TAROT of THE SPIRIT

Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC

Contents

CHAPTER 1

The Tarot Deck

Welcome to tarot, the game of life! Welcome to this incredible game in which theobject is to understand all that has been, is and ever-shall-be! Welcome, deartraveler, to the Tarot of the Spirit!

To play this intriguing game is to learn about all existence—origins andstructures—past, present and future. This is done through the contemplation ofimages, pictures that when attended to with the mindfulness given to great art,contain the power to propel the player on a profound path of spiritualrealization.

The tarot provides a vehicle for the transformational journey of the soul. Eachcard contains a transformative image which—as you work with it—becomes a livingentity, that is, a living projection of your own instincts and emotions, capableof guiding you inward toward a deep understanding of self and cosmos. Since itsinception, the tarot has functioned unequalled as a sacred oracle, a spiritualpath and a focal point for meditation. This is its divine legacy.

There are many paths to enlightened understanding. Tarot is only one. Yet it iscomprehensive and provides a marvelously magical and mystical journey thatspirals through the innermost layers of consciousness to the very heart ofbeing. It is able to do this because—as you will see upon undertaking its study—thetarot contains every key element for enlightenment that has become known tohumanity in its quest for wisdom.

The objective of working with tarot, whether as oracle, spiritual path ormeditative tool, is to attain a sublime integration of internal contradictoryelements in order to transcend conflict or conditioned response patterns andmove into a state of inner peace and a deep awareness of our true identity. Thetarot teaches us how we create our individual and collective identity, andtherefore reality, through our chosen allegiances and actions and how we canbreak destructive patterns to move ever closer to the balanced centerpoint wherethe spiritual and material worlds intersect. Through the tarot, we learn how tobring our material world into balanced alignment with our deepest spiritualvalues. We are thereby enabled to redirect our consciousness in order to achievetrue health, wealth and enduring happiness. Thus, tarot, in a sense, provides aframe upon which we can build the inner temple of our selves, "stone by stone."

As poet Phyllis Koestenbaum once wrote, "Right form pleases and controls likebones ..." The tarot is quintessential "right form" for understanding the humanpsyche. The structure of tarot, at once, enhances and limits possibility. Thatis to say, its structure is like a springboard for consciousness, but it is aspringboard in which both the spring and the direction of propulsion arecontrolled. As such, when the divine tool of tarot is correctly employed, thepotential for haphazard movement and spiritual chaos is reduced.

The divine legacy of tarot has been passed down through many centuries,undergoing continual refinement. In the last five hundred years, despiteoccasional controversies over particular interpretations, the structure of thetarot has remained essentially the same. One could say its structure has beenperfected.

Every true tarot deck contains the same number of cards in approximately thesame order. The Tarot of the Spirit follows a traditional tarot pattern. Thus,as an oracle, the Tarot of the Spirit demonstrates an awesome precision.Nonetheless, the Tarot of the Spirit is unsurpassed as a vehicle for travelingthe spiritual path. While chapter 3, The Spiritual Path, explains in greaterdetail the background of the Tarot of the Spirit, let me briefly state that thistarot is qabalistic in orientation and therefore completely balanced in itstreatment of opposites. It is neither a "dark" nor a "light" tarot. It isneither "chauvinist" nor "feminist" in its approach. It stands completelycentered on the Tree of Life. As such, the Tarot of the Spirit is offered as aguide for those seeking lasting balance.

In subsequent chapters, I will speak more about how to use the tarot, but firstlet us look at the overall structure of the pack of cards.

The Pack of Cards

The tarot contains 78 cards. Of these, 56 belong to the Minor Arcana and 22 tothe Major Arcana. Arcanum means mystery. The cards, it is said, contain secretknowledge which is hidden in their symbols. The object, for the seeker, is tounravel the mysteries of tarot through working with the deck.

The Minor Arcana___________________________________________

The Minor Arcana are divided into four suits of 14 cards each. The suitsrepresent the four major components of human life: spirit, emotions, intellectand body. These suits are also known as planes of consciousness. Thus,represented in the Minor Arcana we have the spiritual plane, the emotionalplane, the intellectual plane, and the physical plane. The contemplation of thecards of the four planes, described further in chapter 4, carries you deeper anddeeper into the mysteries of the human psyche.

In the Tarot of the Spirit, the suit of spirit is represented by the elementFire. Thus we refer to the suit as Fire. The first card is the One of Fire. Thesecond card is the Two of Fire, the third is the Three, and so on. In addition,as you will see in chapter 3, each card is named. The One of Fire is calledForce. The Two is Convergence. The Three is the Birth of Light. The names of thecards are not as important for this particular discussion, however, as thestructure of the suits.

