Return to Cauldron and Candle Archive

C A U L D R O N A N D C A N D L E #68 -- March 2006 A Publication of The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum website: http://www.ecauldron.com/ message board: http://www.ecauldron.net/mb/ newsletter: http://www.ecauldron.com/cnc/ shopping: http://www.ecauldron.com/mall.php http://www.ecauldron.com/doxysbazaar.php In this Issue: [00] Editorial Notes [01] The Cauldron's New and Expanded Message Board [02] Cauldron News * 2006 February Donation Drive A Big Success * New Feature: Member Map * Cauldron Cookbook Updated * New Feature: Gardening Section * More Pagan Supplies [03] Cauldron Events [04] Cauldron Discussions [05] Cauldron Reviews [06.1] Feature Article: Correcting Wrong Feng Shui Advice [06.2] Feature Article: Origins And History Of The Tarot [07] Software Gadgets: The Column * Keynote -- A Tabbed Tree-Organized Notebook * ArtRage -- A Fun Paint Program * Save Web Pages with ScrapBook for FireFox * Great News -- RSS Feed Reading Made Easy [08] Support The Cauldron [09] Newsletter Information (Including How To Subscribe/Unsubscribe) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++ Please support our sponsor +++ PAGAN-FRIENDLY WEB HOSTING * * Now with 20 GB Web Space & 1000 GB Bandwidth * * http://www.ecauldron.com/web/zdreamhost.php Dreamhost offers high-quality, low cost web hosting with a dedication to free speech. New Features: More email boxes Database Restores Starter Plan Features * 20000 megs web space * 1000 gigs/month bandwidth * 3000 email boxes (POP3/IMAP) * 75 ftp/shell accounts * host unlimited domains/subdomains * php4, php5, cgi, fastcgi, ssi * zend optimizer, ruby on rails * unlimited MySQL databases * announcement lists * discussion (aka mailing) lists * Jabber server * Crontab and Shell access * Web-based Control Panel * One-Click installs of the Wordpress blog & PhpBB forum * 1 free domain name * helpful tech support * and much more! All for $9.95 a month with a $49.95 setup fee. Pay for a year in advance and there is no setup fee. Pay two years in advance and the price drops to $7.95 a month. (And there is a 97 day money back guarantee!) Read why we use Dreamhost for The Cauldron's web site: http://www.ecauldron.com/web/whydreamhost.php Visit Dreamhost for Affordable, Pagan-Friendly Hosting http://www.ecauldron.com/web/zdreamhost.php +++ Please support our sponsor +++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ [00] ========= ========= EDITORIAL NOTES ========= Welcome to the March 2006 issue of Cauldron and Candle. You are receiving this issue because you subscribed. To learn how to unsubscribe, see the last section of this newsletter. This issue finds The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum in much better shape than we were a month ago. Thanks to a successful Annual February Donation drive our main web site's hosting bill has been paid for another year. As you know if your read our special mid-February issue, we moved to a new and much faster board. This move has brought a number of members back who just could not stand the slow board of January and early February. New features for both our web site and message board are on the way later this year, watch this newsletter for announcements. Randall Sapphire Editor and Publisher, Cauldron and Candle Co-Host, The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum [01] ========= ========= THE CAULDRON'S NEW AND EXPANDED MESSAGE BOARD ========= [This is a slightly updated version of the information originally published in our special 2nd February issue.] The Cauldron has new message board, it is located at: http://www.ecauldron.net/mb/ As mentioned in the February issue of this newsletter, Bob's new server ran the 0.6 branch of the Beehive Forums software (the code that runs our board) very slowly. Testing and over two weeks of usage shows that the old 0.5 branch was much faster. Unfortunately, there is no way to turn a 0.6 branch board into a 0.5 branch board, so we had to start over. Our original board is now available read-only format so the 180,000+ messages now there are available for reference. This archive board is located at http://www.ecauldron.net/ab/ Unfortunately, restarting the board means all the members of our original board (now called the Archive Board) will have to create a new account (if you had an account on our old board, please see "Important Re-Registration Information" below for important instructions), recreate their sig and profile, etc. We apologize, but there was no way to avoid it. However, we have taken advantage of having to restart to reorganize the board. The Cauldron now has two separate forums (TCMAIN and TCSOCIAL) and our folders are split between them. This gives us room for more folders with less confusion. The social side of TC has benefited from this the most as we now have a number of folders to be social in instead of having to cram everything not a religious discussion into 3-4 folders. You can move between the two forums either via the link to the "other" forum in the top (white) bar or via the "Forums" item in the top menu bar. Note that the numbers listed for messages and last visits in the "Forums" item are not always accurate (nor are the numbers the "Stats" panel in the second forum -- found at the bottom of the message pain) due to bugs in the 0.5 branch code that were never fixed by the Beehive team. ===== ===== NEW FOLDERS ===== As mentioned above, the new version of The Cauldron's message board splits TC into two forums. Here is a list of the names of folders the new board will have and which forum they will be in: === === MAIN FORUM === Discussions here will be mainly oriented on Religion or at least be viewed from a religious POV. Folders whose names start with "S:" have special rules in effect for that folder. Folder List: Board Announcements Chat, MUX and Forum Support Introduce Yourself! Pagan Religions Eclectic Paganism Non-Pagan Religions/Interfaith S: New to Pagan Religions History, Mythology and the Gods Worship and Ritual Magic and Divination Philosophy and Metaphysics Faith in Everyday Life S: Pagan Teens S: Prayer and Healing Requests S: Special Topics and Tutorials Religion in the News Miscellaneous Discussions === === SOCIAL FORUM === Discussions here will be less about religion and more about "off- topic" discussions between friends. Folders whose names start with "M:" are NOT visible to GUESTS, but only to members who are logged in -- providing a place to post semi-personal stuff that you really don't want everyone on the Internet to have immediate access to. Folder List: TC: Social Forum