The Illustrated Key to the Tarot by L. W. de Laurence part 3

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Episode Transcript

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Part two, Section three of theIllustrated Key to the Tarot. This is
a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordingsare in the public domain. For more
information or to volunteer, please visitLibriVox dot or recording by Light Crystal.

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The Illustrated Key to the Tarot byL. W. De Laurent. The
doctrine behind the veil the Tarot embodiessymbolical presentations of universal ideas, behind which
lie all the implicits of the humanmind. And it is in this sense

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that they contain secret doctrine, whichis the realization by the few of truths
embedded in the consciousness of all,though they have not passed into express recognition
by ordinary man. The theory isthat this doctrine has always existed, that

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is to say, has been excogitatedin the consciousness of an elect minority,
That it has been perpetuated in secrecyfrom one to another, and has been
recorded in secret literatures like those ofalchemy and cabalism. That it is contained
also in those instituted mysteries of whichRosicrucianism offers an example near to our hand

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in the past, and craft masonry. A living summary or general memorial for
those who can interpret its real meaning. Behind the secret doctrine, it is
held that there is an experience orpractice by which the doctrine is justified.

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It is obvious that in a handbooklike the Press, I can do little
more than state the claims, which, however, have been discussed at length
in several of my other writings.While it is designed to treat two of
its more important phases in books devotedto the secret tradition, in freemasonry and

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in hermetic literature. As regards Taraclaims, it should be remembered that some
considerable part of the imputed secret doctrinehas been presented in the pictorial emblems of
alchemy, so that the imputed Bookof Thoth is in no sense a solitary

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device of this emblematic kind. Now, alchemy had two branches, as I
have explained fully elsewhere, and thepictorial emblems which I have mentioned are common
to both divisions. Its material sideis represented in the strange symbolism of the

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mutus libre printed in the great Foliosof Mangettis there the process for the performance
of the great work of transmutation isdepicted in fourteen copperplate engravings which exhibit the
different stages of the matter in thevarious chemical vessels. Above these vessels there

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are mythological, planetary, solar,and lunar symbols, as if the powers
and virtues which, according to Hermeticteaching, preside over the development and perfection
of the metallic kingdom, were interveningactively to assist the two operators who are
toiling below. The operators, curiouslyenough, are male and female. The

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spiritual side of alchemy is set forthin the much strain emblems of the Book
of Lamb. Spring out of thisI have already given a preliminary interpretation to
which the reader may be referred.The tract contains the mystery of what is

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called the mystical or arch natural elixir, being the marriage of the soul and
the spirit in the body of theadept philosopher, and the transmutation of the
body as the physical result of thismarriage. I have never met with more
curious intimations than in this one littlework. It may be mentioned as a

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point of fact that both tracts arevery much later in time than the latest
date that could be assigned to thegeneral distribution of Terakr to Europe. By
the most drastic form of criticism.They belong respectively to the end of the
seventeenth and sixteenth centuries. As Iam not drawing here on the font of

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imagination to refresh that of fact andexperience. I do not suggest that the
Tarot set the example of expressing secretdoctrine in pictures, and that it was
followed by hermetic writers. But itis noticeable that it is perhaps the earliest

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example of this art. It isalso the most Catholic because it is not
by attribution or otherwise a derivative ofany one's school or literature of occultism.
It is not of alchemy or cabalism, or astrology or ceremonial magic. But

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as I have said, it isthe presentation of universal ideas by means of
universal types. And it is inthe combination of these types, if anywhere,
that it presents secret doctrine. Thatcombination may ex HYPOTHESI reside in the

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numbered sequence of its series, orin their fortuitoors assemblage by shuffling, cutting,
and dealing, as in ordinary gamesof chance played with cards. Two
writers have adopted the first view withoutprejudice to the second, and I shall
do well perhaps to dispose at onceof what they have said. Mister MacGregor

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Mathers, who once published a pamphleton the tarot, which was in the
main devoted to fortune telling, suggestedthat the twenty two trumps major could be
constructed, following their numerical order,into what he called a connected sentence.

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It was, in fact the headsof a moral thesis on the human will,
its enlightenment by science, represented bythe magician, its manifestation by action,
a significant attributor to the high priestess, its realization the Empress. Indeed,
of mercy and beneficence, which qualitieswere allocated to the Emperor. He

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spoke also in the familiar conventional mannerof prudence, fortitude, sacrifice, hope
and altmate happiness. But if thiswere the message of the cards, it
is certain that there would be noexcuse for publishing them at this day,
or taking the pains to elucidate themat some length. In his Taro of

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the Bohemians, they work written withzeal and enthusiasm, sparing no pains of
thought or assert within its particular lines. But unfortunately, without real insight,
doctor Pappus has given a singularly elaboratescheme of the Trump's major. It depends,

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like that of mister Mathers, fromtheir numerical sequence, but exhibits the
interrelation in the divine world the macrocosmand microcosm. In this manner we get,
as it were, a spiritual historyof man or of the soul coming

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out from the eternal, passing intothe darkness of the material body, and
returning to the height. I thinkthat the author is here with an immeasurable
distance of the right track, andhis views are to this extent informing,
but his method in some respects confusesthe issues, and the modes and planes

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of being the Trump's major have alsobeen treated. And the alternative method which
I have mentioned and grand Orients inhis Manual of Cartimancy under the guise of
a mode of transcendental divination, hasreally offered the result of certain illustrative readings

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of the cards when arranged as theresult of a fortuitous combination by means of
shuffling and dearly. The use ofdivinatory methods, with whatsoever intention and for
whatever purpose, carries with it twosuggestions. It may be thought that the
deeper meanings are imputed rather than real. But this is disposed of by the

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fact of certain cards like the Magician, the High Priestess, the Wheel of
Fortune, the Hanged Man, theTower or Maison Dieu, and several others,
which do not correspond to conditions oflife, art, science, virtues,
or the other subjects contained in thedenneries of the Baldini emblematic figures.

