Tarot rituals of the order of the golden dawn interpretation. What issues is the deck suitable for? Features of the interpretation of cards
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(Initiatory Tarot of the Golden Dawn)
Long time Taro G.O. The Golden Dawn was only in the closed use of members of the Order, but after 1900, in the process of disintegration of the Brotherhood, secrets began to leak in various directions. In 1909, Arthur E. Waite printed a deck of cards inspired by Liber T, which became known as the Rider-Waite Tarot, but never revealed the secret of the Tarot's use in the Order's rituals. In September 1912 the contents of Liber T were declassified by Aleister Crowley in his journal The Enquinox of Gods. Later, a student of Crowley, one of the initiates of the temple of Isis-Urania, Israel Regardie, published a description of some of the rituals adopted in the Order of the Golden Dawn in the Equinox Review, and in 1937-40 in a collection of his works. At the same time, Crowley attempted to create his own deck based on Liber T, which he called the Book of Toth (Book of Thoth), and completed in 1940, but not printed until 1977. In 1978, Robert Wang published his version of the Golden Dawn Tarot deck, supplemented by a small book, the content is a synthesis of Liber T. In the early 90s, two more attempts to recreate the ritual deck of the Hermetic Order are known, but in both cases their compilation nature and source are clearly visible - previous decks. This version of the Tarot, created by Patrizio Evangelisti, on the contrary, is the result of a new vision of the deck, connected both with the traditional system of the Golden Dawn and with the needs of our contemporaries.
When working on a new deck, the creators of the Tarot did not give the designer the traditional versions to sample, and this gave complete freedom to interpret the description of the Major Arcana that exists in the 1904 Golden Dawn brief document. In working on the Minor Arcana, the main task was to create 56 new drawings that convey the explicit meanings identified by Mathers and correspond to symbolic characters and allegories. Thus, the authors of the deck took advantage of the possibilities of clairvoyance - the main principle of obtaining information, which belongs to the adherents of the Order of the Golden Dawn. As a result, despite the deliberate innovation, most of the images and symbols of the new Tarot clearly show the structural elements inherent in the Liber T deck. The Rituals of the Order of the Golden Dawn deck retains the names of the sixteen cards of the Court. Obviously, some clarification is needed here, since Liber T was intended for members of the brotherhood. In this Tarot, the King is replaced by a Knight on horseback, and the traditional Knight is defined as a Prince on a chariot. In the understanding of the members of the Order, Kings are knights on horseback, and adepts of a lower degree - princes - are led, they are driven in a chariot. The author of Liber T noted this feature, explaining the role of each character in relation to his status. Four Kings, that is, figures on a horse, symbolize a powerful sharp movement and energetic strength, the effect of which is quickly manifested. The four Queens seated on their respective thrones represent accumulated and enduring power, but not quick to manifest. The four Princes, seated on chariots, move, so to speak, under the influence of a higher power, so that their power is deceptive and ephemeral. The Four Princesses don't ride, sit on a throne, or move around, but their power isn't deceptive, on the contrary, if you challenge it, it can be terrifying.
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Intention, thought, spirituality, everything that strives to become higher than materiality.
Frivolity, eccentricity, madness.
Ability, diplomacy, skill, hidden wisdom.
Quackery, cunning, deceit, unworthy methods.
Positive change, increase, intuition.
Negative change, uncertainty, hesitation.
Mind, fertility, happiness, initiative, attractiveness.
Credulity, voluptuousness, wastefulness, futility.
Stability, worldly power, protection, help in decision.
Arrogance, arbitrariness, mediocrity, infantilism.
Patience, wisdom, clarity of thought, skillful leadership.
Hypocrisy, intolerance, loss of prestige, uncertainty.
Attractiveness, love, oath, exam.
Discord, temptation, embarrassment, unfaithfulness, unbearable test.
Triumph, recognition, good health, evolution.
Incompetence, excessive ambition, unexpected results.
Energy, efficiency, courage, fortitude.
Tough defense, impulsiveness, anger, violence, blind courage.
Meditation, contemplation, exploration, confidentiality, rigor.
Loneliness, isolation, laziness, escape from reality, thoughtlessness.
Luck, good luck, positive movement, evolution.
Delay, braking, unfavorable moment.
Fairness, definition of roles or property rights, legality.
Prejudice, mistake, false accusation.
Altruism, sacrifice, exhausting ordeal, idealism.
Punishment, suffering, coercion.
Sudden change, radical transformation, cycle task.
Stagnation, pessimism, negative impact.
Sympathy, synthesis of energies, adaptation, relaxation, recovery.
Excess, tension, antipathy.
Originality, power of suggestion, wealth.
Animal instincts, immorality, seduction, controllability.
Heroism, high purpose, pride.
Arrogance, impending danger, ruin, self-destruction.
Hope, good omen, inspiration, beauty, poetry.
Disappointment, fiction, ugliness.
Dreams, imagination, venture, sea voyage.
Magic, error, illusion, danger, disease.
Glory, prosperity, well-being, sincerity, friendship, illumination.
Selfishness, emotionality, selfishness.
Final decision, hope, rebirth, awakening, positive karma.
Fear, remorse, long illness, punishment.
Success, successful ending, replenishment, implementation, reward.
Hopelessness, negative result, insurmountable obstacle.
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Fertility, productivity, food, great joy, euphoria.
Infertility, minor problems, unnecessary chores.
Love, union, marriage, society, gathering, sincere friendship, society.
Argument, discontent, immoderate desire.
Abundance, growth, positivity, profitable investment.
Stagnation, inclination to enjoyment, greed.
Partial satisfaction, acquisition, but with some complexity.
Discomfort, disgust, disadvantageous position.
Dissatisfaction, self-criticism, a sense of loss.
Disappointment, uncertainty, sadness, longing, brokenness.
Complete satisfaction, use, entertainment, sensuality, intoxication.
Restlessness, excessive passion, immoderate desire.
Fatigue, settled life, half victory, personal success.
A false success, an unfulfilled promise.
Loss of interest, departure from reality, loss of place.
Short-term satisfaction, unstable position.
Friendly, serene happiness, satisfied desire.
Little entertainment, excessive generosity.
Long-term success, generosity, dignity, commitment.
Old problems, inconvenience, disadvantage.
Tenderness, courtesy, resistance to provocations.
Sluggishness, selfishness, voluptuousness.
Cheerful character, love of games, secularity.
Cruel and cynical character.
Cordiality, imagination, source of strong feelings.
Warm heart, poetic love, elegance.
Sensuality, laziness, lies.
Initiation, invention, creativity, swiftness, sexual power.
Blocking, canceling, moment of fatigue.
Dominance, firmness, pride, indomitable character.
Excitement, aggressiveness, unexpected care.
Strengthening of forces, realization of ideas, success in work.
Arrogance, impotence, negligence.
Complete satisfaction, finished work, rest after hard work.
Unfinished work, urgent problems.
Confrontation, difficult big, little productive work, burdensome obligation.
Incompetence, waste of energy or money.
A victory after a long struggle, a well-deserved success.
Prolonged disagreements, the risk of betrayal.
Worthwhile, the ability to adapt in all situations, love of freedom.
Tension, serious threat.
Speed, determination, enthusiasm, great confidence.
Excessive haste, short-term ardor, predation.
Power, unbreakable strength, resistance.
Carelessness, effort applied to wrong ends.
Excessive subordination, weak resistance.
Strong oppression, failure caused by selfishness
Vivid desire, passionate love, the power of youth.
Superficiality, theatricality, changeability.
Arrogance, a tendency to prejudices and stereotypes, intolerance.
Warmth, charm, power of attraction.
Withdrawal, self-digging, separation, removal.
This book is dedicated to the Golden Dawn Tarot deck, its symbolism, card meanings, use in divination. The deck was created by Israel Regadi, in full accordance with the original descriptions of the cards of the Order. It is on the basis of the Golden Dawn Tarot system that the most popular modern decks have been developed - Tarot Uata and Tarot Thoth.
Golden Dawn Tarot as an occult system
Everything described in this section applies not only to the Golden Dawn Tarot itself, but will also be true (with some rare deviations) for all English School Tarot decks. The first thing that catches your eye, the brightest and most recognizable are the four important points that are used by the English Tarot School. First of all - the Fool is considered the zero Arcana and opens the deck. Further, Strength is Arcana number 8, and Justice number 11. Third, inverted cards are not used in the layouts.
The fourth, less general but very convenient, is the use of the naming system for the Minor Arcana. Of course, they are not traced - White began the solemn procession of traced Minor Arcana, equipped with plot drawings, but the names of the cards themselves have taken root and are used in different decks. If you have worked with the Tarot of Thoth, for example, you know that the 8 of Pentacles is called Prudence, the 9 of Pentacles is Profit, and so on. This makes it easier and faster to memorize the meanings of the cards and is very convenient in working with the layout. The advice to “be reasonable” is much clearer than the advice to “do as the 8 of Pentacles commands” (although, of course, the meaning of the card is by no means reduced to one word, and sometimes the names do not quite accurately express the essence).
The special names of the cards in the Golden Dawn are not limited to the Minor Arcana - the Major Arcana also have their own names, or rather titles that additionally describe the cards. Traditional names, however, remain the main ones. The splendor and verbosity of such titles is largely characteristic of the entire Golden Dawn system, not only of Tarot cards.
The titles of the Major Arcana are as follows:
Fool- Spirit of Ether
Mage- Power Mage
Priestess- Priestess of the Silver Star
empress- Daughter of the Mighty
Emperor- Son of the Morning, Leader among the Mighty,
Hierophant– Mage of the Eternal Gods,
lovers– Children of the Divine Voice, Oracles of the Mighty Gods,
Chariot- Child of the Power of the Waters, Lord of the Triumph of Light,
Force- Daughter of the Flaming Sword, Lion Tamer,
Wheel Fortune- Lord of the Forces of Life,
Justice- Daughter of the Lord of Truth, Holder of the Scales,
Hanged- Spirit of the Mighty Waters,
Death- Child of the Great Powers of Transformation, Lord of the Gates of Death,
Moderation- Daughter of the Conciliators, Giver of Life,
Devil- Lord of the Gates of Matter, Child of the Forces of Time,
Tower- Lord of the Armies, subject to the Mighty,
Star- Daughter of the Firmament, Living between the Waters,
Moon- Lord of the Ebb and Flow, Child of the Sons begotten by the Mighty,
The sun- Lord of the World Fire,
Court- Spirit of the Primordial Fire,
World- Great in the Night of Time.
The Major Arcana are followed by the four Aces, which are considered quite apart, and in many ways differ from other Numerical cards. They do not have any speaking names, for reasons that will become clear, and each Ace is simply called the “root” of one Element.
Ace of Wands- The root of the forces of Fire,
Ace of Swords- The root of the forces of Air,
Ace of Cups- The root of the forces of Water,
Ace of Pentacles- The root of the forces of the Earth
Aces in the deck are followed by figure cards. The figure card rank naming system is a tricky place for anyone who studies tarot because the ranks have different names in different decks, and if you are told "Knight of Swords", for example, then without knowing which deck it is, you will not be able to understand what kind of card is meant - in different decks this name has different ranks.
The ranks of the figure cards in the Golden Dawn are King, Queen, Prince, Princess. In older decks, the Tarot of Marseilles, and also in White's Tarot, the last rank is called Page, but the Golden Dawn system harmonizes the ranks - in these names there are two male ranks (King and Prince), and two female ones (Queen and Princess), which more harmoniously, and ideally reflects the elemental correspondences of ranks. In addition to the names, figure cards also have magnificent titles.
King of Wands- Lord of Flame and Lightning, King of Fire Spirits,
Queen of Wands- Queen of Flaming Thrones
Prince of Wands- Prince of the chariot of fire,
Princess of Wands- Princess of Brilliant Flame, Rose of the Fiery Palace,
King bowls- Lord of the waves and waters, King of the sea armies,
Queen bowls- Queen of the Water Thrones
Prince bowls- Prince of the chariot of waters,
A princess bowls- Princess of the waters, Lotus of the palace of tides,
King swords- Lord of the winds and breaths, King of the spirits of the air,
Queen swords- Queen of Air Thrones
Prince swords- Prince of the wind chariot,
A princess swords– Princess of swift winds, Lotus of the air palace,
King of Pentacles- Lord of the vast and fruitful lands, King of the spirits of the earth,
Queen of Pentacles- Queen of earthly thrones,
Prince of Pentacles- Prince of the chariot of the earth,
A princess Pentacles- Princess of the echoing hills, Rose of the earthly palace.
The names of the Number cards are more practical and briefly express the essence of the card.
deuce Wands- Ruler of Power
Troika Wands- Lord of the affirmed power,
Four Wands- Lord of completed work,
Five Wands- Master of Wrestling
Six Wands- Master of Victory
Seven Wands- Master of Valor
Eight Wands- Master of Speed
Nine Wands- Lord of great power,
Ten Wands- Lord of oppression
deuce bowls- Lord of love
Troika bowls- Lord of abundance
Four bowls- Lord of incomplete pleasure,
Five bowls- Lord of Lost Pleasure
Six bowls- Master of Pleasure
Seven bowls- Lord of imagined success,
Eight bowls- Lord of the rejection of what has been achieved,
Nine bowls- Lord of material well-being,
Ten bowls- Lord of perfect success,
deuce swords- Lord of the restored world,
Troika swords- Lord of Sorrow
Four swords- Lord of rest from struggle,
Five swords- Lord of Defeat
Six swords- Master of Deserved Success,
Seven swords- Lord of strenuous effort,
Eight swords- Lord of limited power,
Nine swords- Lord of despair and cruelty,
Ten swords- Lord of Destruction
deuce Pentacles- Lord of harmonious change,
Troika Pentacles- Lord of material labors,
Four Pentacles- Ruler of earthly power,
Five Pentacles- Lord of material difficulties,
Six Pentacles- Lord of material success,
Seven Pentacles- Lord of unattained success,
Eight Pentacles- Master of Wisdom
Nine Pentacles- Lord of material profit,
Ten Pentacles- Lord of wealth.