Announcements Home and Garden Family Life Pets Food and Recipes Books, Music and Media Computers and the Internet Games and Gaming Art, Poetry and Writing Crafts and Hobbies Humor and Quizzes Miscellaneous Social Chatter Pagan Webcrafting Science and Technology General News and World Events Political Discussions M: Cauldron Community One Request: Messages cannot be moved between forums like they can between folders, so it is important to put discussions in the proper forum. The message board staff does not want to be thread nazis, but they will be enforcing this. ===== ===== OTHER MAJOR CHANGES ===== "Settings" (in the top menu) is where you go to modify your personal settings (nickname, email address, forum options, etc.). This was called "My Controls" in the original board. "PMs" in the top menu will take you to your PM Inbox where you can read and send personal messages. "Chat" in the top menu will bring up our Flash Chat area, log in with your message board User ID and password. Note that's your user id, not your nickname. "Rules" on the top menu will bring up a section with all of our forum and chat rules and some FAQs that might prove helpful "Extras" on the top menu will bring up a lot of "extra" features, some examples: a links section, information on our MUX (CauldronMUX), our new Nember Map (see Cauldron News for more info), etc. You'll want to check this area often aws this is where most new features will appear as they become available. ===== ===== IMPORTANT RE-REGISTRATION INFORMATION ===== IMPORTANT NOTE: If you had an account on our old board, you will need to follow this procedure to successfully log in to our new board: 1) Go to the New Board: (http://www.ecauldron.net/mb/). Note that your username and password will probably be in the logon box. If they are, ignore them as you are not really "there" until you register. Click on the Register link and register -- using the same username and password you use on this board. (Or a completely different username, although this will confuse people -- just don't use the same username as the old board with a different password). Be sure to use a working email address that you get email from. 2) When you finish, you should be logged in (You'll see a top menu with "Logout" instead of "Login" if you are). Log out completely. Try to log back in. You should be able to. If you get some type of "Session" or other weird error, close your browser down, go directly to the new board and try again. 3) The folders are split between two forums: the Main Forum and the Socuial Forum. It is easy to move between these two forums via the "Forums" menu in the board or via the link in the top (white) area of the message board. You will need to add your sig and fill out your profile on each forum as these are forum specific. ===== ===== NEW BOARD ADDRESS ===== Again, The Cauldron's new message board is located at: http://www.ecauldron.net/mb/ and the old board (now a read-only Archive Board) is available at: http://www.ecauldron.net/ab/ [02] ========= ========= CAULDRON NEWS ========= by The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum Staff ========= ===== ===== 2006 February Donation Drive A Big Success ===== Our Annual February Donation Drive was a big success. Our ecauldron.com web hosting is fully paid for another year and we have money left over for some expansion. The Hosts would like to thank everyone who contributed. A 2006 Sponsors web page will be going up later this month. ===== ===== New Feature: Member Map ===== One of our members pointed out a neat web site call Frappr! that lets you set up a free group map where your members can pinpoint their location on a zoomable world map and even post a picture in their "bubble." As of this writing, 45 Cauldron members have added themselves to our Member Map. Note that you may need to scroll the map left or right a bit to get the dots for members in the South Pacific to actually appear. You can view (and add yourself if you wish) our Member Map when you are logged in to our new message board by selecting the "Extras" item from the top menu and then the "Member Map/Photos" item from the next menu screen. Please remember that our Member Map is a third party site and that TC is not responsible for this site's security or business practices. ===== ===== Cauldron Cookbook Updated ===== Late last year, our members contributed a large number of their favorite recipes for our Cauldron Cookbook. LyricFox has added them all to the Cauldron Cookbook on our web site. We'd like to thank everyone who contributed recipes! You'll find the Cauldron Cookbook at: http://www.ecauldron.com/cookbook/index.php ===== ===== New Feature: Gardening Section ===== Gardening is a popular activity for Pagan households. Not only does it provide beauty and food, but if helps the ecology. We've added a section on gardening to our web site that features a growing collection of gardening articles. You'll find the new Gardening section of our web site at: http://www.ecauldron.com/garden/index.php ===== ===== More Pagan Supplies ===== Our Pagan Shopping Affilate Store has grow quite a bit in the last month with new categories of items and many new items, thanks to a major expansion by the folks at Pagan Shopping. Remember, we you buy your Pagan supplies from our Pagan Shopping Affiliate Store, TC gets a commission! You'll find our store at: http://www.ecauldron.com/esesf.php [03] ========= ========= CAULDRON EVENTS ========= by The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum Staff ========= ===== ===== MARCH CAULDRON CHALLENGE ===== March's Challenge is another one of those shake-up-the-routine variety. This month, you are challenged to try a new food. This could mean any number of things--you could go to a new restaurant, order something new in a restaurant you already know and love, eat a new dish that someone else (friends, family, etc.) has made, try making a new dish yourself, or even just try out a new ingredient. The possibilities are endless! So--what culinary adventure are you going on this month? http://www.ecauldron.net/cncsocial.php?m=60.1 [04] ========= ========= CAULDRON DISCUSSIONS ========= Recent Discussion Topics on our Message Board ========= In an average month, over 200 new discussion topics are started on The Cauldron's message board. Here are a few of the more interesting recent discussions. It's not too late to join in. Thanks to Bloglet, you can now receive an email every night on days we post new site news items to the main page of The Cauldron's web site. These emails contain a link to the new item and the first couple of lines of the news text. You can sign up for Bloglet's free news delivery via the form at the end of the site "News and Updates" section of The Cauldron's main web page. ===== ===== Faith and Therapy ===== As some of you may know, I'm a psychology student, currently doing an internship. As part of my internship, I'm doing a little project concerning religion and therapy. I know there are horror stories to be told about psychiatrists and psychologists completely dismissing religion, or even considering them delusional. I, on the other hand, figure it's a source of strength, and as such, should not only be respected in therapy, but might even be something I can "use" to help someone. So I've a few questions: 1) To what extent would you expect a therapist to take your religion into account? 