people played Tarot card games long before these cards were used for fortune telling!
The Tarot cards used for game playing often look different from the ones used in fortune telling.
Here are some places where these cards may be purchased:
http://www.tarock.net/
http://www.playingcardsales.co.uk/
http://www.tarobearslair.com/
Here are some websites giving rules for these games:
http://www.tarocchino.com/
http://www.pagat.com/tarot/
Tarot cards have long been the subject of myths and pseudo-history.
For the most accurate and well researched history of Tarot cards available on YouTube, see this video
http://youtube.com/watch?v=jfoSE4gjFco
The Tarobot program used for this video may be downloaded here
http://www.techniv.com/tarobot/
For information on Rick Astley and Rick Rolling, see this article in the LA Times.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/webscout/2008/03/rick-astley-kin.html
Rick Astley has a YouTube channel!
http://www.youtube.com/user/rickastleytv

Tags: never gonna give you up, rick astley, rick roll, tarot

Ronald McDonald & The Tarot


The association of Tarot cards with the occult did not begin until the 18th century.
The association of Tarot cards with Ronald McDonald did not begin until the 21st!
Below are the comments from a member of one of my Yahoo Groups:
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/tarotgame/

"Ok, someone correct me if I'm missing something here, ok? On one hand,
there's a desire to bring back tarot's original usage as a card game
like bridge or poker. Hence, this Yahoo group for tarot, tarock, and
tarocchi games.

On the other hand, there's a seemingly-endless parade of losers who
are spamming (for lack of a better word) what should be a legitimate
dialog. Case in point: Those retarded Ronald McDonald videos. What,
pray tell, is the point of those stupid videos? It doesn't persuade
anyone that tarot.com sucks. It doesn't impress upon anyone the notion
that tarot is a card game. It looks like a little 5-year-old got bored
with his "Grand Theft Auto" game video and thought it would funny to
do a video on his daddy's laptop. That's not funny. It's not
persuasive in any shape, matter, or form.

I just don't understand how anyone will accomplish the goal of
legitimizing tarot gaming in the mainstream if the only prominent
voices in the mainstream are little babies in need of a Ritalin refill
and a diaper change. What the hell are they doing to help raise
awareness of tarot gaming? Seriously. What the hell have they done to
teach people how to play tarock? For all I know, they are
tarot-divination people trying to discredit the gaming of it. Has
anyone thought about that? (Political candidates do it all the time.)
How do I know it's not a disgruntled tarot.com employee and *that's*
why those videos are posted? I don't care what a disgruntled tarot.com
employee has to say.

I talk about tarot gaming at some local groups here and the first
thing people ask me is, 'Are you the guy who posted those YouTube
videos?," and "Are you the guy who interjects 'tarot is a game! on
private conversations on chat rooms?' It obviously makes my efforts
all the more difficult.

Just a thought."




So now, the first thing people are saying on the topic of Tarot
gaming is not divination but those McRoll videos? Wow! I never would
have imagined that they would have such an impact!

For the uninitiated, these videos are remixes of Japanese McDonald's commericials, often called "McRoll" "Ran Ran Ru" or "Ronald McDonald Insanity"
They first began to appear on the Japanese website Nico Nico Douga and they are now quite prevalent on YouTube.
Lately a number of these "McRoll" videos contain messages attacking the divination website Tarot.com.

The anti-Tarot.com McRolls will typically be titled "Tarot.com Sucks" or "Tarot.com. Experience the Bullshit"
Below is the typical text quoted from these videos:

