Oracle cards and political (in)correctness

[Lionsmane]

I witnessed recently a goodpublic reading get capsized by the accidental use of a political incorrect card in the deck. I can see why, but I'm wondering as a bystander what the best oracle decks are that don't pander to cheap and easy stereotypes. Not necessarily going as far as a political deck, but take for example the diversity of the tabula mundi or Navigators of the Mystic Sea tarot - are there equivalents in the oracle section - which tends to be a bit poppier (which I like).

[fire cat pickles]

I witnessed recently a goodpublic reading get capsized by the accidental use of a political incorrect card in the deck. I can see why, but I'm wondering as a bystander what the best oracle decks are that don't pander to cheap and easy stereotypes. Not necessarily going as far as a political deck, but take for example the diversity of the tabula mundi or Navigators of the Mystic Sea tarot - are there equivalents in the oracle section - which tends to be a bit poppier (which I like).

I'm not really sure what you're talking about because I wasn't witness to it, however it sounds like this should not have happened. And I would have been upset had it been my reading, I can tell you that... But if what I think you're talking about is that some decks have one or two cards that may offend someone... This is completely normal.

My two cents. You are not going to find a deck that doesn't do this. No deck is going to make anyone or any group of people 100% happy. There will always be those out there sparring for a fight, or looking to find something wrong with something.

Ignore it.

Find a deck (tarot or oracle or playing card deck) that makes you happy, that works for you and go with it. It is a personal choice. No one, I repeat no one, has the right to make decisions for you. I don't care if they find a deck, or a card within that deck offensive. It doesn't automatically mean that they're right.

[Lionsmane]

I would imagine that their camp probably feels just as sanctimonious about perceiving their autonomy as compromised. I do agree though that there should be respect for the sanctity of a reading and your choice to participate in one. But spiritual practice can be criticised, especially the more profane/worldy aspects, such as doing public readings on massmedia platforms, and using pop culture oracle cards, which as a form of mass media in themselves. I'm only speaking about this kind of deck, which most people without an agenda (valid or otherwise) have no issue navigating. Specifically, I'm talking about tropes in oracle decks in much the same way that, for example, Anita Sarkeesian from Feminist Frequency talked about tropes in highly funded videogames
I guess my two cents would be that if its already in the mess of the world, why not make a video about it rather than allowing it to shut down conversation? It happened, whether it should have or not.

[fire cat pickles]

Really too political for me. I have no interest in this conversation.

[Nemia]

The video is interesting. As art historian, I'm used to encountering stereotypes that we don't use any more today in the same uncritical way earlier genertions have. Anita Sarkesian doesn't seem to be aware that the "invasive pregnancy" trope is much, much older than Christianity. In Greek mythology (which was very ancient roots), this is how heroes are born: lower-ranking females (humans or nymphs) are impregnated by divine males, and usually suffer for it.

This trope runs much deeper than just patriarchal misogyny, like the video suggests. Pregnancy and childbirth are surrounded by mystery and fear for most of the human history. Many women died, and so much can go wrong. The changing body is experienced by some women as threatenng and invasion. Negative feelings around anything concerning motherhood are still taboo. The subject is quite complex. It's not only men who project their fears onto the body of the woman (a tired old cliche) but also women for whom pregnancy is a deeply ambivalent process.

The female/feminine vs male/masculine concept is one of the most basic assumptions about human nature. We started questioining it just some yeaars ago. It will take time to develop a new, stereotype-free concept of gender, sex and human categories. That's why I don't get worked up when I see the stereotypes at work in esoteric sub-culture. It's hard to envision the empress as a man.

[Lionsmane]

Really too political for me. I have no interest in this conversation.

You are political in the sense that you take an opposing view, because you view tarot readers and people who care about social oppression as diametrically opposite. My question was taking into account that most people aren't that diametrically politically opposed.

[Lionsmane]

The changing body is experienced by some women as threatenng and invasion. Negative feelings around anything concerning motherhood are still taboo. The subject is quite complex. It's not only men who project their fears onto the body of the woman (a tired old cliche) but also women for whom pregnancy is a deeply ambivalent process.

The female/feminine vs male/masculine concept is one of the most basic assumptions about human nature. We started questioining it just some yeaars ago. It will take time to develop a new, stereotype-free concept of gender, sex and human categories. That's why I don't get worked up when I see the stereotypes at work in esoteric sub-culture. It's hard to envision the empress as a man.

We envision midwives as male these days, and you only need to look at the history of men taking over the birthing process to see just how much deliberate scaremongering and alienation has gone on, and only relatively recently also. But you are right aswell. Take the story of Gerdr from the Nordic culture, about the cusp of winter and spring.

There are many other examples of tropes on her channel. The 'manic pixie dream girl' is also quite interesting.
I was using Anita Sarkeesian as an example to illustrate what a trope is. Now that it's clearly established as a concept in this discussion, I feel the need to specify more the kind of trope we're talking about. It's more like how Disney has changed over time, and the problematic concepts in Disney films at various points. Is Disney esoteric? I personally use my childhood X-men marvel cards as oracle cards, that I bought in primary school. They problematic aspects are and aren't esoteric, and can be questioned.

[Nemia]

As historically-oriented person, I actually don't see the male accoucheur as typical (and I come from a country where female midwives traditionally had an important role although the medical establishment tries to make it as difficult as possible for independent midwives). I'm interested in Anita Sarkeesian's work which I confess I didn't know before. It's certainly important to understand the underlying misogyny in too many Western tropes. I've been doing that in my own work (art history) for many years. But that's not enough.

Let's take an everyday example: the Princess. Educating girls to be pretty princesses and to seek validation through the opinions of others is for example in my eyes a mistake, but I see it all the time. The riddle is, why do successful, well-educated women raise their girls in pink worlds of archaic dream roles? What I wanted to say - it's easy to recognize how a trope benefits the archetypical white male. But why do women and other marginalized groups participate in the perpetuation of such tropes?

There are a number of answers. Escapism ("life is hard enough"), benefit by proxy ("my father and husband profit from the patriarchy, and through them, so do I"), sentimental lack of critical thinking ("all my friends have princess daughters so why be different?") - all these can lead a clever lawyer to raise her daughters in pink rooms full of tiaras, unpractical tulle dresses and cute dolls.

But there is also the possibility that beneath all that pink plastic kitsch, the Princess role offers something more, fulfills some kind of inner need - to feel special, to feel potentially powerful, whatever. Some hidden traces of something significant, powerful.

In short, I don't believe in simple explanations but will always look for these traces. (I think the situation is much much more difficult for women who are really on the margins of Western society: disabled, ethnically "different", living outside the accepted gender roles, poor etc - it all takes away options and agency.)

To return to oracle and tarot cards: many new decks re-think the gender stereotypical court cards and some majors, too, and I see an encouraging trend of more inclusive decks. As tarot readers and deck buyers, we can put our money and our love where our beliefs are. Ten years ago, nobody remarked upon a deck that was all-white - today, deck reviews mention whether a deck depicts a 19th century vision of medieval Britain or a culturally and ethnically diverse world, including different body types and ages. (I'm always puzzled why some super-model aesthetic, completely prettified decks have enthusiastic followers!)

I will continue to support shops like the Little Red Tarot Shop and buy indie decks there. But I don't throw away my more traditional decks.