PREFACE
I received a copy of TAROT FOR THE NEOPHYTE, Phase One, sometime around 1970. It was written by Carl W. Stahl under the Rosicrucian initiation name of Frater Librastro. I have made only minor corrections to the text and added three endnotes for purposes of clarification.
The companion volume to this book is TAROT FOR THE NEOPHYTE, Phase Two, which elaborates upon the symbolism of the twenty-two Major Arcana cards of the Tarot, and includes colouring instructions. August 25, 2005 Thomas W. La Porte In Memory of Carl W. Stahl 1914 - 1980
TAROT FOR THE NEOPHYTE Phase One
by FRATER LIBRASTRO
Introduction
The use of the Tarot provides one with the tools to develop and progress spiritually with the intention that this spiritual progress be used by you to aid in your physical, emotional, and mental progress also. Before we can have progress on the material plane there must be progress on the spiritual plane. In the following instructions we will use the Case deck, as it is on these keys that the following interpretations are based. Do not colour your Tarot Keys until told to do so. In fact you will not colour them until Phase Two at which time you will have gone through the Keys one complete time. These Tarot Keys represent something that is already in your head, your heart and your entire physical and mental make up. Knowledge of the meaning of the cards is not essential to their use. You do not have to learn the Hebrew letters, the astrological symbols, nor anything else to use these Keys. If you wish to learn these things later, fine. But for now let us concentrate on the immediate and practical use of the cards.
We all have hopes and fears, problems and frustrations, which we would like to solve. Whether these problems are physical, emotional, mental or spiritual the Tarot Keys will help you solve them.
in our minds and then we label and use them as a means of expression. If our pictures are not clear and distinct, but fuzzy and blurred, so will be the results we achieve from them.
The first step in the use of Tarot is in using the actual Tarot Key. Sit or place yourself in a comfortable position and look at one of the Tarot Keys for five minutes. Concentrate your full attention on it, not with the intention of memorizing it, but to simply observe the picture on the card attentively. Before breakfast would be the best time to do this but any other time will do as well. Only try to do this exercise at approximately the same time every day so as to set up a definite rhythm.
Do not spend more than five minutes looking at any one Tarot Key and of course you will start with Key 0, Aleph, The Fool. And, we repeat, for Phase One of your work on Tarot you will use the uncoloured cards. You will look at EACH KEY THREE DAYS IN A ROW and then go on to the next Key. The best thing to do is to start on a Monday and look at Key 0, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Then look at the next Key on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Rest on Sunday unless you have missed a day during the week, then use this day to catch up. Thus you will look at Key 0, Aleph, The Fool, for three days in a row and then go on to Key I, Beth, The Magician, and look at this Key three days in a row, and so on until you have completed the round of the twenty-two Tarot Trumps, each five minutes three days in a row.
Again we wish to emphasize that YOU DO NOT LOOK AT THE TAROT KEY YOU ARE WORKING WITH FOR MORE THAN FIVE MINUTES. The reason for this is that you are not yet an adept. Your brain must be adjusted gradually to carry the full load of spiritual energy that these cards bestow.
It is held that you are indeed close to adeptship when you can hold a single image in the mind’s eye for only a few minutes. Since most of us could not reach this goal, or even start toward it without some external aid, the Tarot Keys were invented. The pictures on the Tarot were designed to operate similar to the human mind. By merely looking at one of the Keys the combination of the image and your contemplation of it will cause the consciousness to automatically tune in to the consciousness of those who are more spiritually advanced than we are.
Be patient and you will find that results will in inevitably come. REMEMBER, FIVE MINUTES A DAY! Do not try to commit anything to memory, neither the cards nor the instructions that are given to you here. You are merely to look at the cards as instructed above and you are merely to read what is written here. Of course you may read the instructions and hints given here as many times as you wish. You should read these instructions at least twice.