"Paul O'Brien has been feeding bullshit to the media!
O'Brien is the CEO of Tarot.com and here are some examples of the bullshit he's been feeding to the mainstream media.
'There is an intricate web of intimate relationships and correspondences between Tarot and Astrology.'
THIS IS BULLSHIT!
Beliefnet.com quotes from Paul O'Brien:
'Most people who play cards don't realize that our modern deck of 52 cards is derived from the Tarot deck.'
THIS IS BULLSHIT!
'It was masquerading as a card game for a long time because people could be burned at the stake for using it. And the court cards are modeled after the different royalty of Italian at the time -- there's a pope card, for example. It comes out of medieval Europe and its growth coincides with the printing press and the ability to print cards. It basically coexisted with the Church but was never part of any religion. It was more related to alchemy than religion.'
THIS IS BULLSHIT!
The Brandchannel.com article, Tarot answers by Alycia de Mesa used O'Brien as a source for its article
From the Brandchannel article:
'The Tarot itself is a deck of 78, spiritually meaningful cards whose origins go back over 3,000 years to the Near and Far East.'
THIS IS BULLSHIT!
Here is the evidence based truth about tarot cards!
This is the truth that Paul O'Brien will not tell you!
Tarot cards were not intended for divination!
They were intended for no other purpose than for playing a card game!"

I should mention that I am no fan of Tarot.com. Tarot.com is not always a reliable source of information on the topic of Tarot cards. Like all too many of those making money pushing the divination uses of Tarot cards, Tarot.com have been guilty of misleading the general public and, because they are one one of the leading divination websites, a lot of their distortions end up in the popular press.

Tags: mcroll, nico nico douga, ran ran ru, ronald mcdonald, tarot, tarot.com, youtube
Current Mood: amused

The Hobbies, Interests, Pastimes and Sports (herein HIPS)

http://www.hipsfinder.com/finder_2fish.php?record=106


Tarot cards are well known in many parts of the world. However, many people have only heard of them in the context of fortune-telling, and are quite surprised to hear that Tarot cards are also used to play games.

Popularity
The game of Tarot is a particularly popular game in France and Italy but it is also played in the UK. A specialist deck of cards is required.

Location
As all that is needed is a flat surface and a pack of tarot playing cards. The game can be played practically anywhere.

Age
Juniors and adults alike can enjoy the game of tarot.

Ability
All that is needed is the ability to grasp the rules of the game which are quite simple, with a knowledge of the points scoring. Tarot cards are different to standard playing cards so may take a bit of getting used to.

Description
Tarot is a trick-taking card game played throughout France and also known in French-speaking Canada. In the UK it is known as French Tarot. Tarot cards were used for games long before they were used for occult purposes such as tarot reading. Tarot games date back to the early 15th century, when they were first played in Italy. They may be the first card games which had the concept of a trump suit. The use of the cards for fortune-telling is much more recent.

Dedication
The game of Tarot is played using a 78-card set divided into a numbered 21-card series of trump cards, one Fool and 4 suits (spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs) divided into 10 numbered cards (1 to,10). It is a game for 3 or 4 players and can be played with 5 by variation of the rules. The idea of the game is to score points by winning tricks and the various card are assigned points for scoring purposes. This is a very subtle game, which may take some practice to master but great fun to learn.

The Hobbies, Interests, Pastimes and Sports (herein HIPS)
http://www.hipsfinder.com/finder_2fish.php?record=106

Tags: card games, tarot
Current Mood: satisfied

Excerpt: A deeper meaning of the tarot by Jaime Licauco
Philippine Daily Inquirer 03/10/2008
http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view/20080310-123909/A-deeper-meaning-of-the-tarot

"One of the earliest and most mysterious of these devices for telling the future is a deck of tarot cards, whose real origin or history is almost completely unknown. The earliest mention of it is in the 14th century, but other commentators consider it to be of more ancient origin."

The above article is a misleading travesty of journalism. The Tarot is not one of the earliest fortune telling devices and those cards are no longer mysterious today. Contemporary playing card historians such as Michael Dummett and David Parlett have found that the Tarot was created in 15th century Italy for playing a card game similar to Whist and the Tarot was not used for fortune telling until the 18th century. Not only was Tarot created only for card games, Tarot card games are still played today in Europe. The common use of Tarot cards for fortune telling is due to the writings of an Antoine Court de Gébelin, an 18th century occultist who based his now discredited theories on the mistaken belief that the Tarot comes from Egypt. Why are these facts omitted from this article? Jaime Licauco and the Philippine Daily Inquirer owe the readers an apology for this distortion of history and culture.