2) Are there any taboos or such in your religion that your therapist should consider? Are there certain types of treatment that would be right out for you, for example? How would you expect a therapist to deal with that? 3) What are the strengths of religion that you think could help you when in a situation that requires therapy? Do you consider them any of your therapist's business? 4) Have you met or heard of therapists who got this totally wrong? What did they do that was so wrong? What are the things I want to avoid? I'm really looking for any kind of information here, so feel free to brainstorm, go off on tangents, etc. * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncmain.php?m=167.1 ===== ===== Following Nameless Gods ===== It seems there's a few of us around here that are following nameless and/or previously unknown deities. Besides me, Jenett and Tana, are there any more of you out there? How did you know your deity wasn't any of the traditional Gods? What makes Him or Her unique? Do you worship in the framework of an established tradition or do They request something entirely new? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncmain.php?m=155.1 ===== ===== Taking On Your Deity's Personality Traits? ===== How many of you, when working with a particular diety or spirit, start taking on bits and pieces of their personality? Or some of their quarks? The only "Gods" (spirits, really) I've worked with are Loa and the Orisha; and two in particular, Papa Samdi and Yemaja. As I am slowly switching my focus from Samdi to Yemaja, I've noticed the traits I recieved from Samdi (the loud, obnoxious, drunk side) has lessons greatly while certain feminine traits from Yemaja have reared their ugly head. So, I'm just wondering if their works with the other pantheons out there. I hear this is very common in Loa and Orisha, who are though to sit in your head and thus their influences are always there. I've never really heard of it from other pantheons, except from people who've drawn down and didn't get it out of them fully. * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncmain.php?m=131.1 ===== ===== Free Will? ===== I'm currently trying to develop my ideas as a Stoic and I've been thinking a lot about the issue of free will and personal responsibility. My personal belief is that very little of what happens to us is under our control. Even on an entirely materialist view, we are just one cause amongst an infinite number in the universe. The Stoic argument is that everything in the universe is caused (or the world would be entirely unintelligible), and therefore that everything that happens is an inevitable result of its causes. Everything that occurs is therefore fated and inevitable. While I agree with this argument to some extent, I have found that it reaches uncomfortable conclusions if pushed to its logical extremes. On a modern view, our thought processes are physical, a result of the firing of neurons in the brain. As a physical process, thought is a result of its causes... and therefore inevitable. Thus, we have no control over what we think. At this point I had to give up my contemplation, as it literally hurt my head to think that I might not be in control of my thoughts. It felt like one step away from madness. To help me develop my ideas, I was wondering what other people's views are on free will and personal responsibilty? What are the philosophical/psychological arguments that back up your beliefs? I know this is a HUGE topic, and if it needs to be narrowed down, I am particularly interested in how far we are in control of what goes on in our own heads. * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncmain.php?m=122.1 ===== ===== Is Initiation Forever? ===== The tradition in which I was trained and in which I continue to practice teaches that because an initiation, if done properly, is a life-changing experience, we as a tradtion cannot undo an initiation once it had been given. We cannot take away from that person the experiences which he or she has undergone, so we can't revoke an initiation. The best that we can do is to revoke someone's right to act and style themselves as a priest or priestess of our tradition. But recently, I've seen some things happening that suggest to me that even if we cannot revoke an initiation, the person to whom it was given CAN walk away from it. I'll discuss some things that relate to this in more detail later, if it seems necessary. For the moment I'm interested in people's initial reactions to the question. * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncmain.php?m=53.1 ===== ===== Combining with Christianity ===== Well, combining with Christianity among other things. I have noticed that some people on these boards (and even more so on others) seem to have a problem with those who combine thier pagan practices with Christian ones. So what about Voodoo, Santarie, Candomble, etc.? These relgions are combinations of Catholic and African (And sometimes South American Haitian, or Cuban as well!) practices. Hoodoo combines practices from Jewish mysticism, European witchcraft, African witchcraft, and who knows what else! Is this ok? These religions and practices have been around awhile and established themselves firmly, so we don't complain. But why attack the Christian Wiccan? Perhaps two-hundred years from now this will be a popular religion! What about a Catholic who believes in reincarnation instead of Heaven? Have you ever met a Celtic-Recon who aslo practices Chaos magic? I bet there are a few out there. My point is this, today's herisies are tomorrows standard practice, if we can accept established "odd-fellow" pairings, then why should the new ones bother us so much? