Tarot or I Ching

[Spirit Ape]

Hi,

 

What do you feel is better Tarot of western system or I ching of the Eastern system and what are the differeces?

 

Ape

[Sloppy Zhang]

Whew, what a large question! In general I would say- stick to what appeals to you, what are you more attracted to, what fits into your worldview?

 

 

Specifically, both of them, while commonly thought to be systems of divination, are both systems of organizing and explaining different events in the world. Pietro in the I Ching translations thread outlined one such way of viewing the I Ching. With Tarot, the major arcana specifically, it represents a progression of sorts, with different cards representing different tiers, levels of complexity, and steps in the path, and once you get to the end it cycles back to the beginning.

 

To that extent, their "differences" are mostly culturally defined, and pretty skin deep.

 

For the Tarot, I suggest you start off with "classical" tarot, for example, pick up aMarseilles Tarot Deck. These are closer to some of the decks that were commonly played with back in the day, and are closer to some of the symbols that many people started to incorporate. Later (more modern) decks are influenced a lot by what A.E. Waite did, as well as Aleister Crowley. And it's not that what they did was bad, but they did their own research and redid the tarot according to what was meaningful for them, using symbolism and words that were important in their paradigms. If you want a more "untouched" set to work with, go with the older tarot.

 

Heck, if you want a system of divination, I've had excellent results using a regular deck of playing cards Now as to whether or not divination works is another matter entirely.....

 

 

Anyway, go with what appeals to you I've studied and consulted both with great success in the past, and I consider both of them worthy of study.

Edited March 1, 2010 by Sloppy Zhang

[sasblamthanb]

[Stigweard]

Tarot or I Ching What is better??

 

Neither is better than the other, it just depends on what one personally attunes to the best.

 

My wife loves the Tarot because that is the "language" she knows being a professional astrologer.

 

My best results are with the I Ching because it "speaks" to me and it is the area in which I am most passionate about.

 

They both point to reunification and reintegration of the spirit, they just use a different syntax in the process.

 

[Metal Tao]

I 100% agree!!! Tarot and I Ching both have this in common: they answer questions...questions I think our souls already know the answer to..but needs a tool to draw said answer. They are like tools used to speak to one's own soul...at least in my mind.

[Wuxia]

I use tarot decks 

I ching  oracle decks 

rune decks 

and other various oracle decks 

 they are all magic