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They are also proof positive that obviousand natural moralities cannot explain the sequence such
cards testify concerning themselves after another manner. And although the state in which I
have left the tarot in respect ofits historical side is so much the more

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difficult, as it is so muchthe more open, they indicate the real
subject matter with which we are concerned. The methods show also that the trump's
major at least have been adapted tofortune telling, rather than belong there too.
The common divinatory meanings which will begiven in the third part are largely

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arbitrary attributions or the product of secondaryand uninstructed into tuition, or at the
very most they belong to the subjecton a lower plane apart from the original
intention. If the taro were afortune telling in the root matter thereof,
we should have to look in verystrange places. For the motive which devised

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it to witchcraft and the Black Sabbathrather than any secret doctrine, the two
classes of significance which are attached tothe tarot in the Superior and inferior worlds,
and the fact that no occult orother writer has attempted to assign anything
but at even atory meaning to theMinor Arkana, justify in yet another manner

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the hypothesis that the two series donot belong to one another. It is
possible that their marriage was effected firstin the Tarot of Bologna, by that
Prince of Peter, whom I havementioned the first part. It is said
that his device obtained for him publicrecognition and reward from the city of his

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adoption, which would scarcely have beenpossible even in those fantastic days, for
the production of a taro which onlyomitted a few of the small cards.
But as we are dealing with aquestion of fact which has to be accounted
for somehow, it is conceivable thata sensation might have been created by a

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combination of the minor and gambling cardswith the philosophical set, and by the
adaptation of both to a game ofchance. Afterwards it would have been further
adapted to that other game of chance, which is called a fortune telling.
It should be understood here that Iam not denying the possibility of divination,

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but I take exception as a mysticto the dedications which bring people into these
paths, as if they had anyrelation to the mystic quest. The tarot
cards which are issued with the smalledition of the present work, that is
to say, with the Key tothe Tarot, have been drawn and colored

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by Miss Pamela Coleman Smith, andwill I think be regarded as very striking
and beautiful in their designer like andexecution. They are reproduced in the present
enlarged edition of the Key as ameans of reference to the text. They
differ in many important respects from theconventional archaisms of the past and from the

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wretched products of cold portage which nowreach us from Italy, and it remains
from me to justify their variation sofar as a symbolism is concerned, that,
for once in modern times I presenta pack which is the work of
an artist, does not I presumecall for apology even to the people,

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if any remain among us who usedto be described and to call themselves very
occult. If any one will lookat the gorgeous taro of the valet or
knave, who is emblazoned on oneof the page plates of Chatteaus Facts and
Speculations concerning the history of playing cards, he will know that Italy in the

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old days produced some splendid packs.I could only wish that it had been
possible to issue the restored and rectifiedcards in the same style and size.
Such a course would have done fulljustice to the designs, but the result
would have proved unmanageable for those practicalpurposes which are connected with cards, and

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for which allowance must be made.Whatever my views, they're wrong. For
the very in the symbolism by whichthe designs have been effected, I alone
am responsible. In respect of themajor arcana, they are sure to occasion
criticism among students, actual and imputed. I wish therefore to say, within

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the reserves of courtesy and lahort convenancebelonging to the fellowship of research, that
I care nothing utterly for any viewthat may find expression. There is a
secret tradition concerning the tarot, aswell as a secret doctrine contained the rim.

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I have followed some part of itwithout exceeding the limits of which are
drawn about matters of this kind andbelong to the laws of honor. This
tradition has two parts, and asone of them has passed into writing,
it seems to follow that it maybe betrayed at any moment, which will

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not signify, because the second,as I have intimated, has not so
passed at present, and is heldby very few. Indeed, the purveyors
of spurious copy and the traffick hasinstalled goods may take note at this point
if they please. I ask moreoverto be ditinguished from two or three writers

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in recent times who have thought fitto hint that they could say a good
deal more if they liked, forwe do not speak the same language.
But also from any one who nowor hereafter may say that she or he
will tell all, because they haveonly the accidents and not the essentials necessary

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for such disclosure. If I havefollowed on my part the Council of Robert
Burns by keeping something to myself whichI scarcely tell to any I have still
said, as much as I can, it is the truth after its own
manner, and as much as maybe expected or required in those outer circles

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where the qualifications of special research cannotbe expected. In regard to the minor
Arkhana, they are the first inmodern but not in all times, to
be accompanied by pictures in addition towhat is called the pips, that is
to say, the devices belonging tothe numbers of the various suits. These

