"Gather ye rose-buds while ye may." Robert Herrick

"Gather ye rose-buds while ye may." Robert Herrick

Hello Friends!

Friends, Romans, countrymen...y'all. Foodies, gardeners, artists and collectors - let's gather together to share and possibly learn a thing or two in the mix.

Donna Baker

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Into The Mystic


We were born before the wind......

I have been on a journey this past year and a half, or so.  It began with the line, As Above, So Below - from Hermes Trismegistus' Emerald Tablet.  That lead to crystals and a whole world of mystical things - the Tree of Life, Hoodoo, Voodoo, Wicca, The Kabbalah, Tea Leaf reading, Feng Shui, the I Ching, palmistry, numerology, astrology, Tarot, fortune telling...

All of these blend into each other which is the most surprising discovery I have made.  Even into different religions.  They go back thousands of years.  A few months ago, I would have said, I don't believe in Hoodoo or Voodoo.  Even two months ago I would have said I don't believe in witchcraft.  Did you know that crossing your fingers behind your back is an old witchcraft spell?

I'm just at the beginning of tarot and fortune-telling cards.  The man with the crutches on the upper left is from the 1700's and is from a minchiate deck from Italy.   Some of the upper cards are between 1700's-1800's.  The deck on the bottom is a handmade fortune-telling deck from Warsaw from the 1940's.  I have had to go buy books to research and as for the fortune-telling deck, I've yet to figure out what the symbols mean.

It has been very interesting, I only wish I'd have started in my 30s and 40s when I still had more than a reptilian brain (the memory is going, going,)

Who knew?

It is raining and I do hope the little trick or treaters are able to go out.  I don't want any candy left after tonight.

15 comments:

Elephant's Child said...

The world is a mystery to me. I don't rule a lot of things out of the realms of possibility. And some day I will have my tarot read.

Bea said...

That's so interesting re: fingers crossed behind the back. When I was a kid, we still performed that action, but now I can't quite remember the context. Did it have something to do with professing that one was telling the truth (fingers crossed behind back meant that you were actually fibbing, right)?

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately Child, I will never be able to read the tarot. People must have to study it for years. Same with the others.

Tom Stephenson said...

Are those your cards?

Anonymous said...

Bea, you wouldn't believe the things that are still in use today. You are right about the lying.

Anonymous said...

Tom, they found me.

angryparsnip said...

Nothing is beyond belief.

cheers, parsnip and badger

Tom Stephenson said...

Very interesting.

ellen abbott said...

where did you get those? are they one of a kind?

of course it's all related, different attempts to tap into the cosmic consciousness, peek behind the veil, harness the energy and redirect it.

Anonymous said...

Gayle, I am a skeptic, so I am always surprised at things I can't see or prove. It has made this doubter less so.

Anonymous said...

EBay and Etsy Ellen. The original Minchiate deck dates to the 1400's and they are probably in museums. It is written that tarot cards date from the 1400's in Florence. Wildly popular in the past. So much symbolism et al repeated in these mystical practices. Meditation also. Pow Wows are included in these practices.

Out on the prairie said...

Those cards were even used many centuries before.One just had to watch out infuriating someone you had shown them to.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I still can't comment unless it is anonymously so I can't comment on yours but I read it every time. You are right, burned at the stake for many mystics. I even had trepidation publishing this post in fear of upsetting someone. Native Americans, hoodoo and wicca tell you not to talk about it to anyone (it is secretive so I wonder if that makes me a blabber mouth???).

La Table De Nana said...

Advancing by leaps and bounds..in many ways yes..in others?

Anonymous said...

I don't know Monique. I hope so.