Each suit of the Minor Arcana is associated with one of the four Elements, and is indicated by the corresponding magical tool. Wands correspond to the Elements of Fire, Cups to Water, Swords to Air, and Pentacles to Earth. The corresponding Element sets the general essence of the suit, determines its scope, in addition, elemental correspondences are extremely important in practice and are used in the interpretation of layouts.
Fire(Wands) - ebullient, active, active, generating all others. Ambition, social aspirations, leadership abilities, magical power, enthusiasm are associated with it. The word "fire" can describe, both at the everyday level and at the magical level, the character of a passionate, ambitious, impulsive, courageous, militant, sexual person. He strives to be ahead, to lead, he needs public recognition. This Element is a source of energy, a driving and generating force.
People endowed with the properties of the Element of Fire can be excellent leaders, organizers, fighters. These are people of action. But when this energy dries up from exorbitant spending, enthusiasm disappears, interest in the matter is lost, and it becomes boring. As soon as the novelty disappears, the Fire goes out. This Element needs its opposite, one that will accept strength, balance and stabilize it.
The suit of Wands is associated with all manifestations of this Element, speaks of struggle, achievements, ambitions, power. Among the Figure cards of the Element of Fire, each card of the rank of Kings also corresponds, in all suits.
Water (Bowls)- passive, accepting, feminine Element. This is the opposite of Fire, Fire and Water form a pair of complementary principles. This is the world of feelings, emotions, what is hidden in the depths. If Fire ignites, gives energy and strength, then Water absorbs it and bears it in its depths. Water is turned inside itself, into its own world, its sensations, experiences, it receives impressions from the world around and saves them.
Water people are sensitive and emotional, for them the main thing is not what happens, but how they perceive it. Their world consists of “beautiful” and “ugly”, “pleasant” and “unpleasant”, sensations and experiences are important. Strongly developed emotionality and fantasy will make such people excellent poets, artists, writers - those who splash out their inner world, share feelings and images. They have strong intuition, and may have developed medium abilities.
The cards of the suit of Cups are connected with the world of emotions, feelings, experiences, they talk about love, disappointment, happiness, about the reaction of a person to the outside world. Among the figure cards, all Queens have these properties.
Air(Swords) - the result of the combination of two opposite principles. If Fire and Water are the first two Elements, then Air is their son, the second generation. Air is mobile, light, capable of expansion. He seeks to cover as much as possible, moves, takes any form. It is similar in many ways to Fire, it is just as active and strong, directed outward, but much more flexible and stable.
The scope of Air is intelligence, communication, communication, information transfer. People of the Air put the mind ahead of everything, learn easily, they have a flexible mind. They easily adapt to any environment, but are burdened by boredom and monotony. The ease of adaptation of Air is manifested, among other things, in the ease with which such people accept new views, opinions, interpret facts in a way that is beneficial to them, without believing in anything. This makes the people of the Air unreliable, prone to deceit and cunning, with equal success they can be scientists, and lawyers, and swindlers, and perhaps all of this at once. This property of Air can answer the question why the suit of Swords is considered the most dangerous and conflicting.
Swords are associated with information, the work of the mind, conflicts, communication, and among Figure cards, all Princes correspond to Air.
Earth(Pentacles) - the most stable, heavy and material Element, it correlates with Air in the same way as Water - with Fire. Fire is balanced by Water, and their combination gives rise to the third principle - Air. But Air also needs its opposite, which will be able to balance it. This opposite is the Earth Element.
The real, physical world, practical issues, patience, perseverance, finances, work are associated with it. The earth nourishes, provides stability, gives support, the possibility of growth and development. The earth is both millennium-old rocks and arable land, on which the harvest has risen.
Each Element has its own traditional color: Fire - red, Water - blue, Air - yellow. The Earth has two colors, black or green, since its nature is dual - it gives ultimate stability and heaviness, but it also serves as a foundation that makes any changes possible, nourishes, helps to grow.
In the character of a person, the Earth is pragmatism, materialism, patience, diligence, reliability, slowness. Such a person clearly understands his benefits and goals, goes to them stubbornly and methodically, without complicated plans, without enthusiasm, he simply does his job, day after day, year after year. A purely material matter that brings practical benefits. Such people will be able to perfectly do business or work with their hands, their life is home and work, nothing more is required.
The suit of Pentacles is responsible for material matters, practical matters, profit, spending, changes in life. The rank of the figure cards corresponding to the Earth is the Princesses, balancing the Princes.
Aces that start a suit are the purest source of power that generates all other cards of the suit. The Ace of Cups, for example, is pure, not yet manifested in any specific phenomena, the power of the Element of Water, and all other cards from Twos to Tens are different variants of its manifestation, development and degradation. Similarly, the Ace of Wands is a pure source of Fire, refracted in all subsequent cards of the suit.
Major Arcana - 22 cards with independent drawings and unique meanings. They are not divided into suits or any groups. In the layouts, the Major Arcana means powerful forces beyond the direct influence of a person, in contrast to the Figure cards, which indicate the characters of people, and the Numerical cards, which speak of everyday events arising from your actions and being under your control.
The 22 Major Arcana correspond to the 22 Hebrew letters and the 22 Paths of the Tree of Life. The beginning of the deck in the system coming from the Order of the Golden Dawn is the Fool. Therefore Duraka corresponds to the first letter of Hebrew - Aleph. Accordingly, the next card, the Magician, will be associated with the letter Beth, the Priestess - with the letter Gimel, and so on.
The connection with the Hebrew letters gives the cards a connection with the paths on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life and allows us to consider the 22 Major Arcana as a path of spiritual growth, ascent from the very bottom (Arcanum of the World) to the highest spiritual perfection (Arkan of the Fool). In addition, this correspondence to Hebrew makes it possible to compare the Tarot and astrology, since in Kabbalah each Hebrew letter is associated with one of the astrological archetypes.
The ancient Kabbalistic treatise Sefer Yetzirah establishes connections between Hebrew letters and various phenomena, celestial bodies, and parts of the human body. According to Kabbalah, God created the world using 10 numbers and 22 Hebrew letters, and the Sefer Yetzirah comments in detail on exactly what and from what he created. It is from this text that the system of astrological attributes of the Tarot is repelled.
In Hebrew, letters are divided into three groups - maternal, double and simple. This is not something mystical, these are just features of the alphabet. But then - something mystical. Three maternal letters (Aleph, Mem and Shin) mean three Elements - Air, Water and Fire, respectively. Sefer Yetzirah directly states that these three letters in our Universe are air, water and fire, and Aleph is called “a breath between fire and air”, which gives an extremely clear picture of the interaction of the Elements when Air becomes the result of the union of Fire and Water. It is further told that the Creator reigned over the letter Aleph over the breath and created air from it; Mem reigned over the water, Shin reigned over the fire.
These three letters determine the correspondences of the Tarot Arcana associated with them. The Fool corresponds to the letter Aleph, which means to the Elements of Air (the eccentric, spontaneous, light, mobile Fool corresponds to the light, prone to movement, expansion of Air). The Hanged Man, requiring the utmost immersion in the depth of himself, corresponds to the letter Mem, and becomes a card of Water. Judgment associated with decisive action and sudden upheavals is the letter Shin and, accordingly, the card of Fire. In addition, the Spirit also corresponds to this card, here the correspondence is double (as with the World card).
The seven double letters - Bet, Gimel, Dalet, Kaph, Pe, Resh and Tau - are associated with the seven Planets. They are called double because they can mean two sounds when reading. The correspondences here are somewhat more complicated, since there are several different versions of the Sefer Yetzirah text, which differ in the description of the correspondence of letters to the Planets. For Tarot, Mathers chose perhaps not the most academically reliable, but the most logical option.
The magician, associated with the mind, will, the creative word that changes the world, corresponds to the letter Bet, which means the Planet Mercury. If you compare the detailed meaning of the Arcana Magician, the symbolism of the Planet Mercury in astrology, and the mythological plots of the god Mercury, you will find that they match perfectly.
The priestess, who commands secret knowledge, as well as secrets, secrets, ambiguities in general, is assigned to the mysterious and ambiguous Moon, which either waxes or wanes, appears in the sky and disappears. The Priestess is the first card associated with the feminine, which once again confirms her connection with the Moon, which is also closely related to the ideas of femininity. Even the mythological goddesses of the moon are eternal virgins, which also fits perfectly into the symbolism of the Priestess.
The Empress, meaning sex, holidays, joy, love, carnal pleasures, becomes the undoubted Venus, the patroness of love and pleasure.
The Wheel of Fortune, which promises a white streak, good luck, strengthening the position, prosperity, is associated with Jupiter, which gives earthly goods, wealth and position in society.
The tower, destructive, violent, prone to breaking and crushing - the obvious Mars.
The lasso of the Sun quite clearly corresponds to the symbolism of the Sun in its meaning.
The world is associated with heavy and inert Saturn, but this card has a double correspondence - this is the Planet Saturn, which, due to its heaviness, slowness and inertia, was considered close to the material Elements in the Golden Dawn, as well as the Element of the Earth.
The remaining 12 letters are simple, they correspond to the Signs of the Zodiac and Sefer Yetzirah again clearly and unequivocally compares one with the other - the letter Ha the Creator reigned over speech and created from it the Sign of Aries and the right leg of a person; Vav, he reigned over reflection and created from it a Taurus and a right kidney; Samech reigned over sleep and created from it Sagittarius and the human stomach, etc.
Accordingly, the Emperor, associated with the letter Ha, becomes associated with Aries in the same way. Aries is a stubborn, active, energetic sign, rushing towards its goals - and the Emperor is fully endowed with the same qualities. It is important to understand that this is not some kind of equality - the Emperor is not an illustration of the astrological concept of Aries. But the Emperor and Aries, the Devil and Capricorn, the Empress and Venus are similar to each other, and have striking common features. This is not equality, but associations.
Ultimately, the correspondences of the Major Arcana take the following form:
It was previously mentioned that another characteristic feature of the Golden Dawn system is the placement of the Arcana Power and Justice. In the Marseille Tarot, Strength is considered the eleventh Arcana, in the Tarot of the Golden Dawn and its descendants, including the Tarot of White - the eighth. And Tarot Thoth again becomes the eleventh.
This repositioning of the cards was suggested by Mathers as a way to bring astrology, the Qabalah, and the Tarot into perfect harmony. If you follow the general rule and match the letters with the cards in order, then Strength and Justice will deviate from the scheme.
Let Strength be 11 Arcana, as is customary in the Marseille Tarot. This card shows a scene of the taming of a lion, which in itself suggests that the sign of this card is Leo. Lion corresponds to the letter Tet, the eighth letter of Hebrew. Leo is a fixed fiery Sign, which corresponds well with the meaning of the Arcana Strength. Then Justice is 8 Arcana, and the Sign of Libra must clearly correspond to it. The card depicts Themis with Libra, but, more importantly, Libra is an air sign, it corresponds well in its characteristics to the value of the Justice card. Libra corresponds to the letter Lamed, the eleventh letter of Hebrew.
This is where the failure occurs - if you take the old numbering of the Marseille Tarot, then the eighth letter Tet corresponds to the eleventh card, and the eleventh letter to the eighth. In addition, the order of the Zodiac also does not correspond to this order of the cards - a problem arises, and in order to remove the violation of the order on the right side of the zodiac circle, you need to swap the 8th and 11th cards in places.
If you try to swap the correspondences of the cards and compare Strength with Libra, and Justice with Leo, then the qualities and properties of the cards will turn out to be in no way connected with the properties of the Zodiac Signs. Therefore, it has never been in doubt that Strength is Leo, and Justice is Libra.
If, however, we accept that the Arcanum of Strength is the eighth Arcana, and the Arcana of Justice is the eleventh, then the cards will simply fall on the Zodiac circle without any difficulties, and their order will completely coincide with the order of the paths on the Tree of Life and the Hebrew letters. By rearranging the Power and Justice cards, Mathers harmonized Tarot, Kabbalah and astrology, and now deck descriptions often indicate under which numbers Strength and Justice go in them.
The numerical cards consist of 10 ranks and represent the ten Sephiroth on the Tree of Life - Aces, the first rank, correspond to the first Sephirah, Kether; Twos correspond to Chokmah; and so on until the Tens who are in Malkuth. Each rank contains four cards, four suits of Tarot. Therefore, the Kabbalistic meaning of the Numerical cards will correspond to the manifestation of the Element in the corresponding Sefira. That is, the Two of Cups is the second Sephirah and the Element of Water, Water in Chokmah. The Three of Swords is Air in Binah, the Ten of Wands is the Fire of Malkuth, the Ten of Pentacles is the Earth of Malkuth.
