U1987 Posted November 5, 2010 Posted November 5, 2010 Seriously, just looking at Facebook and a whole lot of OLD profiles, I'm shocked by how many girls put "Astrology" and "Horoscopes" and "Feng Shui" and "Tarot Cards" and stuff on their "Interests" lists. That stuff is dumb. It's not real! I'm sorry if it sounds snobbish, but I really have difficulty relating to or even respecting someone who believes in that stuff. And looking at guys profiles to compare and contrast, I found no guys who believe in that as well. Whats up with girls and the occult?
Feelin Frisky Posted November 5, 2010 Posted November 5, 2010 eh. Women are more expressive than men about the things that appeal to them. So, it's predictable to hear expressions of interest in romantic superstitions--after all men see a window with blinds on it as a window with blinds, women see it as an opportunity for "adorable" curtains and a fashion/status statement. Frilly beliefs are to be expected. Chicks are more social animals and want to share what they're into than us monotone functional grunts.
sanskrit Posted November 5, 2010 Posted November 5, 2010 No idea, suspect it is because of the prospect for infinite rationalization that such mysticism involves that appeals to women, but I also find it annoying. Have dated very well-educated career women who blow $100 per week on psychics and custom horoscopes. Navigating relationships is hard enough as it is without the woman bringing hocus pocus magic 8 ball stuff into the equation. You won't get really angry about it until one day things are going along well, and she asks innocuously what your sign is and then she goes off on a long diatribe of analysis of your character based on utter BS. Women claim to be offended at gender generalizations, yet somehow this kind of direct personal generalizing is no problem at all for many of them. Here's how to shut them up, though. Get their horoscope book or readout or whatever, and concentrate on them and emphasize only the negatives in the readout (which they have previously discounted because that's just what they do). They won't like this at all, will quickly change the subject, an likely not bring it up again. That or bring home a Ouija board and tell them you want to see if you can stir up some "paranormal actitivity" in their apartment, they will likely never mention the hoodoo stuff again. Same thing when anyone starts bringing up reincarnation. Ask them why everyone is always reincarnated from a famous person instead of a peasant with an IQ of 80 who died falling off a roof trying to peek into the bathroom of the hovel next door. OR better yet, suggest that they might have been an animal in a prior life, they will start going on about foxes or stallions or tigers or such, then suggest, "No. I was thinking more of a cockroach or maggot, maybe a big brown Norwegian Rat or sea cucumber. Were you a sea cucumber in a prior life, honey?" The resulting reaction is a great, fun to watch example of cognitive dissonance.
Anela Posted November 5, 2010 Posted November 5, 2010 If you haven't studied it - going beyond Sun Signs, in astrology, or beyond stupidity and the more obvious charlatans - then you won't understand, but it *isn't* dumb. I'm talking about the Sun, Moon, Venus, Mars, ascendant, etc.. I'm not going to bother explaining any more of it, but there's something to it all. You guys have your porn. Men believe it in, too, not just women.
Cee Posted November 5, 2010 Posted November 5, 2010 Astrology and the occult is a diversion just like watching sports. I do tarot card readings regularly, but I also read medicine and hard science. It's just something that's fun. No reason to next a woman over it.
loverofloveandstuff Posted November 5, 2010 Posted November 5, 2010 Do you feel the same way about religion?? Because that's in the same boat and heaps of guys have 'Christian' or whatever their religious beliefs are in their profiles.
sanskrit Posted November 5, 2010 Posted November 5, 2010 Men believe it in, too, not just women. You know this is actually true. Women are such suckers for this stuff that PUAs have learned that mystic BS is a great way to get sex. Will go so far as to say that 50% of the "outer game" PUA stuff I've read about involves palmistry, personality analysis, shamanism, numerology, zodiac, the whole gamut of it. Yes men do believe it too, the ones who want to get laid easily. Always used to be revolted by the guys growing up who had "crystal farms" charging up among some totem display in their apartments, but sure enough, those guys were always getting laid by working the same tired spiel on granola deadhead chicks. Like to think I have more self-respect, but hey, it worked for them, so respect them in a way.
