The Pictorial Key of the Tarot

8/11/2019 The Pictorial Key of the Tarot

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Ace o Wands6in o !u"s7ueen o !u"s6niht o !u"s-ae o !u"sTen o !u"s

8ine o !u"sEiht o !u"sSe/en o !u"sSi o !u"s&i/e o !u"s&our o !u"sThree o !u"sT3o o !u"sAce o !u"s6in o S3ords7ueen o S3ords

6niht o S3ords-ae o S3ordsTen o S3ords8ine o S3ordsEiht o S3ordsSe/en o S3ordsSi o S3ords&i/e o S3ords&our o S3ordsThree o S3ordsT3o o S3ords

Ace o S3ords6in o -entacles7ueen o -entacles6niht o -entacles-ae o -entaclesTen o -entacles8ine o -entaclesEiht o -entaclesSe/en o -entaclesSi o -entacles&i/e o -entacles

&our o -entaclesThree o -entaclesT3o o -entaclesAce o -entacles%.% The 5reater Arcana and their i/inatory #eanins%.' Some Additional #eanins o the esser Arcana%.: The ;ecurrence o !ards in ealin%.< The Art o Tarot i/ination%.= An Ancient !eltic #ethod o i/ination


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%.> An Alternati/e #ethod o ;eadin the Tarot !ards%.9 The #ethod o ;eadin by #eans o Thirty?&i/e !ards*ibliora"hy

The -ictorial 6ey to the Tarot*ein raments o a Secret Tradition under the Veil o

i/inationArthur Ed3ard Waite@riinally "ublished in 1910

Preface

IT seems rather o necessity than "redilection in the sense o a"oloia that Ishould "ut on record in the rst "lace a "lain statement o my "ersonal "osition,as one 3ho or many years o literary lie has been, sub$ect to his s"iritual andother limitations, an e"onent o the hiher mystic schools. It 3ill be thouht thatI am actin stranely in concernin mysel at this day 3ith 3hat a""ears at rst

siht and sim"ly a 3ell?Bno3n method o ortune?tellin. 8o3, the o"inions o #r.Smith, e/en in the literary re/ie3s, are o no im"ortance unless they ha""en toaree 3ith our o3n, but in order to sanctiy this doctrine 3e must taBe care thatour o"inions, and the sub$ects out o 3hich they arise, are concerned only 3ith thehihest. Cet it is $ust this 3hich may seem doubtul, in the "resent instance, notonly to #r. Smith, 3hom I res"ect 3ithin the "ro"er measures o detachment, butto some o more real conseDuence, seein that their dedications are mine. Tothese and to any I 3ould say that ater the most illuminated &rater !hristian ;osy!ross had beheld the !hemical #arriae in the Secret -alace o Transmutation, hisstory breaBs o abru"tly, 3ith an intimation that he e"ected net mornin to bedoor?Bee"er. Ater the same manner, it ha""ens more oten than miht seem

liBely that those 3ho ha/e seen the 6in o ea/en throuh the most clearest/eils o the sacraments are those 3ho assume thereater the humblest oFces oall about the ouse o 5od. *y such sim"le de/ices also are the Ade"ts and 5reat#asters in the secret orders distinuished rom the cohort o 8eo"hytes as ser/iser/orum mysterii. So also, or in a 3ay 3hich is not entirely unliBe, 3e meet 3iththe Tarot cards at the outermost ates??amidst the ritterins and dGbris o the so?called occult arts, about 3hich no one in their senses has suered the smallestdece"tionH and yet these cards belon in themsel/es to another reion, or theycontain a /ery hih symbolism, 3hich is inter"reted accordin to the a3s o5race rather than by the "retets and intuitions o that 3hich "asses ordi/ination. The act that the 3isdom o 5od is oolishness 3ith men does not

create a "resum"tion that the oolishness o this 3orld maBes in any sense ori/ine WisdomH so neither the scholars in the ordinary classes nor the"edaoues in the seats o the mihty 3ill be DuicB to "ercei/e the liBelihood ore/en the "ossibility o this "ro"osition. The sub$ect has been in the hands ocartomancists as "art o the stocB?in?trade o their industryH I do not seeB to"ersuade any one outside my o3n circles that this is o much or o noconseDuenceH but on the historical and inter"retati/e sides it has not ared betterHit has been there in the hands o e"onents 3ho ha/e brouht it into uttercontem"t or those "eo"le 3ho "ossess "hiloso"hical insiht or aculties or the


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1.??istinction bet3een the 5reater and esser Arcana. .??The esser Arcana, other3ise, the &our Suits o Tarot !ardsThe Suit o Wands.The Suit o !u"s.The Suit o S3ords.The Suit o -entacles.

%.??The 5reater Arcana and their i/inatory #eanins. '.??Some additional #eanins o the esser Arcana. :.??The ;ecurrence o !ards in ealin. .??An Alternati/e #ethod o ;eadin the Tarot !ards. 9.??The #ethod o ;eadin by #eans o Thirty?/e !ards.*I*I@5;A-CA !@8!ISE *I*I@5;A-C @& TE !IE& W@;6S EAI85 WIT TE TA;@T A8ITS !@88EI@8S

PART IThe Veil and its Symbols

1INTRODCTOR! AND "#N#RA$

TE "atholoy o the "oet says that Kthe unde/out astronomer is madKH the"atholoy o the /ery "lain man says that enius is madH and bet3een theseetremes, 3hich stand or ten thousand analoous ecesses, the so/erein reasontaBes the "art o a moderator and does 3hat it can. I do not thinB that there is a"atholoy o the occult dedications, but about their etra/aances no one can

Duestion, and it is not less diFcult than thanBless to act as a moderator reardinthem. #oreo/er, the "atholoy, i it eisted, 3ould "robably be an em"iricismrather than a dianosis, and 3ould oer no criterion. 8o3, occultism is not liBemystic aculty, and it /ery seldom 3orBs in harmony either 3ith business a"titudein the thins o ordinary lie or 3ith a Bno3lede o the canons o e/idence in itso3n s"here. I Bno3 that or the hih art o ribaldry there are e3 thins more dullthan the criticism 3hich maintains that a thesis is untrue, and cannot understandthat it is decorati/e. I Bno3 also that ater lon dealin 3ith doubtul doctrine or3ith diFcult research it is al3ays rereshin, in the domain o this art, to meet3ith 3hat is ob/iously o raud or at least o com"lete unreason. *ut the as"ectso history, as seen throuh the lens o occultism, are not as a rule decorati/e, and

ha/e e3 its o rereshment to heal the lacerations 3hich they inLict on theloical understandin. It almost reDuires a &rater Sa"iens dominabitur astris in the&ello3shi" o the ;osy !ross to ha/e the "atience 3hich is not lost amidst cloudso olly 3hen the consideration o the Tarot is undertaBen in accordance 3ith thehiher la3 o symbolism. The true Tarot is symbolismH it s"eaBs no other lanuaeand oers no other sins. 5i/en the in3ard meanin o its emblems, they dobecome a Bind o al"habet 3hich is ca"able o indenite combinations and maBestrue sense in all. @n the hihest "lane it oers a Bey to the #ysteries, in a manner3hich is not arbitrary and has not been read in, *ut the 3ron symbolical stories


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ha/e been told concernin it, and the 3ron history has been i/en in e/ery"ublished 3orB 3hich so ar has dealt 3ith the sub$ect. It has been intimated byt3o or three 3riters that, at least in res"ect o the meanins, this is una/oidablythe case, because e3 are acDuainted 3ith them, 3hile these e3 hold bytransmission under "ledes and cannot betray their trust. The suestion isantastic on the surace or there seems a certain anti?clima in the "ro"osition

that a "articular inter"retation o ortune? tellin??lMart de tirer les cartes??can bereser/ed or Sons o the octrine. The act remains, not3ithstandin, that a SecretTradition eists reardin the Tarot, and as there is al3ays the "ossibility thatsome minor arcana o the #ysteries may be made "ublic 3ith a Lourish otrum"ets, it 3ill be as 3ell to o beore the e/ent and to 3arn those 3ho arecurious in such matters that any re/elation 3ill contain only a third "art o theearth and sea and a third "art o the stars o hea/en in res"ect o the symbolism.This is or the sim"le reason that neither in root? matter nor in de/elo"ment hasmore been "ut into 3ritin, so that much 3ill remain to be said ater any"retended un/eilin. The uardians o certain tem"les o initiation 3ho Bee"3atch o/er mysteries o this order ha/e thereore no cause or alarm.

In my "reace to The Tarot o the *ohemians, 3hich, rather by an accident othins, has recently come to be re?issued ater a lon "eriod, I ha/e said 3hat 3asthen "ossible or seemed most necessary. The "resent 3orB is desined morees"ecially??as I ha/e intimated??to introduce a rectied set o the cardsthemsel/es and to tell the unadorned truth concernin them, so ar as this is"ossible in the outer circles. As reards the seDuence o reater symbols, theirultimate and hihest meanin lies dee"er than the common lanuae o "ictureor hieroly"h. This 3ill be understood by those 3ho ha/e recei/ed some "art othe Secret Tradition. As reards the /erbal meanins allocated here to the moreim"ortant Trum" !ards, they are desined to set aside the ollies and im"ostures

o "ast attributions, to "ut those 3ho ha/e the it o insiht on the riht tracB,and to taBe care, 3ithin the limits o my "ossibilities, that they are the truth so aras they o.

It is rerettable in se/eral res"ects that I must coness to certainreser/ations, but there is a Duestion o honour at issue. &urthermore, bet3een theollies on the one side o those 3ho Bno3 nothin o the tradition, yet are in theiro3n o"inion the e"onents o somethin called occult science and "hiloso"hy,and on the other side bet3een the maBe?belie/e o a e3 3riters 3ho ha/erecei/ed "art o the tradition and thinB that it constitutes a leal title to scatterdust in the eyes o the 3orld 3ithout, I eel that the time has come to say 3hat it

is "ossible to say, so that the eect o current charlatanism and unintelliencemay be reduced to a minimum.