The suit of emotion is represented by Water. The suit of intellect isrepresented by Wind and the body, or physical world, is represented by Earth. Wehave, then, four elemental suits—the suits of Fire, Water, Wind and Earth—eachcontaining 14 cards which make up the first 56 cards of the tarot deck.

Each element is symbolized by a particular magical tool. In the Tarot of theSpirit, Fire is represented by wands. Traditionally, Fire is also represented bywooden rods, clubs, and other objects which either burn up (such as trees) orsend out currents of flame or energy. In other tarot decks, as well as in decksof playing cards, this suit has frequently been known as the suit of wands orclubs.

Water is represented by cups in that cups contain and, in some ways, give formto liquid. Traditionally, any vessel becomes the tool for the suit of Water.Because it is the suit of emotion, it is also represented by hearts. Thus, ithas often been called the suit of cups or hearts.

In the Tarot of the Spirit, the tool of the suit of Wind is the sword. Uponstudying the Sacred Texts in Book II, the connection between the element of Windand the sword will become more clear. Blades and spades of all kinds fall intothe category of swords. Thus the suit of Wind has been known as swords orspades. Feathers also represent the Wind. This is easier to comprehend in thatbirds spread their wings—feathers—to rise up on the wind. This, of course,symbolizes the process of spiritual transcendence.

Finally, Earth is represented by pentacles. The pentacle is the five-pointedstar that represents humanity—two arms, two legs and a head—in physical form.When the star is encircled, it signifies humanity passing through eternity,always changing, always moving, cartwheeling through time. Earth is alsorepresented by dishes, platters (especially when they hold bread), coins, disksand diamonds. It is most often known as the suit of pentacles, disks, ordiamonds. See figure 1 for the correspondences of each suit.

Of the 14 cards in each suit, ten are numbered 1 through 10 and four are "face"cards. We will look at the theoretical structure of these in turn.

Numbers 1 through 10 __________________________________

Each card in each suit represents a particular aspect of human consciousness orexperience. In each of the four suits, the Is contain many of the sameproperties, the 2s are similar, the 3s are similar, and so on.

At 1 something is beginning to open up; at 2, it becomes polarized; at 3, itbecomes dimensional; at 4, it becomes stable; at 5, it begins to move; at 6, itrestabilizes; at 7, it becomes highly complex; at 8, it grows; at 9, the suitcomes into its highest point. At 10, the suit is completed, a cycle hasfulfilled itself, and new ideas or elements begin to enter. It is as if at the10 in any suit, the querist moves on to a new plane of experience.

It is useful to think of the numbers 1 through 10 in terms of a geometricprogression. The 1, for example, is a point. At the point of the 1, everythingbegins to come into sharp focus. The 2 is two points that form a line; the linesymbolizes duality, polarization or continuum. The 3 makes a triangle or triadand also a plane. When you begin to think of the numbers geometrically, if youuse your creative imagination (as described in chapters 3 and 4) much light isshed on the meaning of the particular card. I offer the symbolism of figure 2for your further contemplation on this matter. Figure 2 does not purport to beexhaustive, but it will provide greater insight into the possibilities of thetarot deck.

To enhance the picture obtained through thinking geometically, the meaning ofthe numbers can be outlined as follows:

1. raw energy;

2. will, purpose, initial understanding;

3. conception, manifestation;

4. production, mastery, clinging to achievement;

5. surrender, release, destruction;

6. solution, exaltation, seeing;

7. feeling, deepening, mystery;

8. repose, consideration, retreat, ripening;

9. understanding before or beyond words, strengthening;

10. processing, moving to a new level.

A final way of looking at the theoretical structure of the numbers 1 through 10is as a linear graph of experience. At the 1, something begins. At the 2, itgrows in intensity. At the 3, it grows stronger still. At the 4, it reaches itsinitial peak. At the five, problems arise. At the 6, the querist feels theproblems are solved. At the 7, the querist realizes that the solutions embracedat the 6 were probably not of a permanent nature and thereby goes "back to thedrawing board." At the 8, real learning, which will have lasting results, beginsto occur. At the 9, the major messages and mysteries of the particular suit orissue at hand have been processed and understood. At the 10, the querist movesto a new level or a new way of knowing. See figure 3 for a graphic depiction ofthis concept.

The theoretical meaning of numbers 1 through 10 is uniform in every tarot deck.Thus, the querist need not know the "name" of the particular card in order tointerpret its meaning. When you know the meaning of the suits, the theoreticalstructure of cards 1 through 10, in addition to the meaning of the face cards,you are capable of "reading" an ordinary deck of 52 playing cards.

The Face Cards ____________________________________

An ordinary pack of playing cards contains three face cards in each suit. Theyare traditionally referred to as Kings, Queens and Jacks.