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncmain.php?m=40.1 ===== ===== Religion is a Drug? ===== On another forum (where I serve as an Admin), the comment was made "religion is the opiate of the people", which is so often taken out of context it makes me twitchy. The context of the post isn't that important, but it was clear the reason for the post was to suggest that religion = bad. (The person making that statement stopped posting at all once I pointed out that we don't make blanketing derisive statements about religions - it's a rule and such.) Another user, seemingly in defense of the other person, posted to the effect that religion *is* a drug, for good or ill. Now, I don't know about you folks, but I still took exception to that. To me, the effect of a drug is an altered state from one's 'norm' as it were. And I tend to be the same person whether I'm doing something involving my spirituality or not. I know the whole thing about using a drug to acheive higher consciousness and I'm not talking about that. What I'm talking about is the seeming insinuation that religion takes things out of one's control, in a sense. Am I making any sense? And am I simply seeing red because this person decided to try to undermine my reprimand to another user? What does that statement (religion is a drug) conjure for you? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncmain.php?m=34.1 ===== ===== Introduce Yourself! ===== We've periodically had threads where we all re-introduce ourselves for the benefit of those who are new since the last such thread. It's often a lot of fun, because you can talk to people all day and just totally miss major info about them, and this gives us a chance to fill in the blanks. I thought that perhaps the move to the new forum structure would be a good point at which to do this again. So -- introduce yourself, even if you've been here forever and think everyone knows you! Who are you, what's your religious outlook, what are your interests, where are you, how long have you been at TC -- tell us as much or as little as you like! * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncsocial.php?m=14.1 [05] ========= ========= CAULDRON REVIEWS ========= Most of The Cauldron's book reviews are now written by Mike Gleason. If you would like to contact Mike with comments about his reviews (or about books you would like to have reviewed), you can email Mike at: gleason.mike@ecauldron.GETRIDOFME.com There are no book reviews this month. [06.1] ========= ========= FEATURE ARTICLE: ========= CORRECTING WRONG FENG SHUI ADVICE ========= Copyright 2006 by Ken Toh ========= Feng Shui is an amazing science and the number of masters, disciples, practitioners are growing at an amazing rate. As it gets more commercialized, many of us encounter a lot of conflicting advice and the correct usage of items gets lost through marketing hype. We start seeing items being described as being able to increase wealth, health, prosperity, fame, and solving world hunger at the same time. There is NO item or remedy that will do this. Learn about the common "advice" given and how they are wrong. Many sources of Feng Shui will claim to be "authentic", but hopefully this article will allow you to see through them. You dedicate your resources to this beautiful art and you have every right to know when a source is pretending to be "traditional" for the sake of a sale. WRONG: Southeast is your Wealth Corner to enhance RIGHT: Find your Wealth/Success corner by getting your Kua number Most people's personal Wealth/Success corner will differ, and don't allow broad generalizations to tell you what is right. We were all born unique, and real Feng Shui knows this. For those whose Kua number is 8 or females with a Kua of 5, Southeast is actually your Total Loss Direction (the most inauspicious direction). If we were to follow the numbers/ratio calculation, 1 out of 2 people will have Southeast as a bad direction (e.g. Mishaps, Five Ghosts, Six Killings, Total Loss) that should not be stimulated. Placing a windchime in the Southeast will actually do more harm than good for you. Yes, following the Later Heaven Sequence, Southeast can be considered to be a Wealth corner, but it's not meant for individuals or normal households. WRONG: Enhance your way to wealth and happiness first RIGHT: Identify and remedy the bad sources of Feng Shui first, then only enhance Proper traditional Feng Shui Masters from Asia will agree on one thing: you work on defence and remedies for your life/home first, and then only think about enhancing. Though in this day age, it's perfectly fine to want to enhance, you should keep in mind the best way to start is by going for remedies that can play dual roles (protective and enhancing). Crystals are great enhancers and in small quantities will benefit the user. I've met a client who was a big fan of Feng Shui and crystals, through her passion she placed many crystals in her NorthWest sector of home and this triggered and amplified the Illness Star in her home bring about sickness to her whole family. Items like Kuan Kong, Chung Kwei, Fuk Luk Sau are great items for protection that will play a secondary role in bringing in benefits to your home. WRONG: Red is the color of Wealth to always use RIGHT: Red is to amplify and signifies the Fire element. Use in moderate amounts Red is an amplifier and should be used in moderation as well as careful consideration. They are also great for enhancing or activating metallic items, but again, they are used in small quantities. I've had a client who was told red was wealth, and thus painted her entire home office red. Unfortunately, this was her Mishaps direction and for that year, the Conflict Star was in that section. By having too much red in one area, will upset the 5 Wu Xing Element cycle, and when there is no balance, there is bad Feng Shui. The only times a lot of red will do good is for the first few days of events that welcome a new beginning. This could come in the form of a store opening, Lunar New Year and marriages. WRONG: No clutter and a super mess-free/clean home is good Feng Shui RIGHT: Organized and well kept is good Feng Shui, but your home must have character. While having a clean and clutter free home is good Feng Shui, don't overdo it. Yes, you want chi to be able to flow freely in your home. Yes, keeping things clean and in good order is good Feng Shui. But you SHOULD have some forms 'clutter' to make it your home. Many of us will have a dislike for many reasons, but part of it is because it's so sterile, clean and to a point 'faceless' that we cannot relate to it or see it as an inviting place. You want your home to be 'lived in' and yours. Many so called Feng Shui Masters