Tags: jaime licauco, philippine daily inquirer, tarot

This is an entirely fact based history of Tarot cards!

Tags: history, playing cards, tarocchi, tarot, youtube

I am an American Atheist Tarot player who is coming to the defense of a Canadian Wiccan Tarot reader. I am of course speaking of Stephanie Conover, who was unjustly denied a position judging a beauty pageant solely because of what she considers to be her "hobbies;" Tarot card reading and Reiki. Ms. Conover also claims Wicca as her religion. I will not get into details about the Wiccan religion, but it means that she is practicing a religion different from Christianity. With good reason, critics of the pageant director's decision have called such actions a form of "religious discrimination" and "bigotry!"

Here are the words of pageant director Karen Murray. Let this woman's lunacy speak for itself!

"We need a judge who has an upright reputation and we would be proud to introduce to the audience ... Our board of directors has eliminated her as a judge as tarot card reading and reiki are the occult and is not acceptable by God, Jews, Muslims or Christians. Tarot card reading is witchcraft and is used by witches, spiritists and mediums to consult the dark world ... We hope that Stephanie Conover will turn from these belief systems and will repent from her practice of them."

If I didn't know any better, I'd swear it sounds like the Taliban is taking over North America! Normally people think this sort of intolerance only happens in the Bible Belt in the southern United States. Well, there appears to be a few of these Bible quoting boneheads in Toronto Canada as well. Such folks make me so proud to be an atheist.

James D. Wickson

Below are some links for more information on this bizarre story.

http://blog.newhumanist.org.uk/2008/01/beauty-pageant-judge-rejected-for-being.html
http://www.madebymark.com/thetarotchannel/2008/01/not-in-the-card.html
http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/297985
http://www.wildhunt.org/2008/02/update-on-snubbed-canadian-queen.html
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080202.MISSTOURISM02/TPStory/TPEntertainment/Ontario/
http://seminars.torontoghosts.org/blog/index.php/2008/02/01/miss_toronto_tourism_loses_credibility

Tags: beauty pageant, canada, karen murray, reiki, stephanie conover, tarot, toronto tourism, wicca
Current Mood: angry

This is an aspect of Tarot about which the mainstream media will not you!
Because these are some of my first YouTube efforts, they are not as polished as I'd like them to be. I was still working on optimal microphone placement, so be sure to turn up the volume.

Tags: card games, playing cards, tarot

Tarot readers say their work can offer insight into life’s mysteries
By Catherine Fahy
I&M Arts Editor
http://www.ack.net/1216alstory.html


I have no problems whatsoever with Tarot reading, but an article which treats the topic exclusively in terms of its uses in card reading does contain a cultural bias. As an American Tarot player, I am disappointed that Catherine Fahy's one-sided article on Tarot does not mention anywhere that people play actual trick taking cards games with Tarot decks or that Tarot cards were intended be used for trick taking card games.

There is no evidence that Tarot cards were intended originally for fortune telling or for gaining any "insight into life's mysteries." Articles concerning Tarot cards which neglect to inform the reader of the decks intended game playing purpose and of the ongoing tradition of Tarot game playing are doing a disservice to the public.

I should also mention that the etymology of the French word "Tarot" remains unknown. There is no evidence for the assertion that "Tarot" is derived from an Arabic word meaning "four ways." I wish the popular media in America would stop spreading uncritically the myths and distortions of this classic card game.

While it is true that most Americans think of Tarot only as an object for divination, I do not think such a perception should continue, however, as it has had some unfortunate cultural side effects. Some authors on Tarot card games have had there works mistakenly categorized as "occult" or "paranormal" by those who have no other context in which to treat Tarot. The French cannot use the name of one of their national card games on their web pages without attracting inappropriate Google ads for "psychic reading" services. The manner in which Tarot is often reported in America's media badly needs to be revised.

James D. Wickson

Tags: bias, catherine fahy, media, nantucket island inquirer and mirror, tarot
Current Mood: annoyed

Tags: anime, jetsons, kraftwerk, megaman, metropolis, robots, science fiction, simpsons, star wars, tarot, transformers, wizard of oz