New Tarot Deck and Contest

In case you didn't figure out from the name of my blog, I am into Tarot. My second blog entry gives an explanation of why I went with this name.

My new blog buddy Arwen over at Musings on the Tarot happens to be a professional tarot reader and today she has a special guest blogger. Kay Stopforth has done something really interesting in the realm of tarot. She has melded tarot with Quantum Physics. Together with Chris Butler, Kay has developed a new, absolutely beautiful tarot deck along with interpretations and a reading to go with it.

This combination of tarot and physics may seem like an odd combination to some but to me it seems perfectly natural, in fact, ideal. As I commented to Kay I am an almost stereotypical Pisces (sun and moon), i.e. creative, sensitive, emotional, artistic (in my own way), spiritual, a dreamer, one who goes with feelings before thoughts, etc. I am also a Capricorn rising which means all that touchy-feely Pisces stuff is wrapped up in a somewhat serious, responsible shell. Also I'm very spiritual but I happen to work in a very scientific/technical field.

You would think all this would cause some conflict and it does in some areas of my life, but in area of science and spirituality, in my mind at least, there is harmony. I think those two often opposing subjects fit together very well. Those things that fall under the heading of faith (such as life after death, "God", reincarnation, divination such as tarot, Reiki, even "The Secret" and Carl Jung's idea of synchronicity) all make a certain "sense" to me in a scientific way. And the deeper we delve into Quantum Physics the more sense it seems to make.

I believe that the key to having balance and harmony between science and spirituality is in having a completely open mind. If you notice I've been saying "spirituality" not "religion". That's where the conflict comes in. When you try to force fit what's happening into a preconceived, man made religious doctrine it will never work. You may be able to squeeze a size 11 foot into a size 10 shoe but you won't keep it on for long and you'll probably end up with blisters. And putting any sized foot into a shoe that already has another foot in it is just impossible. When one enters the discussion absolutely sure that their position is right without question then that mind is closed to every other possibility. And what are we without possibilities?

Go check out Arwen's blog and Kay's new tarot deck. Even if that's not your thing it's worth a look just for the artwork. Beautiful. While you're there leave a comment and you'll be entered in a contest to win a free Quantum Tarot reading from Kay.

Miscellaneous Beautiful, Blonde, Bugs

Just a few random articles that got my attention.

Beauty Is Hardwired in the Brain
Italian researchers showed test subjects both normal and slightly distorted images of sculptures and measured brain activity. What I found interesting was that the images considered to be more appealing were the unaltered ones which were in proportion to the Golden Ratio, 1.618 (followed by a long string of numbers), which was determined geometrically by Euclid but turns up everywhere in nature, art and architecture from ancient times to the present. Everything from the spirals of hurricanes and mollusk shells to the pyramids (in Egypt and Central America) and the Parthenon to the human face and body to the seed arrangement on a sunflower exhibit geometric proportions that equal this number. Fascinating stuff.

Men Act Dumber Around Blond Women
Well duh. While I doubt there's anyone that would question this finding I do disagree with their explanation. They seem to think the cause is due to, for lack of a better term, prejudice. That men have been conditioned to buy into the image of the "dumb blond" and that they therefore act dumber in the presence of a blond. Personally I think it's physiological. The guy becomes dumber because his brain isn't functioning at peak efficiency due to decreased blood flow. Blood is being diverted from the big head to the little head and that's where the "thinking" is taking place. The researchers unfortunately did not design the experiment to measure the correlation between dumbness and erectile activity. That's another study all together. In any case, my wife is a beautiful and extremely intelligent blond (support for MY hypothesis) and in light of the findings of this research I'd like to say in my defense...See honey, it's not my fault!

Biggest Bug Ever
Of the three Indiana Jones movies I could easily do the snake scene from the first and the rat scene from the third. The bug scene in the second however has an extraordinarily high squirm factor for me. I don't particularly care for bugs and I really, really hate BIG bugs. You know, the ones that are big enough to look in their eyes. Those are big enough but this prehistoric scorpion was EIGHT FEET LONG!!! Holy shit. You'd have to buy Raid by the tanker load.

FU*KIN' A!

Everyone including me complains regularly about the avalanche of bad news that we're buried under everyday. Well, I'm here to tell you that there is good news out there. It doesn't often get the headlines and it's not on page one but it's there if you look for it. Take some of the reports on scientific studies related to health for example. Now, I have a background in science and I understand what goes into conducting some of these studies so I don't swallow what they're saying hook, line and sinker. I apply some healthy skepticism and take them with a grain of salt, especially when the popular media is the messenger. But, there is some promising news. For instance, it turns out that coffee is actually good for you when you drink it in moderation. So is regular consumption of alcohol if you don't do it to excess. Meditation, whether formal or informal (as in downtime) does wonders to relieve stress which in turn has all sorts of benefits. Being married (to the right person) reduces heart disease and several other ailments. Sex is good for you (imagine that - must've been a government funded study). It makes you happy, boosts your immune system, lowers your stress level, releases endorphins and burns calories. I love this one...too much exercise can be bad for you. Until they can tell me how much is too much I'm going to hold off on doing any. I wouldn't want to inadvertently cross that line.

Just when I thought the news couldn't get any better for a coffee-loving, alcohol-drinking, sex-loving, exercise-hating, happily married slug like me I find this story on the internet:

Swearing at work 'boosts team spirit, morale'

Son-of-a-bitch! Sounds to me like scientists are beginning to figure out that being a normal person is healthy. A couple of weeks ago I blogged about balance and the dose being the poison. Not exactly a new concept. I'm waiting for a study that says being a Puritan makes your head explode.

If you'll excuse me I have to go curse at a co-worker for taking the last cup of coffee. Then I'm going to sit at my desk and meditate about going home this evening, kissing my darling wife and having a cold beer. After that I'll see if I can get her in the mood to boost her immune system. Damn, life is good.