Tarot: A Rosicrucian Perspective:

RCCNYC August 2014

Tarot: A Rosicrucian Perspective

Illustrations: 1909 Deck created by Pamela Coleman Smith according to the instructions of A.E. Waite.

The Path to Unity

KETHER

Crown

CHOKMAH

Wisdom

CHESED

Mercy

NETZACH

Victory

TIPHERETH

Beauty

BINAH

Intelligence

GEBURAH

Strength

HOD

Splendor

YESOD

Foundation

MALKUTH

Kingdom

Journey to Reintegration

Welcome and Introductions

Please brieflyØ      Share what brought you to

WorkshopØ      What Deck you have broughtØ      What Tarot Book you find helpfulØ      Your experiences with Tarot

Rosicrucian Principles for Tarot

As Above, So Below: Correspondences

Concentration & Attention Personal Experimentation to learn for

one’s self what is True: Develop a Personal Numerology. Free Association

What we focus on, Manifests

The Great Dance

The Tarot is based on Correspondences (The Great Dance -- Perichoresis)

As Above, So Below

Hierophantic Nature

The Great Dance

Tarot is the Wheel, ROTA, corresponding to the Kabbalah in its 10 Sephiroth, 22 Paths and Four Worlds (The Divine Name)

Concentration Exercise: Part 1

Pair up with a discussion partner for part 2Part 1: Choose a card from the Greater Trumps (Major

Arcana) Send the intention to learn more about your Inner

Nature into the Cosmic Conduct Overall Exercise Concentrate on Card, mentally memorize every

element, from top to bottom, right to left. 5 minutes

Become receptive, simply gazing at the Card. 5 minutes

Write down in your notes any insights that come

Concentration Exercise: Part 2

Show your card to your discussion partner and describe with as much detail as possible the card you concentrated on

Switch roles and listen to your discussion partner’s description.

Voluntary Feedback from the group This exercise can be done with all 78

cards.

Structure of Tarot

4 Suits of 10 Cards + Court Cards each

22 Major Arcana (0+21)

The Four Suits

The Images are mnemonic devices, not mandatory.

The Great Dance: Divine Correspondences: Court

Iod Knight Focus of Energy WillEmmanation

Divine Soul manifested as individual

Heh Queen Life-Force Emotion Creation

Vav King Mind-Stuff Intellect Formation

Heh Page Physical Body Senses Manifestation

The Great Dance of Involution and

EvolutionKETHER

Crown

CHOKMAH

Wisdom

CHESED

Mercy

NETZACH

Victory

TIPHERETH

Beauty

BINAH

Intelligence

GEBURAH

Strength

HOD

Splendor

YESOD

Foundation

MALKUTH

Kingdom

Iod: World of

Archetypes Knight

Heh: World of

Creation King

Vav: World of

Formation Queen

Heh:World of

Manifestation Page

The 10

Sephiroth (Minor

Arcana)

The 22 Paths

(Major Arcana)

Court Cards:

The Great Dance: Divine Correspondences: Suits

Iod Air Swords Spirit East SpringEmmanation

Heh Fire Staffs Soul South Summer Creation

Vav Water Cups Emotion West AutumnFormation

Heh Earth Pentacles Physical North Winter Manifestation Body

The Great Dance of Involution and

EvolutionKETHER

Crown

CHOKMAH

Wisdom

CHESED

Mercy

NETZACH

Victory

TIPHERETH

Beauty

BINAH

Intelligence

GEBURAH

Strength

HOD

Splendor

YESOD

Foundation

MALKUTH

Kingdom

Iod: World of

Archetypes Swords

Heh: World of

Creation Staffs

Vav: World of

Formation Cups

Heh:World of

Manifestation

Pentacles

The 10

Sephiroth (Minor

Arcana)

The 22 Paths

(Major Arcana)

Suits:

Court Cards and the Zodiac

Aries – Queen of WandsTaurus – King of PentaclesGemini – Knight of SwordsCancer – Queen of CupsLeo – King of WandsVirgo – Knight of PentaclesLibra – Queen of SwordsScorpio – King of CupsSagittarius – Knight of WandsCapricorn – Queen of PentaclesAquarius – King of SwordsPisces – Knight of Cups

The Great Dance in

CombinationConsider the

permutations. For Example:

All the meanings of Queen (Heh) affect:

All the meanings of Pentacles (2nd Heh)

(And there are many more correspondences, e.g. Astrological)

Here: Emotion affecting, directing, transmuting Senses, etc.

The Great Dance: Counting to Ten

Pygthagoras: Wisdom is knowing how to count 10.