We shall see in due course that the history o Tarot cards is larely o aneati/e Bind, and that, 3hen the issues are cleared by the dissi"ation o re/eriesand ratuitous s"eculations e"ressed in the terms o certitude, there is in act nohistory "rior to the ourteenth century. The dece"tion and sel?dece"tion reardintheir oriin in Ey"t, India or !hina "ut a lyin s"irit into the mouths o the rste"ositors, and the later occult 3riters ha/e done little more than re"roduce the


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rst alse testimony in the ood aith o an intellience una3aBened to the issueso research. As it so ha""ens, all e"ositions ha/e 3orBed 3ithin a /ery narro3rane, and o3e, com"arati/ely s"eaBin, little to the in/enti/e aculty. @nebrilliant o""ortunity has at least been missed, or it has not so ar occurred to anyone that the Tarot miht "erha"s ha/e done duty and e/en oriinated as a secretsymbolical lanuae o the Albiensian sects. I commend this suestion to the

lineal descendants in the s"irit o 5abriele ;ossetti and EuNne Arou, to #r.arold *ayley as another 8e3 iht on the ;enaissance, and as a ta"er at least inthe darBness 3hich, 3ith reat res"ect, miht be ser/iceable to the Oealous andall?searchin mind o #rs. !oo"er?@aBley. ThinB only 3hat the su""osed testimonyo 3atermarBs on "a"er miht ain rom the Tarot card o the -o"e or iero"hant,in conneion 3ith the notion o a secret Albiensian "atriarch, o 3hich #r. *ayleyhas ound in these same 3atermarBs so much material to his "ur"ose. ThinB onlyor a moment about the card o the ih -riestess as re"resentin the Albiensianchurch itselH and thinB o the To3er strucB by ihtnin as ty"iyin the desireddestruction o -a"al ;ome, the city on the se/en hills, 3ith the "onti and histem"oral "o3er cast do3n rom the s"iritual edice 3hen it is ri/en by the 3rath

o 5od. The "ossibilities are so numerous and "ersuasi/e that they almost decei/ein their e"ression one o the elect 3ho has in/ented them. *ut there is moree/en than this, thouh I scarcely dare to cite it. When the time came or the Tarotcards to be the sub$ect o their rst ormal e"lanation, the archaeoloist !ourt de5ebelin re"roduced some o their most im"ortant emblems, and??i I may so termit??the code 3hich he used has ser/ed??by means o his enra/ed "lates??as abasis o reerence or many sets that ha/e been issued subseDuently. The uresare /ery "rimiti/e and dier as such rom the cards o Etteilla, the #arseillesTarot, and others still current in &rance. I am not a ood $ude in such matters, butthe act that e/ery one o the Trum"s #a$or miht ha/e ans3ered or 3atermarB"ur"oses is she3n by the cases 3hich I ha/e Duoted and by one most remarBable

eam"le o the Ace o !u"s.

I should call it an eucharistic emblem ater the manner o a ciborium, butthis does not siniy at the moment. The "oint is that #r. arold *ayley i/es sianaloous de/ices in his 8e3 iht on the ;enaissance, bein 3atermarBs on"a"er o the se/enteenth century, 3hich he claims to be o Albiensian oriin andto re"resent sacramental and 5raal emblems. ad he only heard o the Tarot, hadhe Bno3n that these cards o di/ination, cards o ortune, cards o all /arant arts,3ere "erha"s current at the "eriod in the South o &rance, I thinB that hisenchantin but all too antastic hy"othesis miht ha/e dilated still more larely inthe atmos"here o his dream. We should no doubt ha/e had a /ision o !hristian

5nosticism, #anichPanism, and all that he understands by "ure "rimiti/e 5os"el,shinin behind the "ictures.

I do not looB throuh such lasses, and I can only commend the sub$ect tohis attention at a later "eriodH it is mentioned here that I may introduce 3ith anunheard?o 3onder the mar/els o arbitrary s"eculation as to the history o thecards. With reerence to their orm and number, it should scarcely be necessary toenumerate them, or they must be almost commonly amiliar, but as it is"recarious to assume anythin, and as there are also other reasons, I 3ill tabulate


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them brieLy as ollo3s+??C$ASS I

%TR&PS &A'OR

Other(ise) "reater Arcana

1. The Magus, Magician, or Juggler,the caster o the dice and mountebanB, in the3orld o /ular tricBery. This is the col"ortae inter"retation, and it has the samecorres"ondence 3ith the real symbolical meanin that the use o the Tarot inortune?tellin has 3ith its mystic construction accordin to the secret science osymbolism. I should add that many inde"endent students o the sub$ect, ollo3intheir o3n lihts, ha/e "roduced indi/idual seDuences o meanin in res"ect o theTrum"s #a$or, and their lihts are sometimes suesti/e, but they are not the truelihts. &or eam"le, Qli"has G/i says that the #aus sinies that unity 3hich isthe mother o numbersH others say that it is the i/ine JnityH and one o the latest&rench commentators considers that in its eneral sense it is the 3ill.. The High Priestess, the Pope Joan, or Female PontifH early e"ositors ha/e

souht to term this card the #other, or -o"eMs Wie, 3hich is o""osed to thesymbolism. It is sometimes held to re"resent the i/ine a3 and the 5nosis, in3hich case the -riestess corres"onds to the idea o the SheBinah. She is theSecret Tradition and the hiher sense o the instituted #ysteries.%. The Empress, 3ho is sometimes re"resented 3ith ull ace, 3hile hercorres"ondence, the Em"eror, is in "role. As there has been some tendency toascribe a symbolical sinicance to this distinction, it seems desirable to say thatit carries no inner meanin. The Em"ress has been connected 3ith the ideas ouni/ersal ecundity and in a eneral sense 3ith acti/ity.'. The Emperor, by im"utation the s"ouse o the ormer. e is occasionallyre"resented as 3earin, in addition to his "ersonal insinia, the stars or ribbons o

some order o chi/alry. I mention this to she3 that the cards are a medley o oldand ne3 emblems. Those 3ho insist u"on the e/idence o the one may deal, ithey can, 3ith the other. 8o eectual arument or the antiDuity o a "articulardesin can be dra3n rom the act that it incor"orates old materialH but there isalso none 3hich can be based on s"oradic no/elties, the inter/ention o 3hichmay siniy only the unintellient hand o an editor or o a late drauhtsman.:. The High Priest or Hierophant,called also S"iritual &ather, and more commonlyand ob/iously the -o"e. It seems e/en to ha/e been named the Abbot, and thenits corres"ondence, the ih -riestess, 3as the Abbess or #other o the !on/ent.*oth are arbitrary names. The insinia o the ures are "a"al, and in such casethe ih -riestess is and can be only the !hurch, to 3hom -o"e and "riests are

married by the s"iritual rite o ordination. I thinB, ho3e/er, that in its "rimiti/eorm this card did not re"resent the ;oman -onti.


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Simulacyum dei, the symbol o con$ual aith, or 3hich the rainbo3 as a sin othe co/enant 3ould ha/e been a more a""ro"riate concomitant. The ures arealso held to ha/e sinied Truth, onour and o/e, but I sus"ect that this 3as, soto s"eaB, the loss o a commentator moraliOin. It has these, but it has other andhiher as"ects.=. The Chariot. This is re"resented in some etant codices as bein dra3n by t3o

s"hines, and the de/ice is in consonance 3ith the symbolism, but it must not besu""osed that such 3as its oriinal ormH the /ariation 3as in/ented to su""ort a"articular historical hy"othesis. In the eihteenth century 3hite horses 3ereyoBed to the car. As reards its usual name, the lesser stands or the reaterH it isreally the 6in in his trium"h, ty"iyin, ho3e/er, the /ictory 3hich createsBinshi" as its natural conseDuence and not the /ested royalty o the ourth card.#. !ourt de 5ebelin said that it 3as @siris Trium"hin, the conDuerin sun ins"rin?time ha/in /anDuished the obstacles o 3inter. We Bno3 no3 that @sirisrisin rom the dead is not re"resented by such ob/ious symbolism. @ther animalsthan horses ha/e also been used to dra3 the currus trium"halis, as, or eam"le,a lion and a leo"ard.

>. Fortitude. This is one o the cardinal /irtues, o 3hich I shall s"eaB later. Theemale ure is usually re"resented as closin the mouth o a lion. In the earlierorm 3hich is "rinted by !ourt de 5ebelin, she is ob/iously o"enin it. The rstalternati/e is better symbolically, but either is an instance o strenth in itscon/entional understandin, and con/eys the idea o mastery. It has been saidthat the ure re"resents oranic orce, moral orce and the "rinci"le o all orce.9. The Hermit,as he is termed in common "arlance, stands net on the listH he isalso the !a"uchin, and in more "hiloso"hical lanuae the Sae. e is said to bein search o that Truth 3hich is located ar o in the seDuence, and o $ustice3hich has "receded him on the 3ay. *ut this is a card o attainment, as 3e shallsee later, rather than a card o Duest. It is said also that his lantern contains the

iht o @ccult Science and that his sta is a #aic Wand. These inter"retationsare com"arable in e/ery res"ect to the di/inatory and ortune?tellin meanins3ith 3hich I shall ha/e to deal in their turn. The diabolism o both is that they aretrue ater their o3n manner, but that they miss all the hih thins to 3hich the5reater Arcana should be allocated. It is as i a man 3ho Bno3s in his heart thatall roads lead to the heihts, and that 5od is at the reat heiht o all, shouldchoose the 3ay o "erdition or the 3ay o olly as the "ath o his o3n attainment.Qli"has G/i has allocated this card to -rudence, but in so doin he has beenactuated by the 3ish to ll a a" 3hich 3ould other3ise occur in the symbolism.The our cardinal /irtues are necessary to an idealoical seDuence liBe the Trum"s#a$or, but they must not be taBen only in that rst sense 3hich eists or the use

and consolation o him 3ho in these days o hal"enny $ournalism is called theman in the street. In their "ro"er understandin they are the correlati/es o thecounsels o "erection 3hen these ha/e been similarly re?e"ressed, and theyread as ollo3s+ (a) Transcendental $ustice, the counter?eDuilibrium o the scales,3hen they ha/e been o/er3eihted so that they di" hea/ily on the side o 5od.The corres"ondin counsel is to use loaded dice 3hen you "lay or hih staBes3ith iabolus. The aiom is Aut eus, aut nihil. (b) i/ine Ecstacy, as acounter"oise to somethin called Tem"erance, the sin o 3hich is, I belie/e, theetinction o lihts in the ta/ern. The corres"ondin counsel is to drinB only o


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ne3 3ine in the 6indom o the &ather, because 5od is all in all. The aiom is thatman bein a reasonable bein must et intoicated 3ith 5odH the im"uted case in"oint is S"inoOa. (c) The state o ;oyal &ortitude, 3hich is the state o a To3er oI/ory and a ouse o 5old, but it is 5od and not the man 3ho has become Turrisortitudinis a acie inimici, and out o that ouse the enemy has been cast. Thecorres"ondin counsel is that a man must not s"are himsel e/en in the "resence

o death, but he must be certain that his sacrice shall be?o any o"en course?thebest that 3ill ensure his end. The aiom is that the strenth 3hich is raised tosuch a deree that a man dares lose himsel shall she3 him ho3 5od is ound,and as to such reue??dare thereore and learn. (d) -rudence is the economy3hich ollo3s the line o least resistance, that the soul may et bacB 3hence itcame. It is a doctrine o di/ine "arsimony and conser/ation o enery, because othe stress, the terror and the maniest im"ertinences o this lie. Thecorres"ondin counsel is that true "rudence is concerned 3ith the one thinneedul, and the aiom is+ Waste not, 3ant not. The conclusion o the 3holematter is a business "ro"osition ounded on the la3 o echane+ Cou cannot hel"ettin 3hat you seeB in res"ect o the thins that are i/ine+ it is the la3 o

su""ly and demand. I ha/e mentioned these e3 matters at this "oint or t3osim"le reasons+ (a) because in "ro"ortion to the im"artiality o the mind it seemssometimes more diFcult to determine 3hether it is /ice or /ularity 3hich lays3aste the "resent 3orld more "iteouslyH (b) because in order to remedy theim"erections o the old notions it is hihly needul, on occasion, to em"ty termsand "hrases o their acce"ted sinicance, that they may recei/e a ne3 and moreadeDuate meanin.10. The Wheel o Fortune. There is a current #anual o !artomancy 3hich hasobtained a considerable /oue in Enland, and amidst a reat scattermeal ocurious thins to no "ur"ose has intersected a e3 serious sub$ects. In its last andlarest edition it treats in one section o the TarotH 3hich??i I inter"ret the author