Aces give rise to each suit, they are the source of their Element. Aces are associated with Kether, which gives rise to all the Sephiroth. This is the purest, but not yet formalized manifestation of the power of the suit.
Twos, corresponding to Chokmah, receive pure energy directly from Aces, they are strong, active and auspicious. This is a driving, active force that manifests itself in the area for which the suit is responsible. This is a movement, an impulse, but not yet used, not applied to anything. Twos need a balancing force that can take this energy, keep their momentum and turn it into some kind of result. And they use this impulse in the area that corresponds to their suit.
The energy of the Twos finds a concrete embodiment in the Threes, Bina, in them the first results of the application of the force of the Twos appear, which the Threes accept and stabilize. The lower we go down the Tree, the stronger the power of Aces degenerates, and gradually the values of the cards deteriorate. The first unfavorable options are already appearing in Troikas.
Fours complete the process of stabilizing strength, gaining balance, and are already deprived of the expansion impulse that Twos had. All Fours form an organized system, they are stable, but somewhat clumsy, this is the completion of a stage of development, the implementation of the work begun in a concrete, completed form.
Fives, associated with Geburah and the power of Mars, therefore carry the idea of conflict, violent change. This is a rank that seeks to destroy the existing system that the Fours have formed, but this is not a thirst for total destruction, but precisely the desire to break the limitations and boundaries of the system.
The sixes are Tiphereth, a very auspicious Sephirah, so cards of this rank will also be auspicious. Sixes receive a direct beam directly from Aces, which makes them even more pleasant (Tiphereth is connected directly to Kether, is its reflection and likeness at a lower level). Sixes are the blossoming of the suit, the most favorable rank, the rebellion of Fives corrected what was wrong with Fours and led to the formation of a truly harmonious system. But this is not the end of the road, this is the middle of the Tree and the influence of the Sixes will not be permanent, this is not a victory, but rather a halt before a new battle.
Sevens pass the blossoming point of the suit and begin to decline. Energies have descended low on the Tree, deviated from the center, this is the decline after the triumph. Sevens become unfavorable cards.
Eights associated with intellectual influence. The move is trying to correct the situation, find a way out, they are more prosperous, but can only take care of correcting the current situation, and not improving the position of the whole suit. There is no longer enough strength for a complete triumph.
The nines have returned under the direct, albeit rather weakened, beam of the beneficial spiritual power of the Aces, they are a little more pleasant, and embody the last attempt of the Elements to manifest their typical strength.
Dozens are Malkuth, that is, the end of the path. Therefore, having reached the bottom, the cards should begin a new stage. Dozens are associated with the idea of starting a new stage, a new round of development. You are at an impasse, sunk to the very bottom, it's time to start something new.
The Cabalistic Tree of Life sets the general trend for the development of all stripes, the passage of cards according to the same ten variants of the manifestation of a particular Element. But the exact meaning of each card will also depend on its astrological aspects. Aces in this are isolated from the rest of the Number cards, so they need to be discussed separately.
Speaking about Tarot astrology, you need to start with astrology itself, as such. The signs of the Zodiac are divided into four groups according to their respective Elements:
Fire Signs(Aries, Leo, Sagittarius), bearing in their qualities the properties of the Elements of Fire;
Water Signs(Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces);
Air Signs(Gemini, Aquarius and Libra);
Earth Signs(Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn).
There were three Signs in each Element, and they, in turn, are subdivided into cardinal, mutable and fixed Signs.
In cardinal Signs(Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn) the power of the Elements is growing, manifesting itself as actively as possible.
Fixed Signs associated with the power of the Elements balanced, more calm and harmonious (Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius and Taurus).
In Mutable Signs this force is waning and the properties of the Elements are not so bright (Sagittarius, Pisces, Gemini, Virgo).
Each Sign is part of a circle, a sector of the sky of 30 degrees. And each of them consists of three deaneries, corresponding to a sector of 10 degrees, that is, the Deanery is a third of the Sign. In total, the zodiac circle contains 36 decanates.
Each Sign of the Zodiac has its own planetary ruler:
Aries ruled by Mars.
Taurus- Venus
Twins- Mercury
Cancer- moon,
a lion- the sun,
Virgo- Mercury
Scales- Venus
Scorpion- Mars
Sagittarius- Jupiter
Capricorn- Saturn
Aquarius- Saturn
Fish- Jupiter.
This is not the only system of astrology, there are other options, but the astrological Tarot system does not use the recently discovered planets - Uranus, Neptune and Pluto (which are also the rulers of the Zodiac Signs).
Deanships of Signs also have their rulers - and there are even more options here, since there are many schools in astrology with completely different views. With regard to Tarot cards, an astrological system of rulers is used, in which the Planets simply alternate in order, in the sequence in which they are located on the Tree of Life - Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon. This order, in turn, is explained very simply - for an earthly observer who sees how the Sun revolves around the Earth, the planets are located in that order.
The beginning of the counting of the Planets is the Sign of Leo, the first Decanate of which corresponds to Saturn, the second to Jupiter, the third to Mars, then the first Decanate of the next Sign, Virgo, is ruled by the next Planet, the Sun, and so on. Since the numbers of Decanates and Planets are not multiples, at the beginning of spring there are two Deaneries at once, which are ruled by Mars - he controls the last Deanery of Pisces and the first Deanery of Aries, giving additional strength to nature for its awakening after winter.
I emphasize once again - this is exactly one of the astrological systems, and not something invented specifically for the Tarot, therefore, if the system seems too complicated, then all claims should be directed specifically to astrologers. It's time for us to move on to how all this is related to Tarot cards.
Each suit of cards corresponds to the Element and the Signs of the Zodiac associated with this element. The ranks of the Numeric cards are distributed among cardinal, mutable and fixed Signs.
Twos, Threes, Fours, the beginning of each suit, represent Cardinal signs,
Fives, Sixes, Sevens represent the middle of the suit, which means Fixed signs,
Eights, Nines and Tens – Mutable signs.
The suit will determine which of the four cards of the same rank will get a particular Sign. In accordance with the suit, we get that the Two, Three, and Four of Wands are the cardinal Sign of Fire, Aries. The Five, Six and Seven of Pentacles is the fixed Earth Sign, Taurus.
There were three cards in each Sign, and this makes it possible to associate each card with one Deanery. The Two of Wands is the first Dean of Aries, the Three is the second Dean of Aries, and the Four is the third Dean of Aries.
The Ten (Mutable Signs) of Pentacles (Earth Sign) is Virgo, the Mutable Earth Sign. In the triad of cards Eight, Nine, Ten, she comes last, which means 10 Pentacles is the third Decanate of Virgo. The third decanate of Virgo is ruled by Mercury. And this means that the 10 of Pentacles is a card with which the Earth of Malkuth and Mercury in Virgo are associated.
Each Sign has its own interval of time, as well as each Deanery - and therefore the connection of cards with Deaneries allows you to set a period of ten days, which each Numerical card controls, which can be used with great success to determine dates and periods of time.
The 2 of Wands is Aries, the first Deccanate of Aries is ruled by Mars, that is, the 2 of Wands is Mars in Aries and the time is from March 21st to 30th. The next sign in the zodiac circle is Taurus, it is a fixed Sign of the Earth, which means that its first decanate will be ruled by 5 Pentacles, this is the first decanate of Taurus, ruled by Mercury. 5 of Pentacles - Mercury in Taurus.
The essence of the system, described briefly, is that the Planets associated with the cards simply alternate in order, starting from the Five of Wands, and Mars begins and ends the cycle.
And all this together also means that the value of each Numerical card (except for Aces) is made up of the value of the Element in the Sefira and the Planet in the Zodiac.
Figure cards have more specific attributes, and the most important of these are the sixteen Sub-Elements. Imagine that you put the world under a magical microscope, which reveals the subtleties of the symbolic structure of the Universe, and saw that it consists of four Elements. As soon as you add an increase, it turns out that each Element itself also consists of four Elements. The elements are not homogeneous, there is a difference between the fire of an explosion and the heat of decay, although both will refer to the Element of Fire. Rain, ocean and stagnant swamp - all this is Water, but completely different. These are Sub-Elements - parts of the Elements corresponding to the Elements. Fire is a quarter of the world, it is all violent, combustible, ebullient, it is a volcano, nettles, a person with a choleric temperament. But this quarter of the world is also divided into quarters, and in Fire there is the most fiery, furious part - the Fiery part of the Element of Fire, the Fire of Fire. And there is a calmer and more fluid part, more like lava - the Water of Fire. There is the Water part of the Earth, there is the Air of the Earth and the Earth of the Air.
Each Tarot suit is associated with an Element. But in each suit there are four ranks of Figure cards, according to the number of Elements, and each rank is also associated with its Element.
kings- this is the most active rank of figure cards, the starting point and source of strength, they
they correspond to the Elements of Fire.
queens- water,
princes- Air,
princesses- Earth.
This means that each curly card got two Elements - one from the rank, the second from the suit.
Each figure card is a Sub-Element, a combination of two Elements. The suit determines the main Element, and the rank determines its component. Queen of Pentacles = Water of the Earth, that part of the Earth that corresponds to Water, since its suit is Pentacles, corresponds to Earth, and the rank (Queen) is Water. The King of Wands is the Fire of Fire, the Prince of Wands is the Air of Fire, the Princess of Swords is the Land of Air.
To understand the character that each card will correspond to, you need to understand what this Sub-Element means in the character of a person. The character of a person endowed with the features of one of the Elements has already been mentioned above. And what features will give him not just Fire, but the Fire of Fire, the most stormy Sub-element imaginable, the most blazing and bright? The Fire of Fire, the King of Wands is a person who is active, active, full of enthusiasm, energetic and ambitious. He is like a flash, he wants everything at once, any of his actions is always in full force, everything is worn out, he strives to achieve everything in one jerk. But what burns hot burns out quickly. He does not know how to save strength and calculate resources, and if he could not achieve something with one blow, then there will be no strength left for the second attempt.
The Queen of Pentacles will make an excellent mother and housewife, combining the two feminine Elements, Water and Earth, but the absence of Air will make her not very smart, and due to the absence of Wands, she will be devoid of ambition. The Knight of Pentacles - the Fire of the Earth - will direct all his forces to purely practical activities and can become an excellent foreman who will distribute the work, work himself, and share the reward fairly. Fire will give him the power of leadership, and Earth will guarantee the most practical application of this power. Thus, the Sub-element forms the main character traits of the Figure card.
With astrology, the ranks of Figure cards do not correlate so simply, Princesses stand separately and have their own, unique, correspondences (as well as Aces among Number cards). The three remaining ranks of the Figure Cards (Kings, Queens and Princes) govern the Zodiac circle, but their sections of the sky do not coincide with the Signs of the Zodiac. Each of these cards captures two signs at once, receives one Dean from one Sign and two Dean from the second (let's call it the main one). As a result, each of these cards corresponds to a period of time of one month during the year, which does not coincide with any of the Signs. If we compare on one diagram of the Zodiac, Figured cards, Major Arcana corresponding to the Zodiac, and (looking ahead) Aces, we get the following diagram (where the Elements are indicated by their color):
This slightly strange mixture of two Signs is associated with a mixture of the elemental attributes of Figure cards - representing the power of two Elements, they should also represent two Signs with different Elements. The main Sign is a Sign whose Element matches the Element of the card suit. The second Sign contributing to the amount of one Deanery is simply the sign that comes before the first.
kings correspond to mutable Signs,
queens- cardinal
princes- fixed.
The time intervals corresponding to the decanates of the Zodiac form those time intervals that are assigned to the figure cards.
All this is quite confusing, but it will become much clearer if you summarize all the data in a table.
The Queen of Wands, Water of Fire, corresponds to the region of the sky from 20° Pisces to 20° Aries and the time span from March 11 to April 10. She receives two of her Deanships from Aries. Aries is a fiery sign, which corresponds to the suit of the card, and a cardinal sign, which corresponds to the rank.
The connection of Figured cards with astrology contributes to their divinatory meaning, adding to the characters of the people they describe also those features that are inherent in the corresponding Signs of the Zodiac and Deans. Each of the Figure cards in its symbolism is based on the character of the person it describes. Therefore, the Sub-elements can be safely supplemented with those character traits that are inherent in people whose horoscope the Sun falls on the section of the Zodiac corresponding to the desired map. And someone who is well versed in astrology can use this knowledge to interpret Figured cards in a layout from just such a position.
The Queen of Cups is the Water of Water + characteristics of a person born between March 11 and April 10, with the Sun either in the last Decan of Aries or the first two Decans of Pisces.
Princesses stand apart from the other figure cards, and are associated with Aces in their astrological position. Aces embody the most sublime and pure source of Elemental power. The princess of each suit is the Earth part of the Element. Ace and Princess are the beginning and the end, the purest spiritual source and the most solid material foundation. Therefore, in the Golden Dawn, the Princesses were called "thrones of Aces." The element of the Earth is the basis of the Elements, their complete connection and the densest visible embodiment, the Earth carries the power of all the Elements. Likewise, the Princesses in the most rude and tangible form express the strength of each Ace, they are the final expression (and degeneration) of the suit, while the Ace is its source.
Because of this connection, the astrological characteristics of the Princesses and Aces are the same for two. They are not associated with specific signs of the Zodiac, but govern quadrants - quarters of the Zodiac circle, including three Signs each. Moreover, in each suit there are three consecutive Signs, fixed, cardinal and mutable, the middle of which is a fixed Sign of the Element that corresponds to the suit of Ace and Princess.
