Starbridge CentreOnline Counselling Course

Lesson #1Tarot, Oswald Wirth

Tarot, Oswald WirthContemplating on the major arcana tarot cards teaches self-knowledge

Tarot major arcana , Oswald Wirth's deck

It is important to understand that when using the the tarot cards in spreads etc., the spreadis not easily translated to outer events. This is off course what tarot readers all over the

globe, sometimes with some accuracy, do, but we don't do it in our methods here!

The way we use tarot are as descriptions of inner archetypes, the spread illustrating howwe rape or honour, kill or run away from ourself. A spread tells us about our innerconnectedness or lack of connectedness, of chances of meeting inner aspects of

ourselves, not outer persons, outer connections.There may be times where the spread directly reflects the external world,

but not often!

Card 0: Le Fou, The FoolKeyword: Higher purpose

Contemplation: Where is your wisdom?

The fool is walking along with his red walking stick, symbolising the positive, masculineenergy, in his right hand, and his eyes fixed upwards, immersed in God. The walking stickis telling that he gets spiritual support. In his left hand he holds a short blue club,symbolising the negative, feminine energy with a small red-orange coloured bag with hisearthly belongings; the four elements. He carries his belongings on his right shoulder,meaning that he has nothing unconscious, he has brought everything over to his right,conscious side; he carries his physicality as a purpose.The fool wears a multicoloured dress. His neck and ears are hidden by a green patternedcloth, telling that he obeys the Quabalistic request of keeping daath, the Sephyroth,relating to the throat chakra, as the hidden city, out of bounds for the uninitiated. Thegreen cloth is a protection, as ignorant people must not recognise his higher creativepowers, as they could misuse them. He wears a huge, turban-like headdress with manywhirling colours, representing his fully opened Crownchakra. His face is oversized; it looksdisturbed and is hiding behind a brown beard, expressing the suffering of being in aphysical body. His real face, his spiritual nature, is beyond comprehension for ordinaryman, it is in fact so radically different, that the animal nature feels threatened, thus a cat-like creature fiercely attacks him from behind, having torn down his yellow stockings inorder to derogatively expose his naked posterior. Moreover a crocodile is waiting for himbehind a fallen obelisk, symbolising previous victories in his life, telling that the law ofcontrast is at work.If he should happen to again allow his consciousness to lower itself and become attachedsomewhere, the crocodile will attack him, he will have to live the created karma. The redflower from the first card, the Magician, is open, but bend downwards so that its inner cupcannot be seen, reflecting that nobody can see or grasp the inner life of the fool.Elisabeth Haigh says (160 - 161): Even though this card is unnumbered [...] it carries theHebrew letter SHIN [...]. According to the Quabalah, God set the letter SHIN as king overthe element of fire. It is therefore fire, the fire of spirit, of the creative principle, of Logos.

Card 1: Le Bateleur, The magicianKeyword: Playing with fire

Contemplation: What is your magic?

A young man is standing at a table with a posture resembling the Hebrew letter ALEPH,the same letter that is ascribed to the card, as can be seen in the bottom-left corner of thecard. He holds a magic wand with the red, positive, masculine energy pointing upwards,and the blue, negative, feminine, energy pointing downwards. The wand reflects thetransformative power of the human spine, and his posture is expressing the law, as above,so below.His tools, the golden coin (the element of earth), the sword (the air element) and the cup(the water element) are lying ready on the table. He holds the magic wand (the fire element) erect in his left hand, while he with his righthand points towards the golden coin on the table. This means that he still has ego involvedin what he is doing, the golden coin here symbolising mammon.The table has three of its four legs visible, symbolising that the physical, here the table isstill not properly grounded. Beneath the table, between his legs is a red flower emergingfrom the ground, its flower still only a bud. The red colour indicates that the Magicianinvests his energy in the physical.The magician wears a hat with the brim shaped as the horizontal figure 8 - the symbol ofinfinity. The top of his hat is red, the brim green, the red, being the spiritual red, symbolises

the as yet unmanifest spirituality, the green brim relates to the physical.Elisabeth Haigh (p 32 - 33) says: The number I is the divine number, which exist evenbefore other numbers are born out of it [...] and corresponds to the I AM THAT I AM(Exodus 2:13-14). Aleph is the first birth, the birth of the divine child, of self-awareness.