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pictures respond to the divinatory meanings whichhave been drawn from many sources to sum
up. Therefore, the present divisionof this key is devoted to the trump's
major It elucidates their symbols in respectof the higher intention, and with reference
to the designs in the pack.The third division will give the divinatory significance

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in respect of these seventy eight Tarotcards, and with particular reference to the
designs of the minor ar Kana,it will give in fine some modes of
use for those who require them.And in the sense of the reason which
I have already explained in the preface, that which hereinafter follows should be taken

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for the purposes of comparison in connectionwith the general description of the old Tarot
trumps. In the first part.There it will be seen that the zero
card of the fool is allocated,as it always is, to the place
which makes it equivalent to the numbertwenty one. The arrangement is ridiculous on
the surface, which does not muchsignify, but it is also wrong on

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the symbolism. Nor does this fairbetter when it is made to replace the
twenty second point of the sequence.Eti Ella recognize the difficulties of both attributions,
but he only made bad worse byallocating the fool to the place which
is usually occupied by the ace ofpentacles as the last of the whole terror

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series. This rearrangement has been followedby Pappus recently in Le Tarot Devenatoire,
where the confusion is of no consequence, as the findings of fortune telling depend
upon fortuitous positions and not upon essentialplace in the general sequence of carts.
I have seen yet another allocation ofthe zero symbol, which no doubt obtains

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in certain cases, but it failson the highest planes, and for our
present requirements it would be idle tocarry the examination further. Section two.
The trump's major and their inner symbolismwant the magician a youthful figure in the
robe of a magician, having thecountenance of divine Apollo, with smile of

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confidence and shining eyes. Above hishead is a mysterious sign of the Holy
Spirit, the sign of life,like an endless chord forming the figure eight
in a horizontal position. About hiswaist is a serpent cincture, the serpent
appearing to devour its own tail.This is familiar to most as a conventional

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symbol of eternity, but here itindicates more especially the eternity of attainment in
the Spirit. In the magition's righthand is a wand raised towards Heaven,
while the left hand is pointing tothe earth. This duel sign is known
in very high grades of the institutedmysteries. It shows the descent of grace,

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virtue, and light, drawn fromthings above and derived to things below.
The suggestion throughout is therefore the possessionand communication of the powers and gifts
of the Spirit. On the tablein front of the magician are the symbols
of the fore Tarot's suits, signifyingthe elements of natural life, which lie

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like counters before the adept, andhe adapts them as he wills. Beneath
are roses and lilies, the flosscampi and lilium convalium changed into garden flowers
to show the culture of aspiration.This card signifies the divine motive in man,

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reflecting God the will in the liberationof its union with that which is
above. It is also the unityof individual being on all planes, and
in a very high sense. Itis thought in the fixation thereof. With
further reference to what I have calledthe sign of life and its connection with

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the number eight, he may beremembered that Christian gnosticism speaks a rebirth in
Christ as a change unto the oldad. The mystic number is termed Jerusalem
above the land flowing with milk andhoney, the Holy Spirit, and the

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land of the Lord. According toMartinism, eight is the number of Christ
two the high priestess. She hasthe lunar crescent at her feet, a
horned diadem on her head with aglobe in the middle place, and a
large solar cross on her breast.The scroll in her hands is inscribed with

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the word Torah, signifying the GreaterLaw, the secret law, and the
second sense of the word. Itis partly covered by her mantle to show
that some things are implied and somespoken. She is seated between the white
and black pillars J and B ofthe Mystic Temple, and the veil of

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the temple is behind her. Itis embroidered with palms and pome granites.
The vestments are flowing and gauzy,and the mantle suggests light, a shimmering
radiance. She has been called occultscience on the threshold of the Sanctuary of
Isis, but she is really thesecret Church, the house witches of God,

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nature and man. She represents alsothe second marriage of the Prince,
who is no longer of this world. She is the spiritual bride and mother,
the daughter of the stars and thehigher garden of Eden. She is
in fine the queen of the borrowedlight, but this is the light of

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all. She is the moon nourishedby the milk of the supernal Mother.
In a manner, she is alsothe Supernal Mother herself. That is to
say, she is the bright reflection. It is in this sense of reflection
that her truest and highest name inBolism is Shechanah, the cohabiting Glory.

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According to Kabbalism, there is aShekenah both above and below. In the
superior world. It is called bainar, the supernal understanding, which reflects to
the emanations that are beneath in thelower world. It is malcouth, that
word being for this purpose understood asa blessed kingdom, that with which it

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is made blessed being the indwelling glory. Mystically speaking, the Shekenah is the
spiritual bride of the just man,and when he reads the law, she
gives the divine meaning. There aresome respects in which this card is the
highest and holiest of the greater Arkana. Three. The Empress, a stately

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figure seated, having rich vestments androyal aspec as of a daughter of heaven
and Earth. Her diadem is oftwelve stars gathered in her cluster. A
symbol of Venus is on the shieldwhich rests near her. A field of
corn is ripening in front of her, and beyond there is a fall of

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water. The scepter which she bearsis surmounted by the globe of this world.
She is the inferior garden of Eden, the earthly paradise all that is
symbolized by the visible house of Man. She is not Regina coali, but

