Tarot, Egyptology & Other Mysticisms

I would not consider myself a superstitious person at all. In fact, I don't believe in superstition, but I absolutely believe in Karma (in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect (i.e., the cycle called saṃsāra) originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh philosophies. - Wikipedia). But recently and when I say recently I mean in the last few years and in more recent months, I've developed an interest in mythology, tarot cards, Egyptology and astrology. My interest in Egyptology first began with The Mummy. Yes, it sounds almost frivolous, but I think that aspect of the franchise really got me fascinated about The Book of the Death and the Egyptian gods and the Afterlife. It's all very educational and with partial credit to The Prince of Egypt too. Then I took a class called Power of Myth and Symbol last semester and learned all these creation stories and Greek mythology and now I'm obsessed.

As superficial as this seems, I always thought tarot cards were pretty. And after watching Scoop, I decided I wanted to own a deck of Tarot cards. So I bought my very first Universal Waite Pocket Tarot Deck from Borders yesterday. When I first mentioned my interest in Tarot on facebook, my friend Jamie immediately responded with enthusiasm and excitement. She urged me to get a friend to buy me my first deck, due to energy or something. But after some discussion, I decided I would just purchase it myself. The illustrations are by Pamela Colman Smith. I am in love with this deck, it is exactly what I envisioned for my first deck. I was also enticed by a Golden Botticelli and Klimt Tarot Deck, but they were a little overpriced, but I shall consider them in the future.

Life is a mysterious and mystical experience. It's hard to rationalize certain events in life, but no matter what has happened or what will happen, I believe in one constant - being a good human being. I'm one single human being and I realize my acts of kindness cannot change the world, but I really believe in Karma. My belief in Karma has nothing to do with my non existent religious background. I never had a religious upbringing, so my desire to be a good person is self-realized. This doesn't mean I consider myself the nicest person in the world, but I want to believe I have the ability to be good, so why not be good all the time? I do not consider myself a saint by any means. Of course, not. Sometimes I curse and maybe you'll be lucky enough to witness my bouts of ungraceful behavior. All in all, I want to live life as guilt free as possible. Admittedly, that is impossible, since I can spend hours thinking about how unfair life is.

When I say unfair... I don't mean "oh damn, I don't have an iPad, that's so unfair." No, I mean, look what's going on in Egypt and Libya. Now that is unfair. There is so much discrimination and hatred. After reading and watching John Galliano's antisemitic slurs, I was completely disgusted and heartbroken. I don't understand how some people are defending his actions, but Dior has taken action and fired him already. With all these unfairness in the world, I've realized that I really should enjoy life and educate myself to become a better and well-rounded human being.

That's why I've decided to take up tarot cards and I want to learn more about mythology and astrology. I think I'm just beginning to connect to my inner self and embracing spirituality, but not in a religious way. I don't believe in a God necessarily, but I believe that there is some kind of higher power that gives us a reason to live. I don't think that life is by chance or at random and I definitely don't believe in destiny. I think my belief lies in between the two. I don't think I need a solid purpose to life as such, I just want to enjoy life, be a good person and help others.