The first time you look at Key 0 spend the five minutes in simply getting a general idea of the picture. On the second day devote more of your attention to the details. On the third day see if you can find anything that is not mentioned in the short paragraphs of description that follow. If something raises your curiosity and it does not seem to be explained in these references make a note of it. Sooner or later the answer will come to you from within yourself.
Do not be discouraged if you seem to get no apparent results. Some have results immediately while with others it takes a little longer. This has nothing to do with your present spiritual place on the Path. All of us have a more or less uneven development and those principles with which we are more experienced show up first. Remember, the effect of Tarot practice is to build up a gradual response to the spiritual impulses as the physical organism becomes conditioned to handle the higher vibrations with which it will now have to deal. Of what use is it to boil water if the kettle melts before we can use the hot water? Prepare the vessel properly and then there will be no adverse after-effects.
Usually one will feel a definite affinity for one of the Tarot Keys; sometimes more than one. However, do not pay more attention to one Key than to another. Every picture, and of course every Key, is some aspect of YOURSELF. Regardless of what the picture may appear to be when you first look at it, IT IS A PICTURE OF YOU. And nothing should interest you more than yourself. All wisdom is the product of the weighed experience of those who have followed the rule, KNOW THYSELF.
Unless one know himself he cannot truly follow the Golden Rule. Whatever science or knowledge mankind possesses is the collective result of the research and invention of the human race. Every force in existence is a work inside man as well as outside man. The Wheel of Tarot is simply the wheel of human nature. Tarot is not simply a set of symbolical pictures.
KEY 0, THE FOOL
Aleph means Ox and is pronounced AW’LEF. It is the Hebrew letter “A” and the number 1 and is attributed to “The Fiery Intelligence”. To it also is attributed the Hebrew RUACH which is analogous to Sanskrit PRANA, Greek PNEUMA, and Latin SPIRITUS. Each of these means breath and each of these means Life.
All the Tarot Keys have two levels of interpretation. The outer, superficial meaning and the deeper, inner meaning. The outer meaning can usually be seen at a glance. The inner meaning can be brought to the surface of consciousness without strain or hard exertion by simply looking attentively at the Key.
Superficially, the Fool is a picture of a careless, impractical man, day-dreaming when he should be alert and about to pay for his heedlessness by falling over the edge of a cliff. The lesson here is that dreams and visions have their place but he who spends all his time in idle contemplation is not fit to deal with the practical things of life.
The inner meaning gives us a picture of what we must use in our efforts to gain more freedom. You may call this power what you wish, and if the word God suits you, by all means retain it and use it. You may term it the inner self, the God of your Heart, or any of the names by which you have learned to associate it with. Eventually you will come up with a name that suits you best.
Only remember that as you look at Key 0 that it is the most perfect and most complete aspect of yourself. It is that part of you which is above and higher than your objective personality. Above and beyond the thinking of the objective mind. It transcends the concrete mental plane. It is the WHOLE OF YOU, of which mind, body and everything else that enters into the apparently separate personality are but parts.
It is the symbol of UNITY for which ZERO stands in occult arithmetic. It is the ONE REALITY which is before all beginnings. It is the ONE LIFE POWER which pervades the universe and is beyond knowledge of the objective mind. Beyond the limits and definitions of logic. It represents complete freedom.
The picture on this Key shows that although you may sometimes take the wrong turning, yet there is always room for one more step. There is nothing to prevent you from retracing your steps again until you once more reach a place where further progress is possible. The title, The Fool, gives the impression of irresponsibility, but remember that those in the forefront of progress have usually been jeered at and condemned by their contemporaries as fools. Yet every fool is not a wise man, nor a prophet, nor a genius.
While looking at the Keys, make no effort to interpret the symbols. If an idea comes to you make a note of it. Jot it down on any handy slip of paper as impressions will come to you at all times of the day. Keep a loose-leaf notebook and at least once a week write these impressions in it under the proper Key.
