Tarot: A Rosicrucian Perspective

Tarot: A
Rosicrucian
Perspective
Tarot: A Rosicrucian Perspective:
RCCNYC August 2014
Illustrations: 1909 Deck created by Pamela Coleman Smith according to the instructions of A.E. Waite.
The Path to Unity
KETHER
Crown
BINAH
Intelligence
CHOKMAH
Wisdom
CHESED
Mercy
GEBURAH
Strength
TIPHERETH
Beauty
NETZACH
Victory
HOD
Splendor
YESOD
Foundation
MALKUTH
Kingdom
Journey to Reintegration
Welcome and Introductions
Please briefly
Ø Share what brought you to Workshop
Ø What Deck you have brought
Ø What Tarot Book you find helpful
Ø Your experiences with Tarot
Rosicrucian Principles for Tarot
Ø  As
Above, So Below: Correspondences
Ø  Concentration & Attention
Ø  Personal Experimentation to learn for
one’s self what is True: Develop a
Personal Numerology. Free Association
Ø  What we focus on, Manifests
The Great Dance
Ø  The
Tarot is based
on Correspondences
(The Great Dance -Perichoresis)
Ø  As Above, So Below
Ø  Hierophantic Nature
The Great
Dance
Ø  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 2
Part 1:
Ø  Choose a card from the Greater Trumps (Major Arcana)
Ø  Send the intention to learn more about your Inner
Nature into the Cosmic
Ø  Conduct Overall Exercise
Ø  Concentrate on Card, mentally memorize every element,
from top to bottom, right to left. 5 minutes
Ø  Become receptive, simply gazing at the Card. 5 minutes
Ø  Write down in your notes any insights that come
Ø 
Concentration Exercise: Part
2
Ø  Show
your card to your discussion partner
and describe with as much detail as
possible the card you concentrated on
Ø  Switch roles and listen to your discussion
partner’s description.
Ø  Voluntary Feedback from the group
Ø  This exercise can be done with all 78
cards.
Structure of Tarot
Ø  4
Suits of 10 Cards + Court Cards each
Ø  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
Will
Divine Soul manifested as individual
Heh Queen
Life-Force
Vav King
Heh Page
Mind-Stuff
Physical Body
Emmanation
Emotion Creation
Intellect
Formation
Senses Manifestation
The Great Dance
of Involution and
Evolution
Court Cards:
KETHER
Crown
BINAH
Intelligence
The 10
Sephiroth
(Minor Arcana)
The 22 Paths
(Major Arcana)
CHOKMAH
Wisdom
CHESED
Mercy
GEBURAH
Strength
TIPHERETH
Beauty
NETZACH
Victory
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 Great Dance: Divine
Correspondences: Suits
Iod
Air
Swords Spirit
Heh
Fire
Staffs
Vav
Water Cups
Heh Earth
Soul
Emotion
Pentacles Physical
Body
East Spring
Emmanation
South Summer Creation
West Autumn Formation
North Winter
Manifestation
The Great Dance
of Involution and
Evolution
Suits:
KETHER
Crown
BINAH
Intelligence
The 10
Sephiroth
(Minor Arcana)
The 22 Paths
(Major Arcana)
CHOKMAH
Wisdom
CHESED
Mercy
GEBURAH
Strength
TIPHERETH
Beauty
NETZACH
Victory
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
Court Cards and the Zodiac
Aries – Queen of Wands
Taurus – King of Pentacles
Gemini – Knight of Swords
Cancer – Queen of Cups
Leo – King of Wands
Virgo – Knight of Pentacles
Libra – Queen of Swords
Scorpio – King of Cups
Sagittarius – Knight of Wands
Capricorn – Queen of Pentacles
Aquarius – King of Swords
Pisces – Knight of Cups
The Great Dance
in Combination
Consider the
permutations. For
Example:
Ø  All the meanings of
Queen (Heh) affect:
Ø  All the meanings of
Pentacles (2nd Heh)
(And there are many more
correspondences, e.g. Astrological)
Ø  Here: Emotion affecting, directing,
transmuting Senses, etc.
Ø 
The Great Dance: Counting
to Ten
Ø  Pygthagoras:
Wisdom
is knowing how to
count 10.
Ø  For Tarot 0 + 10
Ø  Begin with Sephiroth
and work inward.
Ø  Personal Numerology:
what do 0-10 mean for
you?
The Great Dance
in Combination
Consider the
permutations. For
Example:
Ø  All the meanings of
Cups (Heh)
Ø  All the meanings of
8 (Hod – Splendor)
Ø 
(And there are many more
correspondences, e.g.
Astrological)
The Journey of the Fool
Ø  The
Ø  The
Ø  The
Ø  The
Ø  The
0 and the 21
feint of 8 and 11
Position and Numbering of the Fool
22 Paths of Involution and Evolution
Journey of the Fool (0 – Aleph):
1-7 Magician - Chariot
Involution/Manifestation Powers/Potencies
8-14 Strength - Temperance
Inner Growth
Laws/Agencies/Process
15-21 Devil - World
Mastership
Conditions/Modified/Result/Effect
Ø 
Each of the Trumps is the Antithesis of the one before it.
Consciously entering The
Great Dance
Purposes of Tarot:
Ø  Becoming a Conscious participant in the Great
Dance: Know Thyself
Ø  Experiencing everything as correspondences: As
Above, So Below (Hierophantic Nature)
Ø  Combined with the Prayer of the Heart, very
powerful tool for Inner Self to unite to the Divine
Cosmic Rhythm
Ø  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
Ø  1st
– 3rd centuries CE: in Alexandria,
Kabbalah emerges from Jewish / NeoPlatonic / Hermetic / Gnostic Milieu. Basis
of Tarot
Ø  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
Ø  1367:
Use of Tarot Cards banned in Bern,
Switzerland
Ø  1392: Jaccquemin Grigonneur makes 3
packs of Tarot for Charles VI of France
Ø  1450: Visconti-Sforza Tarot in Milan.
Earliest surviving models for 78 card deck.
Ø  1500s: Earliest list of Major Arcana and
first mention of use in Divination.
Brief History of Tarot
The Fama & Confessio
mention that the Rosicrucians have “a
device” called “Rota” which is consulted
for information about past, present and
future.
Ø  1781: Court de Gebelin equates Tarot with
the ancient Book of Thoth. Ettella
amplifies this.
Ø  1614-1615:
Brief History of Tarot
Ø 
Ø 
Ø 
Ø 
Ø 
Ø 
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
Ø  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.
Ø  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
Ø  If
you would become a serious student of Tarot,
here are some suggestions*:
Ø  Study each card of the Tarot using the
Concentration Exercise we have done.
Ø  Establish for yourself your Kabbalistic
understanding of the numbers 0-10, so that the
associations are automatic.
Ø  Obtain a traditional Deck, and an alternate Deck
Ø  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
Ø  Using
the names/numbers blank deck, test your
knowledge of the cards until you can use it as
easily as with a printed deck.
Ø  Draw your own deck, no matter your skill in art
Ø  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
Ø  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.