Tarot & The Qabalah

Vaughan Wynne-Jones Page 1 4/15/2007

What is the Qabbalah? The Kabbalah because it provides a unified system of theology that in many ways ties quite neatly into current scientific thinking regarding the creation of the Universe. Basically it goes like this: In the beginning, there was not even nothing. Not zero, but Null. This was the Ain Soph Aur. Then from that came limitless nothing - the Ain Soph. And in that moment there was a flash of realization, and there was limitless light. And so began the World of Emanation - Atziluth. The Godhead, The Monad, suddenly existed. In order to experience itself it became two - The God and Goddess. And with the knowledge of each other they formed the Supernal Triad, And thus began the world of Creation - Briah. The creation led to the world of Formation (Yetzirah), wherein lay the distinctiveness of individuality. This is the realm of the Gods and Goddesses, or the Archangels and all that live beyond our plane. And it was from here that our plane was manifested - Assiah - The world of Action and Manifestation. How did the Tarot and The Qabalah become linked? It seems clear that the intertwining of the Tarot and the Qabalah could not have occurred until at least the Boiardo Tarocchi poem (produced at an unknown date between 1461 and 1494) and the Sola Busca Tarocchi (1491) came into being, since prior to that time there were an insufficient number of trumps. The Tarot de Marseilles, whilst containing imagery that is recognizable today in the trump cards of the Ride-Waite deck and its

Kabbalah, Qabbalah, Qabala. The spelling varies because the word comes from Hebrew, which is very much a phonetic language. It comes from a Hebrew word meaning ‘to receive’ and is often translated as “Oral Tradition”. It evolved from Jewish mysticism, which wanted to penetrate the inner mysteries of the Torah - the Jewish Scriptures. The key symbol of the Kabbalah is the Tree of Life, and the Spheres (or Sephiroth) that it contains. Understanding the Kabbalah allows one to understand the true nature of being. Many Wiccan traditions incorporate the study of the Kabbalah into their higher degrees, and it is also central to the Golden Dawn, Rosicrucianism and Hermeticism.

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derivatives contains more Christian imagery than one would expect from a deck representing aspects of Jewish mysticism. In the mid 1700s, Antoine Court de Gebelin, a French mason and occultist appears to be the first to attempt to make a connection between the Major Arcana (now consisting of 21 trumps and the Fool) and the Book of Thoth – esoteric, hermetic knowledge from ancient Egypt. Etteilla (which is "Alliette," his name, spelled backwards), a fan of Court de Gebelin's, went further and stated that he felt that the god Thoth-Hermes made the deck. His theory contains mathematical ideas similar to those of Pythagoras, whom he admired. Eliphas Levi, 1810-1875, was a French priest and Rosicruician who thought the Tarot was the key to the Bible, the Jewish Qabbalah, and all other ancient spiritual writings. He appears to have been the first to link the 22 cards of the Major Arcana to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and also to associate the Tarot suits with the four letters of the Tetragrammaton, YHVH ("Yahweh"). Late nineteenth-century Parisian author Paul Christian (Jean Baptiste Pitois) was a follower of Levi's who believed that Major Arcana cards represent heiroglyphic paintings found on columns in ancient Eyptian galleries. He also sought parallels between the Tarot and Qabbalistic astrology. Papus (Gerard Encausse, 1865-1916), a French doctor, philosopher, and Theosophist, was another believer in the Tarot's Egyptian sources, and also described a link between Tarot and the Tetragrammaton. He also dealt with numerology and the Tree of Life. MacGregor S.L. Mathers lead the English Order of the Golden Dawn, founded in 1886. He wrote a great deal about the Tarot, and its association with the Kabbalah. These forerunners then lead finally to the most common western tarot decks today. A.E. Waite (1857-1942), the English Christian occult philosopher, broke from the Order of the Golden Dawn and founded his own school of mystical thought, and working with the artist Pamela Coleman Smith, produced a "rectified" deck featuring images and scenery on all the cards, Minor as well as Major Arcana. This was the first deck to be ‘tweaked’ to the Qabbalah.

Aleister Crowley, also ex-Golden Dawner also, founded his own occult school, the Ordo Templi Orientis, and working with Freida Harris, he created the colorful Book of Thoth Tarot, even more completely incorporating the concepts of the Qabalah, Alchemy and hermetic philosophy. The result of the all this today basically means that the Tarot today reads like a table of contents for the Qabbalah.

Tarot & The Qabalah

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Tarot & The Qabalah

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The Minor Arcana The Cards from Ace to Ten represent the 10 Sephiroth of the Qabbalistic Tree of Life, In each of the Four Worlds : Fire – Wands – Emanation Water – Cups – Creation Air – Swords – Formation Earth – Pentacles – Manifestation Aces, Twos and Threes – Represent the Supernal Triad and are strong, divine representations of their suit/world/sphere of Control. Fours – The first sephiroth below the Abyss of Da’ath, they are also strong, but more worldly, since they are as unaware of the supernal triad, as we are of the macrocosm. Fives – Strong, but troublesome. Not a positive representation of their world/suit. Six – Strong and Noble, the first manifestation of the supernal Ace. Sevens – difficult representations of the world/suit – they are usually not happy cards, but their power is less than the lower numbered cards. Eights – Low energy, but troublesome like the sevens, they are starting to lose the properties of the world/suit. Nines - Generally Stable, mainly supportive, they represent the last ethereal aspect of the particular suit/world. Tens – Since the Four Worlds are joined, the tens represent the fading out of the suits and usually are disastrous in nature. The exception being the 10 of Pentacles, which is the last card in the last world, and so connects with the Ace of Wands again. In addition, the numbered cards represent the astrological signs, and even time frames to a quite specific level.