Ace and Princess of Wands Ruled by the Signs Cancer, Leo and Virgo,
Ace and Princess of Cups are Libra Sagittarius and Scorpio,
Ace and Princess of Swords- Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces,
Ace and Princess of Pentacles- Aries, Taurus, Gemini.
All astrological attributes of the cards can be combined into one visual diagram that will display all the characteristics of the cards and their relationships with each other.
The Kabbalistic attributes of the Figure Cards are much less important, and if you go back to the Tree of Life diagram already given above, you will find that the Tree of Life is divided into four horizontal levels corresponding to the Figure Cards. These are the worlds of the Tree of Life corresponding to the four Elements. The upper world of the Tree is Atzilut, the world of archetypes corresponding to the Element of Fire. This world includes only one Sefira Kether. Binah and Chokmah are the second world, Briah, corresponding to Water, the world of creation. The next six Sephiroth are Yetzirah, the world of Air, the world of formation. Malkuth, the last Sephirah, forms the world of Assiya, the world of the Earth, the material world.
Fiery Kings correspond to Atzilut, water Queens to Bria, airy Princes to Yetzirah, earthly Princesses to Asia. This is a rather abstract concept, not directly related to the meaning of the cards, but it is worth saying that each world corresponds to one of the four letters of the Tetragrammaton name. Although this is not so important for figure cards, it will be important when studying some of the Arcana, in which individual images of a detail will be associated with the Tetragrammaton.
The Tetragrammaton is a Kabbalistic name consisting of four letters, one of the many names used in the Old Testament texts (in Hebrew) to designate God. What is translated simply as “God” or “Lord” in the Russian translation, in fact, is a lot of different names that became the basis for the divine names of Kabbalah (Adonai, Elohim, and so on). These names are not equivalent in their meaning and significance, but the leader among the names is a four-letter word, Yod, Ha, Vav, Ha - IHVH. It can be read as "Yahweh".
In the Jewish tradition, this name is considered so powerful that they don’t even try to pronounce it somehow, but simply skip it when reading sacred texts, replace it with the neutral Adonai, that is, “Lord”, since the correct pronunciation of this name should shake the universe itself. It is believed that only the high priest once a year called him in a special ritual setting on the right day, in one single temple, and the sound of the name was transmitted orally from one high priest to another, until the Romans, having destroyed the temple and killed the priests, destroyed this knowledge forever. This name has played a huge role in the Kabbalah and Western magic, and the word "tetragrammaton" itself is Latin, and simply means "four-letter name."
In practice, in some cases it will be important to remember that the Hebrew letters are not limited to those astrological attributes that are written in the Sefer Yetzirah, and each of the four letters means one of the Elements.
Iodine is Fire, the World of Atzilut, the suit of Wands and the rank of Kings,
Ha- Water, Bria, Cups and Queen,
wav- Air, Yetzirah, Swords, Princes,
Ha (final)– Earth, Asia, Pentacles, Princesses.
Some cards of the Golden Dawn (Major Arcana) deck bear the image of the letter Yod, but not in the meaning of the Sign of the Virgin, but with the meaning of Fire.
4 worlds, 10 Sephiroth, 22 paths - all this should remind you of the Tarot deck. 4 suits, 10 ranks of Numerical cards, 22 Major Arcana. Here I will simply quote Aleister Crowley:
“Tarot and sacred Kabbalah should be considered together. They have the same theoretical basis: the Tree of Life and the 78 Tarot symbols are balanced and combined in the most amazing way. They are adequate to all the requirements that are made to them: each symbol is not only mathematically accurate, but contains a certain artistic image, which stimulates the fortuneteller's aesthetic imagination and, thus, helps to understand this symbol.
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The Magical Tarot of the Golden Dawn is one of the most popular esoteric, occult decks today. Reflecting the main provisions of the teachings of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, these cards will become a real find for tarologists who want not only to engage in card predictions, but also develop spiritually. The deck is rich in various symbols - magical, kabbalistic, astrological, and at the same time retains the traditional canon, which makes it incredibly interesting to study.
History of the deck
The authors of this creation are a married couple, well-known tarologists Sandra Tabata and Chick Cicero, who were members of the Order of the Golden Dawn. In the preface to his book about this deck, Chick talks about how these cards came into being. Influenced by one of the conversations with Israel Regardie - a classic of the Western Kabbalistic tradition, former secretary of Aleister Crowley and a member of the Order - in which the latter expressed dissatisfaction with the existing Tarot decks, Chika's wife, Tabata, began to draw her vision of cards in the tradition of the Golden Dawn. A little later, during the meeting of the Cicero couple with Regardie, which took place in Israel's house, Tabata showed her sketches. Regardie liked them very much, and he invited her to draw a full version of the deck. Unfortunately, Regardie himself did not catch the moment when the cards saw the light, as he died a few days after this meeting. But the couple continued to work on the maps, and after four whole years it was finally finished. This is how the Magical Tarot of the Golden Dawn appeared - the very deck that we are talking about today.
The first official print run was released in 2001, thanks to Llewellyn Publications. After that, the deck was reprinted twice more - in 2010 and 2012. The release of the Russian-language version was undertaken by the Moscow publishing house Fair-Press (now it is the Grand Fair Publishing House). Russian-language cards were issued in 2001, 2004 and 2012.
Key features of the deck
The Tarot of the Order of the Golden Dawn is a prime example of cards that fully reflect the magical teachings of the Golden Dawn. However, one additional card was added to the deck - another version of the Temperance Arcana. Why exactly the second version was needed is not known for certain. Chick Cicero himself in the book writes only one lengthy phrase about this, which sounds like this: “Given the requirements of the ritual of the Order of the Golden Dawn, the deck was made with two variants of the fourteenth card.” And that is all.
As for other features: the deck can be safely called occult and esoteric. All cards have their Kabbalistic and astrological counterparts. The numbering of the Major Arcana corresponds to the traditions of the Golden Dawn: Jester - 0, Strength - 8, Justice - 11. The Minor Arcana are drawn symbolically. Court cards - Princesses, Princes, Ladies and Kings - this will be familiar to those who have worked with Aleister Crowley or other decks based on the traditions of the Hermetic order.
Symbolism of the deck
In order to fully work with the Tarot of the Golden Dawn, you will have to at least understand something in Kabbalah and astrology, since these bindings are of great importance when interpreting the cards. However, in the accompanying book written by the Cicero couple, all the basic knowledge on these topics is given. Each card has its own esoteric name - it is written at the bottom of the framing frame on all the Minor Arcana. The esoteric names for the Major Arcana and Court Cards can be found in the deck book. The color palette of the Arcana was not chosen by chance - all colors are taken from the Order's own color system. To understand the plot of many Arcana, you need to understand mythology, however, as I said, the book of the four Ciceros describes in detail what exactly is depicted on the map.
Major Arcana
Now it's time to look into the Golden Dawn Tarot Gallery and take a look at a few cards in more detail. We start, as usual, with the Major Arcana. So that you can roughly imagine how far the images created by Tabata Cicero are from the classics, take a look at the Fool card. We see an innocent baby - this appearance is taken by the god of silence Harpocrates. Silence is also evidenced by the finger of the child, attached to the mouth. The boy is holding a dangerous wolf on a leash. The baby symbolizes the initial impulse, the beginning of the path, but this path can be fraught with dangers - the wolf speaks of this. Despite the fact that the child keeps him on a leash, he does not have the ability to fully control him. Also, the baby reaches for yellow roses, which attract his attention. But even here there is a hidden danger - prickly, sharp thorns.
Now consider the High Priest. This is the Great Teacher, the Guide of spiritual instruction, the interpreter of secrets. The essence of the card is revealed through symbols: the throne on which the Priest sits, a scroll containing the Divine Word, a three-tiered crown, a staff of mercy, a bull (a reference to the astrological correspondence - the Taurus sign), light falling on the Hierophant from heaven, the symbol of the Rose and the Cross on the tablet .
An example of a mythological plot in the Tarot of the Golden Dawn is the Lovers Arcana, which shows the scene of the battle of Perseus with a sea monster in order to free Andromeda chained to a rock.
Now let's look at those two variations of Moderation. On one we see the alchemical meaning of the card, almost similar to the Crowleyan plot, on the second - already different - an angel in a female guise mixes Water and Fire, pouring out of two bowls. Here, apparently, the question is what kind of vision will be closer to the tarologist himself, working with this deck.
Before moving on to the Minor Arcana, it is worth noting the Justice card. In my opinion, she does not even need additional comments.
Minor Arcana
As I said, the Minor Arcana in the Tarot of the Golden Dawn are drawn symbolically. There are no specific plots on the cards, but by the color scheme, the location of the suit symbols and the details, it is quite possible to understand the meaning of a particular card. And even more so it will be easy for those who have already worked with the Crowley deck, the Hermetic Tarot or the Golden Dawn Tarot, created by Robert Wang under the guidance of Israel Regardie, to figure it out. Yes, and a book-guide to the deck, I note again, very detailed.
Aces are beautifully drawn, albeit symbolically, in this deck. Look at these multi-colored flashes of flame on the Ace of Wands, at the pacifying fountain with lotuses of the Ace of Cups! And how interesting is the Ace of Pentacles with its blossoming roses!
Let's take a closer look at one card of each suit. The Four of Wands is called the Perfect Work. She speaks of the successful settlement of cases, the achievement of an agreement, success, which, however, was fraught with certain difficulties.
The Eight of Cups of the Magical Tarot of the Golden Dawn is called Abandoned Success. It seems to me that even just from the image itself and the colors used in this map, you can already guess that we are talking about a decrease in interest, laziness, some kind of internal instability.
The Three of Swords, symbolizing grief and having a similar name, really looks gloomy: three dark blue hands hold swords, the central of which cuts a red rose consisting of five petals. The disturbing yellow-black background shows that Arkan carries something sad, tragic.
The Seven of Pentacles speaks of unfinished success. You can guess the meaning of the card if you look closely at the drawing: look, not all sprouts have borne fruit, which means that success was only partial.
court cards
As with other Golden Dawn decks, the court cards are named Princess, Prince, Dame (Queen), King. A similar distribution of the roles of the characters of the court is used in the Tarot of Thoth and some other modern decks, for example, in the Celestial Tarot. All the court cards of the Magical Tarot of the Golden Dawn are very bright, speaking - you can immediately tell from the drawings what human qualities they characterize. Each four cards belonging to the same suit characterize one of the four Kabbalistic worlds and the qualities of a certain element: Atzilut (Wands, Fire), Bria (Cups, Water), Yetzirah (Swords, Air), Assia (Pentacles, Earth).
I see no reason to dwell on these maps in detail - just show a few images. If you wish, you yourself can find the Golden Dawn Tarot Gallery and see the curly cards in more detail.
Features of the interpretation of cards
The Order of the Golden Dawn did not have a tradition of turning over cards, so I do not advise you to do this. But the shadow aspects of the card can also be judged by a direct image - you just need to assess the influence of its “neighbors” on the Arcana according to the alignment. When interpreting the cards created by the Cicero couple, one can rely on Kabbalistic and astrological correspondences, and not look at drawings alone. These correspondences greatly expand the symbolic field of the Arcana.
What issues is the deck suitable for?
I will say even more: the Tarot of the Golden Dawn is suitable not only for considering absolutely any issues, but also allows you to meditate, tune in to the energy of the Arcana. Using these colorful cards, you can also begin to study the magical traditions of this famous occult Order. The only thing I want to note is that it seems to me a little incorrect to turn to such a powerful esoteric deck on trifling matters. To figure out what awaits you tomorrow and decide which dress is better to wear on a date, it is better to choose simpler cards.
Who is the card for?
- Magicians and tarot readers who understand the teachings of the Golden Dawn
- For those who have already worked with Taro Thoth
- Beginners who are not afraid to learn a new system from scratch
- Astrologers and everyone, studies Kabbalah
- For those who are looking for a serious deck with rich symbolism for professional practice
For a detailed study of the Magical Tarot of the Golden Dawn, the book of the authors - Sandra Tabata and Chick Cicero, as well as any literature on the traditions of the Golden Dawn, for example, the works of Israel Regardie, is ideal. By the way, the book of the four Ciceros usually comes directly with the deck, so you don’t have to look for and buy it separately. It is also freely available on the Internet.
Cover designer Alexey Ignatov
© Alexey Ignatov, 2017
© Alexey Ignatov, cover design, 2017
ISBN 978-5-4485-2951-1
Created with the intelligent publishing system Ridero
The Dawn of the Occult Revival
The Order of the Golden Dawn did not last long, but it contributed so much to the modern magic of the Western tradition that it is difficult to overestimate its merits. The previously scattered materials were collected by the adherents of the Order, translated, and brought into the system. Goetia, Enochian magic, the magic of Abramelin rose from oblivion, magical and divinatory practices developed into a harmonious, harmonious system, which, one way or another, influenced almost all modern occult knowledge. The merits of the no longer existing Order are really great, many books have been written on its history, which now everyone can study in detail, and the system of magic, once strictly secret and accessible only to a few initiates, has been published and made public - and this means that now anyone can see it.
It is this system that gave Western magic many masters who began their journey with the Golden Dawn. Including the masters who created the most popular modern Tarot decks - it was Arthur Edward White and Aleister Crowley who were dedicated to the Golden Dawn. And it was the Tarot deck used by the Order of the Golden Dawn that largely determined what Tarot White and Tarot Thoth would be like, as well as numerous clones based, in turn, on these decks.