Card 2: La Papese, The High PriestessKeyword: Highest in the world of division

Contemplation: The eternal feminine values, what are they?

A woman with her face partly hidden by a light blue veil is sitting between the two pillars ofpositive-masculine and negative-feminine poles. There are square black and white tiles onthe floor, also showing the dual nature of the physical world. A light blue veil with a yellowor golden backside is suspended between two pillars behind her, and loosely fastened witha hook in each pillar. The veil is hiding what is behind her.The high priestess has a white tiara on her head, with two light green circlets, and a yellowcrescent moon at the top. The moon shows that she masters the feminine energy with itstwo levels, the moonlight and the higher, secret power. In her left hand the high priestessholds two keys in a crossed position: a silver key with a cross on top, representing thephysical, and a golden key with a triangle on the top, representing the astral, invisibleworld. She has access to both worlds, but it is two keys, either/or, there is a split. She hasan orange-red book on her knee, and supports it with her right hand, that also keeps it

half-open. The book has a ying-yang symbol on its cover, revealing that she knows aboutthe state above duality, but she does not own it, she sees herself as feminine, identifyingwith her physical sex.At this stage many things are partly open, partly hidden or invisible. Only the left, thefeminine side of the chair is visible, revealing a dark sphinx as the armrest. The rightarmrest, supposedly a white Sphinx is hidden under her mantle. This again indicates heridentification with her physical sex.Elisabeth Haigh says (p 38-39): This picture bears the Hebrew letter BETH, denoting thetwo worlds, here and beyond, which the seeking man bears with him, and which bringsabout an inner conflict, as the number II embodies the idea of division.

Card 3: Les Imperatrice, The EmpressKeyword: Cosmic illusion; the physical world is an illusion about separateness and spatial

distance.Contemplation: What are your feminine qualities - where are they ruling?

A woman with light blue wings reflecting her omnipresence, and with a golden Crown onher head, and a brilliant white mental aura with 9 stars visible out of the 12 in the zodiac.The stars are all 5-pointed. She is sitting with a white lily flowering at her left side,symbolising her purity.The three missing stars of the zodiac are reflecting the three-levelled nature of creation,

described in the east as the three gunas

(Sattva, expressing goodness, purity, harmony; Rajas, expressing passion and action, andTamas, expressing inaction, inertia, darkness*).

It is said, that the physical world exists because there is a slight unbalance between thethree gunas. If they were in perfect balance, there would be a oneness with God, in otherwords, no physically manifested world.The empress holds a long golden sceptre, divided in two parts by a round carving in themiddle. The sceptre symbolises the spine, and in the middle of the spine, at the Heartcentre, is a knot", without which we would not be physical. All this tell us that EARTH is herdomain.With her right hand she presents a red shield with a white purified Scorpio-eagle, a symbolof alchemy and of transformation of sexuality.A heavenly blue robe is spread over her lap, covering her right arm and right foot, tellingus that the masculine principle is unmanifest. Her left foot is visible, and is resting on acrescent moon. The moon is divided in two parts, a white part and a shadowy part, hintingat the two faces of the moon, the moon's quality is to spread hiding and smoothing uponthe landscape. (The Moon-card in Arthur Waite's deck). The moon is waxing, and pointingdownwards. The empress rules fertility, and wants to utilise the earth to create new livingbeings, uniting the spiritual and physical.The card carries the number III, and the letter GIMEL.*(Edited from R.E.Davis: An easy guide to Ayurveda, the natural way to wholeness, p.14)

Card 4: Les Emperor, The EmperorKeyword: Balanced intellect in the world of matter.

Contemplation: Male power, where do you have that?

A brown-bearded man is sitting on his throne, which is shaped as a yellow cube with ablack eagle on its side, symbolising intellect applied to matter. The emperor's legs form thesign of Jupiter, and at the same time the cross of matter. The emperor has a yellow-goldenCrown or helmet on his head, which is ending in a structure with four spikes, denoting thephysical. The brim of his helmet is red and almost featherlike, stretching back and coveringthe area between his shoulder blades. This area in the aura, the waste energy area, iswhere energy accumulates and creates blockages in the energy flow if there is too muchintellectual activity.He holds a huge green imperial orbit in his left hand, indicating his rulership over the earth.He has a golden sun and moon depicted on his breast armour, representing the secondarychakras to the right and left of the heart, telling that the connection to his heart goesthrough his armour, which is his intellect. He knows about, but his knowledge is notintegrated as wisdom. He wears a heavy gold chain around his neck, sitting at the edge ofthe lower part of the mental aura, telling about his strength of Mind. In his right hand heholds erect a sturdy and richly ornamented sceptre, ending in a yellow lily, fleur de Lie,representing the creativity of the Mind. The red flower in full bloom, at his right side,

indicates that his energy is moving out into the physical reality.The emperor card carries the number four, and the letter DALETH.