will say to keep your home as clean as possible, but having your baby daughter's soft toys on the sofa and her bedroom lying about is actually very good Feng Shui. It's HER home and her place of comfort and happiness. Many will consider her toys as 'clutter', but it's actually nice to have them around. The house is happy and alive with good vibes from her and her items, and this will make the flowing chi around your house the same. Organized and well kept is good. Too clean is bad. WRONG: Brand new and polished items are best RIGHT: Earth buried items are more potent because they have more knowledge In traditional Feng Shui in China, items that have 'matured' are considered to be much more potent compared to the 'shiny and new' items. This is why that many items have been purposely buried in earth/soil so that they are given time to mature and absorb the energies before serving the owner. This is why you will find many earth buried items (ranging from coins to brass figurines) to be a bit more pricier compared to newer versions. Many of us have seen the famous I Ching Coins or Imperial Coins which look new/nice and go for more affordable prices. But if you want them to have more effectiveness, go for earth buried versions of them. Of course there are many more misconceptions, but this is a good start by identifying the biggest offenders. Though almost everyone is guilty to a certain extent of adding a marketing spin to their products and services, remember to always take it with a grain of salt. Behind each rule and application in Feng Shui, there is always a solid explanation behind it. Learn the logic behind it and empower yourself with this knowledge. Next time you read or hear a source saying they are offering "traditional" or "authentic" Feng Shui, you'll know better. For more information on remedies, don't forget to visit our website at: http://www.smilingbamboo.com/ === === About the Author === Ken Toh is the co-founder of Smiling Bamboo (www.smilingbamboo.com) and strives to preserve the true traditions of Feng Shui amidst all the marketing hype of today. Having spent his life surrounded by Feng Shui and living in both Eastern/Western cultures has given him a firm understanding of bridging the gap of this beautiful science. [06.2] ========= ========= FEATURE ARTICLE: ========= ORIGINS AND HISTORY OF THE TAROT ========= by Sandra Johnson ========= The origins of the Tarot are surrounded with myth and lore. It is hard to know for sure what the facts are. The Tarot has been thought to come from places like India, Egypt, China and Morocco. Others say the Tarot was brought to us from the Sufis or the Jewish Cabbalists. Still others contend that the origin of the tarot was from Moses. In the library of Alexandria, in Egypt, there were scrolls that were based on the Book of Thoth, an ancient book that came from Egypt's mystery schools. One theory is that the illustrations on the Tarot cards are secret teachings of the Book of Thoth hidden in the innocent pictures. It seems that wherever there was a secret 'word of mouth' tradition handed down from teacher to pupil, it was hailed as the origin or beginning of Tarot. A large group believed it was the Gypsies who brought the tarot to Europe, the word gypsy being a corrupted version of Egyptian. That is highly unlikely, since evidence points to gypsies not using Tarot until the 20th century. Before that, palmistry was their preferred method of fortune telling. === === The Historical Evidence Behind the Origins of the Tarot === It seems the only evidence there is to the origins of the Tarot can be found in the cards that were made in Italy, around 1420. The symbolism of the trumps can be found in the European art of the time, with some drawings being exactly the likeness of those found on Tarot cards. History tells us that a scholar named Marziano da Torona, who was secretary to the Duke of Milan, may have invented the Tarot deck. Marziano was a scholar and an expert astrologer. The young duke, Filippo Maria Visconti instructed Marziano to create a game, using a deck that would replace the common suits of swords, coins, staves and cups. The duke wanted the new deck to have cards that represented virtues, riches, pleasures and purities. Marziano went on to create the card deck that Visconti wanted. He wrote a companion book to go with the deck of cards. It is on display in the Paris National library. In the book, there are no divine meanings to the cards, but no real rules for a card game, either. The book focuses on the symbolic meaning of the pictures and the different ranks of the depicted characters. Michelino da Besozzo is the Italian artist credited with painting the cards. Is it plausible that the origins of the Tarot as the curious card game invented by Marziano da Torona? If so, why doesn't the book that accompanied the deck refer to the divination of the cards? === === The Mystery Continues About The Origins of the Tarot === Where did the word Tarot come from? It has been called a Hebrew, Latin or Egyptian word. Is the word Tarot really an anagram, which when solved explains the mystery of the cards? Once again, the historical evidence of the origins of the word points to where the cards first appeared - in Italy. The cards were called Carte da trionfi, which is Italian for "cards of the triumphs". Later, a new card game was introduced, called Trumps or Triumphs. As it was played with different cards, the original Carte da trionfi became tarocco. In French they were called tarot. What are these cards that are shrouded in mysterious beginnings used for? Are they good or evil? The Tarot is basically a set of symbols, which are printed on a pack of 78 cards. Regular playing cards have hearts, clubs, spades and diamonds as suits. Tarot cards have different suits, with meanings. The Wands (also known as staves or rods) point to creativity and energy. There are the Cups (or vessels), relating to emotions and friends; Swords cover the area of challenge and thought; the Pentacles (coins or disks) relate to money and security. The cards are placed in a particular pattern. A Tarot reader uses the cards as an oracle that can answer questions from the past, present or future. The philosophy behind the Tarot is that the future is subject to change. If you are given enough notice, you can avoid the event you are being warned about. The Tarot makes you think, make you take steps that you might not have considered. When you ask a question of the Tarot that relates to the future, you'll be shown what will happen if you don't change anything. Many consider the Tarot cards as more of a