And if you've been wondering why White swapped the 8th and 11th Arcana, or why he calls the Fool the zeroth Arcana but describes him as the penultimate card in the deck, then the answers lie not in his cards, but in the Golden Dawn deck. Even the appearance of the Tarot White, which deserved the title of the most popular deck in the world, became possible for only one reason - the Golden Dawn deck was considered strictly secret. More precisely, not a deck, but decks - at a certain stage of initiation, each adherent of the Order drew his own deck, following the model and descriptions of the Order, expressing the subtleties of his understanding of the system.
Therefore, modern Golden Dawn Tarot cards are somewhat different in detail and in the manner of depicting decks that use and beat the same symbols. And these are not just divination cards - this is one of the fundamental pillars of modern Western magic. That's right: Tarot cards are part of an integral system. None of the famous adepts who left their mark on the Tarot was a "tarologist". Moreover, none of them knew the word "tarologist". Crowley was a magician initiated into the Order of the Golden Dawn and later into the Order of the Oriental Templars. White was a magician, and although it was the deck of cards and the book dedicated to it that made him famous, he wrote many works on magic and the cabal, and he was also an initiated adept of the Golden Dawn. Papus, Levi, Case, Wirth - they were all magicians, and they owned the Tarot system precisely as part of a higher and more extensive knowledge - the Western sacred tradition.
The Tarot deck that I will use is created by Israel Regardie, this is not the only, but, in my opinion, the best version of the Golden Dawn cards.
There are decks that are richer in symbolism, but more difficult for a first acquaintance. There are cards that are more refined from an artistic point of view - but the external gloss often only masks the essence of the cards and leads away from the symbols hidden in them. The Regardie deck will become your guide to the Golden Dawn Tarot system, concise, clear, capable of becoming an excellent working tool for divination, and for magical work, and for studying cards as a philosophical and mystical system.
Tarot is more than an oracle for divination. Owning the very essence of the cards, understanding the archetypes behind them, can become the basis of all your magical practice, mystical research and spiritual growth. You will understand that everything in the world can be compared with cards, and sometimes one Arcana expresses some ideas much clearer and shorter than long explanations. Even now, reading these lines, you receive information that is still simply expressed in words and which you have to take on faith. This is the transfer of knowledge. This is the process of the Arcana Hierophant. When this knowledge from just read lines becomes your personal, inner understanding, when you become aware of what you read, understand, study the cards yourself and find your vision, your symbols, find the details that no one explained to you - you will follow the path of the Hermit. And one day you will make a breakthrough and be able to rise to a new level of knowledge and step beyond the veil of the Priestess, into the world of secret knowledge that cannot be expressed in words. Arcana are all around you, in every action and word you are confronted with the forces described by the Tarot cards.
These forces are expressed in the plots of mythology, in astrological symbolism, encrypted in the doctrines of Kabbalah and magical rituals. The same forces are turned into symbolic drawings on the cards. They are portrayed in different ways, expressing different points of view - but the essence remains the same. And so the Tarot cards turned out to be connected with Kabbalah, and with astrology, and with all other areas of Western magic. The doctrine of the relationship of the Tarot card, the Elements, the Planets, the Sephiroth, the Signs of the Zodiac, which until recently constituted the secret of the Order of the Golden Dawn, is now open and can be studied in detail. This doctrine became the fundamental basis of what is now called the English School of Tarot.
This is where we'll start. And also with what in general is the Order of the Golden Dawn, and who is Israel Regardie. And only after the general system has become clear, let's move on to the study of the cards themselves, to their symbolism and meaning, principles of interpretation and examples of layouts. But let's start with the question - who are these people? What is the Order of the Golden Dawn?
What are we even talking about here?
The history of the Order began at the end of the 19th century, at the height of the craze for spiritualism and the revival of interest in magic. Three respectable British gentlemen, London coroner, doctor, Freemason William Wynn Westcott; priest, writer, freemason Adolphus Frederick Arthur Woodford; and the Rosicrucian, Kabbalist, Freemason William Robert Woodman, became the owners of a strange encrypted manuscript, which, according to Woodford, contained some marginal notes made by the hand of Eliphas Levi, which proves its antiquity and truth - the manuscript passed from hand to hand, passing on secret knowledge accessible only to the initiated.
The origin of the manuscript is still not exactly known - it is only clear that it really existed. Whether it was really a collection of ancient secrets, the creation of the British gentlemen themselves, or the anonymous work of an unknown adept, is not known. However, the manuscript contained a description of a magical system that continued the ideas of the Rosicrucian teachings. It turned out to be not so difficult to read it, since the cipher with which it was encrypted turned out to be quite famous and in wide circulation since the 17th century. But this is where the work stalled - it is not enough just to translate the words, you also need to understand their meaning!
And Westcott turned for help to one of the most important figures in modern magical history - already at that time an eminent expert on occult secrets and ancient texts, Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers. Under his leadership, on the basis of the Rosicrucian rituals described in the manuscript, the creation of a new system of magic began.
But “new” is not romantic, and according to the laws of the genre, any magical concept must certainly be ancient, true and traditional. Fortunately, the study of the manuscript led the gentlemen to the trail of Anna Sprengel, a Nuremberger who was probably a highly initiated Rosicrucian. Westcott sent a letter, received a response, and in the course of a lively correspondence, Anna Sprengel confirmed that the described rituals were part of an ancient magical tradition, and also dedicated Westcott, Woodman and Mathers to high magical degrees and gave permission for the creation of a new magical Order.
The very knowledge of the Order, as it was believed, went back to the Secret Leaders - a secret group of adepts of the highest level, who knew all the secrets of the world and secretly guided the spiritual evolution of mankind. And just like that, the Order of the Golden Dawn, (perhaps unexpectedly for its founders) became the heir to the majestic sacred magical tradition. The order began to gain momentum, members of the organization arrived, new branches were opened, until the correspondence was suddenly interrupted. In response to another letter, a message was received that Anna Sprengel was dead, that her actions were not approved by the Rosicrucian brotherhood, and if the adherents of the Golden Dawn want to continue their activities, then they themselves should establish contact with the Secret Leaders.
This fascinating story is marred only by some doubts about its authenticity. Alas, it is far from a fact that Anna Sprengel really existed, and even more so that she really conveyed some ancient secrets to the Order. However, Mathers announced that contact had been made with the Secret Chiefs, and they confirmed the correctness of the work of the Order. Gradually, all the reins of government in the organization went to Mathers, and his companions retired.
Perhaps Anna Sprengel was just a myth, fabricated in order to give weight to the new magical system, but this does not change the simple fact - the system was a success. And, above all, it was precisely through the efforts of Mathers, who, with incredible diligence and perseverance, collected, translated and combined the most disparate sources. Kabbalah and demonology, medieval grimoires and Tarot cards, Enochian magic, all the disparate fragments of the occult system, which originally existed separately from one another, were polished and combined into an impeccable mosaic of harmonious and beautiful magical teachings. The greatest magicians of their time received their education here. Books that later became classics were first translated into modern languages. With a unique talent for organizing information and finding common details, Mathers turned disparate fragments into a truly coherent system. Complete and strictly secret, each member of the Order swore an oath to remain silent. That is why the maps of the Golden Dawn remained secret.
White's book is called The Illustrated Key to the Tarot, a great title, hinting that the essence of the cards is not to be found in the book, but in the drawings. White draws ram's heads on the throne of the Emperor, the Sign of Venus on the shield of the Empress, on the Arcana of the Priestess at the feet of the female figure is a crescent moon, on her chest is a crucifixion cross, and on her head is a crown. These are not just drawings, these are hints and indications of the correspondence of the cards of astrology and Kabbalah. The ram's heads speak of the constellation of Aries, with which the Emperor is associated, the crown of the Priestess - to the connection of her path with Kether - but White had the right to only leave a hint, but not write it directly. Secret of the Order!
And in many ways he had to disguise himself as the older system of the Marseille Tarot, well known at that time. He described the meaning of reversed cards - although he knew how to work only with the upright position. He describes the Fool as the penultimate card, but puts the number “0” on it - at that time the Fool was considered exactly the penultimate Arcana, and he was placed at the beginning of the deck in the Order of the Golden Dawn, which he knew very well, but had no right to tell White. White's tarot deck is full of allusions in which he refers to the Golden Dawn system, but cannot say anything openly.
However, it's time to call a spade a spade. The Golden Dawn Tarot system is the English Tarot School. In addition to it, there is a second great current, called the French School. The difference arose from Mathers's short book (secret, at least at the time of publication, of course) called Book T, in which he described the specific features of the Golden Dawn system, which became the basis for the subsequent development of the Tarot. The French school goes back to Eliphas Levi. The difference at first glance is not great, but entails very significant differences.
Eliphas Levi was not the first to suggest that there is a connection between the 22 letters of Hebrew and the 22 Major Arcana of the Tarot, but it was he who first stated this directly and published a system of correspondences between Hebrew and cards, which for the first time linked Tarot cards with Kabbalah, since Hebrew letters are also path on the Tree of Life. And, drawing parallels between the Tree of Life and the Tarot, Levi did not invent something original, but simply compared them in order, considering that the first card is the first letter and so on. And since in the system he used, the deck began with the Magician, and the Fool was considered the penultimate card, it was the Magician who was assigned to the first letter - Aleph. It is these decks in which the Magician begins the deck and corresponds to the first letter of Hebrew, and are called French.
Mathers, in turn, was also not the first to suggest putting the Fool at the front of the deck - but the first to do so in practice. And the decks in which the first card is the Fool, which goes under the number Zero, and corresponds to the letter Aleph (and the Magician to the second letter, Beth) is the English Tarot. The Tarot of White, with all its memberless clones and imitations, the Tarot of Thoth and all the decks that come from him - in a word, most of the decks that you have seen - is the English Tarot, which comes from the Order of the Golden Dawn system and is based on the book of Mathers.
But the years passed, and squabbles and a struggle for power began in the Order. Such is the property of any hierarchical system - as soon as you give people a hierarchy, the thought of climbing it to the very top begins to fascinate. Gather together people who refuse to obey anyone and leave them alone with each other - and soon one of them will become a leader to whom all others will agree to obey, and he will teach them exactly how to live without obeying. The hierarchy of the Order, intended for gradual spiritual growth and improvement, has turned into an arena of career battles, where it is important to get around everyone and rise as high as possible.
Doubts began to arise that Mathers was indeed in contact with the Secret Chiefs. Many openly expressed dissatisfaction with the meteoric rise of Aleister Crowley, who was patronized by Mathers. There was also conflict between Mathers and Westcott. The situation escalated, developing into power clashes, courts, police appeals and magical wars. The Order began to crumble into separate occult groups that continued to use its magical system, but did not want to obey the old leadership. The popularity of the Order by that time had become so huge that self-proclaimed branches of it began to appear, organized by charlatans posing as initiated magicians.
White urged the Order to completely abandon all types of ritual magic and work with the astral and focus exclusively on Christian mysticism - but did not find support and left the Order along with a group of like-minded people. Crowley had a serious quarrel with Mathers and left Dawn in the same way. One by one, significant adepts left the Order, forming their own groups, working on the basis of the Golden Dawn system, and some of them continue to operate to this day.
The order was founded in 1887. By 1897, when the full leadership of the Order passed to Mathers, it was an organization that brought together hundreds of trained magicians, many of whom, in addition to magic, also excelled in everyday life - under the roof of the order there was a place for famous actors, poets, high-ranking military men, even Nobel Prize winners. From 1900 the Order began to break up into groups practicing the same system of magic, but not related to each other. During its short history, the Order managed to do more than one could wish for, providing knowledge, rituals, a magical system for many generations of Western magicians, and all modern Western magic, to one degree or another, repels everything that was created in the Golden Dawn.
Until now, there are direct heirs of the Order, practicing the system of magic of the Golden Dawn exactly in the form in which it was created by the founders of the Order. But more importantly, no matter what you do - whether you work with Tarot cards or summon demons, conduct a planetary ritual or read the Enochian keys - you somehow come into contact with the legacy of the Order, which stands at the origins of the occult renaissance of the West. And, importantly in our case, the deck in your hands is most likely also modeled after the Order of the Golden Dawn system.
I hope this moment of pathos inspired you to exploits, because now it's time to answer just one more question before getting down to business - who, then, is this Regardie?
Israel Regardie was born in London in 1907 - which means that he was born too late to become a participant in battles between members of the Order or to participate in its work personally. Therefore, it is not necessary to assume that Regardie's cards are some kind of standard, the True Deck of the Golden Dawn - let me remind you that this never existed, this is not one deck, but a group of decks that differ in details.
For Regardie, the study of magic began in the reading room of the library, where he discovered the books of Aleister Crowley and wrote to the author, and was soon on his way to Paris, where he became Crowley's secretary and assistant. Traveling with him, Regardie met another celebrity of Western magic, Dion Fortune, and joined her Order of the Morning Star, one of the shards of the Golden Dawn, who continue to practice her magical system. In addition to magic, Regardie was engaged in the study of psychology, psychotherapy, and also took part in the work of the Paracelsian Research Society, one of the few organizations practicing laboratory alchemy.
