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honeywhiskey's review
1.0
Picking up this book and reading it has felt like a funeral of sorts. I have finally put to death any remaining notions that my relationship with Christ and tarot can play nicely together. And believe me I get it! A church kid who studied art history in college? I’m prime real estate for heresy like this to flourish.
We started off strong in the second chapter with the quote “A quick glance through the Bible is enough to show us that God speaks to his people through image.” While it might be accurate that Moses witnessed a burning bush, Peter had visions, and Jesus used visual metaphors, I think a correct version of the above quote would be “a quick glance at the Bible shows us that God speaks to us through the Bible.” The irony of using God’s written Word as an example of how we should experience Him through visio divina is not lost on me.
Muller goes through each card in the deck with a corresponding Bible verse, meditation on the card’s imagery, and finally, some discussion questions/journal prompts. Card number zero: the Fool. And oh how foolish Muller is! She uses the verse 1 Corinthians 3:18 and immediately describes the fool as a “Holy Fool” who is “about to joyfully step off a cliff to fall into the abyss of God.” Never you mind that the word for fool is nearly always talking about an unbeliever in the Bible.
Skipping forward to card five: the Hierophant, Muller shows clearly what she believes about religion, for really she believes in religion, not God. She says, “The Hierophant of the tarot is particularly associated with religious tradition and the way that structured religion…can help us to reveal holy things. A hierophant is a revealer of mysteries, but the tarot’s Hierophant doesn’t just pull back a curtain to reveal the open face of God.” Muller shows here that she doesn’t believe that God has adequately revealed Himself to us, but requires our help in pulling back some curtain. She goes on to say “religion can give us a language to explain the pieces of our lives for which we have no other words. It’s an inadequate language, to be sure, because God is beyond language…” I seem to remember John 1:1 saying otherwise. She finishes this description by essentially denying the Holy Spirit’s purpose in our lives, saying, “it’s a gift to have others’ prayers to fall back in when we can’t make our own.” I agree that the prayers of others can be an encouragement to believers, but has she forgotten that the Spirit Himself intercedes for us in groanings too deep for words? (Romans 8:26)
Muller continues through the major arcana, telling the truth twice a day with her broken clock heresy, into the minor arcana, assigning meaning to the aces through tens cards in each suit seemingly randomly, and finishes up spectacularly with the court cards, which are now representing saints.
I’ll leave off with what Muller says of herself in the author’s bio in the back, “[I am] a writer, mother, wife, and enthusiastic believer in the beautiful strangeness of Christianity.” I am so saddened that her belief rests solely in the beauty she can wrangle out of Catholicism rather than the beauty of a relationship with the Savior.
We started off strong in the second chapter with the quote “A quick glance through the Bible is enough to show us that God speaks to his people through image.” While it might be accurate that Moses witnessed a burning bush, Peter had visions, and Jesus used visual metaphors, I think a correct version of the above quote would be “a quick glance at the Bible shows us that God speaks to us through the Bible.” The irony of using God’s written Word as an example of how we should experience Him through visio divina is not lost on me.
Muller goes through each card in the deck with a corresponding Bible verse, meditation on the card’s imagery, and finally, some discussion questions/journal prompts. Card number zero: the Fool. And oh how foolish Muller is! She uses the verse 1 Corinthians 3:18 and immediately describes the fool as a “Holy Fool” who is “about to joyfully step off a cliff to fall into the abyss of God.” Never you mind that the word for fool is nearly always talking about an unbeliever in the Bible.
Skipping forward to card five: the Hierophant, Muller shows clearly what she believes about religion, for really she believes in religion, not God. She says, “The Hierophant of the tarot is particularly associated with religious tradition and the way that structured religion…can help us to reveal holy things. A hierophant is a revealer of mysteries, but the tarot’s Hierophant doesn’t just pull back a curtain to reveal the open face of God.” Muller shows here that she doesn’t believe that God has adequately revealed Himself to us, but requires our help in pulling back some curtain. She goes on to say “religion can give us a language to explain the pieces of our lives for which we have no other words. It’s an inadequate language, to be sure, because God is beyond language…” I seem to remember John 1:1 saying otherwise. She finishes this description by essentially denying the Holy Spirit’s purpose in our lives, saying, “it’s a gift to have others’ prayers to fall back in when we can’t make our own.” I agree that the prayers of others can be an encouragement to believers, but has she forgotten that the Spirit Himself intercedes for us in groanings too deep for words? (Romans 8:26)
Muller continues through the major arcana, telling the truth twice a day with her broken clock heresy, into the minor arcana, assigning meaning to the aces through tens cards in each suit seemingly randomly, and finishes up spectacularly with the court cards, which are now representing saints.
I’ll leave off with what Muller says of herself in the author’s bio in the back, “[I am] a writer, mother, wife, and enthusiastic believer in the beautiful strangeness of Christianity.” I am so saddened that her belief rests solely in the beauty she can wrangle out of Catholicism rather than the beauty of a relationship with the Savior.
misstessamaye's review
3.0
The first few chapters I really appreciated and felt were both well-researched and well-presented. As someone who grew up in Christianity (not Catholicism specifically) and used tarot while still within it, I love the practical and factual teaching of the history of the cards and various ways they can be used, including ways that don't contradict the Bible. I want more Christians to feel free enough to pick up a deck without shame or fear, and I think Muller makes a good case.
That being said, the latter part of the book wasn't as relevant to me as I don't subscribe to Christianity any longer; it felt like a devotional and I ended up skimming to finish it. If you're a Christian and curious about tarot, I think this book is a great, safe-feeling introduction!
That being said, the latter part of the book wasn't as relevant to me as I don't subscribe to Christianity any longer; it felt like a devotional and I ended up skimming to finish it. If you're a Christian and curious about tarot, I think this book is a great, safe-feeling introduction!
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