Card 5: Le Paupe, The HierofantKeyword: Spiritual teaching comes in whenever there is balance.

Contemplation: Spiritual authority.

The pope or hierophant is sitting on a throne with the two pillars representing the feminineand masculine energy visible at the back, but with no veil between them. There is a similarstructure as was on the emperor's helmet on top of the pillars, also here representing theworld of matter. The pope has a white beard, wears white gloves with a blue cross on top,and he holds his right hand raised in the mudra of peace. In his right hand he holds agolden staff with three horizontal bars, representing what is real, and a green ballunderneath, which his hand points towards, representing the world of Mind. His Crownalso has three levels, decorated different on the three levels, and a cross on top,representing body Mind and spirit. He has a blue dress, mostly covered by a red mantle.The mantle is held together by a button or broche on the front at the upper point ofDepression, illustrating the pain there is in not being able to reveal his full truth. The popeembodies and expresses a high state of wisdom. The two monks, one in doubt, onesupporting the other, are complimentary to each other, symbolising the Mind and itsfluctuations in duality.

This fifth tarot card carries the number V, and the letter HE.

Card 6: Les Amoureux, The LoversKeyword: Male energy needs to relate.

Contemplation: How much are you in love with a dream?A young man is standing before a crossroad with his arms crossed in front of him in a stateof indecisiveness. Two women are standing on either side of him, representing the twopaths he has to decide between, and both trying to make him follow her.The young man is dressed in clothes with alternating green and red colours. The right leg,standing on his right-hand path is masculine-positive red, and his left leg, standing on hisleft-hand path, is green. The woman on his right is dressed in blue and red and has agolden Crown on her head. She places her left hand insistently on his right shoulder. Sherepresents the feminine energy, expressing itself as the field, as beingness, (thecorresponding masculine principle is impulse). The woman on his left side is barefooted,as she is a child of mother earth. She is clad in a yellow dress and has flowers in her hair,green as the veil. The veil and her hair look as if they are the same, because her strength,represented by her hair, is her veil, her seductiveness. The green colour is here reflectingthe growth she promises. Directly above the young man, is a huge white circle withalternating long and short, green or red rays, 12 in total. The 12 rays represents thezodiac, our blueprint, the white circle represents the primary clear light, representing thedivine state of oneness, the rays pointing to the tree gunas, the different length of the rays

show the gunas are not in perfect equilibrium, they are reaching into the physical world.Quantum physically speaking, this card could be described as depicting the collapse of thewave-function.In the white sphere of oneness is an angel-like being with blue wings and an arrow on hisbow, ready to fire a shot as soon as the young man has made up his Mind. The angel isthe Lord of Karma; from the star Sirius; his bow is green because it brings theconsequences of the choice, whatever it is, into motion. His yellow quiver represents thelaw of consequence.The card carries the number VI and the letter VAU.

Card 7: Le Chariot, The ChariotKeyword: The choice is made.

Contemplation: Where is your battle?

The conqueror stands in his chariot with a sceptre in his right hand, and a Crown withthree stars on his head. He wears a red and blue armour and the crescent moon sits oneach shoulder indicating that his inner guidance is filtered through his understanding of thefeminine, being either outer, a woman in his life, or inner, the feminine aspect of himself.His left hand is resting on the chariot with a powerless posture, indicating that he does notown his femininity. Above his head is a blue canopy, fastened to the chariot with four