A little later, other decks appeared - the Tarot of the Golden Dawn of Sandra and Chica Cicero, the Tarot of the Rituals of the Golden Dawn, the Tarot of the Temple of the Golden Dawn, and so on. All of these decks vary quite a lot in detail, and some of them emphasize the art more than the meaning of the cards, but there are some that directly inherit the tradition of the Order. Until his death, in 1985, Regardie took part in the work on the Cicero deck, another, symbolically more complex, heir to the Golden Dawn Tarot. And, above all, thanks to him and his deck, we can see, study, and use (very successfully) the Golden Dawn Tarot deck, the ancestor and ideological inspirer of most of the most serious and popular modern Tarot decks.
It is important to understand that the Tarot meant much more to the Golden Dawn than just another divinatory tool can mean. These cards have become one of the foundations of the entire magical system, they are associated with astrology, Kabbalah, magical rituals, and serve as a description of the system of spiritual growth of the adept. If the Tree of Life of Kabbalah is a map of the entire Universe, then Tarot cards are an illustrated guidebook that describes the most remote corners of this Universe in colorful detail. Tarot is much more than just a divination oracle. Tarot is an occult system.
Golden Dawn Tarot as an occult system
Everything described in this section applies not only to the Golden Dawn Tarot itself, but will also be true (with some rare deviations) for all English School Tarot decks. The first thing that catches your eye, the brightest and most recognizable are the four important points that are used by the English Tarot School. First of all - the Fool is considered the zero Arcana and opens the deck. Further, Strength is Arcana number 8, and Justice number 11. Third, inverted cards are not used in the layouts.
The fourth, less general but very convenient, is the use of the naming system for the Minor Arcana. Of course, they are not traced - White began the solemn procession of traced Minor Arcana, equipped with plot drawings, but the names of the cards themselves have taken root and are used in different decks. If you have worked with the Tarot of Thoth, for example, you know that the 8 of Pentacles is called Prudence, the 9 of Pentacles is Profit, and so on. This makes it easier and faster to memorize the meanings of the cards and is very convenient in working with the layout. The advice to “be reasonable” is much clearer than the advice to “do as the 8 of Pentacles commands” (although, of course, the meaning of the card is by no means reduced to one word, and sometimes the names do not quite accurately express the essence).
Joseph Gurney
Golden Dawn Tarot
Introduction
The alleged author of the Cipher Manuscripts, known under the pseudonym "Fräulein Sprengel", certainly considered Tarot a very important subject in the Golden Dawn. Six folios - representing ten percent of the total - deal with Tarot lectures that were provided to members of the 3=8 Grade of Practitioners. References to the Tarot occur with progressive frequency throughout the training in the Golden Dawn, as one progresses through the grades from Adeptus Minor and up.
The main thing to remember about the Golden Dawn Tarot is that it is definitely not only a Divination system. If the person entering the Golden Dawn had absolutely no prior knowledge of the Tarot or its purpose, it would seem to him that the Order teaches an academic discipline -
Firstly: Tarot Trumps are visual symbols of the beginner's development along the Tree of Life, and along the steps of the Order itself.
Secondly: Tarot in general is a method of combining Astrology and Kabbalah, in particular in the use of the Hebrew alphabet and the teachings of the Sephiroth, Cynarot, and the Tree of Life in general.
Third: The Tarot is the core of a very complex theory about the human Aura, Astrology, Ceremonial Magick, and the intricate interplay of energies between the four worlds of the Cabal.
Fourth: yes, Tarot can be used for divination. But even this is not mere guesswork. The teaching that was given to the initiates of the Golden Dawn says that Tarot Divination should be approached with as much care as an entire ceremonial magical operation—literally, in fact. The recommended method of tarot divination in the Golden Dawn is actually a synthesis of cartomancy practice, ceremonial magic and clairvoyance.
Fifth, the Tarot was incorporated directly into the ceremonial magic of the Golden Dawn - most obviously through its incorporation into the Enochian system. The specific notes of the individual squares of the Enochian tables, as defined in the Golden Dawn, require knowledge of the Tarot to appreciate all the various forces involved in the work.
There were further formulations about the use of the Tarot developed by members of the Golden Dawn, but which were not fully developed before the Order itself closed in 1903. However, Golden Dawn successor groups developed them to a high degree. Of these, the best known to modern occultists concern the practice of Working with the Paths on the Tree of Life, in which the Tarot Trumps are focal points for clairvoyant excursions along the Paths that link the various Sephira. The earliest reference I can find mentioning "Working with Paths" as an actual practice seems to have been created J W Brodie - Innes . This now seems to be a widespread practice, described by occult writers such as Chic & Tabatha Cicero; Osbourne Phillips ; and Nick Farrell; to name just a few.
The Tarot was also mentioned in a document written for the Order by MacGregor Mathers, in the context of the "Theory of Minor Adepts" curriculum. appeared over the years, there is a possibility that this practice was actually written, and perhaps a copy is somewhere in an unknown archive.
In general, we must remember that in The Order the Tarot was meant to be an important key to unlocking the full potential of the Golden Dawn system. Assuming that the goal of the Golden Dawn system is to access the Tree of Life in all its many intricacies, one can appreciate the Tarot as a powerful magical tool.
A Brief History of the Tarot before the Golden Dawn
In order to understand how important the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was to the Tarot, it is first necessary to appreciate the backstory of the Tarot prior to the founding of said society. The first accurate evidence of a deck of seventy-eight Tarot cards comes from the end of the fifteenth century - “ Sola - Buschi Tarocchi ”(Sola-Bushi Tarocci), dating from 1491. There are earlier decks such as the deck Visconti (Visconti), which dates from about 1442 - 1447, but they are either incomplete or were not deliberately made with the full set of seventy-eight cards as we know them today. Note that the so-called "Visconti-Sfordz" deck that is currently available is a modern equivalent close to the original decks. Visconti , as there is no historical mention that the original deck had a "Devil" or "Tower" card. The earliest evidence of playing cards in Europe at all dates back to 1367, when they were banned in Bern, Switzerland, implying that they had been in existence since at least the middle of the fourteenth century.
Despite the historical evidence that tarot decks first appeared sometime between the mid-fourteenth and late fifteenth centuries, the first evidence of their use for divinatory purposes does not date until the late eighteenth century, at least three hundred years later. This was at the time when Antoine Court de Gébelin first claimed that the Tarot was in fact the "Book of Thoth" - a repository of the ancient secrets of Egypt, brought to Europe by the Gypsies. De Gébelin also initially claimed that the twenty-two trump cards were related to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, but gave no correspondence. One of de Gébelin's contemporaries, however, expressed more specific considerations, arguing that the trump cards should actually be read as if "The Fool" was the consonance of Tau, and others in the reverse order established by Levi about seventy years later (see infra).
This order is at odds with modern correspondences, but it is worth noting the following three points. First: both de Gébelin and his contemporary, de Melle, placed "The Fool" at the head of the Tarot, before the so-called "Play of Cups" or "Juggler" lasso - which is the old name for the "Magician". Secondly: they related the suits of the Tarot to the suits of the ordinary game of cards as follows: Spades, Swords, Hearts, Cups, Diamonds, Batons (i.e. Wands), and Clubs, Coins (i.e. Pentacles). Some cartomants find this somewhat counter-intuitive, and instead attribute Diamonds to Pentacles and Clubs to Wands as well as Papus, although he quite inconsistently switched from his correspondences back to those of De Gébelin partly through his book.
Third: When using Trump de Melle / the Hebrew correspondence of the letters, the letter Tzadi corresponds to "King" (an old name for "Emperor") - a fact used by Aleister Crowley in the twentieth century.
We must also remember that when de Gébelin and de Melle wrote, Rosetta Stone had not yet been translated, so their assumptions about the ancient Egyptian origin for the word " Tarot "There is no real basis. Indeed, there is no historical basis for claiming that the Tarot originated in Egypt at all: the idea of the "Book of Thoth" was one of the many myths that tend to crop up from time to time in the Western Mysteries.
Yet, like all good myths, it continued to act on people's imaginations. Thus Eliphas Levi confidently asserted the relation of the Hebrew letters to the twenty-two trump cards of the Tarot, attempting to interpret them in a Cabalistic way. Levi's system of correspondences remains extremely authoritative even today, especially among continental occultists such as Papus, Franz Bardon, Ouspensky and Sadhu Mouni, who was directly influenced by the Russian G. O. Mebes.
The Levi Tarot trump correspondence system is presented in Appendix One: to compare it with revisions later made by the Golden Dawn.
“Juggler”, which in modern decks is called “Magician”. Its origin comes from what we now call the “magic stage” and “manipulation”, which in ancient times were both part of the same art. This is exemplified by Marseille's Juggler Tarot card, which is depicted playing the game of cup and ball.
"Pope" and "Pope" are ancient names for "High Priestess" and "Hierophant" respectively.
"Flaw and Virtue" is the same card as the "Lovers" from the Tarot of Marseille - Levi here describes the two figures that can be seen on the card, representing Flaw and Virtue respectively.
From his description of "Kether" Levi refers to that arcanum that at present would be called the "World" or "Universe." The rest of the trump names are similar enough to their modern counterparts that I don't need to explain them.
What Levi did was take the trump cards, in the order they were in the Tarot de Marseille, and simply match them with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, without trying to change their order. Hence, the first numbered trump card, "The Juggler", is attributed to Aleph, the second numbered one, "Pope," Beth, and so on. The unnumbered trump card, “Fool,” is placed in penultimate position (ie twenty-first). The following should be noted:
Note that "Justice" is the Tarot trump numbered eighth and "Strength" is the eleventh. This is the original order of these two cards as shown by old decks such as the Tarot de Marseille. Some modern commentators have unknowingly assumed that when Crowley ranked "Equilibrium" as the eighth trump and "Lust" as the eleventh, he somehow changed their order: in fact, he left the order of these cards intact compared to traditional tarot decks.
Note also that while certain Qabalistic correspondences of Levi's trumps can be inferred in comparison to the Sefer Yetzirah, Levi himself avoided doing so except in two obvious cases: "Pope" and "Empress." He also implied that the "Juggler" character was a Mercurial figure. The fact that Levi avoided giving clear astrological correspondences to the Tarot trumps led some people to claim that Levi knew his associations to the Hebrew alphabet were wrong, but he was bound by vows of secrecy from revealing the true order (there is no evidence for this).
Golden Dawn
The Order of the Golden Dawn was founded in 1888 by Winnie Wescott, Robert Woodman, and S. L. MacGregor Mathers. This happened as a direct result of Wescott's 1886 acquisition of about 60 folios of the so-called "Cypher Manuscript." Various speculations have been put forward as to where this Cipher Manuscript came from, but the only primary source on the matter - Westcott himself - is adamant in stating that it comes from Priest F. Woodford, a fellow member of the SRIA (The Rosicrucian Society in England), and Westcott's mentor in the Cabal. And where and from whom Woodford himself acquired the folios is unknown.
The Cipher Manuscripts are of primary importance when considering the Golden Dawn's contribution to the Tarot. They demonstrate that the Tarot has been an extremely important part of the Golden Dawn teachings from the very beginning.
The correspondence of the Tarot trumps to the letters of the Hebrew Alphabet, and their astrological correspondences, are listed in Appendix Two. Therefore, the trumps are in essentially the same order as in the Tarot of Marseilles, but with two defining differences. First, "The Fool" is placed at the head of the Trumps - after the example of de Gébelin. Secondly, "Strength" corresponds to Leo and the letter Tet, and "Justice" corresponds to Libra, and the letter Lamed. It now appears that in the Golden Dawn Knowledge Lectures these two trump cards were renumbered as 8 and 11 respectively. However, the Cipher Manuscript, although it used the astrological and Hebrew attributions of the two trump cards, essentially retained the old numbering.
With respect to the Minor Arcana, the suits are referred to as "Wands" (i.e. Sceptres or Batons), Cups, Swords, and "Pentacles" (Discs or Coins). Turning from the Minor Arcana to the suits of ordinary playing cards, the Golden Dawn follows the scheme of de Gebelin, which partially coincides with Papus, depending on which chapter of the "Tarot of the Bohemians" to read, that is: Wands - Diamonds, Cups - Hearts, Swords - Spades, Pentacles - Clubs.
Court Cards The Golden Dawn calls: Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses - the latter are equivalent to the Knights and Jacks of other decks.
How Tarot was taught in the Golden Dawn
A Golden Dawn novice first encountered mention of the Tarot in the Zealot degree, that is, at the second level, when he or she was given the task of memorizing the names of the twenty-two trumps, and the four suits. At this stage only memorization and not analysis was necessary.
