Tarot Card Proposal

It is my belief that tarot cards have made far more of an impact on our entire world than we would like to think. Most people have had some contact with the cards. Whether it is playing with the cards themself or if you have a tarot reading done, most people are somewhat familiar with how it works. It is a simple enough process afterall.

If you have any questions you would like to see answered or if you just want to know what direction you are headed in, the tarot might have the answer for you. Many of the symbols on the Rider-Waite tarot deck have become well-known and have achieved plenty of notoriety in the mainstream. Any piece of material culture that can change the outcome of events both mundane and global demands a closer examination.

What kind of world leaders have consulted the tarot cards?
What is the history of the cards?
Do they really work? Skeptics vs. Believers
What does their popularity really say about humanity?

Wikipedia - It has the origins of tarot. The kinds of games that can be played are also listed. It talks about the divination purposes as well. An excellent link.

http://trionfi.com/ - It talks about the origins of the cards. It also brings us up to modern day tarot cards. It has a musuem of different decks.

http://www.tarotpedia.com It has links to the usage of tarot cards. It also links to books relating to tarot. The site is interactive so many people have contributed their opinions.

http://www.tarothermit.com/index.htm This site allows you to play with digital online cards. This means you can give yourself a reading whenever you want. This goes to show how tarot might go in the 21st century.

http://jktarot.com/faq.html It says where the name tarot came from. It talks about the symbolic roots of the deck. It also says what each different card means.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/tarot-card.htm It has a scientific view on the cards. It takes a balanced view of the phenomenon. It also dispells some rumors, so to speak.

http://www.learntarot.com/ Shows how you can learn to read tarot cards. This goes to show how you can make a living out of knowing the cards. If not a living, then at least make some money on the side.

http://www.littlereview.com/meg/tarot/barbietm.htm This site shows us the Barbie tarot deck. It must be for the whole family! What once was for fortune tellers is now fun for little girls too!

My argument is fairly straightforward. I believe that since the inception of tarot cards in the 15th century, change, as a direct result contact with the tarot, in human behavior can be observed and measured in every level of society.

Whatza Meter Witchu?

One object in material culture that I think everyone can despise, would have to be the parking meter. I think my blog could end here and everyone would completely understand why. It's the parking meter. 'Nuff said. How many times have you ever heard the phrase, "gotta go be a slave to the meter" or some similar variant. If only we could park anywhere in the civilized world free of charge. As if car ownership, maitenance, gasoline, and insurance were not expensive enough. We now have to pay to leave a vehicle on top of concrete too? What's next? Tolls on highways? What's that? Oh......

So they thought the concept was easy enough to pull off. A chest high pole with a sily, robot-looking head on top. A silly, robot demanding my spare change. If I do not comply with his orders (it's definitely a him, I could argue this very effictively from a feminist's viewpoint) he will tell the world that I am in violation. If a person whose sole purpose on this planet is to bring misery to others just happens to walk by and see this violation, it looks like you will be paying for more than you bargained for.

This is definitely an invention of the 20th century. It must have seemed inevitable, the way Americans find different strategies for making a few dollars wherever they can. Some not as popular as others though. It just goes to show you the rising costs of living and working in an American city. That's not to say you won't see any of those miserable devices in suburban areas, it is simply just more predominant in an urban environment. The money raised by the parking meters do raise a good amount of revenue for the city or town or state that they are in. These aforementioned revenues will then be syphoned into some form of public work. So we can only hope and pray and rub a bald man's head for good luck. The same kind of luck you would need to advance to a higher form consciousness if you were a meter maid.

It would make me feel like a real jerk if I was to say that the money raised by parking meters went completely to unworthy programs. I am sure that is far from the truth. I am also sure that every place that has these cursed implements of parking elitism spends the raised money on all different kinds of programs. Programs that are for the citizens. Programs that could potentially make the city I live in even more livable. Every single negative of having parking meters might be completely outweighed by the good that could come from the money raised on them. But I have a feeling that may not be the case. Like I said, Americans will always try to find a way to make some coin.

REDUX

When you think of a complete and balanced breakfast as an American, you cannot help but think of certain foods. You would think of eggs, sausage, bacon, pancakes, waffles, orange juice, milk, and of course, cereal. And if you grew up in the last forty years, chances are you've eaten cereal with a cartoon mascot on it. Cereal is a gimmicky breakfast food aimed mainly at youth and for the American on the go. As a culture, we love cereal so much that we devote an entire aisle to it in any grocery store you go to. We may love our cereal, but is it healthy enough to make it our most important meal of the day?