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she is still Refugium peccatorum, thefruitful mother of thousands. There are also
certain aspects in which she has beencorrectly described as desire and the wings thereof,
as the woman clothed with the sun, as Gloria Monday, and the
veil of the Sanctum sanctorum. Butshe is not I may add the soul

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that has attained wings, unless allthe symbolism is counted up another and unusual
way. She is, above allthings universal for cundity and the outer sense
of the word. This is obviousbecause there is no direct message which has
been given to man like that whichis borne by woman. But she does

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not herself carry its interpretation. Inan other order of ideas, the card
of the Emperor signifies the door orgait by which an entrance is obtained into
this life, as into the gardenof Venus. And then the way which
leads out therefrom into that which isbeyond. Is the secret known to the

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high priestess. It is communicated byher to the elect Most old attributions of
this card are completely wrong on thesymbolism, as for example, its identification
with the word divine nature, thetriad and so forth. Four the Emperor

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he has a form of the crooksand sata for his scepter and a globe
in his left hand. He iscrowned monarch, commanding stately seated on a
throne, the arms of which arefronted by ram's heads. He is executive
and realization, the power of thisworld, here clothed with the highest of

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its natural attributes. He is occasionallyrepresented as seated on a cubic stone,
which, however, confusion some ofthe issues. He is the virile power
to which the Empress responds, andin this sense is he who seeks to
remove the veil of isis, yetshe remains virgo intacta. It should be

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understood that this card and that ofthe Empress do not precisely represent the condition
of married life, though this stateis implied on the surface. As I
have indicated, they stand for mundaneroyalty, uplifted on the seats of the
mighty. But above this there isa suggestion of another presence. They signify

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also and the male figure, especiallythe higher kingship, occupying the intellectual throne.
Hereof is the lordship of thought ratherthan of the animal world. Both
personalities, after their own manner,are full of strange experience, but theirs

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is not consciously the wisdom which drawsfrom a higher world. The Emperor has
been described as a will in itsembodied form, so this is only one
of its applications, and b asan expression of virtualities contained in the absolute
being, but this is fantasy five. The higherpant He wears the trible crown

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and is seated between two pillars,but they are not those of the temple,
which is guarded by the High Priestess. In his left hand he holds
a scepter terminating in the trible cross, and with his right hand he gives
the well known ecclesiastical sign, whichis called that of vesotericism, distinguishing between
the manifest and concealed part of doctrine. It is noticeable in this connection that

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the High Priestess makes no sign.At his feet are the cross keys,
and two priestly ministers in alms kneelbefore him. He has been usually called
the Pope, which is a particularapplication of the more general offers that he
symbolizes. He is the ruling powerof external religion, as the High Priestess

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is the prevailing genius of the esotericwith drawn power. The proper meanings of
this card have suffered woeful admixture fromnearly all hands. Grand Orients says truly
that the hierophant is the power ofthe keys exoteric Orthodox doctrine, and the

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outer side of the life which leadsto the doctrine. Barti is certainly not
the prince of a cult doctrine,as another commentator has suggested. He is
rather the summer Totius theology, whenit has passed into the utmost rigidity of

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expression. Barti symbolizes also all thingsthat are right and sacred on the manifest's
side. As such, he isthe channel of grace belonging to the world
of institution as distinct from that ofnature, and he is the leader of

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salvation for the human race at large. He is the order and the head
of the recognized hierarchy, which isthe reflection of another and greater hierarchic order.
But it may so happen that thepontiff forgets the significance of this his
symbolic state, and acts as ifhe contained within his proper measures all that

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his sign signifies or his symbol seeksto show. Forth, he is not,
as has been thought philosophy, excepton the theological side. He is
not inspiration, and he is notreligion, although he is a mode of
its expression. Six the Lovers.The sun shines in the zenith, and

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beneath is a great winged figure witharms extended, pouring down influences. In
the foreground are two human figures,male and female, unveil before each other,
as if Adam and Eve when theyfirst occupy the paradise of the earthly
body. Behind the man is thetree of life bearing twelve fruits, and

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the tree of the knowledge of goodand evil is behind the woman. The
serpent is twining round it. Thefigures suggest youth, virginity, innocent,
and love before it is contaminated bygross material desire. This is, in

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all simplicity the Card of human love, here exhibited as part of the way
the truth and the life it replacesby recourse to first principles, the old
card of marriage, which I havedescribed previously, and the later follies,
which depict a man between vice andvirtue. In a very high sense,

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the card is a mystery of theCovenant and Sabbath. Thus, suggestion in
respect of the woman is that shesignifies that attraction towards a sensitive life,
which carries within it the idea ofthe fall of man. But she is
rather the working of a secret lawof providence than a willing and conscious temptress.