poles. The canopy itself is divided in four parts, each with three yellow five pointed stars,thus totalling the 12 stars of the zodiac. Above his head, on the canopy is a golden circlewith a centre, that is either a dot or a star, symbolising Christ consciousness, telling thathis quest is a spiritual one. The bronze-like colour on the inner side of the canopy showsconductivity, luck on his quest. The star-filled canopy reflects that his karma will follow himwherever he goes. The charioteer stands exactly in the centre of the chariot, where thediagonals from the four corners meet, thus he is the uniting force, he is in charge.There are two symbols on the front of the cube-like chariot: On top is the winged spiritual-red eye or Logos, and below that is the lingam, the symbol of the union of the feminine andmasculine energy. The symbol is partly encompassed, because he is beginning to realisethe oneness of the two energies. Two sphinxes, representing the riddle of man drive thechariot. One of the sphinxes is fair skinned with a hair dress with blue and white stripes,the other is dark skinned and with a hair dress with red and white stripes. A closer lookreveals that the two sphinxes really only have one body: As the conqueror chose thespiritual path, even the driving forces of the animal instinct begin to look different.The card carries the number VII and the Hebrew letter ZAIN, meaning Victory in all worlds.

Card 8: La Justice, JusticeKeyword: Truth wins.

Contemplation: Why do things happen, why?

A woman is sitting on her throne with a double-edged sword in her right hand and a pair ofscales in perfect equilibrium, in her left hand. Her throne consists of the positive andnegative energy poles, connected with an arc that also is the back of the throne. On top ofboth pillars is a structure, resembling the pineal gland. The pineal gland in the centre of thehead is connected to the Crownchakra. (The pituitary gland relates to the chakra in theforehead). The pineal gland itself enables clarity, and is on the right pillar resting on a redshelf representing spirituality; on the left pillar resting on a brown shelf representinglethargy. The double-edged sword, representing truth, is piercing the right pineal gland,because the choice has been made of spiritual development (the lovers). The woman wears a silver Crown with five spikes upon a red cap with the symbol of Christconsciousness in front, telling that she is judging over human life in accordance withspiritual truths.The card carries the number VIII and the letter CHETH.

Card 9: Les Ermite, The HermitKeyword: Clarity, will and courage, one step at a time.

Contemplation: Let go of the broad picture, what is the next step?

A white-bearded man is walking along. He has bright eyes and is wrapped in a hoodedcloak, brown on the outside and blue on the inside, telling that he is insignificant on theoutside, but with a belief in God on the inside.

He is walking along with the help of his yellow walking stick and his lantern. The lanternsymbolises clarity; the yellow light is the will of God. He is hiding the light in his cloakbecause it is not the will of God to force others. The hermits' walking stick is the spine. It isdivided in 8 parts, which are the 7 major chakras and the ID-point. On the ground on hisright side is a small red snake-like creature moving in the same direction as the hermit withan erect body and open mouth. This is a dragon, a symbol of transformation; the hermit isin a transformation-process, more and more becoming like The Fool.The card carries the number IX and the letter TETH.

Card: 10: La Rou de Fortune,The Wheel of FortuneKeyword: Awakening.

Contemplation: Ascending or descending - Who turns the wheel?A boat is afloat on small light green waves of moonlight. The boat consists of two crescentmoons, the one in front is red and the one behind is green. The light green waves are theveil (Maya), the illusion of individuality and separateness. The two nadis, Ida and pingala,represented by the two snakes, constantly balancing each other, is curling up alongsushumna, the Nadi in the centre of the spine, represented by the pole holding the wheelof fortune. Ida and pingala are resting on the moon-boats, telling that they each hold theirown individual illusions about their individuality. In the middle of the boat is the strongyellow pole, representing the spine and sushumna, holding the wheel of fortune. It is adouble wheel, a thicker outer red wheel, symbolising the physical, and a thinner inner blue

wheel, symbolising the mental. In the centre is a handle to turn the wheel, representingfree will. Two strange creatures are clinging to the wheel. On the right side a brown and green devilis descending, and on the left side a blue creature is ascending. The devil's brown headand brown loincloth expresses his lethargy, and his scaly legs with fishlike fins instead offeet, indicates his connection with the water element, and with illusion. His blue trident tellswith Goethe's words (from Faust), that he is the creature that "always want the evil butcauses good. The blue Annubis god has an appearance as a human with a dog-face, andwith an Egyptian headdress. He is holding on to the outer wheel but also touching theinner wheel. He is the symbol of life, death and rebirth, and his Hermes-staff reflects thehealing this cycle embodies. On top of the wheel, on a shelf supported by both creatures,is a sphinx. He represents the riddle of man, his red human face represents the fireelement, the light blue wings and the light green upper part of the body with the femininebreasts belongs to the element of air and is emphasising his inscrutable nature. His lowerbody is brown and belongs to the element of earth. The headdress he wears has a crosswith a triangle on top, indicating that also the sphinx ultimately leads to self-development.He holds a white sword in his right hand, which denotes empty threats, because the sphinxis not a higher principle (as justice is). The Sphinx is not as wise as he would like us tobelieve, but he is in charge, in the sense we are listening to our human nature rather thanour spirituality.The card carries number X and the Hebrew letter YOD.