Anela Posted November 5, 2010 Posted November 5, 2010 My tarot readings tend to come true - especially the relationship ones. I have a record of the cards that came up, and what happened within days or weeks. (I laid out the cards every so often.)
sanskrit Posted November 5, 2010 Posted November 5, 2010 Do you feel the same way about religion?? Because that's in the same boat and heaps of guys have 'Christian' or whatever their religious beliefs are in their profiles. No Christian purports to tell you things about yourself based on lines on your hand, or on your face, or by casting runes, turning cards over or reading your aura. In fact, no legitimate religious practitioner I've ever met was big into divination or astrology, most dead set against it. I did lose a woman to a "Christian" once who played on her guilt and shame for months. Of course that didn't stop him from fornicating with her when the opportunity arose.
Anela Posted November 5, 2010 Posted November 5, 2010 You know this is actually true. Women are such suckers for this stuff that PUAs have learned that mystic BS is a great way to get sex. Will go so far as to say that 50% of the "outer game" PUA stuff I've read about involves palmistry, personality analysis, shamanism, numerology, zodiac, the whole gamut of it. Yes men do believe it too, the ones who want to get laid easily. Always used to be revolted by the guys growing up who had "crystal farms" charging up among some totem display in their apartments, but sure enough, those guys were always getting laid by working the same tired spiel on granola deadhead chicks. Like to think I have more self-respect, but hey, it worked for them, so respect them in a way. A man told me this already. I'd love to go to a club and catch one of these guys in the act, then give a proper tarot reading... maybe I could draw the girls' attention away from guys who would manipulate them into bed, and give them something to think about. Ugh. I need to go. My typing is keeping someone awake.
Anela Posted November 5, 2010 Posted November 5, 2010 My tarot readings tend to come true - especially the relationship ones. I have a record of the cards that came up, and what happened within days or weeks. (I laid out the cards every so often.) Oh, and hooker guy? I did his cards for one reading about a possible journey that he was planning to go on, not realizing that I'd chosen cards that covered the Bangkok trip. It hit me six months later, and I searched my email, found it, and went through each question, matching it up. I felt ill. I'd wondered at the time, why cards like The Empress and the Devil came up for the mood of the trip; that made no sense, so I made a joke of it at the time.
Jannah Posted November 5, 2010 Posted November 5, 2010 I did lose a woman to a "Christian" once who played on her guilt and shame for months. Of course that didn't stop him from fornicating with her when the opportunity arose. That's truly awful.
loverofloveandstuff Posted November 5, 2010 Posted November 5, 2010 (edited) No Christian purports to tell you things about yourself based on lines on your hand, or on your face, or by casting runes, turning cards over or reading your aura. In fact, no legitimate religious practitioner I've ever met was big into divination or astrology, most dead set against it. I did lose a woman to a "Christian" once who played on her guilt and shame for months. Of course that didn't stop him from fornicating with her when the opportunity arose. What I'm trying to say is both religion and astrology rely on (blind) faith and no real scientific evidence. Christians may not tell you things about yourself based on lines on your hand but I have been told by Christians before, that because I am not also a Christian and do not accept God in my life I will go to hell. Just because more people follow religious pratices rather than mythological ones, it doesn't make religious practices and/or beliefs anymore legitimate. IMO, they both fall into the same category. Put any other cults/faith based ideologies in the same category also. Edited November 5, 2010 by loverofloveandstuff
sanskrit Posted November 5, 2010 Posted November 5, 2010 What I'm trying to say is both religion and astrology rely on (blind) faith and no real scientific evidence. Christians may not tell you things about yourself based on lines on your hand but I have been told by Christians before, that because I am not also a Christian and do not accept God in my life I will go to hell. Good for you for finding that out about them early so you didn't waste any time with them. IF men nix every woman into astrology or some other hoodoo, though, we might as well go join a monastery. It's something we have to put up with all too often in a world where women are supposed to be rationally men's equals. I've never heard a Christian say anything like "Jesus told me not to date you," or "Jesus told me you should change your hairstyle," or "Jesus told me you should lose 30 pounds," which is more the equivalent of what men have to put up with from all the mystic chicks out there.
