“For long eons we have
struggled with ourselves and the world, weaving veils to engender our
separateness, constructing belief systems to hide our ignorance, creating
enemies to disguise our inner conflicts, chasing from one experience to another
to fill our emptiness, unaware that the same masks that hide our deepest pain
hide our greatest potential.”
Kiara
Windrider, Year Zero (Divine Arts
Media, 2011)
 |
| The Fortune Teller Lucas van Leyden (16th C) |
Fortune
telling - random chance (The Magician)
There
has been a nagging question concerning using Tarot cards to “do a reading,” and
make predictions, or foretelling the future in someone’s life. The fortune
teller lays out the cards in a certain pattern and tries to ascertain the
meaning suggested by the symbols and significance of the card: “you may take a
trip by boat somewhere; you are at odds with your co-worker or significant
other,” and so on. Some Tarot readers receive payment from their grateful
clients. Randomness and chance provide an enormous number of possibilities and
combinations that appeal to the querent who is seeking to know their unknown
destiny. Tarot cards are often used as an oracle, portals to explore areas of
probability in times of uncertainty, crises, situations of powerlessness and
fear, or to find out if the person you just met will be the right one. Cynthia
Giles mentions that Tarot was also a card game in the 15th century
and it was called “Trionfi” in Italy and “Trumps” in English. It was played in
a manner similar to Bridge (Giles, Tarot, History, Mystery and Lore, 1994). Of course we see ordinary
playing cards used in gambling, and bets placed on the outcome provide a sense
of risk, fun and adventure for some, disaster for others.
“Tradition gives one the
feeling that life is predictable.”
Susan
Griffin, A Chorus of Stones (2007, p.
193)
Gambling
– a gambler’s risks (The Fool)
The
gambling Fool takes a chance, a risk, in a kind of ignorant frenzy hoping to
win a little money on the bet. We all like to win something, but for some it
can become an addiction in trying to win over and over again. Some risk it all.
Some win, some lose. I have been
watching the current Korean drama “Jackpot” about the young Prince soon to
become King Yongjo (a real life Korean King 1724-1776). There is lots of gaming
and people placing bets on the outcome, including the slight of hand corruption
of the merchants and officials involved, ending in a plot for a coup against
the King, where, as usual, the peasants suffer most at the hands of their
deceitful masters.
“Divination is primarily a non-scientific
method of acquiring knowledge unavailable by other means. The underlying
principle of divination is one which transcends or bypasses the material
picture of the world which is the prevailing view today”
Nigel
Pennick, Secret Games of the Gods”
(Weiser, 1997)
Mysteries
of life – (The Hermit – The Fool transformed, contemplation)
 |
| Hieronymus Bosch The Conjurer (15th C) |
On
the other hand, in “Tarot of Cosmic Consciousness” we take a different approach:
the path to self-knowledge and spiritual consciousness by examining creative
processes and universal awareness suggested by the cards. We see Tarot cards,
especially the Major Arcana, as positive steps of initiation into the sacred
mysteries of life. For some, it is a key to esoteric, hermetic and alchemical
knowledge. My teacher, Gail Fairfield,
thinks of Tarot cards as mnemonic devices or psychic tools designed to trigger
our memories, to stimulate our thinking and find
meaning in our lives. What are we trying to remember when we contemplate the
Judgment card or The Tower? When have
you acted like the Fool? Are you being
fooled by someone or something? When did a situation seem almost magical to
you? Perhaps The Magician can represent someone who is a channel for radiant Cosmic
Being and can bring a deeper dimension to your experiences.
“Like a hot air balloon your psychic tool
can lift you out
of your everyday reality and give you a
new point of view on things.”
Gail
Fairfield, Choice Centered Tarot (Red-Wheel-Weiser, 1984)
System
underlying Tarot - relates to ancient ritual systems of metaphysical thought
Early
peoples established ritual systems that intended to bring one in line with the
structure of the cosmos and help one identify with the processes of nature. In
their time, the ancients used stones and trees, and positions of the sun and
moon, to to stimulate their imagination. Today, it seems the painted paper Tarot
cards accomplish the same thing in providing a symbolic and allegorical method
for discovering a more comprehensive understanding of one’s life journey.
The Minor Arcana consists of 4 suits of cards numbered 1-10:
Wands (Magic); Cups (Elixir of Life); Swords (Truth); Pentacles or Coins (Talismans)
There
are 4 court cards for each suit: King, Queen, Prince, Princess, or Knight
and Page.
56 cards altogether
Then
there are 22 Major Arcana cards: Fool, Magician, High Priestess, Empress,
Emperor, Hierophant, Lovers, Chariot, Strength, Hermit, Wheel of Fortune,
Hanged Man, Justice, Death, Temperance, Devil, Tower, Star, Moon, Sun,
Judgment, World.
78 cards altogether - Why are they arranged in
such a way in 4 suits and a sequence of numbers?
Number 4
4
suits relate to ancient elements, the 4 states of matter: Wands, Fire, (creativity); Cups,
Water, (emotions); Swords, Air (intellect);
Coins, Pentacles, Earth (concrete
material manifestation)
4 seasons: spring, summer, fall and
winter and nature’s processes
4 cardinal directions: point to infinite
possibilities
4 square: boxed in, confinement
Numbers 1-10 in relation to
Tarot cards especially the Minor Arcana
0
– zero –No thing, empty, void, the un-manifest
1
– (first) beginning, origin, the One Being
2
– (second) reflection of the One, or an opposite, duality
3
– (third) unfoldment, multiplication, synthesis
 |
| Princess of Cups TOCC |
4
– (fourth) order, measurement, classification
5
– (fifth) individuation, process of creation, nature’s designs
6
– (sixth) perfection, balance, symmetry, harmony
7
– (seventh) integrated being, rest, security
8
– (eighth) fulfillment, completion, cycling to a new level
9
– (ninth) assimilation, attainment of goals, finality
10 – (tenth) beginning again on a higher level
The 4 court cards: King,
Queen, Knight (Prince), Page (Princess) – are symbolic of more advanced states of
growth and maturity, which can be applied to anyone, rather than monarchal
powers.
Monarchies
have been in existence for eons (think of Egyptian Pharaohs, Biblical Kings,
medieval feudalism). Since WWI and WWII, monarchies have faded, disappeared, or
have become more ceremonial with only a few left such as the Arab Kingdom, and
the British Kingdom where the Queen is a constitutional monarch.
Studying
the Tarot cards can take you on an inner spiritual journey of
self-transformation. By expanding your consciousness and meditating on the
Tarot “pictures,” this can be a powerful tool in finding your spiritual
selfhood. Here you are on the path to discovery of your spiritual being or
cosmic soul.