Breakfast Cereal is an invention of the 19th century. The full history of cereal can be read here. It has proven itself to be consistently popular since its inception. Many big companies like Kellog's, General Mills, Post, and Quaker Oats have all built cereal empires. The vast majority of them also feature unique cartoon characters for each and every cereal. This makes them seem even more original and lovable. Since the target audience is obviously children, toys often come in the box too. This makes the child associate even more positive things with cereal then for the rest of their lives. This helps to ensure that they stay happy, loyal cereal eaters. It just so happens that the same companies that made the cereals you grew up with also offer you more "sophisticated", adult cereals. Here is a very complete list of cereals.

This should reflect in a huge way on our culture. It says that we do not need to eat something fresh or organic if we choose not to. If we choose not to, we have plenty of options. It says that food mass produced in a plant and made of many different unnatural ingredients is suitable for breakfast. Also, we don't necessarily have our health as much in mind as we do our tastebuds. Here are the nutrition facts for Raisin Bran. Even the cereals we consider healthy are not health foods by any stretch of the imagination.

If we are exposing entire generations of children to sugary meals that are more like snacks, then how do we expect these kids to ever choose a yam over an oreo? It is a well known fact that the U.S. is the fattest country in the world. It comes as no surprise then that breakfast cereal is an American phenomenon. While the food itself is not intrinsically bad, over indulgence in it can be. If we had less cereal choices, maybe it would not seem like 10% of the food in the world, or at least the grocery store, is cereal. Cereals can be fun and cereals can be less than healthy, but all in all THEY'RE GREAT!!!

The Cultural Significance of Breakfast Cereals

When you think of a complete and balanced breakfast as an American, you cannot help but think of certain foods. You would think of eggs, sausage, bacon, pancakes, waffles, orange juice, milk, and of course, cereal. And if you grew up in the last forty years, chances are you've had cereal with a cartoon mascot on it. Cereal is a gimmicky food aimed mainly at youth and people who may not have time to make a full breakfast. Cereal has definitelty been a large part of my diet since as far back as I can remember. I know that my generation cannot escape the mainly positive memories associated with breakfast cereals.

Breakfast Cereal is an invention of the 19th century. The full history of cereal can be read here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakfast_cereal. It has proven itself to be consistently popular since its inception. Many big companies like Kellog's, General Mills, Post, and Quaker Oats have all built cereal empires. The vast majority of them also feature unique cartoon characters for each and every cereal. This makes them all seem even more original and lovable. Since the target audience is obviously children, toys often come in the box too. This makes the child associate even more good things with cereal then for the rest of their lives. This helps to ensure that they stay happy, loyal cereal eaters. There are plenty of lines of cereals that are aimed at adults as well. They are made by the same companies that make them for the kids. Here is a very complete list of cereals: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_breakfast_cereals.

This should reflect in a huge way on our culture. It says that we do not need to eat something fresh or organic if we choose not to. If we choose not to, we have plenty of options. It says that food made in a plant and made of many different chemicals is not a real problem to us, and that we don't necessarily have our health as much in mind as we do our tastebuds. Here are the nutrition facts for Raisin Bran http://www.dietfacts.com/html/nutrition-facts/general-mills-total-raisin-bran-breakfast-cereal-4830.htm. A cereal we would consider to be one of the more healthy ones, right?

If we are exposing entire generations of children to sugary meals that are more like snacks, then how do we expect these kids to ever like vegetables and healthier foods? It is a known fact that the U.S. is the fattest country in the world. It should be no surprise then that breakfast cereal is more of an American phenomenon than anything else. While the food itself is not intrinsically evil by any stretch of the imagination, over indulgence in it may be. We do not live in a culture of moderation generally. If we had less cereal choices, maybe it would not seem like 10% of the food in the world is cereal. Breakfast cereal normally gets its own entire aisle in any grocery store. Cereal can be fun and cereal can be less than healthy, but all in all THEY'RE GREAT!!!

about Kyle Watson

Hi there, I'm Kyle. I've been going to UMBC for 4 semesters now. I am a fifth year senior around here and at the moment I am a Psych major. I'm thinking about switching majors next semester. I play in a band called CACTI DIE and we have a myspace page link www.myspace.com/cactidie .