Key 0 put you in touch with your inner source of power. After you have looked at it for three days you will be able to recall it before your mind’s eye by merely thinking of it. IT IS A SURE ANTIDOTE FOR DEPRESSION. Use it when feeling depressed. Do not try to force yourself to be cheerful. SIMPLY LOOK AT THE FOOL. Look at the actual picture or glance at it mentally when the cards are not available.
KEY 1, THE MAGICIAN
Running throughout the Tarot is the principle of contrast. Each Key is in some way the opposite to the one preceding it and also its complement. They also form eleven contrasting pairs as 0 and 1, 2 and 3, 4 and 5, etc.
Beth means house, and is pronounced BAYTH. It is the Hebrew “B”, and the number 2. It is attributed to “The Transparent Intelligence”. The planet Mercury is attributed to Beth.
The Magician, or wise man, is in contrast to the Fool. The Hebrew letter Beth, meaning house, suggests family affairs which usually occur indoors. Aleph, on the other hand, since it means Ox, would indicate something that goes on outside the limiting influence of human relations and environment.
Number 1 is the number of Beginning but 0 is absolute Unity which comes before all beginnings. Although Aleph is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet it is with Beth that creation begins. Other contrasts, which are easily apparent, show the Fool standing on a bleak and barren precipice while the Magician stands in a garden. The Fool looks across the abyss toward a distant height while the Magician concentrates on what is directly below him and in his immediate environment. The Fool carries his tools, if any, in a wallet slung on a rod over his shoulder while the four implements of the Magician are lying on his table ready for immediate use.
The Magician’s right hand lifts a wand upward pointing toward the sky. His left hand extends downward, pointing with extended forefinger toward the garden in which he stands, the Earth. He is the symbol of the ordinary waking consciousness or the objective mind. The mind which we use to solve our daily problems. The key-idea of this picture is attention and alert watchfulness. You must tune yourself to a higher level which is the source of all power. Then you must act as the transformer of that energy which will flow through you to whatever you direct your full attention. Concentration is as easy as pointing your finger, yet nothing can withstand the mental force of one who has mastered this art.
The lilies, in the garden of the subconscious, and the fact that they are white, represent the various aspects of truth and the fact that all human knowledge falls into four main categories.
The five roses represent the five major senses and the human desires that are related to them. The Magician transmutes experience. By observing the principle at work in any situation he can apply this principle in other ways so as to create different situations. The four tools on the table are the means the Magician uses in dealing with the conditions of human environment.
The wand symbolizes the first means and is simply an extension of the pointing forefinger. Every problem contains its own solution and this solution is determined by giving it our full attention. In other words, “we watch”.
The Cup symbolizes the second tool, the imagination. By observing we collect experience and imagination shapes it as a cup gives shape to that which is poured into it.
The sword symbolizes the third means, action. Regardless of what we know or what we feel, nothing is changed until we do something. In doing something we usually tear something down and replace it with something else. Regardless of how constructive we try to be, destruction always comes before construction.
The coin symbolizes the fourth means, the finished product. This refers to the fact that everything created by man has value. Money properly used is a blessing. The Bible does not condemn money, only the lust for money. Lust and Love are opposites. In loving we have respect and sincere regard
for that thing or person loved. Lust is only the seeking to satisfy selfish personal desires with no respect or understanding for the object of his lust. Respect for money, rather than lust or contempt, brings about the understanding that enables it to be used for the welfare of mankind.
Key 0 puts you in mental touch with the limitless Source of all power while Key 1 calls into action the mental power of concentration. Use the picture of the Magician to develop this power of concentration, to make you more alert, and to bring forth from your inner consciousness the power to deal successfully with practical, everyday problems.
KEY 2, THE HIGH PRIESTESS
Gimel means camel, pronounced GEEMEL (hard “g”). It suggests travel, communication and trade between one place and another which are opposed to the meaning of a fixed location as suggested by the word house. It is the Hebrew letter “G”, the number 3, and is attributed to “The Uniting Intelligence”, and the Moon.