For Tarot 0 + 10 Begin with

Sephiroth and work inward.

Personal Numerology: what do 0-10 mean for you?

The Great Dance in

CombinationConsider the

permutations. For Example:

All the meanings of Cups (Heh)

All the meanings of 8 (Hod – Splendor)

(And there are many more correspondences, e.g. Astrological)

The Journey of the Fool

The 0 and the 21 The feint of 8 and 11 The Position and Numbering of the Fool The 22 Paths of Involution and Evolution The Journey of the Fool (0 – Aleph):

1-7 Magician - Chariot Involution/Manifestation Powers/Potencies8-14 Strength - Temperance Inner Growth Laws/Agencies/Process15-21 Devil - World Mastership

Conditions/Modified/Result/Effect

Each of the Trumps is the Antithesis of the one before it.

Consciously entering The Great Dance

Purposes of Tarot: Becoming a Conscious participant in the

Great Dance: Know Thyself Experiencing everything as

correspondences: As Above, So Below (Hierophantic Nature)

Combined with the Prayer of the Heart, very powerful tool for Inner Self to unite to the Divine Cosmic Rhythm

As a conscious participant in the Great Dance, become a worker for the Reintegration (Tikun Olam, Apocatastasis, Cooling of the Fire) which is its goal.

Brief History of Tarot

1st – 3rd centuries CE: in Alexandria, Kabbalah emerges from Jewish / Neo-Platonic / Hermetic / Gnostic Milieu. Basis of Tarot

1200s CE: According to Fama Adepts of all lands meet in “Fez” and share wisdom. Tarot may have been developed as an international symbol set to convey wisdom to the West.

Brief History of Tarot

1367: Use of Tarot Cards banned in Bern, Switzerland

1392: Jaccquemin Grigonneur makes 3 packs of Tarot for Charles VI of France

1450: Visconti-Sforza Tarot in Milan. Earliest surviving models for 78 card deck.

1500s: Earliest list of Major Arcana and first mention of use in Divination.

Brief History of Tarot

1614-1615: The Fama & Confessio mention that the Rosicrucians have “a device” called “Rota” which is consulted for information about past, present and future.

1781: Court de Gebelin equates Tarot with the ancient Book of Thoth. Ettella amplifies this.

Brief History of Tarot 1856: Eliphas Levi first to link (in print) Kabbalah and Tarot,

however, he encodes blinds and feints into the text. 1887: Golden Dawn established. S.L. MacGregor Mathers

records his insights into Tarot in the unpublished Book T. British school specializes in the Esoteric Tarot.

1889: Papus published Tarot of the Bohemians, containing same blinds and feints as Levi. French schools continues the Exoteric Tarot.

1900s: Golden Dawn corrected Tarot order and attributions published by A.E. Waite, Crowley, Regardie, Case, Hulse, et al.

1930s: H.S. Lewis re-publishes Rosicrucian Egyptian Tarot Major Arcana as a tribute to Tarot’s Egyptian roots.

21st Century: Hundreds of Tarot Deck Designs in circulation.

This timeline is greatly indebted to the work of David Allen Hulse, The Western Mysteries.

Simple Celtic Cross

Layout

a. There are no reversed meanings b. There are no evil cards or suits c. the cards near a card modify

and condition a card’s meaning

d. No set time can be established

Also look over the spread for Suits, Court Cards, Major Arcana, etc.

The Journey Continues

Tarot works because it is a book to reveal the Great Dance within and around us. The Magic is not in the Cards, it is in us.

The Secret is in the Fool: 0 (The Fool) = Aleph (1) ∴ 0=1 (The

Source is in its manifestation, solving the One and the Many.)

The Journey Continues

If you would become a serious student of Tarot, here are some suggestions*:

Study each card of the Tarot using the Concentration Exercise we have done.

Establish for yourself your Kabbalistic understanding of the numbers 0-10, so that the associations are automatic.

Obtain a traditional Deck, and an alternate Deck

Create two original decks, one with only names and numbers, and one your draw yourself.

* Thanks to David Allen Hulse for some of these!

The Journey Continues Using the names/numbers blank deck, test

your knowledge of the cards until you can use it as easily as with a printed deck.

Draw your own deck, no matter your skill in art

Meditate on the Tarot daily, in any pattern directed by the Master Within, singly or in sets. If you wish, combine this with the Prayer of the Heart

In your study notebook, relate the symbols, colors, astrological meanings, sounds, etc., of each card and elements of the cards, as these come to you in meditation.