The Universe in Tarot
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| B.O.T.A deck |
The Universe card
or World card in Tarot presents us with a challenge. When we talk about the
Universe, the Cosmos - just saying these words elevates our consciousness and we
must think far beyond the business of our everyday lives. Have you ever experienced
a night of looking at the dark sky filled with billions of stars? Try it
sometime if you haven’t already. It can jolt you into another dimension. This card
stimulates a cosmic question: It’s time to expand your thought beyond the world
we live in. Think on this: We are riding on this earth, traveling in our galaxy among those everlasting stars. We are part of a universe that is so vast we can’t
even begin to grasp its immensity. In Tarot, we can look at The Universe card from two perspectives:
the outer - physical - and
the inner - spiritual.
“The dancing figure in the picture is
perfectly balanced in her position as the center
reflecting the self-knowing spirit.”
(Madonna
Compton, Archetypes on the Tree of Life,
Llewellyn, 1991)
The outer — Physical
We need to think really big while contemplating the
mind-expanding descriptions and theories by scientists about what our universe
is and how it came into being. Is the universe infinite? Is it eternal? Does
it have a beginning, and will it end? Einstein’s “Theory of Relativity” (1915) sets the tone for today’s understanding
of the behavior of the universe. He said that gravity occurs from the warping
of the smooth fabric of space-time. It’s all relative - but gravity keeps the
planets spinning in orbit around their suns within the galaxies. In the “Inflationary Universe Theory” and “String Theory,” developed
by Andre Linde and Allen Guth in the 1980’s, they proposed that this is a
self-reproducing inflationary universe, which may be part of many
multi-universes. (See “A Beacon from the Big Bang,” Scientific American, October 2014, by Lawrence M. Krauss.) “Quantum-loop Theory” proposes that gravity emerges in the
exchange of tiny packets of energy called gravitons
and some scientists are working to integrate these concepts into a Grand Unified Theory of the same
fundamental forces at work.
“Already, the theory has forced us almost
against our will, to confront the bizarre possibilities of parallel universes,
wormholes and the 10th dimension.”
(Michio
Kaku, “What Happened Before the Big Bang?” Astronomy
Magazine, May 1996)
Theoretical physicist, Michio Kaku, states that: “In this picture,
big bangs constantly take place, each representing a quantum fluctuation in the
vacuum.” He talks about multiple bubble universes
in which there are many self-replicating universes functioning like an
inflating balloon — expanding and growing exponentially
with branching inflationary bubbles of many universes, each experiencing a “Big
Bang.” How can we possibly comprehend anything that immense, and especially if
they are, perhaps, moving on into infinity? He continues this discussion of the
origin of the universe and even takes up the theological concepts of the
Judeo-Christian Genesis (The Word),
which describes a definite instance called Creation, and also the
Hindu-Buddhist concept of “Nirvana,” which describes an endless universe that
has no beginning in time and space. He says, “In this new picture, we can
combine these two mythologies into one coherent picture: we have a constant
Genesis or boiling of universe in an ocean of cosmic nothing or Nirvana.”
The symmetries of string theory suggest
that time did not have a beginning
and will not have an end.”
