Humanists and Goddesses

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  This morning I received a question from David Ptasnik, pastor at The Congregational Humanist Church of Washington, in a conversation regarding whether or not my tarot reading practice was based on superstition or spirituality. He inquired:
  
  "Well above the disclaimer at the bottom I see 'After the cards are laid out into a pattern or "spread", I interpret their meaning with the assistance of divine guidance.'
  
  What divine guidance might that be?"
  
  Here was my response:
  
  "If you would like to book a tarot reading, I will be happy to explain on a paid basis, thanks ;)
  
  

  Who among us can explain the divine? From whence does divine inspiration come? Is it the same every day, the divine source? Or, does it change with the seasons, the tides and the phases of the moon? Is it the same for every person, every conversation?
  
  

  Or, is it just ' luck of the draw ' ... the divine in random selection .... and inspired by the individuals, their personal backgrounds or situations, and the good fortune that they came together within this conversation ... from the billions of possible conversations and human interactions possible at any moment in time ...
  
  

  Is, in itself, that luck, that divine good fortune of random interaction, that is in itself what is divine? ... the excitement, anticipation and inspiration which comes from the unknown ? Will today be ' lucky ' ? Will I find a parking space in a crowded mall, will the light turn green at just the right moment, will I make more money than I expected to in business?
  
  That excitement, that chance for good luck, is a valid human emotion. And, as humans, we are natural beings and so are our emotions. Not supernatural.
  
  How does the sun appear to rise and set each day, or how do the planets actually revolve around a sun? What is our impression, what is reality, and how do those perceptions influence us to make particular choices in the ' real world ' ?
  
  And, what creates the situations that allow our choices to result in a better or ' more lucky ' situation? Is that what is divine? ' Luck ' itself ? Are there days when we want to just ' thank our lucky stars ' ? ( Wow, was I lucky today ! ! ! Praise the divine ! ! ! )
  
  If, by boldness and good preparation, we have made the right choices; we have boldly gone in a particular direction or path, and the return of ' good fortune ' on our human investments in decision-making is somehow personified in a way that humans came relate to ...
  
  for example, in the anthropomorphic deification of the feminine gender as a Goddess ... then we have a concrete symbol of an abstract concept that is a very real occurrence ... the personification of ' good luck ' or ' good fortune '
   
  Or, by mythological terms according to the ancient Roman paths, the Goddess Fortuna; divine personification of ' good luck '
  
  Now, if alongside the good fortune that we have already shown is considered divine and linked with natural bodies ( such as the stars and the ancient Goddess Fortuna ) , natural bodies such as the sun are also perceived as being divine inspiration ... which by honoring the solstices and equinoxes, we are calling the sun divine as Spiritual Humanists ....
  
  ... then the personification or anthropomorphism of the sun, according to the same ancient Roman ( and also Hellenic Greek ) paths, would be called Apollo. Both the divine Apollo and the Goddess Fortuna were affiliated with ancient, sacred oracles at Delphi and Praeneste ( respectively ), and both divine inspiration for oracular predictions.
  
  Do the sun and good luck influence the future? Perhaps they did in ancient times, and perhaps people have not really changed that much over the past few millenia. The sun and good luck are pretty basic concepts, and both are part of my personal divine inspiration. As an artist, I enjoy the ancient mythologies, and prefer to call these divine natural things by their Pagan names; Goddess Fortuna and the divine Apollo.
  
  However, a humanist may prefer to call them by more ' scientific terms ' for example: I am inspired by the randomness of human interactions and choices, based on preparation and good sense, that result in a better future by means of free will selection, and I also am a bit of a sun-worshiper because I honor nature in all forms.
  
  When we understand the ancient mythologies as a human need to express

  nature or natural events, then the ' supernatural ' effect just goes away. In my opinion, the details of mythology tend toward the supernatural, whilst the deities themselves symbolize the natural. Here, we find a common bond ... generally, in the adoration and love of nature. Science and mythology are often harmonious.'