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It is through her imputed lapse thatman shall arise ultimately, and only
by her can he complete himself.The card is therefore, in its way
another intimation concerning the great mystery ofwoman. The old meanings fall to pieces
of necessity with the old pictures,but even as interpretations of the latter,

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some of them were of the orderof commonplace, and others were false.
In symbolism seven, the chariot,an erect and princely figure carrying a drawn
sword, and corresponding broadly speaking tothe traditional description which I have given in
the first part, on the shouldersof the victorious hero are supposed to be

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the Urim and Thummum. He hasled captivity captive, he has conquest on
all planes in the mind, inscience, in progress, in certain trials
of initiation. He has thus repliedto the Sphinx. And it is on
this account that I have accepted thevariation of Eliphus Levi two Sphinxes. Thus

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draws Chariot. He is above allthings triumph in the mind. It is
to be understood for this reason athat the question of the Sphinx is concerned
with the mystery of nature, andnot of the world of grace, to
which the Chariotea could offer no answer. B that the plains of his conquest

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are manifest or external, and notwithin himself. C that the liberation which
he affects may leave himself in thebondage of the logical understanding. D that
the tests of initiation through which hehas passed in triumph are to be understood

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physically or rationally. And e thatif he came to the pillars of that
temple between which the High Priestess isseated, he could not open the scroll
called Torah, nor is she questionedhim could answer He is not hereditary royalty,
and he is not a priesthood eightstrength or fortitude a woman over whose

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head their broods. The same symbolof life which we have seen in the
card of the Hiraphant is closing thejaws of a lion. The only point
in which this design differs from theconventional presentations is that her beneffient fortitude has
already subdued the lion which is beingled by a chain of flowers, for

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reasons which satisfy myself. This cardhas been interchanged with that of Justice,
which is usually numbered eight. Asthe variation carries nothing with it which will
signify to the reader, there isno cause for explanation. Fortitude, in
one of its most exalted aspects,is connected with the divine mystery of un

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union. The virtue, of course, operates in all plains, and hence
draws on all in its symbolism.It connects also with in a sentire in
violata, and with the strength whichresides in contemplation. These higher meanings are,
however, matters of inference, andI do not suggest that they are

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transparent on the surface of the card. They are intimated in a concealed manner
by the chain of flowers, whichsignifies, among many other things, the
sweet yoke and the light burden ofdivine law when it has been taken into
the heart of hearts. The cardhas nothing to do with self confidence in

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the ordinary sense, though this hasbeen suggested, but it concerns the confidence
of those whose strength is God Nature, who have found their refuge in Him.
There is one aspect in which thelion signifies the passions, and she

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who is called strength is the highernature in its liberation. He has walked
upon the asp and the basilisk,and has trodden down the lion and the
dragon nine the Hermit. The variationfrom the conventional models in this card is

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only that the lamp is not envelopedpartially in the mantle of its bearer,
who blends the idea of the ancientof days with the light of the world.
It is a star which shines inthe lantern. I have said that
this is a card of attainment,and to extend this conception, the figure

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is seen holding up his beacon onan eminence. Therefore, the Hermit is
not, as caught de Gebelein explaineda wise man in so Arch of Truth
and Justice, nor is he,as a later explanation proposes, an especial
example of experience. His beacon intimatesthat where I am, you also may

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be. It is further a cardwhich is understood quite incorrectly when it is
connected with the idea of a cultisolation as the protection of personal magnetism against
admixture. This is one of thefrivolous renderings which we owe to eliphas Levi.

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He has been adopted by the Frenchorder of Martinism, and some of
us have heard a great deal ofthe silent and unknown philosophy enveloped by his
mantle from the knowledge of the profanein true Martinism. The significance of the
term philosophy in Carnoue was of anotherorder. It did not refer to the

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intended concealment of the instituted mysteries,much less of their substitutes, but like
the card itself, to the truththat the divine mysteries secure their own protection
from those who are unprepared ten wheelof Fortune. In this symbol I have

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again followed the reconstruction of Elephas Levi, who has furnished several variants. It
is legitimate, as I have intimated, to use Egyptian symbolism when this serves
our purpose, provided that no theoryof origin is implied therein. I have,
however, presented Typhon in his serpentform. The symbolism is of course

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not exclusively Egyptian, as the fourliving creatures of Ezekiel occupy the angles of
the card and the wheel itself.For as other indications of Levi in respect
of Ezekiel's vision as illustrative of theparticular tarot key where the French are coldest,

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and in the design itself, thesymbolic picture stands for the perpetual motion
of a fluidic universe and for theflux of human life. Thus Sphinx is
the equilibrium Therein the transliteration of tarotas Rota is inscribed on the wheel,

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counter changed with the letters of thedivine name, to show that providence is
implied through all. But this isthe divine intention within, and the similar
intention without is exemplified by the fourliving creatures. Sometimes a Sphinx is represented
couchant on a pedicel, above whichdefrauds a symbolism by stultifying the essential idea

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of stability amidst movement. Behind thegeneral notion expressed in the symbol, there
lies the denial of chance and thefatality which is implied therein. It may
be added that from the days ofLevi onward, the accult explanations of this
card are even for a cultism itselfof a singularly fatuous kind. It has

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been said to mean principle, precundity, virile honor, ruling authority, etc.
The findings of common fortune telling arebetter than this on their own plane.
Eleven Justice. As this card followsthe traditional symbolism and carries above all

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its obvious meanings, there is littleto say regarding it outside the few considerations
collected in the first part to whichthe reader is referred word. It will
be seen, however, that thefigure is seated between pillars, like the
high priestess. And on this accountit seems desirable to indicate that the moral

