The Inner Meaning of the Tarot the Inner Meaning of the Tarot
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The Inner Meaning Of The Tarot The Inner Meaning Of The Tarot Robert M. Haralick The Inner Meaning Of The Tarot Robert M. Haralick 27 Tara Drive Pomona, New York [email protected] This book was prepared with LATEX, and published from camera-ready pages prepared by the author on a laser printer. The Hebrew font was de- signed by the author in postscript and converted to metafont by Visvanathan Ramesh. Copyright c 1992 by Robert M. Haralick. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means or stored in a data base or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. The Inner Meaning of the Tarot iv Contents Acknowledgement 1 Introduction 3 Tetragrammaton and The Divine Nature of Change 7 Overview 17 The Colors 23 The Fool 27 The Magician 39 The High Priestess 55 The Empress 75 The Emperor 93 The Hierophant 111 The Lovers 135 The Charioteer 153 The Woman of Strength 175 The Hermit 191 The Wheel of Fortune 207 The Woman of Justice 229 The Hanged Man 249 The Death Rider 267 Contents v The Angel of Temperance 285 The Devil 305 The Tower 325 The Star Maiden 345 The Moon 367 The Sun 389 Judgement 409 World Dancer 425 Index 440 Contents 1 Acknowledgement Working this material into a book has been a humbling experience. There is so much that had to be learned, especially for a technical person who works for a living with linear symbol strings rather than with visual symbolism. And there is so much more that is yet to be learned, that it is apparent that this learning will never end. Although the preparation of this book has taken a fair amount of time, I have had fastastic help. Gene started me on this path, showing me that it was possible to organize a small group for the purpose of experiencing, learning, and growing. Michael, Laurel and Raeah have had great fortitude in bearing with the frustrations I liberally provided them as I struggled with my own ego’s resistance to their efforts to teach me. Perhaps their efforts have not been entirely wasted. Recognizing the Tarot archetypes in oneself is not always so easy. Because Holly and Mark each have lived aspects of many of the Tarot archetypes, their sharing of their experiences always enlightened me. For I saw real life illustrations in them, even when they themselves did not recognize it. More importantly, they challenged me with their questions and directly or indirectly answered my own questions. But most of all they had faith that I had the ability to select, organize, and interpret the Tarot in a way that would benefit all of us. It was because of their unspoken faith that I found the time and energy to do what was necessary to assemble the book. To them I am enormously grateful. Thankyou so much for what you have given to me. Contents 2 Contents 3 Introduction The Inner Meaning of the Tarot explores the meaning and symbolism of the Major Arcana of the Rider and the B.O.T.A Tarot decks. Inner meaning refers to the occult, mystical and hidden meaning and not to the ordinary divination meaning. The basis for the exploration are the books written by Case, D’Agostino, Eden, Javane and Bunker, Moore, Nichols, Oribello, Sharman-Burke, Ussher, and Waite. On occasion other writers are quoted such as Arien, Connolly, Wanless, Lady Harris, and Sorer. They sometimes have something to say that fits in with the interpretations of the B.O.T.A. and Rider Tarot decks, even though they may have been discussing one of the other Tarot decks. Each of the above authors has a slightly different point of view and a slightly different emphasis. By selecting what they write which is most per- tinent to the inner meaning from the Tarot and by juxtaposing what they write, an all-around and yet deep form of the Tarot meaning emerges. The depth and breadth of this kind of juxtaposition has the possibility of even exceeding that contained in each of the original writings. Not only are the specific symbols of each card described, but the meanings corresponding to them are discussed in a language very close to the language used by various authors writing about them. In addition to the specific symbols, a general discussion for each Major Arcana as given by the authors are quoted. Finally, the meanings we have integrated from our own study are given. These meanings center on the deepest spiritual level. Because the teachings of the Tarot are teachings about Godliness, about how we can manifest Godliness in our lives by our handling of the change we encounter and produce ourselves, a special discussion section of selected quotes on the Tetragrammaton and change is put immediately after the overview on the Tarot