(“The
Myth of the Beginning of Time,” Gabriele Veneziano, Scientific American, May 2004)
The inner — Spiritual
It’s important to realize that we are part of the big picture;
first, as a group of animated beings dwelling on earth and then consider it in
Tarot concepts. If we are eternally bound to a spiritual manifestation of the Cosmic
Universe now we move from the realm of physics to metaphysics. Because this
Tarot card seems to have religious connotations, it’s necessary to think about
its spiritual meaning. Here, we should explore the mysteries of our being and substance
of our own life-breath. What makes us alive, have consciousness, and mobility? Yes,
some of it can be explained in the mechanistic manner of determinism but so
much can’t be explained. So, we must deal in suppositions. This is where Rupert
Sheldrake, with his theory of “Morphic Resonance,” gets in so much trouble with
other scientists who claim he is being pseudoscientific. He says: “Morphic
resonance is a process whereby
self-organizing systems inherit a memory from previous similar systems.” (A New Science of Life,
Icon Books, 2009) This gets right to the question of what is “aliveness”? Where does
life come from? Sheldrake is exploring the unknown facets of our being,
including our spiritual life, memory and mental processes. Here, we enter the realm of
religious thought and mysticism, the inner sanctum, where we can consider our
oneness with the purpose of the Universe. Is there some sort of an organizing
Mind managing everything? Are all beings connected in some way through a
compilation of shared morphic memories/DNA, etc.? Think about the circumstances
whereupon life begins: the flower, pollen, a seed; the egg and the sperm, cell-division,
microbes, and so on. What is taking place that initiates reproduction, birth,
growth and formation of
living beings? Who can explain the essence of the fact
that most organisms are alive and grow? What is the primal cause? In Tarot, we can think of it in terms of a
Motherhood Principle, the formator of life, and a Fatherhood Principle, the
motivator of life in ever-present action. Why does a living plant pop out of a
tiny seed when you put it in the ground? Somehow, it is predetermined to sprout
and grow. Can we see what spark is inside the egg that brings forth a living
thing? What is the meaning of what we are seeing?
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| The egg |
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| Or the chicken |
Leonardo Da Vinci noticed
this in his botanical studies in the 15th century: “The eye, which is called the window of the
Soul, is the principal means by which the central sense can most completely and
abundantly appreciate the infinite works of nature…”
(The
Notebooks of Leonardo DaVinci, Ed
by Jean Paul Richter, Dover 1970.)
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| DaVinci sketch of acorns |
“Mother Earth. The Creatrix. She presents
that which endures throughout time. The source … she is the structure or foundation
out of which you came and to which you return.”
(Vickie
Noble, MotherPeace Tarot, HarperCollins, 1983)
The blissful dancer in The
Universe card of Tarot of Cosmic
consciousness represents the adventure into the unknown of inner space and
Cosmic Awareness. She has been transformed into a radiant spiritual rainbow-body
portrayed in the seven colors of a prism. She passes through a zero-shaped
threshold — the womb of the divine Motherhood of
creation.
Freedom from the ego-centered
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| The Universe TOCC |
This brings up a subject a lot of people celebrate this time of
the year — Easter.
We hear about the Resurrection and Ascension of the man, Jesus, after he is
crucified. Then he reappears to his disciples in a mysterious way afterward.
What is meant by this? We must ask: Is there a spiritual universe beyond our
comprehension? This Cosmos been called “Heaven’s Reign” or “God’s Reign” in
biblical descriptions. Garry Wills in his book, What Jesus Meant, says, “It
is true Jesus appeared in numinous form, hard to interpret — his body was not the earthly body anymore but
one both outside time and space and affecting time and space.” (Penguin
Group, 2006) In St. Pauls’ letter to the
Corinthians, Paul considers the meaning of the Resurrection (See
1Cor. 15:12–50). Here, we must grasp the unfathomable and think about the
question of immortality. Do we continue to exist even after what seems like
death, which has terminated our bodies? The dancer of older Tarot decks characterizes
a newfound freedom and joy that suggests this is something we really need to think
about.
So, upon receiving this card in a reading, here are some questions
to ponder: Ask how you see yourself in this picture; if you have completed what
you set out to do. In many ways, The Universe
card of Tarot signifies the creative potential of our own resurrection from the
daily grind. Here is a chance to celebrate the freedom and sense of
accomplishment gained by hard work and the hope of making our lives better in
some small way. Are all your efforts leading to mastery of yourself physically
and emotionally? How are you doing in surmounting the many difficulties you have
encountered in living your life. Have you found goodness, peace and prosperity,
and shared it with loved ones? Have you achieved Cosmic Awareness?
References:
“Beyond Einstein”, Scientific
American September 2004
“The Once and Future Cosmos,” Scientific
American 2002