rihtly??it reards rom beinnin to end as the Wheel o &ortune, this e"ressionbein understood in my o3n sense. I ha/e no ob$ection to such an inclusi/ethouh con/entional descri"tionH it obtains in all the 3orlds, and I 3onder that ithas not been ado"ted "re/iously as the most a""ro"riate name on the side ocommon ortune?tellin. It is also the title o one o the Trum"s #a$or??that indeedo our concern at the moment, as my sub?title she3s. @ recent years this hassuered many antastic "resentations and one hy"othetical reconstruction 3hichis suesti/e in its symbolism. The 3heel has se/en radiiH in the eihteenthcentury the ascendin and descendin animals 3ere really o nondescri"tcharacter, one o them ha/in a human head. At the summit 3as another monster3ith the body o an indeterminate beast, 3ins on shoulders and a cro3n on

head. It carried t3o 3ands in its cla3s. These are re"laced in the reconstructionby a ermanubis risin 3ith the 3heel, a S"hin couchant at the summit and aTy"hon on the descendin side. ere is another instance o an in/ention insu""ort o a hy"othesisH but i the latter be set aside the rou"in is symbolicallycorrect and can "ass as such.11.Justice. That the Tarot, thouh it is o all reasonable antiDuity, is not o timeimmemorial, is she3n by this card, 3hich could ha/e been "resented in a muchmore archaic manner. Those, ho3e/er, 3ho ha/e its o discernment in matterso this Bind 3ill not need to be told that ae is in no sense o the essence o the


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considerationH the ;ite o !losin the ode in the Third !rat 5rade o #asonrymay belon to the late eihteenth century, but the act sinies nothinH it is stillthe summary o all the instituted and oFcial #ysteries. The emale ure o theele/enth card is said to be AstrPa, 3ho "ersonied the same /irtue and isre"resented by the same symbols. This oddess not3ithstandin, andnot3ithstandin the /ularian !u"id, the Tarot is not o ;oman mytholoy, or o

5reeB either. Its "resentation o $ustice is su""osed to be one o the our cardinal/irtues included in the seDuence o 5reater ArcanaH but, as it so ha""ens, theourth emblem is 3antin, and it became necessary or the commentators todisco/er it at all costs. They did 3hat it 3as "ossible to do, and yet the la3s oresearch ha/e ne/er succeeded in etricatin the missin -erse"hone under theorm o -rudence. !ourt de 5ebelin attem"ted to sol/e the diFculty by a tour deorce, and belie/ed that he had etracted 3hat he 3anted rom the symbol o theaned #an??3herein he decei/ed himsel. The Tarot has, thereore, its $ustice, itsTem"erance also and its &ortitude, but??o3in to a curious omission??it does notoer us any ty"e o -rudence, thouh it may be admitted that, in some res"ects,the isolation o the ermit, "ursuin a solitary "ath by the liht o his o3n lam",

i/es, to those 3ho can recei/e it, a certain hih counsel in res"ect o the /ia"rudentiP.1. The Hanged Man. This is the symbol 3hich is su""osed to re"resent -rudence,and Qli"has G/i says, in his most shallo3 and "lausible manner, that it is theade"t bound by his enaements. The ure o a man is sus"ended head?do3n3ards rom a ibbet, to 3hich he is attached by a ro"e about one o hisanBles. The arms are bound behind him, and one le is crossed o/er the other.Accordin to another, and indeed the "re/ailin inter"retation, he siniessacrice, but all current meanins attributed to this card are cartomancistsMintuitions, a"art rom any real /alue on the symbolical side. The ortune?tellers othe eihteenth century 3ho circulated Tarots, de"ict a semi? eminine youth in

$erBin, "oised erect on one oot and loosely attached to a short staBe dri/en intothe round.1%. eath. The method o "resentation is almost in/ariable, and embodies aboureois orm o symbolism. The scene is the eld o lie, and amidst ordinaryranB /eetation there are li/in arms and heads "rotrudin rom the round. @neo the heads is cro3ned, and a sBeleton 3ith a reat scythe is in the act omo3in it. The trans"arent and unesca"able meanin is death, but thealternati/es allocated to the symbol are chane and transormation. @ther headsha/e been s3e"t rom their "lace "re/iously, but it is, in its current and "atentmeanin, more es"ecially a card o the death o 6ins. In the eotic sense it hasbeen said to siniy the ascent o the s"irit in the di/ine s"heres, creation and

destruction, "er"etual mo/ement, and so orth.1'. Temperance. The 3ined ure o a emale??3ho, in o""osition to all doctrineconcernin the hierarchy o anels, is usually allocated to this order o ministerins"irits??is "ourin liDuid rom one "itcher to another. In his last 3orB on the Tarot,r. -a"us abandons the traditional orm and de"icts a 3oman 3earin anEy"tian head?dress. The rst thin 3hich seems clear on the surace is that theentire symbol has no es"ecial conneion 3ith Tem"erance, and the act that thisdesination has al3ays obtained or the card oers a /ery ob/ious instance o ameanin behind meanin, 3hich is the title in chie to consideration in res"ect o


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the Tarot as a 3hole.1:. The evil. In the eihteenth century this card seems to ha/e been rather asymbol o merely animal im"udicity. Ece"t or a antastic head?dress, the chieure is entirely naBedH it has bat? liBe 3ins, and the hands and eet arere"resented by the cla3s o a bird. In the riht hand there is a sce"tre terminatinin a sin 3hich has been thouht to re"resent re. The ure as a 3hole is not

"articularly e/ilH it has no tail, and the commentators 3ho ha/e said that thecla3s are those o a har"y ha/e s"oBen at random. There is no better round orthe alternati/e suestion that they are ealeMs cla3s. Attached, by a cordde"endin rom their collars, to the "edestal on 3hich the ure is mounted, aret3o small demons, "resumably male and emale. These are tailed, but not3ined. Since 1>:< the inLuence o Qli"has G/i and his doctrine o occultism haschaned the ace o this card, and it no3 a""ears as a "seudo?*a"hometic ure3ith the head o a oat and a reat torch bet3een the hornsH it is seated insteado erect, and in "lace o the enerati/e orans there is the ermetic caduceus. Ine Tarot i/inatoire o -a"us the small demons are re"laced by naBed humanbeins, male and emale M 3ho are yoBed only to each other. The author may be

elicitated on this im"ro/ed symbolism.1. The Moon&Some eihteenth?century cards she3 the luminary on its 3aninsideH in the debased edition o Etteilla, it is the moon at niht in her "lenitude, setin a hea/en o starsH o recent years the moon is she3n on the side o herincrease. In nearly all "resentations she is shinin brihtly and sheddin themoisture o ertiliOin de3 in reat dro"s. *eneath there are t3o to3ers, bet3een

3hich a "ath 3inds to the /ere o the horiOon. T3o dos, or alternati/ely a 3oland do, are bayin at the moon, and in the oreround there is 3ater, throuh3hich a craysh mo/es to3ards the land.19. The %un. The luminary is distinuished in older cards by chie rays that are3a/ed and salient alternately and by secondary salient rays. It a""ears to shed itsinLuence on earth not only by liht and heat, but??liBe the moon??by dro"s o de3.!ourt de 5ebelin termed these tears o old and o "earl, $ust as he identied thelunar de3 3ith the tears o Isis. *eneath the do?star there is a 3all suestin anenclosure?as it miht be, a 3alled arden?3herein are t3o children, either naBed


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lie that has been s"ent 3ell. It should be noted that in the our Duarters o thearland there are our Lo3ers distincti/ely marBed. Accordin to -. !hristian, thearland should be ormed o roses, and this is the Bind o chain 3hich Qli"has G/isays is less easily broBen than a chain o iron. -erha"s by antithesis, but or thesame reason, the iron cro3n o -eter may he more lihtly on the heads oso/erein "ontis than the cro3n o old on Bins.

C$ASS II*

T+# ,OR SITSOther(ise) $esser Arcana

The resources o inter"retation ha/e been la/ished, i not ehausted, on thet3enty?t3o Trum"s #a$or, the symbolism o 3hich is unDuestionable. Thereremain the our suits, bein Wands or Sce"tres??e hy"othesi, in the archPoloyo the sub$ect, the antecedents o iamonds in modern cards+ !u"s,corres"ondin to eartsH S3ords, 3hich ans3er to !lubs, as the 3ea"on o

chi/alry is in relation to the "easantMs Duarter?sta or the Alsatian bludeonH and,nally, -entacles??called also eniers and #oney??3hich are the "rototy"es oS"ades, In the old as in the ne3 suits, there are ten numbered cards, but in theTarot there are our !ourt !ards allocated to each suit, or a 6niht in addition to6in, 7ueen and 6na/e. The 6na/e is a "ae, /alet, or damoiseauH most correctly,he is an esDuire, "resumably in the ser/ice o the 6nihtH but there are certainrare sets in 3hich the "ae becomes a maid o honour, thus "airin the sees inthe tetrad o the court cards. There are naturally distincti/e eatures in res"ect othe se/eral "ictures, by 3hich I mean that the 6in o Wands is not eactly thesame "ersonae as the 6in o !u"s, e/en ater allo3ance has been made or thedierent emblems that they bearH but the symbolism resides in their ranB and in

the suit to 3hich they belon. So also the smaller cards, 3hich??until no3??ha/ene/er been issued "ictorially in these our modem days, de"end on the "articularmeanin attachin to their numbers in conneion 3ith the "articular suit. Ireser/e, thereore, the details o the esser Arcana, till I come to s"eaB in thesecond "art o the rectied and "erected Tarot 3hich accom"anies this 3orB. Theconsensus o di/inatory meanins attached both to the reater and lessersymbols belons to the third "art.

-T+# TAROT IN +ISTOR!