counselling guide than a divining tool. Tarot readings can provide flashes of inspiration where otherwise the problems the person may be facing may seem insurmountable. Do the cards that are used today, all over the world come from the deck Marziano da Torona created in the 1400's? Is the reason the origins of the Tarot are so shrouded in mystery owing to Anima Mundi? The Anima Mundi or soul of the world is seen as the vital force that presides over the growth and continuity of all living things. Like a Universal library, it contains the entire human races' memories and wisdom from the past, present and future. It can be summoned with deep thought. Imagine all the basic figures one could find in all religions, myths, legends and folklore. When combined, this wealth of knowledge is a powerhouse. To understand this more one can look at the Empress card of the Tarot. The very essence of femininity is represented in the Empress - she is the great mother Goddess of the world. She represents 'the eternal feminine', in myth and psychology. Does working with the images of the Tarot somehow allow our unconscious to connect with that human collectiveness? Does the Tarot become a porthole to the storehouse of answers to any question any of us has ever had? Perhaps it is because of the mystical Anima Mundi that we can't pinpoint the origin of the Tarot with certainty. We may never really know the true history or the origins of the Tarot. Nevertheless, we continue to be attracted to the Tarot's wisdom, symbols and story. === === About the Author === Sandra writes for Tarot Lines - providers of live tarot readings: http://www.tarotlines.com/ [07] ========= ========= SOFTWARE GADGETS: THE COLUMN ========= Interesting Items From The Software Gadgets Blog ========= http://softwaregadgets.gridspace.net/ ========= The Software Gadgets Blog aims to present a different "software gadget" every weekday. A software gadget is a program or addon that is both interesting and useful -- and often free. This column highlights four of the programs listed this month. Many more were listed and you'll find more gadgets like these added every week at the Software Gadgets Blog at: http://softwaregadgets.gridspace.net/ ===== ===== KEYNOTE -- A TABBED TREE-ORGANIZED NOTEBOOK ===== Keynote is a free notebook/organizer. It allows you to store all your notes and ideas in a single well-organized file. No need to remember search your drive for note files, with tree-type notes, Keynote gives you a three-dimensional notebook: storing many notes within one file and multi-level, nested pages within a single note. From the Keynote web site: KeyNote was written to overcome major limitations in other popular information managers, both free and shareware. KeyNote is the only information manager that offers a combination of simple and tree-type notes, rich text editor, ability to mix freely many notes of different types in a single file and secure encryption. This makes KeyNote the most flexible and one of the most powerful applications of this kind currently available. Some functions, such as "virtual nodes", per-file configuration settings, multiple backups or WordWeb integration are unique and, to my knowledge, not supported by any other notebook program, freeware or shareware. With powerful text formatting capabilities, easily navigable interface and additional features such as styles, macros, plugins, and templates, KeyNote is has become the favorite note keeper, diary, outliner, knowledge base and information manager for thousands of users. What is KeyNote useful for? In general, any structured of free-form information, especially the kind of information which lends itself to hierarchical representation, such as lists or outlines. KeyNote's powerful search facility quickly locates information you're looking for. The ability to store many notes in a single file means no hunting for files scattered all over your computer. For many users it will be enough to create just one KeyNote file and add notes to it, with each note covering a separate topic (e.g., "To do", "Addresses", "Bookmarks", "Finances", etc.) Built-in strong encryption allows you to secure your files against unauthorized access or modification. The "virtual node" feature additionally allows you to pull together many files and edit them all within a single KeyNote file, while the original files remain on disk (so there is no need to perform any conversion). Keynote is no longer being developed, however, it is open source, so it's possible than some other programmer will pick the protect up and extend it. Besides, Keynote is a very useful program as it is now. It is every bit as useful as some of the commercial tabbed notebook programs. I've been recommending it to friends and clients for years. Rating: 4 Stars Operating System: Windows License: Open Source Price: Free Version Reviewed: 1.1 Web Site: http://www.tranglos.com/free/keynote_main.html ===== ===== ARTRAGE - A FUN PAINT PROGRAM ===== Too many graphics programs are serious and very complex. They are great for people with talent and time to learn them, but not so great if you just want to doodle. ArtRage, while powerful and useful (especially in its full-featured pay edition), is fun to use. It is great to doodle with in your spare time -- like during meetings that never seem to end and have little or nothing to do with you. ArtRage 1 was a freeware program. I had a lot of fun with it. ArtRage 2 comes it two editions: one pay and one free. The freeware version is basically version 1 with bug fixes and a nice speed boost. The pay version gets all the new features, but that's okay. Version 1 was great for spare time doodling. The free edition of ArtRage 2 lets you work with oils, pencils, pen, chalk, and crayons. It lets you trace other images,pick colors and canvas texture, save and load your work, and import and export images. That's more than enough for "fun" usage -- it beats doodling in Windows Paint! From the web site: ArtRage 2 lets you get right in to painting, just open the app and it’s all there! The paint tools are easy to get to, and it turns your screen in to a canvas so you can get on with the fun parts without worrying about documents, windows, or menus. Better still, the tools have been designed to feel real, so you don't need to learn how to use them to get something that looks good, you can just pick them up, and off you go, whether you've painted with real tools before or not. Rating: 4 Stars Operating System: Windows 2000 or XP (also Mac OSX) License: Freeware Price: Free Version Reviewed: 2.05 (Freeware version) Web Site: