The Pope
News today that Jim Bowen lookalike and head of the Roman Catholic Church Pope Francis has told a congregation
“In order to solve their problems many people resort to fortune tellers and tarot cards. But only Jesus saves, and we must bear witness to this! He is the only one.”
Now I’m a tarot reader amongst other things, so I could be forgiven for interpreting this as a dig at me! In fact, what I would actually say that if the operative word in this sentence is “saves” then technically the Pope is correct. Tarot cards do not “save” someone, in the sense of salvation of ones immortal soul. One has to look to the theology of ones own religion to determine what is necessary for such salvation.
However the Pope does make a terrible leap from going from “solving problems” to talking about “salvation.” The Tarot does help solve peoples problems – it gives suggestions and makes people think of things that they would not otherwise think about. The Tarot encourages and stimulates an intuitive approach which draws out answers from the praeternatural regions of consciousness. Who would turn down the opportunity of asking a friend for advice by saying: “I’m sorry I cannot listen to your opinion – because only Jesus saves.” ?
Sol Ascendans - The Website of Alex Sumner 
Pingback: Tarot readers cannot save you, says Pope Francis | Jase on Cards
Well said Alex! People just want quick fixes to their problems, and if they can’t get direct answers from a Tarot reader then they start accusing us of being fake. They will not take responsibility for their own choices. I believe that we can save ourselves, but a little divine intervention (in whatever form you prefer) is always welcome.
Thanks 🙂
What he means is, people in need don’t blindly cling to the idea that things will get better after they die, which is an insane thing to condemn ANYONE for on compassionate grounds alone, not to mention pissing all over J’s actual jiggery-pokery with living people (“Oi, Jesus – leave that blind bloke alone, he’ll be in heaven one day!”) and therefore can be safely chalked up as a power grab by a human.
And we all know what a complete shower most of them are!
Read the Meditations on the Tarot. The Pope is taken out of context I think. Direct quotes sometimes are partially given or taken out of context to what was actually meant. Of course I am giving the Pope the benifit of the doubt.
I rather think that there is no doubt about the Pope’s context – rather, it is the Holy Father himself who would do well to read Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey Into Christian Hermeticism
.