@ur immediate net concern is to s"eaB o the cards in their history, so that thes"eculations andre/eries 3hich ha/e been "er"etuated and multi"lied in the schools o occultresearch may bedis"osed o once and or all, as intimated in the "reace hereto.et it be understood at the beinnin o this "oint that there are se/eral sets orseDuences o ancientcards 3hich are only in "art o our concern. The Tarot o the *ohemians, by -a"us,3hich I ha/e


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recently carried throuh the "ress, re/isin the im"erect renderin, has someuseul inormation inthis conneion, and, ece"t or the omission o dates and other e/idences o thearchaeoloicalsense, it 3ill ser/e the "ur"ose o the eneral reader. I do not "ro"ose to etend itin the "resent

"lace in any manner that can be called considerable, but certain additions aredesirable and so alsois a distinct mode o "resentation.Amon ancient cards 3hich are mentioned in conneion 3ith the Tarot, there arerstly those o*aldini, 3hich are the celebrated set attributed by tradition to Andrea #antena,thouh this /ie3is no3 enerally re$ected. Their date is su""osed to be about 1'=0, and it isthouht that there arenot more than our collections etant in Euro"e. A co"y or re"roduction reerred to1'>: is "erha"s

eDually rare. A com"lete set contains ty numbers, di/ided into /e denaries orseDuences o tencards each. There seems to be no record that they 3ere used or the "ur"oses oa ame, 3hether ochance or sBillH they could scarcely ha/e lent themsel/es to di/ination or any ormo ortune?tellinH 3hile it 3ould be more than idle to im"ute a "roound symbolical meaninto their ob/iousemblematic desins. The rst denary embodies !onditions o ie, as ollo3s+ (i)The *ear, ()the 6na/e, (%) the Artisan, (') the #erchant, (:) the 8oble, () the6in, (9) the Em"eror, (10) the -o"e. The second contains the #uses and theiri/ine eader+ (11)!allio"e, (1) Jrania, (1%) Ter"sichore, (1') Erato, (1:) -olyhymnia, (1


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We mnst set aside the antastic attem"ts to etract com"lete Tarot seDuences outo these denariesH3e must orbear rom sayin, or eam"le, that the !onditions o ie corres"ondto the Trum"s#a$or, the #uses to -entacles, the Arts and Sciences to !u"s, the Virtues, etc., toSce"tres, and the

conditions o lie to S3ords. This Bind o thin can be done by a "rocess o mentalcontortion, butit has no "lace in reality. At the same time, it is hardly "ossible that indi/idualcards should notehibit certain, and e/en striBin, analoies. The *aldini 6in, 6niht and 6na/esuest thecorres"ondin court cards o the #inor Arcana. The Em"eror, -o"e, Tem"erance,Strenth, $ustice,#oon and Sun are common to the #antena and Trum"s #a$or o any Tarot "acB.-redis"ositionhas also connected the *ear and &ool, Venus and the Star, #ars and the

!hariot, Saturn and theermit, e/en 2u"iter, or alternati/ely the &irst !ause, 3ith the Tarot card o theWorld.R1 *ut themost salient eatures o the Trum"s #a$or are 3antin in the #antena set, and Ido not belie/ethat the ordered seDuence in the latter case a/e birth, as it has been suested,to the others.;omain #erlin maintained this /ie3, and "ositi/ely assined the *aldini cards tothe end o theourteenth century.htt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Bt010'.htm (1 o


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the #inorArcana, the 6nihts 3ere monsters o the centaur ty"e, 3hile the 6na/es 3eresometimes 3arriorsand sometimes ser/in?men. Another distinction d3elt u"on is the "re/alence o!hrstianmediP/al ideas and the utter absence o any @riental suestion. The Duestion,

ho3e/er, remains3hether there are Eastern traces in any Tarot cards.We come, in ne, to the *olonese Tarot, sometimes reerred to as that o Veniceand ha/in theTrum"s #a$or com"lete, but numbers 0 and 1 are trans"osed. In the #inorArcana the , %, 'and : o the small cards are omitted, 3ith the result that there are sity?t3o cardsin all. Thetermination o the Trum"s #a$or in the re"resentation o the ast $udment iscurious, and a littlearrestin as a "oint o symbolismH but this is all that it seems necessary to remarB

about the "acB o*olona, ece"t that it is said to ha/e been in/ented??or, as a Tarot, morecorrectly, modied??about the beinnin o the teenth century by an eiled -rince o -isa resident inthe city. The"ur"ose or 3hich they 3ere used is made tolerably e/ident by the act that, in1'%, St. *ernardino Sienna "reached aainst "layin cards and other orms o amblin. &ortyyears later theim"ortation o cards into Enland 3as orbidden, the time bein that o 6inEd3ard IV. This is

htt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Bt010'.htm ( o


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re"resent thesesub$ects are emblems o their "eriod and not symbols, liBe the Tarot.In conclusion as to this "art, I obser/e that there has been a dis"osition amone"erts to thinB thatthe Trum"s #a$or 3ere not oriinally connected 3ith the numbered suits. I do not3ish to oer a

"ersonal /ie3H I am not an e"ert in the history o ames o chance, and I hatethe "roanum /uluso di/inatory de/icesH but I /enture, under all reser/es, to intimate that i laterresearch should$ustiy such a leanin, then??ece"t or the ood old art o ortune?tellin and itstam"erins 3ith so?called destiny??it 3ill be so much the better or the 5reater Arcana.So ar as reards 3hat is indis"ensable as "reliminaries to the historical as"ects oTarot cards, andI 3ill no3 taBe u" the s"eculati/e side o the sub$ect and "roduce its tests o/alue. In my "reace

to The Tarot o the *ohemians I ha/e mentioned that the rst 3riter 3ho madeBno3n the act othe cards 3as the archaeoloist !ourt de 5ebelin, 3ho, $ust "rior to the &rench;e/olution,occu"ied se/eral years in the "ublication o his #onde -rimiti, 3hich etended tonine Duarto/olumes. e 3as a learned man o his e"och, a hih?rade #ason, a member othe historicalode o the -hilalethes, and a /irtuoso 3ith a "roound and lielon interest inthe debate onuni/ersal antiDuities beore a science o the sub$ect eisted. E/en at this day, his

memorials anddissertations, collected under the title 3hich I ha/e Duoted, are 3orth "ossessin.*y an accident othins, he became acDuainted 3ith the Tarot 3hen it 3as Duite unBno3n in -aris,and at onceconcei/ed that it 3as the remnants o an Ey"tian booB. e made inDuiriesconcernin it andascertained that it 3as in circulation o/er a considerable "art o Euro"e??S"ain,Italy, 5ermany andthe South o &rance. It 3as in use as a ame o chance or sBill, ater the ordinarymanner o "layin?

cardsH and he ascertained urther ho3 the ame 3as "layed. *ut it 3as in use alsoor the hiher"ur"ose o di/ination or ortune?tellin, and 3ith the hel" o a learned riend hedisco/ered thesinicance attributed to the cards, toether 3ith the method o arranementado"ted or this"ur"ose. In a 3ord, he made a distinct contribution to our Bno3lede, and he isstill a source oreerence??but it is on the Duestion o act only, and not on the belo/ed hy"othesis


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that the Tarotcontains "ure Ey"tian doctrine. o3e/er, he set the o"inion 3hich is "re/alent tothis daythrouhout the occult schools, that in the mystery and 3onder, the strane nihto the ods, theunBno3n tonue and the undeci"hered hieroly"hics 3hich symboliOed Ey"t at

the end o theeihteenth century, the oriin o the cards 3as lost. So dreamed one o thecharacteristic literati o&rance, and one can almost understand and sym"athiOe, or the country about theelta and the8ile 3as beinnin to loom larely in the "reoccu"ation o learned thouht, andomne inolum "roUy"tiaco 3as the 3ay o delusion to 3hich many minds tended. It 3as ecusableenouh then,but that the madness has continued and, 3ithin the charmed circle o the occultsciences, still

"asses rom mouth to mouth??there is no ecuse or this. et us see, thereore, thee/idence"roduced by #. !ourt de 5ebelin in su""ort o his thesis, and, that I may deal$ustly, it shall besummariOed as ar as "ossible in his o3n 3ords.(i) The ures and arranement o the ame are maniestly alleoricalH () thealleories are inconormity 3ith the ci/il, "hiloso"hical and reliious doctrine o ancient Ey"tH (%)i the cards3ere modern, no ih -riestess 3ould be included amon the 5reater ArcanaH (')the ure in

Duestion bears the horns o IsisH (:) the card 3hich is called the Em"eror has asce"tre terminatinin a tri"le crossH (


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the *ooB o Thoth, or the Table o the octrine o #ercury.Such is the testimony, it bein understood that I ha/e set aside se/eral casualstatements, or 3hichno Bind o $ustication is "roduced. These, thereore, are ten "illars 3hich su""ortthe edice othe thesis, and the same are "illars o sand. The Tarot is, o course, alleorical??

that is to say, it issymbolism??but alleory and symbol are catholic???o all countries, nations andtimes they are notmore Ey"tian than #eican they are o Euro"e and !athay, o Tibet beyond theimalayas and othe ondon utters. As alleory and symbol, the cards corres"ond to many ty"eso ideas andthinsH they are uni/ersal and not "articularH and the act that they do notes"ecially and "eculiarlyres"ond to Ey"tian doctrine??reliious, "hiloso"hical or ci/il??is clear rom theailure o !ourt de

5ebelin to o urther than the aFrmation. The "resence o a ih -riestessamon the Trum"s#a$or is more easily e"lained as the memorial o some "o"ular su"erstition??that3orshi" oiana, or eam"le, the "ersistence o 3hich in modern Italy has been traced 3ithsuch striBinresults by eland. We ha/e also to remember the uni/ersality o horns in e/erycultus, notece"tin that o Tibet. The tri"le cross is "re"osterous as an instance o Ey"tiansymbolismH it isthe cross o the "atriarchal see, both 5reeB and atin??o Venice, o 2erusalem, or

eam"le??and itis the orm o sinin used to this day by the "riests and laity o the @rthodo;ite. I "ass o/er theidle allusion to the tears o Isis, because other occult 3riters ha/e told us thatthey are ebre32odsH as reards the se/enteenth card, it is the star Sirius or another, as"redis"osition "leasesH thenumber se/en 3as certainly im"ortant in Ey"t and any treatise on numericalmysticism 3ill she3that the same statement a""lies e/ery3here, e/en i 3e elect to inore the se/en!hristian

Sacraments and the 5its o the i/ine S"irit. &inally, as reards the etymoloy othe 3ord Tarot,it is suFcient to obser/e that it 3as oered beore the disco/ery o the ;osettaStone and 3henthere 3as no Bno3lede o the Ey"tian lanuae.The thesis o !ourt de 5ebelin 3as not suered to re"ose undisturbed in the mindo the ae,a""ealin to the learned eclusi/ely by means o a Duarto /olume. It created theo""ortunity o


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Tarot cards in -aris, as the centre o &rance and all thins &rench in the uni/erse.The suestionthat di/ination by cards had behind it the une"ected 3arrants o ancient hiddenscience, and thatthe root o the 3hole sub$ect 3as in the 3onder and mystery o Ey"t, reLectedthereon almost a

di/ine dinityH out o the "urlieus o occult "ractices cartomancy emered intoashion andassumed or the moment almost "ontical /estures. The rst to undertaBe therole o bateleur,maician and $uler, 3as the illiterate but Oealous ad/enturer, AllietteH thesecond, as a Bind oih -riestess, ull o intuitions and re/elations, 3as #lle. enormand??but shebelons to a later"eriodH 3hile lastly came 2ulia @rsini, 3ho is reerable to a 7ueen o !u"s rather inthe tatters oclair/oyance. I am not concerned 3ith these "eo"le as tellers o ortune, 3hen

destiny itsel 3asshuin and cuttin cards or the ame o uni/ersal re/olution, or or such courtsand courtiers as3ere those o ouis VIII, !harles I and ouis -hili""e. *ut under the occultdesination oEtteilla, the transliteration o name, Alliette, that "erruDuier tooB himsel 3ith hihseriousness and"osed rather as a "riest o the occult sciences than as an ordinary ade"t in lMart detirer les cartes.E/en at this day there are "eo"le, liBe r. -a"us, 3ho ha/e souht to sa/e some"art o his biOarre

system rom obli/ion.The lon and heteroeneous story o e #onde -rimiti had come to the end o itstellin in 1=>,and in 1=>% the tracts o Etteilla had beun "ourin rom the "ress, testiyin thatalready he hads"ent thirty, nay, almost orty years in the study o Ey"tian maic, and that hehad ound the nalBeys. They 3ere, in act, the 6eys o the Tarot, 3hich 3as a booB o "hiloso"hyand the *ooB oThoth, but at the same time it 3as actually 3ritten by se/enteen #ai in a Tem"leo &ire, on the

borders o the e/ant, some three leaues rom #em"his. It contained the scienceo the uni/erse,and the cartomancist "roceeded to a""ly it to Astroloy, Alchemy, and ortune?tellin, 3ithout thehtt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Bt010'.htm (' o