http://www.ambientdesign.com/artrage.html ===== ===== SAVE WEB PAGES WITH SCRAPBOOK FOR FIREFOX ===== There are times I just have to save a web page. Not just the text of a web page, but the formatting, graphics, and everything else I see. I'd like to be able to easily view the saved page in my browser in the future as well. Searching my collection of saved pages would also be useful. The ScrapBook extension for Firefox does all of this and much more. This extension makes it easy to save web pages (or entire web sites) and organize them for future reference. This extension allows you to maintain an archive of web pages on your computer. The major features are summarized at the ScrapBook web site as follows: Save Web page Save snippet of Web page Save Web site (In-depth Capture) Organize the collection in the same way as Bookmarks tree Highlighter, Eraser and various page editing tools Full text search and quick filtering search Text edit feature resembling Opera's Notes However, the full description of ScrapBook's features that three pages on the web site. This is one of the few extensions I have installed that I probably could not live without. Rating: 5 Stars System: Mozilla Firefox Extension License: Open Source Price: Free Version Reviewed: 0.18.5 Web Site: http://amb.vis.ne.jp/mozilla/scrapbook/index.php?lang=en ===== ===== GREAT NEWS -- RSS FEED READING MADE EASY ===== While browsers are beginning to handle RSS feed reading, their services are fairly basic. With FireFox, for example, I never saw the point of looking at the RSS feed rather than just going to the web site. Then my wife, a news junkie, discovered Great News, a free program designed for reading RSS feeds and displaying them in a nicely formatted manner. As the web site says, "GreatNews displays full pages of news articles across rss feeds, optimized for fast reading. So you can skim through pages in seconds, and pick interesting ones to dig in." This basic statement, while accurate, does not do justice to Great News. Great News can highlight news items you are interested in based on rules you create. It can save news items so you can read them offline. It supports all major RSS feed formats, including RSS 0.9x, 1.0(rdf), 2.0, Atom 0.30 and 1.0 -- and popular extensions like dublin core, content:encoding etc. It is integrated with Bloglines.com. It supports Unicode and has a full texrt search. It can import and export the list of feeds you read so that you can back them up or move them from system to system. While I don't yet use Great News as much as my wife does, the program has made a believer out of me. It's updated every 4 to 6 weeks with bug fixes and new features, which is a nice bonus. Rating: 5 Stars Operating System: Windows 2000 or XP License: Freeware Price: Free Version Reviewed: 1.0 Build 360 Web Site: http://www.curiostudio.com/ [08] ========= ========= Cauldron Info ========= SUPPORT THE CAULDRON BY VOLUNTEERING TO HELP ========= The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum was founded in December 1997 to provide a friendly but serious discussion area for Pagans on the Internet. We've grown a bit over the years. We now have an active message area, a large web site with around 700 pages of information (including over 300 book and divination deck reviews), and a monthly email newsletter. To continue to provide and expand these services, The Cauldron needs lots of volunteer help from our members and supporters. Here are some of the things members and supporters can do to help The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum thrive: ===== ===== Actively Participate In Our Message Board ===== While our new message board welcomes readers, we encourage members to actively participate by posting their comments and views in our discussions. One of the easiest ways to help The Cauldron is to actively participate in our message board. The staff especially appreciates members who start new topics for discussion based on their own questions, opinions, or interests. http://www.ecauldron.net/mb/ ===== ===== Articles! Essays! Tutorials! ===== We are in constant need of original, well-written and accurate articles, essays, tutorials, and other written items for both our web site and for our Cauldron and Candle newsletter. There's no real limit on length for web site articles. Here are a few areas in which we always need articles: * information on the beliefs and theology of the various Pagan religions, especially non-Wiccan religions * information on holidays and festivals of the various Pagan religions, especially non-Wiccan religions * recipes for oils, incenses, and food for the various Pagan holidays * magick, spells, and ritual information * herbal information * positive articles on dealing with other faiths * information on historical pagan cultures * editorial/opinion pieces Non-Wiccan material is stressed not because we don't want Wiccan material but because good non-Wiccan material has been hard to find. We have a web form you can use to submit an article for consideration: http://www.ecauldron.com/bnbarticleform.php ===== ===== Book Reviews ===== While The Cauldron receives some review copies from a couple of Pagan publishers, there are many books that can only be reviewed on our web site if a member has a copy and writes a good, objective review. The Cauldron is interested in reviews on the more academic books used by reconstructionist Pagan religions as well as on the books one finds on the Pagan/New Age shelf in the bookstore. We have a web form you can use to submit a book review for consideration: http://www.ecauldron.com/bnbbkreviewform.php ===== ===== Graphic Assistance ===== The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum is purposely a low graphics site as we value page download speed over flashy graphics. However, we are always willing to talk with artists who have ideas for well-designed small graphics (small in both physical dimensions and file size) that might enhance a specific article or page. ===== ===== Invite Your Friends ===== If you have friends or acquaintances who you believe would find The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum useful, please tell them about our site. If you are active in our message board and have friends who might enjoy them or have information to contribute, please invite them. ===== ===== Link To The Cauldron ===== If you have a web site where linking to The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum would be appropriate, simply providing a link to this web site is a big help. Our Link to this Site page explains how you can do this if you need help or want