ABSTRACT
This chapter describes interpret sociologically several principal uses of the tarot as it is employed by contemporary occultists. It aims to develop a theoretical perspective, based on sociology of knowledge, for analyzing and interpreting occult practices. The chapter discusses the use of the tarot for learned contemplation and meditation and focuses on taking occult claims to knowledge seriously as what societal members think, feel, and do. The occult tarot, viewed as a theosophical text used for pedantic study, ritual, meditation, and/or divination, is represented by practitioner’s claims to an extraordinary knowledge of reality. The occult tarot has been viewed from the standpoint of Religion as at least inconsistent with and frequently contradictory to orthodox conceptions of a sacred reality. Occult claims to knowledge, similarly, rarely have been taken seriously by orthodox science. Contemporary occultist’s exhibit highly varied degrees of interest in esoteric scholarship. Occult interpretations of the tarot, like magical beliefs and practices generally, tend to stress practical results.