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3hom he con/incedconcernin his system. *ut the "oint 3hich 3e ha/e to notice is that in thismanner 3as theantiDuity o the Tarot enerally trum"eted orth. The little booBs o Etteilla are"roo "ositi/e thathe did not Bno3 e/en his o3n lanuaeH 3hen in the course o time he "roduced a

reormed Tarot,e/en those 3ho thinB o him tenderly admit that he s"oiled its symbolismH and inres"ect oantiDuities he had only !ourt de 5ebelin as his uni/ersal authority.The cartomancists succeeded one another in the manner 3hich I ha/e mentioned,and o coursethere 3ere ri/al ade"ts o these less than least mysteriesH but the scholarshi" othe sub$ect, i it canbe said to ha/e come into eistence, re"osed ater all in the Duarto o !ourt de5ebelin orsomethin more than sity years. @n his authority, there is /ery little doubt that

e/eryone 3hobecame acDuainted, by theory or "ractice, by casual or s"ecial concern, 3ith theDuestion o Tarotcards, acce"ted their Ey"tian character. It is said that "eo"le are taBencommonly at their o3n/aluation, and??ollo3in as it does the line o least resistance??the unsolicitouseneral mindassuredly acce"ts archPoloical "retensions in the sense o their o3n darin ando those 3ho "utthem or3ard. The rst 3ho a""eared to reconsider the sub$ect 3ith some"resum"ti/e titles to a

hearin 3as the &rench 3riter uchesne, but I am com"elled to "ass him o/er3ith a merereerence, and so also some interestin researches on the eneral sub$ect o"layin?cards by Sinerin Enland. The latter belie/ed that the old Venetian ame called Tra""ola 3as theearliestEuro"ean orm o card?"layin, that it 3as o Arabian oriin, and that the ty?t3ocards used orthe "ur"ose deri/ed rom that reion. I do not ather that any im"ortance 3ase/er attached to this/ie3.

uchesne and Siner 3ere ollo3ed by another Enlish 3riter, W. A. !hatto, 3hore/ie3ed thea/ailable acts and the cloud o s"eculations 3hich had already arisen on thesub$ect. This 3as in1>'>, and his 3orB has still a Bind o standard authority, but??ater e/eryallo3ance or a certainrihteousness attributable to the inde"endent mind??it remains an indierent ande/en a "oor"erormance. It 3as, ho3e/er, characteristic in its 3ay o the a""roachin middle


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niht o thenineteenth century. !hatto re$ected the Ey"tian hy"othesis, but as he 3as at/ery little "ainsconcernin it, he 3ould scarcely be held to dis"lace !ourt de 5ebelin i the latterhad any rmround beneath his hy"othesis. In 1>:' another &rench 3riter, *oiteau, tooB u"

the eneralDuestion, maintainin the oriental oriin o Tarot cards, thouh 3ithout attem"tinto "ro/e it. I amnot certain, but I thinB that he is the rst 3riter 3ho denitely identied them 3iththe 5i"siesH orhim, ho3e/er, the oriinal 5i"sy home 3as in India, and Ey"t did not thereoreenter into hiscalculation.In 1>


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cro3ns and har"s??nor e/en the "resence o "ossible coins as a synonym o deniers and "erha"s asan eDui/alent o"entacles??do much to elucidate the esser Arcana. I e/ery tonue and "eo"leand clime and"eriod "ossessed their cards??i 3ith these also they "hiloso"hiOed, di/ined and

ambled??the act3ould be interestin enouh, but unless they 3ere Tarot cards, they 3ouldillustrate only theuni/ersal tendency o man to be "ursuin the same thins in more or less thesame 3ay.I end, thereore, the history o this sub$ect by re"eatin that it has no history "riorto the ourteenthcentury, 3hen the rst rumours, 3ere heard concernin cards. They may ha/eeisted or centuries,but this "eriod 3ould be early enouh, i they 3ere only intended or "eo"le to trytheir lucB at

amblin or their lucB at seein the utureH on the other hand, i they contain thedee" intimationso Secret octrine, then the ourteenth century is aain early enouh, or at leastin this res"ect 3eare ettin as much as 3e can.htt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Bt010'.htm (< o


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handbooB liBe the"resent I can do little more than state the claims, 3hich, ho3e/er, ha/e beendiscussed at lenth inse/eral o my other 3ritins, 3hile it is desined to treat t3o o its more im"ortant"hases in booBsde/oted to the Secret Tradition in &reemasonry and in ermetic literature. As

reards Tarotclaims, it should be remembered that some considerable "art o the im"utedSecret octrine hasbeen "resented in the "ictorial emblems o Alchemy, so that the im"uted *ooB oThoth is in nosense a solitary de/ice o this emblematic Bind. 8o3, Alchemy had t3o branches,as I ha/ee"lained ully else3here, and the "ictorial emblems 3hich I ha/e mentioned arecommon to bothdi/isions. Its material side is re"resented in the strane symbolism o the #utusiber, "rinted in

the reat olios o #anetus. There the "rocess or the "erormance o the reat3orB otransmutation is de"icted in ourteen co""er?"late enra/ins, 3hich ehibit thedierent staes othe matter in the /arious chemical /essels. Abo/e these /essels there aremytholoical, "lanetary,solar and lunar symbols, as i the "o3ers and /irtues 3hich ?accordin toermetic teachin??"reside o/er the de/elo"ment and "erection o the metallic Bindom 3ereinter/enin acti/ely toassist the t3o o"erators 3ho are toilin belo3. The o"erators??curiously enouh??

are male andemale. The s"iritual side o Alchemy is set orth in the much straner emblems othe *ooB oambs"rin, and o this I ha/e already i/en a "reliminary inter"retation, to 3hichthe reader maybe reerred.R1 The tract contains the mystery o 3hat is called the mystical orarch?natural eliir,bein the marriae o the soul and the s"irit in the body o the ade"t "hiloso"herand thetransmutation o the body as the "hysical result o this marriae. I ha/e ne/ermet 3ith more

curious intimations than in this one little 3orB. It may be mentioned as a "oint oact that bothtracts are /ery much later in time than the latest date that could be assined tothe eneraldistribution o Tarot cards in Euro"e by the most drastic orm o criticism.R1. See the @ccult ;e/ie3, /ol. /iii, 190>.They belon res"ecti/ely to the end o the se/enteenth and siteenth centuries.As I am notdra3in here on the ont o imaination to reresh that o act and e"erience, I do


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history o man, or o the soul comin out rom the Eternal, "assin into thedarBness o thematerial body, and returnin to the heiht. I thinB that the author is here 3ithin ameasurabledistance o the riht tracB, and his /ie3s are to this etent inormin, but hismethod??in some

res"ects?conuses the issues and the modes and "lanes o bein.The Trum"s #a$or ha/e also been treated in the alternati/e method 3hich I ha/ementioned, and5rand @rient, in his #anual o !artomancy, under the uise o a mode otranscendentaldi/ination, has really oered the result o certain illustrati/e readins o the cards3hen arranedas the result o a ortuitous combination by means o shuin and dealin. Theuse o di/inatorymethods, 3ith 3hatsoe/er intention and or 3hate/er "ur"ose, carries 3ith it t3osuestions. It

may be thouht that the dee"er meanins are im"uted rather than real, but this isdis"osed o by theact o certain cards, liBe the #aician, the ih -riestess, the Wheel o &ortune,the aned #an,the To3er or #aison ieu, and se/eral others, 3hich do not corres"ond to!onditions o ie,Arts, Sciences, Virtues, or the other sub$ects contained in the denaries o the*aldini emblematicures. They are also "roo "ositi/e that ob/ious and natural moralities cannote"lain theseDuence. Such cards testiy concernin themsel/es ater another mannerH and

althouh the state in3hich I ha/e let the Tarot in res"ect o its historical side is so much the morediFcult as it is somuch the more o"en, they indicate the real sub$ect matter 3ith 3hich 3e areconcerned. Themethods she3 also that the Trum"s #a$or at least ha/e been ada"ted to ortune?tellin rather thanbelon thereto. The common di/inatory meanins 3hich 3ill be i/en in the third"art are larelyarbitrary attributions, or the "roduct o secondary and uninstructed intuitionH or,at the /ery most,

they belon to the sub$ect on a lo3er "lane, a"art rom the oriinal intention. Ithe Tarot 3ere oortune?tellin in the root?matter thereo, 3e should ha/e to looB in /ery strane"laces or themoti/e 3hich de/ised it??to Witchcrat and the *lacB Sabbath, rather than anySecret octrine.The t3o classes o sinicance 3hich are attached to the Tarot in the su"erior andinerior 3orlds,and the act that no occult or other 3riter has attem"ted to assin anythin but a


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di/inatorymeanin to the #inor Arcana, $ustiy in yet another manner the hy"othesis thatthe t3o series donot belon to one another. It is "ossible that their marriae 3as eected rst inthe Tarot o*olona by that -rince o -isa 3hom I ha/e mentioned in the rst "art. It is said

that his de/iceobtained or him "ublic reconition and re3ard rom the city o his ado"tion,3hich 3ouldscarcely ha/e been "ossible, e/en in those antastic days, or the "roduction o aTarot 3hich onlyomitted a e3 o the small cardsH but as 3e are dealin 3ith a Duestion o act3hich has to beaccounted or someho3, it is concei/able that a sensation miht ha/e beencreated by acombination o the minor and amblin cards 3ith the "hiloso"hical set, and bythe ada"tation o

htt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Bt001.htm ( o ') R1%1000 1'+'+':.1 The octrine *ehind the Veil+ The Tarot and Secret Traditionboth to a ame o chance. Ater3ards it 3ould ha/e been urther ada"ted to thatother ame ochance 3hich is called ortune?tellin. It should be understood here that I am notdenyin the"ossibility o di/ination, but I taBe ece"tion as a mystic to the dedications 3hichbrin "eo"leinto these "aths, as i they had any relation to the #ystic 7uest.The Tarot cards 3hich are issued 3ith the small edition o the "resent 3orB, that isto say, 3ith the