Card 11: La Force, StrengthKeyword: No illusions.

Contemplation: What forces are you commanding?

A woman is standing beside a huge lion, with her hands indicating she is in control of itsjaws. The lion, her animal nature, is affectionately licking her hand, meaning that instinctsand drives no longer have any influence on her. The woman wears a blue dress with a redmiddle and an enveloping red cloak that is held loosely together by a yellow stringbetween two buttons on her upper chest. The two buttons reflects polarity. The womanwears a strange hat with a five-pointed- golden Crown at the top, representing thekingdom of man. The brim of the hat is shaped as the symbol of infinity, the horizontalnumber 8. The right side of the brim is filled with golden laurels, symbolising the victory oflove; love can be described as the intuition of all things unity. The left side of the brim hasa thicker green border and the inner yellow part is squeezed together, indicating thatcompassion does not have the proper space to unfold. The love of the heart is victorious,but compassion, relating more to the pineal, needs more detachment, and can thus notunfold yet. The card carries the number XI and the Hebrew letter KAPH..

Card 12: Le Pendu, The Hanged ManKeyword: Spiritual generosity.

Contemplation: Are you comfortable being different?

A man is seen hanging upside-down, suspended by a rope around his left ankle. The ropeis fastened to a yellow plank laid across two green tree trunks. His hands are behind hisback, indicating he is powerless; his eyes are turned towards his inner Christconsciousness-centre, telling about a high inner state of consciousness. The tree to theleft is the negative-feminine pole and the tree to the right is the positive-masculine pole.Each of the tree trunks has had six branches cut off, leaving the scars red. The cut-offbranches indicate that in his development there are no detours, the red scars indicate thatthere are sacrifices involved. There are a few green branches left at the bottom of the tree,so there is still some attachment to normal consciousness. The small seemingly bloominggreen hills where the trees stand, is what is left of the moons in card 10. But there is noway back, the man is hanging from the yellow plank by the rope of his integrity. The hanged man's dress has the colours red and white, passion and purity. The whitecrescent moon on the red patch and the red crescent moon on the white patch means thatthere is still a risk of ego, therefore they both are in polarity to the background colour. Silver coins and golden coins are falling out from two bags he holds under his arms, closeto his body. This means that he is passing on to others all his wisdom and knowledge thathe has distilled from his hard-earned experiences.The card carries number XII and the Hebrew letter LAMED.

Card 13: La Mort, DeathKeyword: Only attachment dies.

Contemplation: What is dead? Can you let go?

This card is the only untitled one, on the card it is only defined as number 13An orange skeleton-man with the eyes in the eye-sockets turned up towards the Christconsciousness centre is harvesting with a scythe. The shaft of the scythe is of a spiritual-red colour, with a yellow handle on top, and a white blade, denoting purity; there are noulterior motives. The orange colour of the skeleton is reflecting suffering and flexibility.Human existence is both on the physical and the astral planes, but ordinary consciousnesscan only be at one level at a time. Death is thus a reminder of the level where we are notat present. The bones are without flesh because it denotes the inflexible unconsciousattachment to where we are.A closer look on what death is doing, reveals that the physical torsoss are missing, the twoheads sticking up from the ground symbolise mans consciousness. The feet and hands,the hands expressing various mudras such as peace and victory, also sticking up from theground is our means to ground ourselves in the physical. There are also plants, indicatingthat physical-etheric growth continues. A close look reveals that there are two heads, twopair of hands but only one pair of feet. The head with the Crown is the hanged man,

grounded as he is in the spiritual, he is untouched by death. This card is not about physical death, the skeleton man is mowing, but he does it in thereverse way, he cuts from left to right instead of the common way, which is from right toleft. Death is reversed, death brings rebirth.

The card carries number XIII and the Hebrew letter MEM.

Card 14: La Temperance, TemperanceKeyword: Learn from your experiences.

Contemplation: Your life's energies, how do they flow?