Assuming that the novice had successfully passed the Zealot examination, he or she was entitled to be introduced to higher grades in which more and more images of the Tarot were revealed to them. In the next degree, namely the Theorist, in the first part of the ceremony, a large reproduction of the trump card of the Tarot "Universe" is shown, prominently located on the central altar. The next ceremony for the degree of Practitioner was in three parts: in the first two, the novice was shown the trump cards of "Judgment" and "Sun" respectively. At the ceremony of the fifth class, Philosopher, the candidate was shown three trump cards: "Moon", "Star" and "Tower." In each case, various ceremonies follow the introductory explanation of the Golden Dawn: as the Candidate is advanced to a new degree, originating in the mysteries of the Sephira of the Tree of Life, and in those of all the paths leading to the Sephira. Hence: Number
|
room |
Degree name |
The candidate is initiated into… |
|
0º=0 |
Neophyte |
|
|
1º=10 |
Zealot |
Malkuth |
|
2º=9 |
Theorist |
Path of Tau (Universe) Yesod |
|
3º=8 |
Practitioner |
Path of Shin (Judgment), Path of Resh (Sun); move |
|
4º=7 |
Philosopher |
Path of Koph (Moon), Path of Tzadi (Star), Path of Pe (Tower) Netzach |
The Practicus degree was the most interesting in terms of Tarot studies, as this degree gave the beginner detailed information about the correspondences of the Tarot trumps. In the original Practitioner ceremony, the new 3=8 was shown a chart of trumps/letters from the Hebrew alphabet, across the path Resh . One of the officials Hegemon , pointed to the diagram to the candidate, saying:
This shows the true and authentic correspondence of the trump cards of the Tarot to the Hebrew alphabet, which has long been a mystery among the Initiates and which must be carefully hidden from the outside world.
The display of this particular diagram to the candidate during the Practitioner's ceremony is specified in the Cipher Manuscript.
However, in Israel Regardie's 1937 version of the same ritual, this part was omitted, indicating that at least some temples have adopted the practice of removing parts from rituals.
However, in both early and later temples, the new Practitioner was given instruction about the Tarot trumps as part of the Knowledge lecture for the degree. Here is what is curious: the Tarot Lecture, compiled by MacGregor Mathers, which, apparently, was intended for Practitioners, differs significantly from the Cipher Manuscript.
The Cipher manuscript version essentially constitutes an explanation as to why the astrological and qabalistic correspondences of the Trumps of the Golden Dawn differ from those already published. For example, as to why "Juggler" is associated with Beth, the letter that should correspond to the planet, and not Aleph, which corresponds to Air, the Cipher Manuscript says this:
The Juggler is a natural symbol of Mercury the god of tricksters and also of deeper knowledge.
Mathers' version takes a different approach. According to him, each trump of the Tarot should be thought of as the combined appearance of the Sephira located at the upper end of the path in question, the astrological meaning of the path itself, and the Sephira located in them along the path. So to take the example of “The Juggler” again, Mathers says:
1. Juggler = Crown of Understanding, beginning of material production, Major Mobile action through the Philosophical Mercury on Saturn.
That is: "The Juggler" is attributed to the path of Beth. At the top of the path is Kether, which is the Crown, and also represents the Main Movement, and the idea of "beginning." Beth itself is attributed by the Golden Dawn to the planet Mercury. At the base of the path is Binah, which is Understanding, and also represents Saturn and the general idea of motherhood, birth, that is, “material production”. In a similar manner, each of Mathers' descriptions of the Tarot trumps, as may rightly be seen, are syntheses of the corresponding parts of the Tree of Life.
Both Tarot lectures also give some brief explanation of the Minor Arcana. The Cipher Manuscript says very succinctly:
Cards of each suit: 4 suits are 4 worlds. The 16 cards are the lower aspect of the Tetragrammaton.
In other words: Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles respectively represent Atzilut, Beria, Yetzirah and Assiah, while the King, Queen, Prince and Princess respectively represent Yod, Heh, Vau and Heh on their respective planes. Mathers, on the other hand, addresses the Minor Arcana thus:
King and Queen - correlations of Abba and Aima in a specific suit; The Knight or Prince corresponds to Microprosopus, and the Knave or Princess, who used to be a female figure, is assigned to the Bride ( Kallah or Malkah).
This brings us to the subject of the Judgment Cards representing the Tetragrammaton and also indicates how the teaching of the cabalistic Cynarots can be incorporated into both the Tarot and the Tree of Life.
Everything I have described so far has been a collection of instructions regarding the Tarot given to members of the Outer Order. It was all theoretical knowledge to remember: initiates were not expected to do practical work or divination, and hence the meanings of the Tarot cards in divination were not touched upon.
How Tarot was taught in the "Inner Order"
After spending a minimum of seven months in the degree of Philosopher and passing the required test, the novice was qualified to be introduced to the degree of “Door of the Ways of the Vault of the Adept.” This degree has no direct equivalent in other Rosicrucian orders such as SRIA . According to the Golden Dawn idiom, she represented the upper and lower half of Tiphareth. This was done by the founders of the Golden Dawn to complete the symbolism of the outer order, which would otherwise be left unfinished by the ceremony of the Adeptus Minor.
At the Portal Ceremony itself, the candidate is again presented with three more tarot cards: "Death", "Devil" and "Temperance", representing the Paths leading to Tiphareth from Netzach, Hod and Yesod respectively. Interestingly, two versions of the "Temperance" card were used - a modern version, and one that was considered an older version.
In later and more modern temples of the Golden Dawn, there has been a tendency to encourage initiates to practice tarot divination at the Door grade, and even from the Practician grade and up. However, it is only when the novice reaches the degree of Adeptus Minor that the genius of Tarot teaching in the Order is fully revealed. Much of the teaching of the Inner Order of the Tarot was compiled by MacGregor Mathers, no doubt with the help of his wife Moina and, if the legends are to be believed, the Secret Chiefs of the Third Order. It is safe to say that there is no source given for the reference to the teachings of the inner order in the Cipher Manuscript, thus the Mathers appear to have relied on their own genius.
One of the most important internal documents of the order is the so-called “Book of T .”, which contains a complete description of the meanings of the trump cards of the Tarot and the Minor Arcana for prediction. It also gives a system of correspondences of the Minor Arcana and various decades of the Zodiac. One of Mathers' boldest claims was that this Tarot document was in fact the same "Book of T ", which was said to have been found in the hand of Brother CRC when his grave was discovered by Brother NN , and about which it was said:
… [in] the wake of the Bible [it] is our greatest treasure, which must be presented to the condemnation of the world.
Mathers also went on to claim that the document was called "The Book of T ”, because it meant the “Book of Thoth” - hence “proving” not only the ancient Egyptian, but also the Rosicrucian origin of the Tarot! Unfortunately, as far as science knows, this proves nothing. It must be assumed that the Secret Chiefs delivered a copy of the Rosicrucian manifestos to Mathers, which differs from the published versions, which are usually called parchment in hand. CRC's Brother, as called "I" instead of "T".
However, Mathers continued to develop the theme of Tarot teaching. In addition to the so-called "Book T” is also:
Fully disclosed method of real tarot prediction;
A manuscript that details the method of matching all the cards of the Tarot deck not only to the signs of the Zodiac, but also to all the starry heavens;
A further manuscript tells how the Tarot cards not only correspond to the major constellations, but a very obscure manner in which Divine influence is exchanged down through the four cabalistic worlds.
This manuscript, the last one mentioned, is quite difficult to understand because its practical application is not immediately obvious. However, it is clear from documents now in the public domain that it was intended to be the first part of some very advanced teaching regarding the Aura that was developed in an order called the “Holy Order of the Sun.”
It was expected that the Adept Minor would be able not only to divine with the help of the Tarot, but also with the help of Astrology and Geomancy. In addition, the newcomer was required to know the meanings of the various Tarot cards in connection with the teaching of Enochian magic in the Order. For those who were talented enough to pass the first two stages - the so-called Novice substage - and the Zealot Adept Minor - were said to be further tarot training, called "Tarot Divination translated into Magical Action," as mentioned earlier.
The Meanings of the Cards in Divination According to the Golden Dawn
When it comes to the use of cards for Divination, their meanings come partly from the Cartomantic tradition, but also partly from the particular astrological and cabalistic associations given by the Golden Dawn.
Regarding the Major Arcana, several authors have argued that the astrological and cabalistic meanings of the Major Arcana can be rationally justified, in relation to the twelve signs of the Zodiac, and the twelve houses with which these signs are associated, and the traditional predictive meanings of the cards, and quite simply with the images of the cards themselves.
So, for example: the appointment of "Justice" to Libra is justified by the images of the "scales of justice"; likewise the assignment of "Strength" to Leo is justified by the fact that strength is a quality associated with Leo, and also by the obvious fact that Leo is depicted on the face of the card.
And one more thing: the association of the "Emperor" with Aries is justified on the basis that the meaning of the card in divination is generally in harmony with the signs of Aries, the coordinating Fire ruled by Mars (and in which the Sun is exalted).
Some Trumps seem to cause difficulty at first, but they can be resolved by looking at the meanings of the cards in divination and comparing them with the astrological houses. One question that sometimes puzzles beginners is why "Moon" is associated with Pisces and not the Moon as the name suggests. The answer is that the meaning of the "Moon" in divination - charm, deceit, betrayal - corresponds to the twelfth astrological house (enemies in secret), which is directly related to the twelfth sign of the Zodiac, that is, Pisces. By rationalizing it this way, an elegant solution is provided that does not force the natural order of the tarot trumps to change much.
In the same way the association of the "Chariot" with Cancer is difficult to explain until we remember that in Horary astrology, one of the meanings of the fourth astrological house is "the end of the problem". That is, it should connect the "Chariot" (which means triumph - bringing things to a successful conclusion) with the fourth astrological house - which is associated with the fourth sign of the Zodiac, which is Cancer.
The Minor Arcana is a slightly more complex issue. The meaning of any given card in the Minor Arcana is subject to the following influences:
A sephirah of the Tree of Life corresponding to the card number (e.g. Ace = Keter, Two = Chokmah, Three = Binah, etc.) or, in the case of Court cards, the letter of the Tetragrammaton associated with the card (e.g. King = Yod, Queen = He, prince = Vaf, Princess = He small);
The element the suit is associated with (eg Wands = Fire, Cups = Water, Swords = Air, Pentacles = Earth);
Traditional cartomancy meanings of suits and cards in general, and to individual cards in particular; and the influence of the decades of the signs of the Zodiac to which the chart corresponds, together with the influence of the planet with which this sign is associated.
I want to pause to explain the last of the above criteria, since this is the point of the widest divergence between the Tarot of the Golden Dawn, and other divinatory systems such as that proposed by Papus. First, the Golden Dawn had a special method of assigning planets to the decans of a zodiac sign, which does not correspond to conventional astrology. In ordinary astrology, the signs are ruled by the planetary rulers of the signs of the same trinity. However, in the Golden Dawn, starting from the Leo decans, the planets are assigned in the order in which they appear in classical astrology, with the proviso that Mars is duplicated at the end of Pisces and at the beginning of Aries.
So for example: in conventional astrology, Sagittarius would be ruled by Jupiter (ruler of Sagittarius itself), Mars (ruler of Aries) and the Sun (ruler of Leo). However, in the Golden Dawn, they are ruled by Mercury, the Moon, and Saturn. If the whole system were to be worked out, one would see that the Golden Dawn method and the ordinary astrological method agree 25% (i.e. nine decades out of thirty-six).
Second: The Golden Dawn had its own method of assigning the Minor Arcana to the decades which is completely different from Papus' method. In the Golden Dawn system, Aces are not directly related to the Zodiac: only cards from two to nine from suits and Court Cards. With respect to the number cards, they all correspond to the Signs of the Trinity associated with their own suit. So for example, the cards assigned to the first twelve decades - that is, the first four signs of the Zodiac - are: (Aries) 2 of Wands, 3 of Wands, 4 of Wands; (Taurus) 5 of Pentacles, 6 of Pentacles, 7 of Pentacles; (Gemini) 8 of Swords, 9 of Swords, 10 of Swords; and Cancer starts the cycle again with 2 of Cups, 3 of Cups and 4 of Cups.
The Golden Dawn method of assigning the Court Cards is again special. Briefly: Kings govern the mutable sign of the element associated with their own suit. Likewise, Queens rule a cardinal sign and princes rule a fixed sign - Princesses do not play a role in the scheme like Aces, they are assigned to different parts of heaven entirely. However: no Figure governs all thirty degrees of its respective sign. Instead, it governs only the first 20 degrees, as well as the last ten degrees of the previous sign. Thus, for example, the King of Wands governs from 21 degrees of Libra to 20 degrees of Sagittarius; The Queen of Pentacles rules from 21 degrees Sagittarius to 20 degrees Capricorn; and the Prince of Swords rules from 21 degrees Capricorn to 20 degrees Aquarius.
The Golden Dawn applies meaning not just to the Zodiac, but to the entire realm of the heavens. The north ecliptic pole - which happens to lie in the constellation Draco - is associated with Kether, and thus with the four Aces: while the Princesses are interpreted as being the "thrones" of the Aces.
Prediction
The issues where there are discrepancies between the Golden Dawn Tarot and other tarot decks is that instead of having "upright" and "inverted" meanings, the cards are either "favorably placed" or "unfavourably placed". The Golden Dawn uses tarot spreads in which the meanings of individual cards are evaluated according to the influence of other cards that are in close proximity. Hence, a card which is surrounded by other cards of a generally harmonious nature is said to be "well placed", if another card is surrounded by inharmonious cards, "badly placed". The exact meaning of a card can also be more specifically reduced by surrounding cards.
So, for example, 5 of Pentacles can mean either financial loss or marital problems. If this card is surrounded by cards of the suit of Pentacles, this will emphasize the financial or material aspects of losing the card. If, on the other hand, she was surrounded by cards of the suit of Cups, then the interpretation regarding marriage or a relationship problem might be better emphasized. When surrounded by Wands, she could indicate problems with the client's business, such as a career: Swords on the other hand could indicate the fact that problems are caused by a struggle or conflict with another person. In the last example mentioned, the exact value could vary enormously, depending on the particular card. If the 5 of Pentacles were next to the 2 of Swords, for example, then this might indicate the possibility that problems could be solved: if however it were 10 of Swords, it would indicate the opposite, these problems would lead to disaster.