6ey to the Tarot, ha/e been dra3n and coloured by #iss -amela !olman Smith,and 3ill, I thinB,be rearded as /ery striBin and beautiul, in their desin aliBe and eecution.They are re"roducedin the "resent enlared edition o the 6ey as a means o reerence to the tet.They dier in manyim"ortant res"ects rom the con/entional archaisms o the "ast and rom the3retched "roducts ocol"ortae 3hich no3 reach us rom Italy, and it remains or me to $ustiy their/ariations so ar asthe symbolism is concerned. That or once in modern times I "resent a "acB 3hich

is the 3orB oan artist does not, I "resume, call or a"oloy, e/en to the "eo"le??i any remainamon us??3housed to be described and to call themsel/es K/ery occult.K I any one 3ill looB atthe oreousTarot /alet or Bna/e 3ho is emblaOoned on one o the "ae "lates o !hattoMs&acts andS"eculations concernin the istory o -layin !ards, he 3ill Bno3 that Italy in theold days


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"roduced some s"lendid "acBs. I could only 3ish that it had been "ossible to issuethe restored andrectied cards in the same style and siOeH such a course 3ould ha/e done uller$ustice to thedesins, but the result 3ould ha/e "ro/ed unmanaeable or those "ractical"ur"oses 3hich are

connected 3ith cards, and or 3hich allo3ance must be made, 3hate/er my /ie3sthereon. &or the/ariations in the symbolism by 3hich the desins ha/e been aected, I alone amres"onsible. Inres"ect o the #a$or Arcana, they are sure to occasion criticism amon students,actual andim"uted. I 3ish thereore to say, 3ithin the reser/es o courtesy and la hautecon/enancebelonin to the ello3shi" o research, that I care nothin utterly or any /ie3that may nde"ression. There is a Secret Tradition concernin the Tarot, as 3ell as a Secret

octrinecontained thereinH I ha/e ollo3ed some "art o it 3ithout eceedin the limits3hich are dra3nabout matters o this Bind and belon to the la3s o honour. This tradition has t3o"arts, and asone o them has "assed into 3ritin it seems to ollo3 that it may be betrayed atany moment,3hich 3ill not siniy, because the second, as I ha/e intimated, has not so "assedat "resent and isheld by /ery e3 indeed. The "ur/eyors o s"urious co"y and the traFcBers instolen oods may

taBe note o this "oint, i they "lease. I asB, moreo/er, to be distinuished romt3o or three 3ritersin recent times 3ho ha/e thouht t to hint that they could say a ood deal morei they liBed, or3e do not s"eaB the same lanuaeH but also rom any one 3ho, no3 or hereater,may say that sheor he 3ill tell all, because they ha/e only the accidents and not the essentialsnecessary or suchdisclosure. I I ha/e ollo3ed on my "art the counsel o ;obert *urns, by Bee"insomethin tomysel 3hich I Kscarcely tell to any,K I ha/e still said as much as I canH it is the

truth ater its o3nmanner, and as much as may be e"ected or reDuired in those outer circles 3herethe Dualicationso s"ecial research cannot be e"ected.In reard to the #inor Arcana, they are the rst in modern but not in all times tobe accom"aniedby "ictures, in addition to 3hat is called the K"i"sK??that is to say, the de/icesbelonin to thenumbers o the /arious suits. These "ictures res"ond to the di/inatory meanins,


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3hich ha/e beendra3n rom many sources. To sum u", thereore, the "resent di/ision o this Bey isde/oted to theTrum"s #a$orH it elucidates their symbols in res"ect o the hiher intention and3ith reerence tothe desins in the "acB. The third di/ision 3ill i/e the di/inatory sinicance in

res"ect o these/enty?eiht Tarot cards, and 3ith "articular reerence to the desins o the#inor Arcana. It 3illi/e, in ne, some modes o use or those 3ho reDuire them, and in the sense othe reason 3hich Iha/e already e"lained in the "reace. That 3hich hereinater ollo3s should betaBen, or"ur"oses o com"arison, in conneion 3ith the eneral descri"tion o the old TarotTrum"s in therst "art. There it 3ill be seen that the Oero card o the &ool is allocated, as ital3ays is, to the

"lace 3hich maBes it eDui/alent to the number t3enty?one. The arranement isridiculous on thesurace, 3hich does not much siniy, but it is also 3ron on the symbolism, nordoes this arebetter 3hen it is made to re"lace the t3enty?second "oint o the seDuence.Etteilla reconiOed thediFculties o both attributions, but he only made bad 3orse by allocatin the &oolto the "lace3hich is usually occu"ied by the Ace o -entacles as the last o the 3hole Tarotseries. Thisrearranement has been ollo3ed by -a"us recently in e Tarot i/inatoire, 3here

the conusionhtt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Bt001.htm (% o ') R1%1000 1'+'+':.1 The octrine *ehind the Veil+ The Tarot and Secret Traditionis o no conseDuence, as the ndins o ortune tellin de"end u"on ortuitous"ositions and notu"on essential "lace in the eneral seDuence o cards. I ha/e seen yet anotherallocation o the Oerosymbol, 3hich no doubt obtains in certain cases, but it ails on the hihest "lanesand or our"resent reDuirements it 3ould be idle to carry the eamination urther.htt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Bt001.htm (' o ') R1%1000 1'+'+':

.. The Trum"s #a$or and Inner Symbolismsacred?tets Waite Inde -re/ious 8etTE T;J#-S #A2@; A8 TEI; I88E;SC#*@IS#I. The #aicianII. The ih -riestessIII. The Em"ressIV. The Em"eror


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V. The iero"hantVI. The o/ersVII. The !hariotVIII. Strenth, or &ortitudeI. The ermit. Wheel o &ortune

I. 2usticeII. The aned #anIII. eathIV. Tem"eranceV. The e/ilVI. The To3erVII. The StarVIII. The #oonI. The Sun. The ast 2udement4ero. The &ool

I. The Worldhtt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Bt00.htm R1%1000 1'+'+' in a horiOontal "osition Yinnity

symbolZ. Abouthis 3aist is a ser"ent?cincture, the ser"ent a""earin to de/our its o3n tail. This isamiliar to mostas a con/entional symbol o eternity, but here it indicates more es"ecially theeternity oattainment in the s"irit. In the #aicianMs riht hand is a 3and raised to3ardshea/en, 3hile the lethand is "ointin to the earth. This dual sin is Bno3n in /ery hih rades o theInstituted#ysteriesH it she3s the descent o race, /irtue and liht, dra3n rom thinsabo/e and deri/ed to

thins belo3. The suestion throuhout is thereore the "ossession andcommunication o the-o3ers and 5its o the S"irit. @n the table in ront o the #aician are thesymbols o the ourTarot suits, siniyin the elements o natural lie, 3hich lie liBe counters beorethe ade"t, and heada"ts them as he 3ills. *eneath are roses and lilies, the Los cam"i and liliumcon/allium, chanedinto arden Lo3ers, to she3 the culture o as"iration. This card sinies the di/ine


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are beneath. In thelo3er 3orld it is #aIButh??that 3orld bein, or this "ur"ose, understood as ablessed 6indomthat 3ith 3hich it is made blessed bein the Ind3ellin 5lory. #ystically s"eaBin,the SheBinahis the S"iritual *ride o the $ust man, and 3hen he reads the a3 she i/es the

i/ine meanin.There are some res"ects in 3hich this card is the hihest and holiest o the5reater Arcana.htt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Btar0.htm R1%1000 1'+'+::III. The Em"resssacred?tets Waite Inde -re/ious 8etIIIThe Em"ressA stately ure, seated, ha/in rich /estments and royal as"ect, as o a dauhtero hea/en andearth. er diadem is o t3el/e stars, athered in a cluster. The symbol o Venus is

on the shield3hich rests near her. A eld o corn is ri"enin in ront o her, and beyond there isa all o 3ater.The sce"tre 3hich she bears is surmounted by the lobe o this 3orld. She is theinerior 5arden oEden, the Earthly -aradise, all that is symboliOed by the /isible house o man. Sheis not ;einacoeli, but she is still reuium "eccatorum, the ruitul mother o thousands. Thereare also certainas"ects in 3hich she has been correctly described as desire and the 3insthereo, as the 3oman

clothed 3ith the sun, as 5loria #undi and the /eil o the Sanctum SanctorumH butshe is not, I mayadd, the soul that has attained 3ins, unless all the symbolism is counted u"another and unusual3ay. She is abo/e all thins uni/ersal ecundity and the outer sense o the Word.This is ob/ious,because there is no direct messae 3hich has been i/en to man liBe that 3hichis borne by3omanH but she does not hersel carry its inter"retation.In another order o ideas, the card o the Em"ress sinies the door or ate by3hich an entrance is

obtained into this lie, as into the 5arden o VenusH and then the 3ay 3hich leadsout thererom,into that 3hich is beyond, is the secret Bno3n to the ih -riestess+ it iscommunicated by her tothe elect. #ost old attributions o this card are com"letely 3ron on thesymbolism??as, oream"le, its identication 3ith the Word, i/ine 8ature, the Triad, and so orth.htt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Btar0%.htm R1%1000 1'+:+00IV. The Em"eror


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sacred?tets Waite Inde -re/ious 8etIVThe Em"erore has a orm o the !ru ansata or his sce"tre and a lobe in his let hand. e isa cro3nedmonarch??commandin, stately, seated on a throne, the arms o 3hich ae ronted

by ramsM heads.e is eecuti/e and realiOation, the "o3er o this 3orld, here clothed 3ith thehihest o its naturalattributes. e is occasionally re"resented as seated on a cubic stone, 3hich,ho3e/er, conusessome o the issues. e is the /irile "o3er, to 3hich the Em"ress res"onds, and inthis sense is he3ho seeBs to remo/e the Veil o IsisH yet she remains /iro intacta.It should be understood that this card and that o the Em"ress do not "reciselyre"resent thecondition o married lie, thouh this state is im"lied. @n the surace, as I ha/e

indicated, theystand or mundane royalty, u"lited on the seats o the mihtyH but abo/e thisthere is thesuestion o another "resence. They siniy also??and the male ure es"ecially??the hiherBinshi", occu"yin the intellectual throne. ereo is the lordshi" o thouhtrather than o theanimal 3orld. *oth "ersonalities, ater their o3n manner, are Kull o stranee"erience,K buttheirs is not consciously the 3isdom 3hich dra3s rom a hiher 3orld. TheEm"eror has been

described as (a) 3ill in its embodied orm, but this is only one o its a""lications,and (b) as ane"ression o /irtualities contained in the Absolute *ein??but this is antasy.htt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Btar0'.htm R1%1000 1'+:+0:V. The iero"hantsacred?tets Waite Inde -re/ious 8etVThe iero"hante 3ears the tri"le cro3n and is seated bet3een t3o "illars, but they are notthose o the Tem"le3hich is uarded by the ih -riestess. In his let hand he holds a sce"tre

terminatin in the tri"lecross, and 3ith his riht hand he i/es the 3ell?Bno3n ecclesiastical sin 3hich iscalled that oesotericism, distinuishin bet3een the maniest and concealed "art o doctrine.It is noticeable inthis conneion that the ih -riestess maBes no sin. At his eet are the crossedBeys, and t3o"riestly ministers in albs Bneel beore him. e has been usually called the -o"e,3hich is a


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"articular a""lication o the more eneral oFce that he symboliOes. e is therulin "o3er oeternal reliion, as the ih -riestess is the "re/ailin enius o the esoteric,3ithdra3n "o3er.The "ro"er meanins o this card ha/e suered 3oeul admiture rom nearly allhands. 5rand