An angel is standing, with the masculine-positive, golden vessel in his right hand, and thefeminine-negative vessel in his left. He is constantly and with great care pouring aqua vitaeor life energy back and forth between the two vessels, measuring or balancing lifessenergies, making sure that he causes no harm. The vessels could also be compared withthe Crownchakra and the base chakra, with the two energies, Ida and Pingala constantlyflowing between them. The angel has the golden symbol of Christ consciousness on hisforehead and a white collar or ring around his neck, symbolising purity, because all hiscreativity is directly connected to God. This image denotes that an alchemical process is

going on; the life forces are constantly being purified by an angel whose androgynousexistence denotes a higher level of consciousness than is possible within the ego with itsidentification with one of the sexes.In the background a red flower has emerged from the ground, the unconscious. It touchesthe golden vessel slightly, but with the flower bend down in humility.This card carries the number XIV and the Hebrew letter NUN.

Card 15: Le Diable, The Devil Keyword: Experience without being attached

Contemplation: Discrimination - What makes him a devil?

A gigantic devil, half human and half goat, half masculine and half feminine, is standing inall his delusion on a blue pedestal in the form of a cube.The devil has a white, five-pointed star pointing upwards on his forehead, because he isLucifer, the light bringer. And God said: Let there be light, the first emanation from Godallowed an anchor point to be established in polarity to the light, thus enabling the physicalworld of duality to be projected out. This anchor-point is the devil, the master of illusion.Accordingly the devil contains and rules the four elements. The head, hair and donkey-ears are all red, denoting the element of fire. The bat-wings and the fair colour of the skinof his upper body denotes the element of air, the fish-scales on the lower part of his bodydenotes the water element, and the goat legs and hooves denotes the earth element. The

devil takes power, gains a life of his own, only when humans identify with him and thematerial laws he governs. He is a spirit, carrying the reverse image of Spirit. Looking into his eyes, how much do you think he understands?

On his right arm the devil carries the Latin word solve and on his left is the Latin wordcoagula. This refers to the basic law in alchemy, the transformation process where thingsthat are connected and hardened in wrong ways are separated and reconnected in theright ways, helped by a constant fire (consciousness) under a hermetic vessel (our being).In his left hand he holds the lingam, the symbol of sexual union. Elisabeth Haighcomments this, (p 120): Man has to recognise a paradox, an impossibility anddiscrepancy: that he wants to experience inner unity with his partner in the body, and thatit is this very body that resists and prevents this oneness.

The yellow sign of Mercury is sitting on the sexual organs, meaning that when sex is notinnocent but mental, when sex becomes an end in itself, it becomes devilish, leads toattachment to the physical.The yellow burning torch in the devil's right hand shows that even if the devil always wantsthe evil, he causes the good (from Goethess Faust).The many falls we have teach us something, however slowly, the alchemical process isworking!Below this monster are two small beast like humans, an orange male and a green female.They are both tied to a ring on the pedestal by heavy ropes around their necks. Thismeans that they are chained by their worship of the physical, trapped by their use of theircreative energies for instinctual purposes, like animals. The orange colour of the man tellsthat he is suffering; his yellow donkey ears and hooves, four points, tell us that his‘groundings is his stubborn intellect. His left hand and his tail is pointing upwards, hisMind is soaring. The woman is green, the green colour from the woman on the left in thelovers; she has lost her mental strength, her hair, as there is no nourishment in the sexdrive. Her two horns and nipples are red, the four points telling us that she finds hergrounding in passion. Her right hand is touching the devils pedestal and her tail is down,maybe indicating that she is committed to a use of her will and energy in a downwardmovement away from the spiritual and out into the physical.The card carries the number XV and the letter SAMEKH.

Card 16: La Maison Dieu, The TowerKeyword: Grace or disaster, how grounded

do you want to be?Contemplation: What survives?

A strongly build tower, man's mental construction, is struck to its core by a bolt oflightening. Even if the lightening bolt is perceived as coming out of the blue, the cloud, it isin fact coming from the sun, our higher self, and as such its nature is grace.The sun has a double-circle around it, and the lightening bolt itself is also divided. Thisreflects that man is perceiving what is happening as a conflict between his subjectiveinvestments and interests and the higher Self. The event may be seen as somethingcoming from outside and destroying everything. The top of the tower, with the four crenelsrepresenting the physical is falling down together with loose bricks and green and yellowballs. These balls are the three gunas we described in card 2, the High Priestess.Everything is raining down, thus creating a better grounding and eventually balance. Twohuman figures are also falling from the tower; one is already lying dead on the ground,killed by one of the bricks hitting him in the head. The other is still falling, has a six-pointedgolden Crown on his head, indicating that he harbours a deeper connection with truth andbalance, even if his conscious Mind is thrown down from some attachment.The card carries the number XVI and the Hebrew letter AYIN.