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principle, which deals unto every manaccording to his works, while of course
it is in strict analogy with highthings, differs in his essence from the
spiritual justice which is involved in theidea of election. The latter belongs to
a mysterious order of providence in virtueof which it is possible for certain men

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to conceive the idea of dedication tothe highest things. The operation of this
is like the breathing of the spiritwhere it wills, and we have no
canaan of criticism or ground of explanationconcerning it. It is analogous to the

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possession of the fairy gifts and thehigh gifts, and the greatest gifts of
the poet. We have them orhave not, And their presence is as
much a mystery as their absence.The law of justice is not, however,
involved by either alternative. In conclusion, the pillars of justice open into

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one world, and the pillars ofthe High Priestess into another. Twelve.
The hanged man the gallows from whichhe is suspended, forms a tau cross,
while the figure from the position ofthe legs forms a filthot cross.

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There is a nimbus about the headof the seeming martyr. It should be
noted one that the tree of sacrificeis living wood with leaves their wrong.
Two that the face expresses deep entransmittnot suffering. Three that the figure as

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a whole suggests life in suspension,but life and not death. It is
a card of profound significance, butall the significance is veiled. One of
his editors suggests that Elephus Levi didnot know the meaning, which is unquestionable,

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nor did the editor himself. Ithas been called falsely a card of
martyrdom, a card of prudence,a card of the great work, a
card of duty. But we mayexhaust all published interpretations and find only vanity.

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I will say very simply on myown part that it expresses the relation,
in one of its aspects, betweenthe divine and the universe. He
who can understand that the story ofhis higher nature is embedded in this symbolism
will receive intimations reconcerning a great awakeningthat is possible, and will know that

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after the sacred mystery of death,there is a glorious mystery of resurrection.
Thirteen. Death, the veil ormask of life is perpetuated in change,
transformation, and passage from lower tohigher, and this is more fitly represented

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in the rectified tarot by one ofthe apocalyptic visions than by the crude notion
of the reaping skeleton. Behind itlies the whole world of ascent in the
spirit the mysterious horseman most slowly bearinga black banner emblazoned with the mystic rose,

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which signifies life, between two pillarson the verge of the horizon,
there shines the sun of immortality.The horseman carries no visible weapon, but
king and child and maiden fall beforehim, while a prelate with clasped hands
await his end. There should beno need to point out that the suggestion

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of death which I have made inconnection with the previous cardirs, of course,
to be understood mystically, but thisis not the case in the present
instance. The natural transit of manto the next stage of his being either
is or may be, one formof his progress. But the exotic and

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almost unknown entrance, while still inthis life, into the state of mystical
death, is a change in theform of consciousness, and the passage into
a state to which ordinary death isneither the path nor your gait. The
existing occult explanations of the thirteenth cardare, on the whole better than usual

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rebirth, creation, destination, renewal, and the rest forte temperance. A
winged angel with the sign of theSun upon his forehead and on his breast
the square and triangle the septenary.I speak of him in the masculine sense,

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but the figure is neither male norfemale. It is held to be
pouring the essences of life, fromchalice to chalice. It has one foot
upon the earth and one upon waters, thus illustrating the nature of the essences.
A direct path goes up to certainheights on the verge of the horizon,

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and above there is a great lightthrough which a crown is seen vaguely
hereof is some part of this secretof eternal life, as it is possible
to man in his incarnation. Allthe conventional emblems are renounced herein so also

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are the conventional meanings, which referto changes in the seasons, perpetual movement
of life, and even the combinationof ideas. It is moreover untrue to
say that the figure symbolizes the geniusof the sun, though it is the

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analogy of sololight realized in the thirdpart of our human trimplicity. It is
called temperance fantastically because when the ruleof it obtains in our consciousness, it
tempers, combines, and harmonizes thepsychic and material natures. Under that rule

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we know in our rational part somethingof whence we came and whither we are
going? Fifteen the Devil. Thedesign is an accommodation, mean, or
harmony between several motives mentioned in thefirst part. The horned goat of Mendes,

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with wings like those of a bat, is standing on an altar.
At the pit of the stomach.There is a sign of mercury. The
right hand is appraised and extended,being the reverse of that benediction which is
given by the hirophant in the fifthcard. In the left hand there is

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a great flaming torch inverted towards theearth. A reversed pentagram is on the
forehead. There is a ring infront of the altar, from which two
chains are carried to the necks oftwo figures, male and female. These
are analogous with those of the fifthcard, as if Adam and Eve after

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the fall. Hereof is the chainand fatality of the material life. The
figures are tailed to signify the animalnature, but there is human intelligence in
the faces, and he who isexalted above them is not to be their
master forever. Even now he isalso a bondsman, sustained by the evil

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that is in him, and blindeda liberty of service, with more than
his usual derision for the arts whichhe pretended to respect and interpret as a
master theirn elphas. Levi affirms thatthe baphometic figure is a cult science and
magic. Another commentator says that inthe divine world is seekingfies predestination, but

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there is no correspondence in that worldwith the things which below are of the
brute. What it does signify isthe dweller on the threshold without the mystical
garden, when those are driven forththerefrom who have eaten the forbidden fruit.