@rient says truly that the iero"hant is the "o3er o the Beys, eoteric orthododoctrine, and theouter side o the lie 3hich leads to the doctrineH but he is certainly not the "rinceo occultdoctrine, as another commentator has suested.e is rather the summa totius theoloiP, 3hen it has "assed into the utmostriidity o e"ressionHbut he symboliOes also all thins that are rihteous and sacred on the maniestside. As such, he isthe channel o race belonin to the 3orld o institution as distinct rom that o8ature, and he is

the leader o sal/ation or the human race at lare. e is the order and the heado the reconiOedhierarchy, 3hich is the reLection o another and reater hierarchic orderH but itmay so ha""en thatthe "onti orets the sinicance o this his symbolic state and acts as i hecontained 3ithin his"ro"er measures all that his sin sinies or his symbol seeBs to she3 orth. e isnot, as it hasbeen thouht, "hiloso"hy?ece"t on the theoloical sideH he is not ins"irationH andhe is notreliion, althouh he is a mode o its e"ression.

htt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Btar0:.htm R1%1000 1'+:+0


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later ollies 3hichde"icted man bet3een /ice and /irtue. In a /ery hih sense, the card is a mysteryo the !o/enantand Sabbath.The suestion in res"ect o the 3oman is that she sinies that attractionto3ards the sensiti/e

lie 3hich carries 3ithin it the idea o the &all o #an, but she is rather the 3orBino a Secreta3 o -ro/idence than a 3illin and conscious tem"tress. It is throuh herim"uted la"se thatman shall arise ultimately, and only by her can he com"lete himsel. The card isthereore in its3ay another intimation concernin the reat mystery o 3omanhood. The oldmeanins all to"ieces o necessity 3ith the old "ictures, but e/en as inter"retations o the latter,some o them3ere o the order o common"lace and others 3ere alse in symbolism.

htt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Btar0


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attainment, and toetend this conce"tion the ure is seen holdin u" his beacon on an eminence.Thereore theermit is not, as !ourt de 5ebelin e"lained, a 3ise man in search o truth and$usticeH nor is he,as a later e"lanation "ro"oses, an es"ecial eam"le o e"erience. is beacon

intimates thatK3here I am, you also may be.KIt is urther a card 3hich is understood Duite incorrectly 3hen it is connected 3iththe idea ooccult isolation, as the "rotection o "ersonal manetism aainst admiture. Thisis one o theri/olous renderins 3hich 3e o3e to Qli"has G/i. It has been ado"ted by the&rench @rder o#artinism and some o us ha/e heard a reat deal o the Silent and JnBno3n-hiloso"hyen/elo"ed by his mantle rom the Bno3lede o the "roane. In true #artinism,

the sinicance othe term -hiloso"he inconnu 3as o another order. It did not reer to the intendedconcealment othe Instituted #ysteries, much less o their substitutes, but??liBe the card itsel??tothe truth that thei/ine #ysteries secure their o3n "rotection rom those 3ho are un"re"ared.htt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Btar09.htm R1%1000 1'+:+'. Wheel o &ortunesacred?tets Waite Inde -re/ious 8etWheel o &ortune

In this symbol I ha/e aain ollo3ed the reconstruction o Qli"has G/i, 3ho hasurnished se/eral/ariants. It is leitimate??as I ha/e intimated??to use Ey"tian symbolism 3henthis ser/es our"ur"ose, "ro/ided that no theory o oriin is im"lied therein. I ha/e, ho3e/er,"resented Ty"hon inhis ser"ent orm. The symbolism is, o course, not eclusi/ely Ey"tian, as theour i/in!reatures o EOeBiel occu"y the anles o the card, and the 3heel itsel ollo3sother indications oG/i in res"ect o EOeBielMs /ision, as illustrati/e o the "articular Tarot 6ey. With

the &renchoccultist, and in the desin itsel, the symbolic "icture stands or the "er"etualmotion o a Luidicuni/erse and or the Lu o human lie. The S"hin is the eDuilibrium therein. Thetransliterationo Taro as ;ota is inscribed on the 3heel, counterchaned 3ith the letters o thei/ine 8ame??toshe3 that -ro/idence is im"hed throuh all. *ut this is the i/ine intention 3ithin,and the similar


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intention 3ithout is eem"lied by the our i/in !reatures. Sometimes thes"hin is re"resentedcouchant on a "edestal abo/e, 3hich derauds the symbolism by stultiyin theessential idea ostability amidst mo/ement.*ehind the eneral notion e"ressed in the symbol there lies the denial o chance

and the atality3hich is im"lied therein. It may be added that, rom the days o G/i on3ard, theocculte"lanations o this card are??e/en or occultism itsel??o a sinularly atuousBind. It has beensaid to mean "rinci"le, ecundity, /irile honour, rulin authority, etc. The ndinso commonortune?tellin are better than this on their o3n "lane.htt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Btar10.htm R1%1000 1'+:+9I. 2usticesacred?tets Waite Inde -re/ious 8et

I2usticeAs this card ollo3s the traditional symbolism and carries abo/e all its ob/iousmeanins, there islittle to say reardin it outside the e3 considerations collected in the rst "art,to 3hich thereader is reerred.It 3ill be seen, ho3e/er, that the ure is seated bet3een "illars, liBe the ih-riestess, and onthis account it seems desirable to indicate that the moral "rinci"le 3hich dealsunto e/ery man

accordin to his 3orBs??3hile, o course, it is in strict analoy 3ith hiher thinsH??diers in itsessence rom the s"iritual $ustice 3hich is in/ol/ed in the idea o election. Thelatter belons to amysterious order o -ro/idence, in /irtue o 3hich it is "ossible or certain men toconcei/e theidea o dedication to the hihest thins. The o"eration o this is liBe the breathino the S"irit3here it 3ills, and 3e ha/e no canon o criticism or round o e"lanationconcernin it. It isanaloous to the "ossession o the airy its and the hih its and the racious

its o the "oet+3e ha/e them or ha/e not, and their "resence is as much a mystery as theirabsence. The la3 o2ustice is not ho3e/er in/ol/ed by either alternati/e. In conclusion, the "illars o2ustice o"en intoone 3orld and the "illars o the ih -riestess into another.htt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Btar11.htm R1%1000 1'+:+%'II. The aned #ansacred?tets Waite Inde -re/ious 8et


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IIThe aned #anThe allo3s rom 3hich he is sus"ended orms a Tau cross, 3hile the ure??romthe "osition othe les??orms a ylot cross. There is a nimbus about the head o the seeminmartyr. It should be

noted (1) that the tree o sacrice is li/in 3ood, 3ith lea/es thereonH () that theace e"ressesdee" entrancement, not suerinH (%) that the ure, as a 3hole, suests lie insus"ension, butlie and not death. It is a card o "roound sinicance, but all the sinicance is/eiled. @ne o hiseditors suests that Qli"has G/i did not Bno3 the meanin, 3hich isunDuestionable nor did theeditor himsel. It has been called alsely a card o martyrdom, a card a o"rudence, a card o the5reat WorB, a card o dutyH but 3e may ehaust all "ublished inter"retations and

nd only /anity.I 3ill say /ery sim"ly on my o3n "art that it e"resses the relation, in one o itsas"ects, bet3eenthe i/ine and the Jni/erse.e 3ho can understand that the story o his hiher nature is imbedded in thissymbolism 3illrecei/e intimations concernin a reat a3aBenin that is "ossible, and 3ill Bno3that ater thesacred #ystery o eath there is a lorious #ystery o ;esurrection.htt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Btar1.htm R1%1000 1'+:+%=III. eath

sacred?tets Waite Inde -re/ious 8etIIIeathThe /eil or masB o lie is "er"etuated in chane, transormation and "assaerom lo3er to hiher,and this is more tly re"resented in the rectied Tarot by one o the a"ocaly"tic/isions than bythe crude notion o the rea"in sBeleton. *ehind it lies the 3hole 3orld o ascentin the s"irit. Themysterious horseman mo/es slo3ly, bearin a blacB banner emblaOoned 3ith the#ystic ;ose,

3hich sinies lie. *et3een t3o "illars on the /ere o the horiOon there shinesthe sun oimmortality. The horseman carries no /isible 3ea"on, but Bin and child andmaiden all beorehim, 3hile a "relate 3ith clas"ed hands a3aits his end.There should be no need to "oint out that the suestion o death 3hich I ha/emade in connection3ith the "re/ious card is, o course, to be understood mystically, but this is notthe case in the


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"resent instance. The natural transit o man to the net stae o his bein eitheris or may be oneorm o his "roress, but the eotic and almost unBno3n entrance, 3hile still inthis lie, into thestate o mystical death is a chane in the orm o consciousness and the "assaeinto a state to

3hich ordinary death is neither the "ath nor ate. The eistin occult e"lanationso the 1%th cardare, on the 3hole, better than usual, rebirth, creation, destination, rene3al, andthe rest.htt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Btar1%.htm R1%1000 1'+:+'IV. Tem"erancesacred?tets Waite Inde -re/ious 8etIVTem"eranceA 3ined anel, 3ith the sin o the sun u"on his orehead and on his breast thesDuare and

trianle o the se"tenary. I s"eaB o him in the masculine sense, but the ure isneither male noremale. It is held to be "ourin the essences o lie rom chalice to chalice. It hasone oot u"on theearth and one u"on 3aters, thus illustratin the nature o the essences. A direct"ath oes u" tocertain heihts on the /ere o the horiOon, and abo/e there is a reat liht,throuh 3hich a cro3nis seen /auely. ereo is some "art o the Secret o Eternal ie, as it is "ossibleto man in hisincarnation. All the con/entional emblems are renounced herein.