Card 17: Les Etoiles, The StarKeyword: Innocent giving.

Contemplation: Contemplate your Eternal Values.

A beautiful naked woman representing the soul is kneeling down on a narrow stripe of landbetween a water pond on her right side and an abyss on her left side. The stripe of landrepresents the narrow path. Even if this is a high level, there are still a risk that she canfall. There is two ways she can fall, through misuse of power, causing her to fall into theabyss, loosing her high state of consciousness and having to start afresh. The other wayshe can fall, is into the pond, she still can fall asleep in the collective, sliding back intoconventionalism and sleepiness.The woman is pouring aqua vitae, the water of life from a golden vessel in her right handinto the pond, symbolising the unconscious. The water in the golden vessel is piping hotbecause it represents the male energy, flowing in Ida, the Nadi to the right of the centralchannel, sushumna. The cool water from the silver vessel representing the female Pingalais flowing in the channel to the left of sushumna. The woman is pouring of her own lifeenergy or resources to her fellow men: the hot masculine energy for those who are readyfor fiery action, and more cooling, soothing or supporting feminine energy for those whoneeds to gain more confidence before they dare involve themselves in the stream of life.The red flower has now opened its four petals in full bloom, it has grown into a small bush,and a butterfly with light blue wings has landed on it, meaning that she is open for higherworlds.

In the sky above her, eternal truths are visible reflected in the stars. The biggest starsymbolises the Causal level. The star is yellow and green with eight divisions, eight yellowand eight green rays. The green rays indicate that the emanating impulses are going allthe way from the Causal level to the physical manifested. There are four yellow stars in asquare pattern, once again reflecting that the guidance from the stars can reach the levelof physical manifestation, even though it will go via the unconscious.The three blue stars which together form a triangle pointing downwards, represents astralbalance. The smaller blue star directly above her head is the ID point. The inner division ofthe two larger blue stars reflects the chakra system, including the ID. The reason whythere are two stars depicting the chakra system is probably that chakras have many levels.

Elisabeth Haigh (p 134 - 135) says: The number 17 is divisible only by the number oneand by itself. It is therefore a prime number, invariable denoting isolation. It is a referenceto the fact that at this level man isolates himself increasingly from the world [...]. Andmaintains silence about his personal affairs [...]. At the same time, the Hebrew letter PEconnected to this card means language or mouth, telling that the teaching and knowledgeis flowing to others.

Card 18: La Lune, The MoonKeyword: The only security is truth.

Contemplation: Do you see your challenges in the right light?

An enormous moon is both full and crescent, waxing, in three different phases. It shows asoft motherly face, the feminine veil, looking down on the scenery below. The moon has 18large yellow spokes or rays, and 18 darker red and smaller rays. Green, red and yellowdewdrops of grace is descending. In the foreground of this landscape is a big blue pondwith several small tufts of water-grass. In the midst of that there is emerging a huge redcrayfish with white eyes. This is the higher Self, coming out from hiding in the personalunconscious. It carries with it all the memories of the personal life; it is preparing itself forthe ultimate journey.Ouspensky calls the Moon the card of initiation. On the right of the pond and the crayfish isa path winding its way towards the distant horizon. In order to safely follow that path, thecrayfish has to pass over a small pathless land between the pond and the path, but onceon the path, it leads right past the two animals, and later the two towers in the background.The two animals howling towards the moon are the two creatures from card number 10,the Wheel of Fortune. The devil is now transformed into a black wolf and the Annubis-godis transformed into the white dog. They are still symbolising attachment to the black andwhite, likes and dislikes etc. The crayfish has to steer between them without attachments;otherwise he will be caught and eaten.The two towers have three and not four crenel s on their roofs. Compared with cardnumber 16, the Tower, which had four crenel s on top. It tells that a transformation frommatter to Spirit has happened. The tower to the right side has both a door and windows,the tower to the left has only one window, telling that the left-hand path has been lookedinto, but not entered.The card carries number XVIII and the Hebrew letter TZADDI.