loverofloveandstuff Posted November 5, 2010 Posted November 5, 2010 I've never heard a Christian say anything like "Jesus told me not to date you," or "Jesus told me you should change your hairstyle," or "Jesus told me you should lose 30 pounds," which is more the equivalent of what men have to put up with from all the mystic chicks out there. Neither have I... but they definitely have their equivalents... "Jesus told me I can't have any sexual contact with you before marriage." "Jesus told me I have to save you from your non religious beliefs." "Jesus told me you need to be baptized. Our children will be also baptized." "Jesus told me we need to go to church every Sunday, together." Not in those words but something along those lines. I went to a Catholic school and was forced to pray everyday. We also had to go on a religious retreat where we were given a picture of a tree and had to draw ourselves near/on the tree to demonstrate our relationship with God... oh, good times.
utterer of lies Posted November 5, 2010 Posted November 5, 2010 Whats up with girls and the occult? You can shape the reality you live in by adjusting your beliefs. As there are many things that are not objectively determinable by yourself, you will have to choose a set of beliefs to live by. Some people prefer to live in a magic world, where you have dead ancestors watch over you, everything has meaning and their life has a special purpose given by a higher being. So what if that's improbable in your eyes. As long as it doesn't impede their functioning in society it can be a valid choice. Even if you know "the truth" (there is no god, or, jahveh is the true god, or, every lake and mountain is spirited, or, .... ) - other people think so too. That they know "the truth". And being social animals, humans tend to find comfort in the fact that there is an alpha animal watching over us and setting things right. That there is a destiny to be achieved, a fate to be lived, because that means that you cannot truly make the wrong decision. The scientific/atheist world view is much bleaker. There is randomness and noise, and you probably cannot make the right decision, as right and wrong aren't even properly defined outside of specific contexts. Not everyone wants to share your reality. Find your own and enjoy, but don't expect other people to choose the same.
skydiveaddict Posted November 5, 2010 Posted November 5, 2010 (edited) cosmopolitan magazine and oprah Edited November 5, 2010 by skydiveaddict
sanskrit Posted November 7, 2010 Posted November 7, 2010 So what if that's improbable in your eyes. It doesn't become a deal at all until she starts navigating the relationship with it. I certainly don't want to hear what some $100 an hour soothsayer has to say about me, whom the soothsayer doesn't know, or our relationship, which she doesn't know either.
Jynxx Posted November 7, 2010 Posted November 7, 2010 If you haven't studied it - going beyond Sun Signs, in astrology, or beyond stupidity and the more obvious charlatans - then you won't understand, but it *isn't* dumb. I'm talking about the Sun, Moon, Venus, Mars, ascendant, etc.. Venus and Mars are balls of material rotating around the sun because of the laws of gravity and their orbits were more or less determined since the Big Bang and can be calculated by a mediumpowerfull computer. It sounds a bit silly that these things could predict wheter or not I will fall off my bike next week. As for religions, since I'm an atheist I don't really get that either. But hey, if some people's live is better because they believe in all that, good for them
brainygirl Posted November 7, 2010 Posted November 7, 2010 I don't mess with that stuff, tarot cards, wigi boards, and astrology. I refuse to believe that planets and galactic bodies can affect me. I've studied to much physics. (not psychics). But the magic stuff . . . I don't believe in it, but I've met people who claimed to be practitioners and they seriously creeped me out. enough so that I won't mess around with it.