So also are the con/entional meanins, 3hich reer to chanes in the seasons,"er"etual mo/emento lie and e/en the combination o ideas. It is, moreo/er, untrue to say that theure symboliOesthe enius o the sun, thouh it is the analoy o solar liht, realiOed in the third"art o our humantri"licity. It is called Tem"erance antastically, because, 3hen the rule o it obtainsin ourconsciousness, it tem"ers, combines and harmonises the "sychic and materialnatures. Jnder thatrule 3e Bno3 in our rational "art somethin o 3hence 3e came and 3hither 3e

are oin.htt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Btar1'.htm R1%1000 1'+:+'=V. The e/ilsacred?tets Waite Inde -re/ious 8etVThe e/ilThe desin is an accommodation, mean or harmony, bet3een se/eral moti/esmentioned in therst "art. The orned 5oat o #endes, 3ith 3ins liBe those o a bat, is standin


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on an altar. Atthe "it o the stomach there is the sin o #ercury. The riht hand is u"raised andetended, beinthe re/erse o that benediction 3hich is i/en by the iero"hant in the th card.In the let handthere is a reat Lamin torch, in/erted to3ards the earth. A re/ersed "entaram

is on the orehead.There is a rin in ront o the altar, rom 3hich t3o chains are carried to the necBso t3o ures,male and emale. These are analoous 3ith those o the th card, as i Adam andE/e ater the&all. ereo is the chain and atality o the material lie.The ures are tailed, to siniy the animal nature, but there is human intelliencein the aces, andhe 3ho is ealted abo/e them is not to be their master or e/er. E/en no3, he isalso a bondsman,sustained by the e/il that is in him and blind to the liberty o ser/ice. With more

than his usualderision or the arts 3hich he "retended to res"ect and inter"ret as a mastertherein, Qli"has G/iaFrms that the *a"hometic ure is occult science and maic. Anothercommentator says that inthe i/ine 3orld it sinies "redestination, but there is no corres"ondence in that3orld 3ith thethins 3hich belo3 are o the brute. What it does siniy is the 3eller on theThreshold 3ithoutthe #ystical 5arden 3hen those are dri/en orth thererom 3ho ha/e eaten theorbidden ruit.

htt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Btar1:.htm R1%1000 1'+:+:VI. The To3ersacred?tets Waite Inde -re/ious 8etVIThe To3er@ccult e"lanations attached to this card are meare and mostly disconcertin. Itis idle to indicatethat it de"icts min in all its as"ects, because it bears this e/idence on the surace.It is said urtherthat it contains the rst allusion to a material buildin, but I do not concei/e thatthe To3er is

more or less material than the "illars 3hich 3e ha/e met 3ith in three "re/iouscases. I see nothinto 3arrant -a"us in su""osin that it is literally the all o Adam, but there is morein a/our o hisalternati/e??that it sinies the materialiOation o the s"iritual 3ord. Thebibliora"her !hristianimaines that it is the do3nall o the mind, seeBin to "enetrate the mystery o5od. I aree rather3ith 5rand @rient that it is the ruin o the ouse o We, 3hen e/il has "re/ailed


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therein, andabo/e all that it is the rendin o a ouse o octrine. I understand that thereerence is, ho3e/er,to a ouse o &alsehood. It illustrates also in the most com"rehensi/e 3ay the oldtruth thatKece"t the ord build the house, they labour in /ain that build it.K

There is a sense in 3hich the catastro"he is a reLection rom the "re/ious card,but not on the sideo the symbolism 3hich I ha/e tried to indicate therein. It is more correctly aDuestion o analoyHone is concerned 3ith the all into the material and animal state, 3hile the othersiniesdestruction on the intellectual side. The To3er has been s"oBen o as thechastisement o "ride andthe intellect o/er3helmed in the attem"t to "enetrate the #ystery o 5odH but inneither case dothese e"lanations account or the t3o "ersons 3ho are the li/in suerers. The

one is the literal3ord made /oid and the other its alse inter"retation. In yet a dee"er sense, itmay siniy also theend o a dis"ensation, but there is no "ossibility here or the consideration o thisin/ol/edDuestion.htt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Btar1


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card sinies,thereore, the transit rom the maniest liht o this 3orld, re"resented by thelorious sun o earth,to the liht o the 3orld to come, 3hich oes beore as"iration and is ty"ied bythe heart o achild.

*ut the last allusion is aain the Bey to a dierent orm or as"ect o thesymbolism. The sun is thato consciousness in the s"irit ? the direct as the antithesis o the reLected liht.The characteristicty"e o humanity has become a little child therein??a child in the sense osim"licity and innocencein the sense o 3isdom. In that sim"licity, he bears the seal o 8ature and o ArtHin that innocence,he sinies the restored 3orld. When the sel?Bno3in s"irit has da3ned in theconsciousnessabo/e the natural mind, that mind in its rene3al leads orth the animal nature in a

state o "erectconormity.htt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Btar19.htm R1%1000 1'+


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natural bodyH but letthose 3ho ha/e in3ard eyes looB and disco/er there3ith. They 3ill understandthat it has beencalled truly in the "ast a card o eternal lie, and or this reason it may becom"ared 3ith that3hich "asses under the name o Tem"erance.

htt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Btar0.htm R1%1000 1'+


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ho3e/er, /erylittle. The con/entional e"lanations say that the &ool sinies the Lesh, thesensiti/e lie, and bya "eculiar satire its subsidiary name 3as at one time the alchemist, as de"ictinolly at the mostinsensate stae.

htt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Btar00.htm R1%1000 1'+


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"re/ious seDuence, and he 3ill discern my meanin. There is no es"ecial ideaconnected on thesurace 3ith the ordinary court cardsH they are a bride o con/entions, 3hichorm a transition tothe sim"le "retets o the counters and denaries o the numbers ollo3in. Weseem to ha/e "assed

a3ay utterly rom the reion o hiher meanins illustrated by li/in "ictures.There in 3as a"eriod, ho3e/er, 3hen the numbered cards 3ere also "ictures, but such de/ices3ere s"oradicin/entions o "articular artists and 3ere either con/entional desins o the ty"icalor alleoricalBind, distinct rom 3hat is understood by symbolism, or they 3ere illustrations??shall 3e say[??omanners, customs and "eriods. They 3ere, in a 3ord, adornments, and as suchthey did nothin toraise the sinicance o the esser Arcana to the "lane o the Trum"s #a$orH

moreo/er, such/ariations are eceedinly e3. This not3ithstandin, there are /aue rumoursconcernin a hihermeanin in the minor cards, but nothin has so ar trans"ired, e/en 3ithin thes"here o "rudence3hich belons to the most occult circlesH these, it is true, ha/e certain /ariants inres"ect odi/inatory /alues, but I ha/e not heard that in "ractice they oer better results.Eorts liBe those o-a"us in The Tarot ol the *ohemians are strenuous and deser/in ater their o3nBindH be, in

"articular, reconiOes the elements o the i/ine Immanence in the Trum"s #a$or,and he seeBs toollo3 them throuh the lon series o the lesser cards, as i these re"resentedltrations o theWorld o 5race throuh the World o &ortuneH but he only "roduces ?an arbitraryscheme odi/ision 3hich he can carry no urther, and he has recourse, o necessity, in theend to a commonscheme o di/ination as the substitute or a title to eistence on the "art o theesser Arcana. 8o3,I am "ractically in the same "ositionH but I shall maBe no attem"t here to sa/e the

situation bydra3in on the mystical "ro"erties o numbers, as he and others ha/e attem"ted,I shall reconiOeat once that the Trum"s #a$or belon to the di/ine dealins o "hiloso"hy, but allthat ollo3s toortune?tellin, since it has ne/er yet been translated into another lanuaeH thecourse thus ado"ted3ill render to di/ination, and at need e/en to amblin, the thins that belon tothis "articular


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3orld o sBill, and it 3ill set a"art or their "ro"er business those matters that areo another order.In this ree introduction to the sub$ect in hand, it is only necessary to add that thedierencebet3een the ty?si esser Arcana and ordinary "layin?cards is not onlyessentially sliht,

because the substitution o !u"s or earts, and so orth, constitutes anaccidental /ariation, butbecause the "resence o a 6niht in each o the our suits 3as characteristic atone time o manyordinary "acBs, 3hen this "ersonae usually re"laced the 7ueen. In the rectiedTarot 3hichillustrates the "resent handbooB, all numbered cards o the esser Arcana??theAces only ece"ted??are urnished 3ith ures or "ictures to illustrate?but 3ithout ehaustin??thedi/inatory meaninsattached thereto.

Some 3ho are ited 3ith reLecti/e and discernin aculties in more than theordinary sense??I amhtt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Bt0%01.htm (1 o ) R1%1000 1'+%.1 istinction bet3een the 5reater and esser Arcananot s"eaBin o clair/oyance may obser/e that in many o the esser Arcana thereare /aueintimations con/eyed by the desins 3hich seem to eceed the stated di/inatory/alues. It isdesirable to a/oid misconce"tion by s"eciyin denitely that, ece"t in rareinstances??and thenonly by accident??the /ariations are not to be rearded as suestions o hiher

and etradi/inatorysymbolism. I ha/e said that these esser Arcana ha/e not been translated into alanuae 3hichtranscends that o ortune tellin. I should not indeed be dis"osed to reard themas belonin intheir eistin orms to another realm than thisH but the eld o di/inatory"ossibilities isinehaustible, by the hy"othesis o the art, and the combined systems ocartomancy ha/e indicatedonly the bare heads o sinicance attachin to the emblems in use. When the"ictures in the

"resent case o beyond the con/entional meanins they should be taBen as hintso "ossiblede/elo"ments alon the same linesH and this is one o the reasons 3hy the"ictorial de/ices hereattached to the our denaries 3ill "ro/e a reat hel" to intuition. The merenumerical "o3ers andbare 3ords o the meanins are insuFcient by themsel/esH but the "ictures areliBe doors 3hicho"en into une"ected chambers, or liBe a turn in the o"en road 3ith a 3ide


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"ros"ect beyond.htt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Bt0%01.htm ( o ) R1%1000 1'+htt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Bt0%0.htmsacred?tets Waite Inde -re/ious 8et . TE ESSE; A;!A8A@ther3ise, the &our Suits o Tarot !ards,

3ill no3 be described accordin to their res"ecti/e classes by the "ictures to eachbelonin, and aharmony o their meanins 3ill be "ro/ided rom all sources.6in o Wands7ueen o Wands6niht o Wands-ae o WandsTen o Wands8ine o WandsEiht o WandsSe/en o Wands

Si o Wands&i/e o Wands&our o WandsThree o WandsT3o o WandsAce o Wands6in o !u"s7ueen o !u"s6niht o !u"s-ae o !u"sTen o !u"s

8ine o !u"sEiht o !u"sSe/en o !u"sSi o !u"s&i/e o !u"s&our o !u"sThree o !u"sT3o o !u"sAce o !u"s6in o S3ords7ueen o S3ords

6niht o S3ords-ae o S3ordsTen o S3ords8ine o S3ordsEiht o S3ordsSe/en o S3ordsSi o S3ords&i/e o S3ords&our o S3ords


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htt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Bt0%0.htm (1 o ) R1%1000 1'+


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#eanins+ arBman, riendly, countryman, enerally married, honest and conscientious. The cardal3ays sinieshonesty, and may mean ne3s concernin an une"ected heritae to all in beore/ery lon.;e/ersed+ 5ood, but se/ereH austere, yet tolerant.

htt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Bt3aBi.htm R1%1000 1'+


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him. A danerousri/al, i ollo3ed by the -ae o !u"s. as the chie Dualities o his suit. e maysiniy amilyintellience. ;e/ersed+ Anecdotes, announcements, e/il ne3s. Also indecision andthe instability3hich accom"anies it.

htt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Bt3a"a.htm R1%1000 1'+


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they dra3 to the term o their course. That 3hich they siniy is at handH it may bee/en on thethreshold. i/inatory #eanins+ Acti/ity in undertaBins, the "ath o such acti/ity,s3itness, asthat o an e"ress messenerH reat haste, reat ho"e, s"eed to3ards an end3hich "romises

assured elicityH enerally, that 3hich is on the mo/eH also the arro3s o lo/e.;e/ersed+ Arro3s o$ealousy, internal dis"ute, stinins o conscience, DuarrelsH and domesticdis"utes or "ersons 3hoare married.htt"+333.sacred?tets.comtarot"Bt3a0>.htm R1%1000 1'+

8/11/2019 The Pict

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The Pictorial Key of the Tarot

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