Each suit of the tarot contains four face cards for a perspective which is,overall, more balanced. In different decks, these cards go by different names.They are sometimes called Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses, or Knights,Queens, Princes and Pages. One deck calls them Shamans, Priestesses, Sons andDaughters. In the Tarot of the Spirit, the face cards are called Fathers,Mothers, Brothers and Sisters. In all tarot decks, there are traditionally twoparent-like cards and two offspring. If you wish to read an ordinary pack ofcards, however, where there are only three face cards, you may wish to combinethe attributes of both "children" into one child, which would, of course, berepresented by the Jack.

In the Tarot of the Spirit, the Father in the suit of Fire is known as FireFather. The Mother is Fire Mother. The Brother is Fire Brother and the Sister,Fire Sister.

Just as all the Is have similar qualities, all of the Fathers have similarqualities. This holds true for Mothers, Brothers and Sisters as well. So, whilewe have 16 face cards in the entire deck, and while each face card will bemodified by the suit in which it appears, the face cards can be reduced to fourmajor personality type.

All Fathers, for example, even though they are conditioned by the element of thesuit in which they reside, are essentially related to the element of Fire. Thusthey represent spirit—action, energy and movement. If the Father is residing inthe suit of Water, he will be modified, for example, by the spirit and energylevel of Water. Since Water is by nature passive, the Water Father, who isreally the Fire Father in Water, is likely to be passive. His high energy issubdued by Water's heavy and calming influence. When the Father appears in hisown element, in Fire, however, he becomes the very essence of his innerqualities. He is hot and flaming, all action, high energy and continuousmovement.

Just as all the Fathers are related to Fire, all Mothers are related to theelement Water. Regardless of the suit in which they appear, although they areconditioned or refined by the attributes of that suit, it can be said that allthe Mothers personify the qualities of emotion and understanding. The Mothers—intheir exalted state—are receptive, loving and nurturing.

The Brothers represent the suit of Wind. They are intellectual, relying onreason, seeking understanding through the processes of thought. They seek todiscover higher purpose through rationality. In the Tarot of the Spirit, theBrothers are the Spirit Warriors. In their exalted state, they are not afraid ofcreating and employing new information as they speed their causes along.

The Sisters represent Earth. They solidify, or "ground," all the energygenerated along the path through the particular suit. In a certain way, they canbe seen as the essence of the suit or the element of the suit as it is processedand applied—concretely—in the body, mind or spirit of the querist, or in thequerist's life. The Sisters represent the manifestation of the messages,mysteries or lessons of the particular suit. Thus, they are like the Priestessesof the element. They are capable of understanding the element thoroughly andputting its tools to work.

While much more information regarding the modifications of the face cards asthey appear in each suit is presented in Book II, it is useful to think of theface cards as four essential types: Fire Father, Water Mother, Wind Brother andEarth Sister. Beyond that, we can conceptualize Fire Father in Water, imagining,for example, how the element of Water would affect his fiery nature. We canimagine Fire Father in Wind with the same empathetic stance, or Fire Father inEarth.

In each suit, the Fathers and Mothers unite to produce their offspring. Thus itcan be said that the Brothers and Sisters contain the characteristics andreceive the guidance of both of their parents. Whether they attune to theirparents or follow their directives is, of course, a personal matter. As thequerist begins to understand this, the cards begin to come alive.

The querist, then, will understand that the Father and Mother do not necessarilycontain the characteristics of their offspring. The Father and Mother are "pure"in nature. The children, however, have the ability—if they so choose and if theyexalt their own potential—to soar beyond the limits of their parents, "casting,"as it were, "the disk of Earth much further."

To understand this, to understand any of the face cards of the tarot, we oughtto put ourselves in any one of their shoes. Only then can we begin to perceivetheir meaning on a deep level. We can then begin to understand the theory of thetarot which takes us, in terms of internalized knowledge, far beyond the limitsof rote memorization. The apprehension of these four personality types intheory, renders the whole of tarot easier to understand.

If you wish to understand the Earth Sister in Wind, for example, try toexperience things from her perspective. How would you feel with an older Brotherand two parents who were guided, for all practical purposes, by the challenge ofthe intellectual endeavor?

Learning to experience the tarot from the inside opens the doors to its minorand major mysteries.

The Major Arcana ____________________________________

There are 22 cards of the Major Arcana, also known as Trumps, numbered 0 throughXXI. In the Tarot of the Spirit, these cards are known as Keys. That is becauseeach one has a powerful capacity to unlock the door of a major mystery of thehuman psyche.
(Continues...)Excerpted from TAROT of THE SPIRIT by PAMELA EAKINS. Copyright © 1992 Pamela Eakins. Excerpted by permission of Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC.
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