and just before the concentrated material on each of the Major Arcana. In working with this book, read the spiritual level first and the general discussion quotes second. Then while examining the Tarot cards read the symbolism particulars third. Finally, return back and read to the spiritual level meaning. It is our hope that the organization of the material selected and collected from a variety of authors, authors having multiple of points of views, will act Contents 4 as a catalyst helping the reader understand the meanings of the Tarot. Depth that one author has is in one area is often complemented by the depth of another author in another area. Thus this arrangement balances and deepens each author’s insights. As well it can serve as the jumping off point to further reading and studying of the complete writings of each of our commentators. Contents 5 References [1] Angeles Arrien, The Tarot Handbook, Arcus Publishing Company, Sonoma California, 1987. [2] Paul Foster Case, The Tarot, Macoy Publishing Company, Richmond, Virginia, 1975. [3] Eileen Connolly, Tarot, Vol I and II, New Castle Publishing Company Inc., North Hollywoood, California, 1979. [4] Joseph D’Agostino, Tarot, Samuel Weiser, Inc. York Beach, Maine, 1985. [5] Eden Gray, A complete Guide to the Tarot, Crown Publishers, Inc., New York, 1970. [6] Lady Harris, Explanation in the Rider Tarot Deck, U.S. Games Systems, Inc., Stamford, Connecticut. [7] Faith Javane and Dusty Bunker. Numerology and The Divine Triangle, Para Research Inc., A Division of Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. West Chester, Pennsylvania, 1980. [8] Daphna Moore, The Rabbi’s Tarot, Huges Hensahw Publications, Lake- wood, Colorado, 1987. [9] Sallie Nichols, Jung and Tarot Samuel Weiser, Inc. York Beach, Maine, 1988. [10] William Alexander Oribello, The Sealed Magical Book of Moses, Inner Light Publications, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1986. [11] Juliet Sharman-Burke, The Complete Book of Tarot, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1986. [12] G.H. Soror, “The Tarot Trumps” in Robert Wang, An introduction to the Golden Dawn Tarot, Samuel Weiser, Inc., York Beach, Maine, 1978. [13] Arland Ussher, The XXII Keys of the Tarot, The Dolmen Press, Dublin, 1970. Contents 6 [14] Arthur Edward Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, U.S. Games Sys- tems, Inc. Stamford Connecticut, 1989. [15] James Wanless, New Age Tarot, Merril-West Publishing, Carmel, Cali- fornia, 1987. The Tetragrammaton and Change 7 The Tetragrammaton and The Divine Nature of Change The Tetragrammaton is the unpronounceable name of God, dedi. The four letters stand for the four worlds: the world of emanation, the world of cre- ation, the world of formation, and the world of action. Think for a moment what these four worlds mean. With respect to us, the world of emanation is the world through which God gives us the gift of existence and life. We realize this gift by our consciousness and free will. The world of creation is the world in which this gift manfests through our ability to think and reason. The world of formation is the world by which what is in our consciousness can get expressed through our emotions. The world of action is the world where we act in a way consistent with our emtions causing change in physical existence. In an analogous way, the thought of the Divine mainfests through these four worlds, for everything in existence, with its particular level of con- sciousness, free will, ability to think and reason, express emotion, and act causes change in existence. Physical existence is just the carrier, the medium the Divine created, by which the Divine thought gets expressed. So physical existence is just the appearance. The thought, itself, is the essence. The essence is never the carrier. The carrier is only the appearance. Zalman writes: The meaning of the Tetragrammaton is “that which calls every- thing into being” (lkd z` dedn. Now dedn is the simple present tense. The letter Yod (i) is substituted for the letter Mem (n) giving the name dedi. The prefix Yod (i) added to the stem ded indicates not only a present, but a continuous action as Rashi remarks in his comment to the verse: ‘In this manner used Job to do all the days” (Job I 5). The Tetragrammaton, then, repre- sents the Life which flows down actually at every moment unto all creatures and calls them forth at each moment out of noth- ingness.1 1Shneur Zalman, The Portal of Unity and Faith in Raphael Ben Zion, An Anthology of Jewish Mysticism (New York: The Judaica Press, 1981), p. 95-96. The Tetragrammaton and Change 8 The result of the Divine thought is something that comes into and acts in physical existence.