Lorelai Posted November 7, 2010 Posted November 7, 2010 I'm Pagan. I have to admit that when I was first exposed to the idea that deity could be female as well as male, it was a pretty mindblowing thing. So for women and Paganism/Wicca/earth-centered religions, the idea that the other gender doesn't have the sole dibs on divinity can be very compelling. But I am also quite skeptical. I'm very fond of Jungian psychological thought, and I see a lot of the practices of all religions to be rooted more in psychology than in metaphysics. But religions wouldn't exist if they didn't do something for their adherents. Prayer makes people feel better. If it didn't, no one would pray. Same with Pagan rituals, even "magick" -- for a small example, one of my favorite money spells for the unemployed is to first do whatever level of ritual necessary to get their mindset and the physical setting into a place where both their conscious and unconscious minds are focused on the events at hand. Then, what proceeds pretty much boils down to them writing out the qualities of the job they want on some green construction paper (green being psychologically associated with money), having them light the paper with the flame from a green candle I've prepared however way will make it obvious that it's a special candle while visualizing them having a happy and fulfilling job that meets their financial needs, then handing them the rest of the package of green construction paper and the candle. What do they do with it? They are supposed to burn the candle each night while they look through want-ads and do job searches online. When they apply for a job, they are supposed to write down the name of the employer on a strip of the construction paper and make a chain of the strips, the goal being to add one ring to it a day. Before each interview they should spend 10 minutes visualizing being successful at the interview while burning the candle. They usually get a job within a month. It works. Whatever reasons behind it making it work are irrelevant to the person -- it works. (Psychologically and pragmatically the reasons it works should be obvious.) So why not use it? I have a Tarot deck. It's beautifully illustrated in watercolors, depicting various scenes from the Arthurian Legends. It generally produces a very emotional response in the person viewing the cards. It is completely useless when trying to assist with a money question, but it gives a focus point for when someone is having an emotional issue they are dealing with for them to get something productive out of the reading, no matter which cards land. I'll usually ask them what they see in a card if it seems confusing or not exactly obvious to them when I tell them what the standard meaning of the card is. It's like a Thematic Apperception Test in that way -- even if I am telling them nothing, they're doing some free association and figuring out their own emotional troubles. I use astrological charts in a similar way. The signs, planets, houses, planetary aspects... there are so many different aspects to anyone's chart that you can find something in it that that person will see something positive and useful for self-improvement. What can I say, I'm a weirdo... and I also believe the idea of taking any kind of money or other consideration for reading cards, doing a chart, or helping someone out with a "spell" is anathema. So no one is being hurt IMHO, and are getting help... even if most of it is coming from themselves.
tami-chan Posted November 7, 2010 Posted November 7, 2010 It doesn't become a deal at all until she starts navigating the relationship with it. I certainly don't want to hear what some $100 an hour soothsayer has to say about me, whom the soothsayer doesn't know, or our relationship, which she doesn't know either. Strange. I looked at my crystal ball earlier today and saw this username-wonder what that meant? hmmm...
welikeincrowds Posted November 7, 2010 Posted November 7, 2010 I went to a Catholic school and was forced to pray everyday. Yeah, see, there's the problem. You're not religious, you're Catholic. There are a lot of incredible ideas in Christian faith. You've read First Corinthians, haven't you? It's beautifully written. "Without love, I am nothing." You know these people didn't have amusements in their lives, right? With the usurping of Rome came the dismissal of theater and the arena. The Christians were onto something. Their lives were interesting enough to them, so impassioned, that they didn't need -- or even want -- diversions. This is one incredible emotion, the love for God. Today we have a different understanding of "love" than the way Paul used it, as he tries to explain the concept to the Corinthians, who didn't understand it either. And we have arenas, and more theater than can be watched in a lifetime, theater everywhere you go, enough theater for our society to cave in on itself, just like Rome. I'd say it's pretty unfair to compare Christianity to tarot. Tarot is a card game, and for most, it's just another diversion.
Titania22 Posted November 7, 2010 Posted November 7, 2010 In my philosophy group a few months back, we were discussing reasons why some sort of religious/spiritual belief could be a useful thing to have. And one reason that came up was, that it can be a deterrant for suicide. Think about it, if you are an atheist and therefore believe there is nothing after death, and you didn't like being alive, what would stop you from just taking yourself out.
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