Card 19: Le Solei, The SunKeyword: Grace and peace: the last lure of the Mind.

Contemplation: Find your Innocence.

Beneath an overwhelming golden sun, with its eyes turned upwards towards the innerChrist consciousness centre, a young man and a young woman are standing togetherwithin a circle, holding hands and looking at each other. The couple stands in a state ofoneness, resting in each other. Both have one foot placed in the centre of the circle, andthe other foot touching the green grass-circle with flowers. This means that they onlypartially are identifying with being physical. They are naked but for their loincloths. Thewoman wears a blue loincloth or veil, which is partly merging with the blue bricks in themulticoloured brick wall behind them. The brick wall represents the Mind, and thewomanss blue veil is also of the Mind, thus making the wall and the veil easily merge. Thislevel represents the last risk of falling back into sex again. The brick wall is the last barrierof the Mind before the couple is fully exposed to the direct, penetrating rays of the sun, thehigher Self.The sun has 12 curvy rays and 12 straight rays, which is a crude way to express itsandrogynous nature. The 12 double-rays of the sun are indicating that the right hand pathis fully visible, but not necessarily tempting. Each of the twelve signs in the zodiacrepresents two equal possibilities; they may be used positively or negatively. The card carries the number XIX and the Hebrew letter KOPH.

Card 20: Le Jugement, JudgementKeyword: Death is over.

Contemplation: What makes you truly alive?The angel Michael with green wings is appearing in a cloud, blowing in his long goldentrumpet the sound of AUM, in order to awaken people to life. The green colour of his wingsshows that he is reaching down to the physical level. At this level man is open all the wayup to the Causal level via his spine, which is the golden trumpet. The angels trumpet has amouthpiece the mouth of God, reflecting the medulla point in the neck of man. The angelsspiritually red cap upon his head and the golden sign at the centre of his forehead reflectshis Christ consciousness. His trumpet has a banner symbolising victory. The banner has ared background with a yellow cross and inside this a golden cross, which shows thatmatter has become spiritualised through the alchemical process depicted in the formercards. The angel in the cloud radiates 6 yellow and 6 red rays, together covering thetwelve gates to the city. 20 curly drops of grace, red, yellow and green are descendingover the figures below.In the foreground a naked child with his back towards us is standing in a blue coffin, He isthe Christ consciousness emerging from the Mind. There is a small golden wall behindhim, which are the last leftovers from the brick wall in the Sun card. A woman and a man,supposedly his parents, are standing with their lower bodies emerged in the green ground.

Also they are emerging from the unconscious. All three are expressing awe andthankfulness.The card illustrates the awakening from the ego to the higher Self. The card carries the number XX and the Hebrew letter RESH.

Card 21: Le Monde, The WorldKeyword: At home. Ready for Gods calling.

Contemplation: What is not contained?

A woman wrapped only in a red veil is dancing in a state of bliss within a circle of greenlaurels. The laurels symbolise victory and can also symbolise the cosmic egg or theourobos snake, biting its own tail She holds the two magic wands - one with the red, masculine, positive energy, the otherwith the blue, feminine, negative energy, lightly in her left hand, forming the letter V,symbolising victory. In the four Corners, the four fixed signs of the zodiac, the four beasts from Ezekielss visionin the bible are stabilising the world. There is karmic balanceThe woman is looking back at those behind with compassion, now her only driving force;her only reason for being physically alive is to help those behind her.

Her long hair and her veil seemingly blowing in the wind, depicts that all her life energyand power is dedicated to be of help to those behind her.The card represents a very high level, though not as high as the Fool, as she is still waitingfor Gods calling.The card carries number XXI and the Hebrew letter TAV.

Multiple Choice questions for Week 6Tarot, Oswald WirthMultiple Choice Answer 1: True / False (Cross out the wrong answer): Oswald Wirth tarot deckwith its high energy is good for fortune telling

Multiple Choice Answer 2: True / False (Cross out the wrong answer): The tarot card the worlddepicts a naked woman dancing,finally our desires can be met: If you are a woman, the freedom of expressing your joy of life, If you are a man, the fulfilment of your hearts desires.

Multiple Choice Answer 3: True / False (Cross out the wrong answer): Tarot is an excellent tool forworking with the basic building blocks in our psyche, the archetypes. If we dislike a card, it is adirect measure of an inner tension.