some simple graphic buttons to use: http://www.ecauldron.com/linktous.php ===== ===== Donations ===== As The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum uses as many free services as possible, our need for money to operate our site is currently lower than our need for the many items we list above. However, if you have a few dollars to spare, we would be honored to have your help in paying for our web site. You can donate by using either PayPal or the Amazon Honor System links below (we get about 85% of what you donate). Donate via PayPal http://www.ecauldron.com/donatepaypal.php Donate via Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/paypage/P3903JRFVQVDN ===== ===== Amazon Purchases ===== The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum also receives a small percentage (usually 5%) from most items purchased from Amazon.com when you go to Amazon.com from one of the links to Amazon on our web site. If you purchase a lot of books, CDs, and other items from Amazon.com as many members do, going to Amazon.com through one of our links when you are going to make a purchase there is a painless way to help fund this web site. http://www.ecauldron.com/zamazon.php If you are a regular user of the US version of Amazon, you can help The Cauldron by replacing the URL of your ebay bookmark in your browser with the above link so that TC gets credit every time you visit Amazon.com. To do this in Internet Explorer or Firefox, find Amazon in your bookmark list. RIGHT click on it and select Properties from the popup menu which will appear. A dialog box describing your bookmark will appear. You'll see the standard Amazon url -- probably http://www.amazon.com/ -- in an edit box (labeled "Location" in FireFox and "URL" in IE). Erase that url completely and replace with one listed above, then click on OK. If you use Amazon UK, you can use this address http://www.ecauldron.com/zamazonuk.php If you use Amazon Canada, you can use this addess: http://www.ecauldron.com/zamazonca.php ===== ===== Ebay Purchases ===== Are you an Ebay user? Ebay has a new program that pays affiliates a small percent of the winning bid if the winning bidder enters ebay from an affiliate link (some like how our Amazon.com affiliate program works). So if you visit the US version ebay via the following link, the Cauldron will get credit for your bids: http://www.ecauldron.com/zebay.php If you are a regular user of the US version of ebay, you can help The Cauldron by replacing the URL of your ebay bookmark in your browser with the above link so that TC gets credit every time you visit ebay. To do this in Internet Explorer or Firefox, find ebay in your bookmark list. RIGHT click on it and select Properties from the popup menu which will appear. A dialog box describing your bookmark will appear. You'll see the standard ebay url -- probably http://www.ebay.com/ -- in an edit box (labeled "Location" in FireFox and "URL" in IE). Erase that url completely and replace with one listed above, then click on OK. ===== ===== Have Questions or Suggestions? ===== If you have specific questions, proposals or other ideas we haven't mentioned here, please email them to rssapphire00@ecauldron.GETRIDOFEME.com. (Unfortunately, Randall has to answer general "Tell me more?" type questions with a request for a more specific question. He's not trying to be rude, he just can't think of anything general and useful to say that isn't said here.) [09] ========= ========= NEWSLETTER INFORMATION ========= (Including how to subscribe and unsubscribe) ========= Cauldron and Candle is a free publication of The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum. The Cauldron intends to publish this newsletter once a month and often actually succeeds in doing so. We tried to publish it twice a month for a while, but real life interfered too often. This issue of Cauldron and Candle as a whole is copyright (c) 2005 by The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum. Copyrights on individual items in this newsletter are retained by their author, please contact the editors if you need to contact an author for permission to reprint an article and the editors will do their best to put you in touch with him or her. The opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of newsletter, The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum, or its staff. Publication of an article in this newsletter is not an endorsement of the authors position or any products and companies mentioned therein. No one involved in producing this newsletter has any money to speak of so suing us if you don't like something we do is a waste of time and money. ===== ===== HOW TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE OR CHANGE EMAIL ADDRESS ===== You are receiving a copy of this newsletter because you signed up to receive it. You can subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter via your web browser at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cauldronandcandle/join Or you can unsubscribe via email by sending a blank message to cauldronandcandle-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Be sure to send this message from the email account actually subscribed to the newsletter. If you have trouble unsubscribing by email, please use the web browser method mentioned above. If you need to change your subscription to a new email address, unsubscribe your old email address and subscribe your new email address. Note that you have to make these changes yourself. Yahoo Groups does not allow the list owner to make them for you. ===== ===== NEWSLETTER WEB SITE AND BACK ISSUE ARCHIVE ===== The Cauldron and Candle web site contains information on this newsletter and an archive of back issues. http://www.ecauldron.com/cnc/ ===== ===== PLEASE INVITE YOUR FRIENDS TO SUBSCRIBE ===== If you have Pagan friends who you believe would be interested in Cauldron and Candle please invite them to subscribe. You can either drop them a note yourself or -- better yet -- send them one of The Cauldron's email postcards with the information. You are also welcome to forward a copies of this newsletter to interested friends and associates provided you forward the entire newsletter. ===== ===== SUGGESTIONS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME ===== Don't forget that your suggestions for this newsletter are always welcome, either posted on the message board or via email to LyricFox (lyricfox@ecauldron.GETRIDOFME.com) or Randall Sapphire (rssapphire00@ecauldron.GETRIDOFME.com). Typos are, as usual, courtesy of the Goddess Eris.

Return to Cauldron and Candle Archive