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Sixy the Tower o Cold. Explanationsattached to this card are meager and mostly
disconcerting. It is idle to indicatethat it depicts ruin in all its aspects,
because it bears its evidence on thesurface. It is said further that

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it contains the first allusion to amaterial building. But I do not conceive
that the tower is more or lessmaterial than the pillars, which we have
met with in three previous cases.I see nothing to warrant Pappers in supposing
that is literally the fall of Adam. But there is more in favor of

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his alternative that it signifies the materializationof the spiritual word. The bibliographer Christian
imagines that it is the downfall ofthe mind seeking to penetrate the mystery of
God nature. I agree rather withgrand orients that it is the ruin of

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the House of life when evil hasprevailed therein, and above all, that
it is the rending of a houseof doctrine. I understand that the reference
is, however, to a houseof falsehood. It illustrates also in the
most comprehensive way the old truth thatexcept the Lord build the house, they

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labor in vain that build it.There is a sense in which the catastrophe
is a reflection from the previous card, not on the side of the symbolism
which I have tried to indicate theirinn It is more correctly a question of
analogy. One is concerned with thefall into the material and animal state,

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while the other signifies destruction. Onthe intellectual side, the tower has been
spoken of as the chastisement of prideand the intellect overwhelmed in the attempt to
penetrate the mystery of God nature.But in neither case do these explanations account
for the two persons who are theliving sufferers. The one is the literal

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word made void, and the otherits false interpretation. Any other deeper sense,
it may signify also the end ofa dispensation, But there is no
possibility here for the consideration of thisinvolved question. Seventy The stuff a great

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radiant star of eight rays, surroundedby seven lesser stars, also of eight
rays. The female figure in theforeground is entirely naked. Her left knee
is on the land, and herright foot upon the water. She pours
water of life from two great ewers, irrigating sea and land. Behind her

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is rising ground, and on theright of shrub or tree, whereon a
bird alights, the figure expresses eternalyouth and beauty. The star is lestoire
flamboyants, which appears in Masonic symbolism, but has been confused therein. That

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which the figure communicates to the livingscene is the substance of the heavens and
the elements. It has been saidtruly that the mottoes of this card areas
of life freely and gifts of thespirit. The summary of several tawdry explanations

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says that is a card of hope. On other plains, it has been
certified as immortality and interior light.For the majority of prepared minds, the
figure will appear as the type oftruth, unveiled, glorious in undying beauty,
pouring on the waters of the soul, some part and measure of her

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priceless possession. But she is inreality the great Mother in the cabalistic sepherer
Bina, which is supernal understanding,who communicates to the separoth that are below
in the measure that they can receiveher influx. Eighteen the Moon. The

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distinction between this card and some ofthe conventional types is that the moon is
increasing on what is called the sideof mercy, to the right of the
observer. It has sixteen chief andsixteen secondary rays. The card represents life
of the imagination, apart from lifeof the spirit. The path between the

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towers is the issue into the unknown. The dog and the wolf are the
fears of the natural mind in thepresence of that place of exit, when
there is only reflected light to guideit. The last reference is a key
to another form of symbolism. Theintellectual light is a reflection, and beyond

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it is the unknown mystery, whichit cannot show. Forth. It eliminates
our animal nature, types of whichare represented below the dog, the wolf,
and that which comes up out ofthe deeps the nameless and hideous tendency,
which is lower than the savage beast. It strives to attain manifestation,

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symbolized by crawling from the abyss ofwater to the land, but as a
rule it sinks back whence it came. The face of the mind directs a
calm gaze upon the unrest below.The jew of thoughtfuls, the message is
peace be still, and it maybe that there shall come a calm upon

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the animal nature, while the abyssbeneath shall cease from giving up a form
ninety the sun, the naked childmounted on a white horse and displaying a
red standard, has been mentioned alreadyas the better symbolism connected with this card.

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It is the destiny of the supernaturalEast and the greater and holy light,
which goes before the endless procession ofhumanity, coming out from the walled
garden of the sensitive life and passingon the journey home. The card signifies,

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therefore the transit from the manifest lightof this world, represented by the
glorious Sun of Earth, to thelight of the world to come, which
goes before aspiration and is typified bythe heart of a child. But the
last illusion is again the key toa different form or aspect of the symbolism.

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The sun is that of consciousness inthe spirit the direct as the antithesis
of the reflected light. The characteristictype of humanity has become a little child.
Therein, a child in the senseof simplicity and innocence in the sense

(01:00:06):
of wisdom. In that simplicity hebears a seal of nature and of art.
In that innocence, he signifies therestored world. When the self knowing
spirit has dawned in the consciousness abovethe natural mind, that mind, in
its renewal, leads forth the animalnature in a state of perfect conformity.

