Reece wrote:debra wrote:" desire for power over time, history"
Aren't these powers that the Church reserves for itself?
I think this is the point. And the same applies to "occult" powers: the Catholic Church aims at holding a monopoly on spiritual things. Spiritual things are mysterious and hidden, or occult; the Church only admits that they can be known through a "Revelation" that must always go through the official channels managed by the Church. Any attempt to communicate with the spirit, which is the force behind any true power, must go through the Church.
Of course, the Church has lost its spiritual monopoly since a few centuries now. Still it does not try to evolve. It seems obvious to me that the use that is now made of Tarot (and Astrology and other forms of divination) is as a tool to make contact with the unconscious, which is, by definition, hidden. The Church, instead of stating more clearly that the unconscious and the soul are its monopoly, condemns those things in themselves. But, if any direct contact with the soul must be forbidden because it requires "recourse to Satan or demons", then the human soul must be devilish.
debra wrote:
Seriously, it's the first part--wanting power over time and history and other human beings--that seems most fundamental to the objection; it's consistent with the Church's objection to birth control and euthanasia as well. I can see why; they are godly powers.
Without going into a discussion about euthanasia, I agree that the statement of the Catechism seems to put Tarot reading and euthanasia on the same level. But is this really the case? Is it true that people who read Tarot are trying to gain control on other people? To exercise power ("supernatural power" ?) on life and death?
My impression is that this part of the Catechism comes straight from the XV Century inquisition, and completely ignores all the cultural changes of the last five centuries. Applying it to Tarot reading denotes a complete ignorance not only of the history of Tarot and its Christian meaning (which are indeed ignored by Tarot readers as well) but also to the simple reality of what contemporary people do with tarot and why.
Marco