Also 2 implies doubling as opposed to the singleness of 1. A trading trip requires a beginning and an end. Communication requires two people, one to hear and another to relate.
The High Priestess, in her place between two contrasting pillars is a picture of the subconscious mind. She is passive, receptive and virginal. Her scroll indicates she is concerned with records of the past.
The subconscious retains and remembers everything perfectly and cannot be improved. The proper use of Key 2 will develop our power of recollection and ability to duplicate past experiences. Faulty memory is usually due to lack of attention. To improve our recall ability we must pay attention to what is going on around us. A badly focused camera gives blurred or blank pictures. Names and information only partly heard and understood fill the subconscious with gibberish.
The first thing needed for good recollection is to be perfectly quiet and passive as the High Priestess is. Just relax and become passive and the information you need will be easily available providing you have filled it with CLEAR AND SHARPLY DEFINED images to draw from. Determine to pay attention to what goes on during every waking moment. If we do this the automatic filing system of the subconscious will function perfectly.
The second law of recall, or association, is that of contrast. The two pillars, though alike in shape, are opposite in colour. This is so because similarity and contrast always act together. We naturally group together those images which are like one another. This is the first law.
The third law of recall states that, other things being equal, we recall easiest that which we have most recently experienced. What happened today, or an hour ago is most easily recalled. The High Priestess has not yet turned the page of the book or the segment of the scroll and can easily read what she has written there.
Repetition, which is related to the number 2 (duplication), is the fourth law. Anything repeated many times is easy to recall. A person, met once, casually, may not be remembered when seen again, but if we see this person day after day we have no difficulty in recognizing him.
Intensity is the fifth law of recall. We usually remember the first time we experienced something because they were given our full voluntary attention. Because childhood was a time of intense curiosity and deep attention to even the minor details of living we can usually remember these things vividly. We must once more recover the intenseness of youth and not only will we have vivid memories once more but we shall have regained our youth.
Tarot itself is one of the best memory systems available and its process is perfectly natural. Think of a number and the picture will appear in the mind ’s eye. Think of a picture and you will see the number on the Key, near the title. Numbers and pictures go naturally together hence no effort is needed for recall.
Tarot is a pictorial language you know subconsciously. You are learning to make conscious use of this subconscious treasure house, not learning a language. You have only to use your eyes.
Whenever you want to recall something, relax quietly for a while and bring to your mind’s eye the picture of Key 2, The High Priestess, with the sole intention of recalling what you desire. Don’t strain to recall. Just look naturally at the picture and recall will be automatic.
KEY 3, THE EMPRESS
Daleth means door, pronounced DAWLETH. It is the Hebrew letter “D”, and the number 4, and is attributed to “The Luminous Intelligence”, and the planet Venus. The word door brings us back home and we are once more at the self-conscious level of activity. The Empress, like the Magician, is in a garden with red roses.
Yet the Empress, like the High Priestess, is a woman, but she is a pregnant wife whose husband is the Emperor (Key 4). The High Priestess is the Moon corresponding to the virgin Diana, the huntress of memory.
The Empress corresponds to Venus the traditional planet of childbirth, beauty and the arts. Key 3 is the sum of 1 and 2 and shows the result of concentration, or attention (the self-consciousness), when combined with memory, or recall (the subconscious), which produces imagination. Creative imagination is truly the door to a new existence.
The limitless Life-Power, pictured by the Fool, can and does assume all sorts of forms. What you concentrate on is what you become. Fix your attention on images of poverty, weakness, sickness and misery and they become a part of your environment, for even your body is part of your environment. Concentrate on their opposites, and creative imagination (the Empress), will begin to build you a
new life and a new environment. Look at your problem closely and you will find the answer within the problem itself. It then requires only concentration of the solution and the process of change is automatic.