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Twenty the last judgment. I havesaid that this symbol is essentially invariable in
all Taro sets, or at leastthe variations do not alter its character.
The Great Angel is here encompassed byclouds, but he blows his banner trumpet,

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and the cross, as usual isdisplayed on the banner. The dead
a rising their tombs, a womanon the right, a man on the
left hand, and between them theirchild, whose back is turned. But
in this card there are more thanthree who are restored, and it has

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been thought worthwhile to make this variation. As illustrating the insufficiency of current explanations.
It should be noted that all thefigures are as one in the wonder,
adoration, and ecstasy expressed by theirattitudes. It is the card which
registers the accomplishment of the great workof transformation in answer to the summons of

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the Supernal, which summons is heardand answered from within. Herein is the
intimation of a significance which cannot wellbe carried further in the present place.
What is that within us which doessound a trumpet? And all that is

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lower in our ans? Nature risesin response, almost in a moment,
almost in the twinkling of an eye. Let the card continue to depict for
those who can see no further thelast judgment and the resurrection in the natural
body. But let those who haveinward eyes look and discover therewith they will

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understand that it has been called trulyin the past a card of eternal life.
And for this reason it may becompared with that which passes under the
name of temperance. Zero. Thefool with light step as if Earth in

(01:02:45):
its trammels had little power to restrainhim. A young man in gorgeous vestments
pauses at the brink of a precipiceamong the great heights of the world.
He surveys the blue distance before him, expanse of sky rather than the prospect
below. His act of eager walkingis still indicated, though he is stationary

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at the given moment. His dogis still bounding. The edge which opens
on the earth. Depth has noterror. It is as if angels were
waiting to uphold him, if itcame about that he leaped from the height.
His countenance is full of intelligence andexpectant dream. He has arose in

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one hand, and in the othera costly wand, from which depends over
his right shoulder, a wallet curiouslyembroidered. He is a prince of the
other world on his travels through thisone, all amidst the morning glory in
the keen air. The sun whichshines behind him, knows whence he came,

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whither he is going, and howhe will return by another path after
many days. He is the spiritin search of experience. Many symbols of
the Institute of Mysteries are summarized inthis card, which reverses under high warrants

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all the confusions that have preceded it. In his Manual of Cardimancy, Grand
Orient has a curious suggestion of theoffers of mystic fool as a part of
his process in higher divination. Butit might call for more than ordinary gifts
to put it into our operation.We shall see how the card fares according

(01:04:38):
to the common arts of fortune telling, and it will be an example to
those who can discern of the factotherwise so evident that the Trump's major had
no place originally in the arts ofpsychic gambling. When cards are used as
the counters and pretexts of the circumstancesunder which this art arose. We know,

(01:05:01):
however, very little. The conventionalexplanations say that the fool signifies the
flesh, the sensitive life, andby a peculiar satire. Its subsidiary name
was at one time the alchemist asdepicting folly at the most insensate stage twenty
one. The world as this finalmessage of the major Trumps is unchanged and

(01:05:30):
indeed unchangeable in respect of its design. It has been partly described already.
Regarding its deeper sense. It representsalso the perfection and end of the cosmos,
the secret which is within it,the rapture of the universe when it
understands itself in God nature. Itis further the state of the soul in

(01:05:57):
the consciousness of divine vision, reflectedfrom the self knowing Spirit. But these
meanings are without prejudice to that whichI have said concerning it. On the
material side. It has more thanone message on the macrocosmic side, and
is, for example, the stateof the restored world, when the law

(01:06:20):
of manifestation shall have been carried tothe highest degree of natural perfection. But
is perhaps more especially a story ofthe past, referring to that day when
all was declared to be good,when the morning stars sang together, and
all the sons of God nature shoutedfor joy. One of the worst explanations

(01:06:45):
concerning it is that the figure symbolizesthe Magus when he has reached the highest
degree of initiation. Another account saysthat it represents the absolute, which is
ridiculous. The figure has been saidto stand for truth, which is however

(01:07:05):
more properly allocated to the seventeenth card. Lastly, it has been called the
crown of the Magi. Section threeconclusion. As to the greater keys,
there has been no attempt in theprevious tabulation to present the symbolism in what

(01:07:27):
is called the three worlds, thatof divinity, of the macrocosm and the
microcosm. A large volume would berequired for developments of this kind. I
have taken the cards on the highplane of their more direct significance to man,
who, in material life is onthe quest of eternal things. The

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compiler of the Manual of Cardimancy hastreated them under three headings, the word
world of human prudence, which doesnot differ from divination on its more serious
side, the world of conformity,being the life of religious devotion, and
the world of attainment, which isthat of the soul's progress towards the term

(01:08:16):
of its research. He gives alsoa triple process of consultation. According to
these divisions to which the reader isreferred, I have no such process to
offer, as I think that moremay be gained by the individual reflection on
each of the trump's major I havealso not adopted the prevailing attribution of the

(01:08:42):
cards of the Hebrew alphabet, firstlybecause it would serve no purpose in an
elementary handbook. Secondly, because nearlyevery attribution is wrong. Finally, I
have not attempt to directify the positionof the cards in their relation to one
another. The zero therefore appears afternumber twenty, but I have taken care

(01:09:06):
not to number the world or universeotherwise than as twenty one, wherever it
ought to be put. The zerois an unnumbered card. In conclusion,
as to this part, I willgive these further indications regarding the fool,

(01:09:27):
which is the most speaking of allthe symbols. He signifies the journey outward,
the state of the first emanation,the graces and passivity of the spirit.
His wallet is inscribed with dim signsto show that many sub conscious memories
are stored up in the soul.End of the doctrine behind the veil six