Wands Cups Swords PentaclesFire Water Air Earth

Cardinal 2,3,4 Aries Cancer Libra CapricornFixed 5,6,7 Leo Scorpio Aquarius Taurus

Mutable 8,9,10 Sagittarius Pisces Gemini Virgo

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Each cards represents a third (10°) of the sign in question. For example 2 of Pentacles would be the first 10 days of Capricorn, i.e. from 22nd to 31st of December. The Court Cards The Thoth Tarot represents the cards slightly differently to the Rider Waite, because of Crowley’s belief that the son (Horus) had ascended to replace the father (Osiris). In addition to their roles in the Tree of Life, the court cards have their own elemental meanings:

So the King of Pentacles, would be the Fiery aspect of Earth, for example. Think of this perhaps as a period of infertility in ideas and this is because just like the duality of positive/negative, male/female, each element contains within it all elements. A useful approach to look at this is in terms of personality types, such Carl Jung’s fourfold division of the human psyche.

Knight of Wands Queen of Wands King of Wands Page of WandsPure Will Emotions modifying Will Intellect modifying Will Body modifying Will

Knight of Cups Queen of Cups King of Cups Page of CupsWill modifying Emotions Pure Emotions Intellect modifying Emotions Body modifying Emotions

Knight of Swords Queen of Swords King of Swords Page of SwordsWill modifying Intellect Emotions modifying Intellect Pure Intellect Body modifying Intellect

Knight of Pentacles Queen of Pentacles King of Pentacles Page of PentaclesWill modifying Body Emotions modifying Body Intellect modifying Body Pure Sensory (Physical)

The Aces The Aces contain within them the Spirit of each world. They represent Kether, The Monad, and the ultimate expression of their element. Pure Creativity, Pure Emotion, Pure Thought, Pure Materialism.

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The Major Arcana Where the lesser arcane represents the Sephiroth, the Major Arcana represents the connections between them, or ‘paths’. Pathworkings are an important part of ‘absorbing’ the Qabbalah. The Sephiroth represent the first 10 paths. The connections between them are the other 22 paths. Each path is represented in a card of the major Arcana, and by a letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Each Hebrew letter has its own meaning.

Hebrew Printed Value of Tarot

Meaning of Path

Letter: Letter: Letter: Trump: Letter Name: Number:

Aleph 1 The Fool Ox 11 Bet 2 The Magician House 12

Gimel

3 The High Priestess Camel 13

Dalet 4 The Empress Door 14 Heh 5 The Emperor1 Window 15 Vau 6 The Hierophant Nail 16 Zain 7 The Lovers Sword 17 Chet 8 The Chariot Fence 18 Tet 9 Strength Serpent 19 Yod 10 The Hermit Hand 20

Koph

20 The Wheel of Fortune

Closed Hand 21

Lamed 30 Justice Ox Goad 22 Mem 40 The Hanged Man Water 23 Nun 50 Death Fish 24 Samekh 60 Temperance Prop 25 Ayin 70 The Devil Eye 26 Peh 80 The Tower Mouth 27 Tzaddi 90 The Star2 Fish Hook 28

Qof

100 The Moon Back of Head 29

Resh 200 The Sun Head 30 Shin 300 Judgment Tooth 31

Taw

400 The World Cross or Mark 32

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The Path workings can be quite intense and complex, but there are some basic meanings which can be passed on. Path Connection Card Meaning11 Kether to Chockmah The Fool The Life Force, the breath of Godhead12 Kether to Binah The Magician The Fundamental Structure of the Universe13 Kether to Tiphareth The High Priestess The Manifestation of Truth to Every Spirit14 Chockmah to Binah The Empress The Foundation of Divinity in man15 Chockmah to Tiphareth The Emperor Creation 16 Chockmah to Chesed The Hierophant Glory of Union17 Binah to Tiphareth The Lovers Awareness of Separate existence18 Binah to Geburah The Chariot Giving/Receiving of Knowledge19 Chesed to Geburah Strength Giving/Receiving of Occult Knowledge20 Chesed to Tiphareth The Hermit Activation of the Awareness and Will21 Chesed to Netzach The Wheel of Fortune Divine Influence22 Geburah to Tiphareth Justice Awareness of Divinity (inner and outer)23 Geburah to Hod The Hanged Man Stability24 Tiphareth to Netzach Death Fertility25 Tiphareth to Yesod Temperance Temptation26 Tiphareth to Hod The Devil Renovation and Renewal27 Netzach to Hod The Tower Nature, completion28 Netzach to Yesod The Star Activity29 Netzach to Malkuth The Moon Growth30 Hod to Yesod The Sun Collective Intelligence - Understanding31 Hod to Malkuth Judgment The Machinery of the Universe32 Yesod to Malkuth The World The Gateway

The above correspondences can be used to add depth to your readings, or as a starting point for deeper meditation or study on the cards and the Qabbalah. Remember, even though the Qabbalah and the Tarot are linked, one’s own intutition and feelings about the nature of the cards are equally valid. Understanding the Qabbalistic correspondences simply adds another resource for you to explore. Additional Reading For more information about the Qabbalah and how it relates to the Tarot, I recommend the following books: Title Author PublisherQ .B.L. Frater Achad W eiser Books

Understanding Aleister C rowley's Lon M ilo Duquette W eiser BooksThoth Tarot

The Chicken Q abalah Lon M ilo Duquette W eiser Books

Living the Q abalistic Tarot Am ber Jayanti W eiser Books

The Tree of Life Israel Regardie W eiser Books