Determining whether the suits are naturally antagonistic, harmonious, or neutral to each other can be achieved by taking into account the elements that the suit represents. Wands (Fire) and Cups (Water) are generally mutually antagonistic: so are Swords (Air) and Magical Pentacles (Earth). The Minor Arcana are in harmony with other cards of the same suit, but neutral with the other two suits.
The harmonies of the various Major Arcana can be worked out by taking into account the astrological meanings. So, for example, "Emperor," "Strength," "Temperance," and "Judgment" are all Fire cards and thus fit the cards of the suit of Wands.
Since the meanings of the Minor Arcana depend on a number of different factors (Suit / Element, Sephira, astrological sign, planet, traditional cartomantic meanings), different cards considered as an environment relative to the card can reveal its respective aspects. For example, "Judgment" might give the fiery aspects of the 8 of Wands, but "The Magician" might indicate its mutable aspects. On the contrary, the "Wheel of Fortune" represents Jupiter, which in astrology harms the signs ruled by Mercury and vice versa. Thus, if the "Wheel of Fortune" were considered in relation to the 8 of Wands, then it would be inharmonious with its Movable aspects, and the 8 would be in a bad position. Concerning the actual methods of Divination, the members of the Inner Order have been given a technique called “Opening the Key.” It consisted of five parts - the opening of the question, its development (in three stages) and the conclusion. MacGregor Mathers, who compiled this Order document, recommended that the Soothsayer fully prepare through meditation and the Lesser Rites of the Pentagram and Hexagram, armed with all his or her ritual regalia and paraphernalia. He also advised invoking the element most related to the subject matter to aid divination, and if necessary, use Clairvoyance (passing the cards as in "tattva journeys") to discern the true meaning of the cards appearing in the spread.
Therefore, Golden Dawn Tarot divination is not just a matter of working with the cards and interpreting their meanings: done in its full form, it is a whole magical operation in its own right.
Development of the Tarot after the Golden Dawn
Waite
In 1891 Arthur Edward Waite (1857 - 1942) joined the Golden Dawn. After a three-year hiatus from 1893-1896, he re-entered the Order and joined the second order in 1899. From 1903 to 1914 he led one of the several schismatic factions into which the Order split, which gradually shifted from magic to (esoteric) Christian Mysticism. After that, he formed his own Order, the Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross. Waite is best known today as the person responsible for the popular "Rider-Waite" Tarot deck, which was illustrated by Pamela Colman-Smith (1878 - 1951), who directly joined the Golden Dawn in 1903. From the creation of the deck, Waite wrote:
Miss Pamela Colman-Smith, in addition to her obvious talents, has some knowledge of Tarot values; she was sympathetic to my proposal to correct the symbolism in relation to channels of knowledge that are not presented to the world; and we had help from someone who is very versed in the subject. (accent added).
Who this “one who is very versed in the subject” might be is open to speculation (there was one claim that it was W. B. Its himself). It is quite clear, from a study of the Tarot deck, that Waite follows the Golden Dawn correspondences - although he admits many differences. Although Waite admitted that he admired Papus' work, it is clear from the artwork that the "High Priestess" represents the Moon (due to the presence of the crescent moon); the "Empress" is Venus (there is an obvious symbol); and the "Emperor" is Aries (his throne is adorned with the symbolism of Aries). In addition, the trump cards are numbered in the sequence of the Golden Dawn. However, in many of his books he says that he links the Tarot to the Grail tradition as well. In The Hidden Church of the Holy Grail, he explicitly says that the Tarot figures carry the shrines of the Grail: the Grail or the Chalice being Chalices; the Spear of Destiny, which is the Wands; Sword being Swords obviously; and the Dish or platter being the Pentacles. Mary K. Greer has argued that the artwork for the Minor Arcana is intended to depict various events in the Grail Legend.
Waite is also known for his book The Illustrated Key to the Tarot, in which he further follows the Golden Dawn correspondences - painstakingly avoiding mention of the source of the information. Waite also casually makes a passing reference to the Knight of Swords being Sir Galahad, continuing to speculate that the characters depicted in the deck are heroes from Arthurian or Grail legend.
Crowley
Aleister Crowley (1875 - 1947) is perhaps the most famous occultist of the twentieth century, it is not surprising that his "Tarot of Thoth" is an extremely popular tarot deck. Crowley and the artist Lady Frieda Harris (1877 - 1962) worked on the deck between 1938 and 1943, although it was published in 1969. Crowley entered the Golden Dawn in 1898, but became estranged after the incarnation of Horus, and finally broke with Mathers altogether at 1906. While he was still in the Golden Dawn, he was initiated into the degree of Adeptus Minor: he also acquired all of Allan Bennett's magical papers - including the Golden Dawn papers and the incunabula - when the latter emigrated to India in 1900.
Alistair Cruoli's Thoth Tarot artwork is a highly convoluted story with many influences including:
Tarot, astrological and color attributions of the Golden Dawn;
The revelations that came to Crowley in regard to his own Lieber Al Vel Legis and his Enochian work as described in Vision and Voice;
A different number of Crowley's favorite subjects such as Sexual Magick and Alchemy; and
Projective synthetic geometry Jakob Steiner (1796 - 1863).
Generally speaking, Crowley's deck fits well with the Golden Dawn system, apart from a few differences. As part of Crowley's Law Book received the following cryptic message:
All these old letters of my Book are true; but [Tzadi] is not a Star.
Crowley himself was puzzled for many years as to what Tzadi should be, if not a "Star," and many of his major works are based on the use of traditional Golden Dawn correspondences. However, he ultimately decided that it was not "Star" but "Tsar" i.e. "Emperor," thus interchanging the letters Tzadi and Het (coincidentally, de Melle gives "Emperor" the same letter). Another notable departure from the Golden Dawn is that the Judgment card is replaced by "Aeon", Crowley believed that the Last Judgment happened when he received the Book of the Law: it was therefore now more appropriate to look forward to the Aeon of Horus, of which he identified himself as a prophet.
Apart from the deck itself, Crowley was also the author of the Book of Thoth (Egyptian Tarot), a text that explains the cards. Whilst the descriptions of the cards there clearly demonstrate the novelty of Crowley's thought, the method of divination proposed is nothing more than Crowley's own "Opening the Key of the Golden Dawn", which Crowley originally published unedited on the Equinox about thirty years before the Book of Thoth. Crowley mentioned the Tarot in his writings, so a thorough knowledge of the subject is essential to understanding Thelema and his philosophy of magic in general.
Case
Paul Foster Case (1884 - 1954) was the founder of the Builders of the Holy of Holies ( BOTA ) and the author of the draft of his anonymous Tarot deck. Case was previously a member of Alpha and Omega, one of the schismatic factions into which the Golden Dawn splintered. Most importantly, Case first became involved in the teachings of the Tarot from all occultism in general, and the Golden Dawn tradition in particular.
The Builders of the Holy of Holies Tarot deck is similar in design to Waite. One of the main differences is that the paintings are black and white line drawings: the idea that, as part of their occult training, members of the Holy of Holies Builders would use their knowledge of esoteric color correspondences to color them.
His work on the Tarot as a scholar is in unambiguous correspondence with the Golden Dawn system. Case himself claimed that he had worked out the "correct" (ie Golden Dawn) order of the Tarot trumps before this work was ever published. However, as an occultist, Case did most of the original work on the Tarot, as opposed to simply copying Golden Dawn material: it was the Book of Symbols that he and his Alpha and Omega colleague Michael Witti published around 1919. It is a book of twenty-two "meditations or free verse verses.
Other
Now there are many Golden Dawn Tarot decks that are officially published. These include versions by Robert Wong, Tabata Cicero, Richard Doudschus and Patrizio Evangelisti, while others are as yet unknown. In addition, Schick and Thabata Cicero, in an attempt to recreate the obscurities from the Golden Dawn materials by teaching "Tarot Predictions Translated into Magical Action", published their own system of Tarot magic, which however harmonizes with the teachings of the Order.
Although there are only about half a dozen tarot decks published that are definitely "Golden Dawn" decks, the number of tarot decks inspired by the Golden Dawn is truly enormous and seems to be growing exponentially. This is predominantly because the Golden Dawn teachings gave the world two authoritative decks (Waite and Crowley) that directly inspired numerous others. Many of these are essentially clone decks, although there are a significant number designed by occultists who manage to show both the original thought of the creators and the influence of either Waite or Crowley. When these tarot decks inspire not just divination, but the use of tarot for spiritual, philosophical and magical practices, one can fully appreciate the influence of the Golden Dawn on the basis of modern tarot practice, which is indeed widespread.
Appendix 1
Correspondence of the Major Arcana of the Tarot with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet and some Kabalistic correspondences according to Eliphas Levi
|
Hebrew alphabet letter |
Major Arcana Tarot |
Cabalistic conformity |
|
Aleph |
Juggler |
Air |
|
Beth |
popess |
Moon |
|
Gimel |
empress |
Venus |
|
Dalet |
Emperor |
|
|
Heh |
Priest (Pope) |
Aries |
|
Wow |
Sin and Virtue |
Taurus |
|
Zain |
charioteer |
Twins |
|
Het |
Justice |
Cancer |
|
Tet |
Hermit |
a lion |
|
Iodine |
Wheel of Fortune |
Virgo |
|
cafe |
Force |
|
|
Lamed |
Hanged |
Scales |
|
meme |
Death |
Water |
|
Nun |
Moderation |
Scorpion |
|
Samekh |
Devil |
Sagittarius |
|
Ain |
Tower |
Capricorn |
|
Pe |
Star |
|
|
Tzadi |
Moon |
Aquarius |
|
coffee |
The sun |
Fish |
|
Resh |
Court |
|
|
Shin |
Fool |
Fire |
|
Tau |
"Kether" |
Appendix 2
Compliance with the Major Arcana of the Tarot in the Golden Dawn, according to the knowledge of the Order from the lectures
|
Hebrew alphabet letter |
Number |
Path to Sefer Yetzirah |
Trump Tarot |
Astrological correspondence |
|
Aleph |
Fool |
Air |
||
|
Beth |
Mage |
Mercury |
||
|
Gimel |
V. Priestess |
Moon |
||
|
Dalet |
empress |
Venus |
||
|
Heh |
Emperor |
Aries |
||
|
Wow |
Hierophant |
Taurus |
||
|
Zain |
lovers |
Twins |
||
|
Het |
charioteer |
Cancer |
||
|
Tet |
Force |
a lion |
||
|
Iodine |
Hermit |
Virgo |
||
|
cafe |
Wheel of Fortune |
Jupiter |
||
|
Lamed |
Justice |
Scales |
||
|
meme |
Hanged |
Water |
||
|
Nun |
Death |
Scorpion |
||
|
Samekh |
Moderation |
Sagittarius |
||
|
Ain |
Devil |
Capricorn |
||
|
Pe |
Tower |
Mars |
||
|
Tzadi |
Star |
Aquarius |
||
|
coffee |
Moon |
Fish |
||
|
Resh |
The sun |
The sun |
||
|
Shin |
Court |
Fire |
||
|
Tau |
Universe |
Saturn |
Index
Bibliography
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Index
notes
Cipher Manuscript, folios 51 to 56.
Described in Regardie (1989), pp 463-464.
Regardie, Cicero, Cicero (2002).
Phillips (2001), p19.
Farrell (2003)
DDCF (1898).
De Gebelin (1781)
Ibid. “The whole of the 21 or 22 atouts, the 22 letters of the Egyptian alphabet common to the Hebrews and to the East, and which were also used as numbers, are necessary to keep an account of so many regions.”
DeMellet (1781).
Papus (1892), p36.
Ibid. p322.
Lévi (1896), book two, chapter XXII.
Westcott (1912)
NB: This paper was originally written for the benefit of members of the SRIA, who have a similar though slightly different grade structure to the Golden Dawn.
The Cipher Mss (Anonymous (n.d.), folio 15) specified the 22 Trumps only: the original Zelator ceremony added the qualification of the four suits.
Regardie (…)
Op cit, folio 25.
Regardie (1989).
Op cit, folios 55 and 56.
Regardie (1989) ...
Op cit folio 51.
Regardie (1989) ...
Fama Fraternitatis
Ibid.
E.g. “But if thou wilt prevent the entry of such an evil spirit, thou must draw down White Light from the pole of the Aura above the head from the center of the Coils of the Dragon, and therefrom make a ring of defense.” “Coils of the Dragon” refers here to the Golden Dawn teaching that the constellation Draco corresponded to Kether, and the four Aces of the Tarot. See Shemesh
"VN" (1910).
Case (1933).
Waite (1909).
Waite (1996), p3.
Waite (1909).
Waite, Hidden Church of the Holy Grail, pp600-608.
Featured in Llewellyn's Tarot Reader (2006).
Waite (1910).
Ibid.
NB: Not, as Duquette (2003) suggests, Rudolf Steiner (1861 - 1925), who unlike his namesake was not involved with projective synthetic geometry.
Crowley (1904), chapter 1, verse 57.
Crowley (1995), p9
Ibid, p115.
Ibid, p249 et seq.
Crowley (1912), p143 et seq.
Case (1933), chapter 1.
Case (1968).
Cicero, Cicero (2006)