As you change the negative aspects of your life into positive ones you will find yourself aware of the new images and combinations and your mind will be as fertile as the Empress’ garden, enabling you to harvest a wonderful crop of ideas. By facing ever forward on the Path you will rise out of the fog of appearance into the clear Light of true Realization.
Imagination is the eye of the soul and by its means we see the reflections of the invisible world. No sage or adept ever lived who did not stand where you stand now. All once suffered the same delusions which are the causes of whatever sorrow and misery we may now suffer. The peace and happiness, the rich fertility, the ability to direct things in order as shown by the picture on Key 3, are yours now. You have merely to put them to use and it is your DUTY to do so.
Contemplation of this Key will start the process of renewal. Your inner life will begin to form the image of a new personality. The past is gone but the future is yours to create. Simply look at this Tarot Key as have at those which preceded it. Looking is actually directed use of the Light whose radiant energy forms the building blocks of the entire physical universe.
This approach may be hard for those who like their lives filled with the sound and fury of apparent force. The forces of the universe work noiselessly and without friction. Man requires large amounts of heat and energy to bring about physical results. Yet even the simple plant can perform the same chemical transmutation without any noticeable heat.
The human body is much higher on the scale of evolution than the plant, hence its transmutation should take place with even less heat and bother.
KEY 4, THE EMPEROR
HEH (pronounced Hay) means window. It is the Hebrew letter “H” and the number 5 and is attributed to “The Constituting Intelligence”, and the sign Aries.
Window naturally follows door, just as image making (Empress) comes before reason (Emperor), and a man cannot become a father before his mate has children. The number 4 relates to order because 4 corresponds to the square.
Supervision and regulation are symbolized by Key 4. Supervision is overseeing, hence sight is attributed to the Emperor. This card also relates to Aries which rules the head and the function of sight. Sight is our chief sense. Unless we imagine, we do not really see. The mind is the true seer. The eyes are only its tools, and all tools need skillful handling.
Heh stands for the mental activity whereby we isolate particular things and separate them from others that are more or less similar. This means classification. The ordering process of our minds in which we control the conditions of our environment.
Such control depends on seeing things as they are. Reasoning must come from accurate observation. One of the results of Tarot study is that it enables us to see the true world which lies hidden behind the veils of superficial appearance.
We do not force nature into obeying us. But she will serve us when we see things as they are. Nature is always for man, never against him. But man must have true vision to be free – free from want, disease and fear. Free from death itself. This freedom can come only from our inner consciousness, never from the outside.
The picture language of this key tells you that you are the master of your environment and circumstances now, not at some future time. Your personal world, now, at the present time, is exactly as you have made it for yourself. You may hate it, but you made it! And because you made it you can change it to a world that is nearer to what you really desire.
To do this, however, you must first destroy the old world which is only the false world of your ignorant dreams. Use Key 4 to help you wake up from the dream that you are a slave to circumstances. This picture of the Emperor ruling all his kingdom is a true picture of your own real SELF.
Use this Key to bring to the surface of your mind the knowledge of who and what you really are. Liberation is indefinitely progressive. Remember that to have true vision is to be free from ignorance.
KEY 5, THE HIEROPHANT
VAV (pronounced WOW) means nail or hook. The Hebrew letter “V” or “U”, the number 6, and is attributed to “The Triumphant and Eternal Intelligence” and the sign Taurs.
The number 5 occupies the middle place between 1 and 9 hence suggests intervention, meditation or that which serves to unite. A nail or hook carries this idea further. Nails are used to join things together as the parts of a house for instance. A hook supports what is hung on it.
Vav is associated with Hearing. Hearing is the principal link between one mind and another. Vav also stands for the interior hearing by which we may hear the Voice of the true Self pictured here as the Hierophant.
This Voice of the One Self, and the knowledge and wisdom which it imparts is name “The Triumphant and Eternal Intelligence”. Triumphant, because its counsel always helps us emerge victorious when faced by some obstacle, danger, or unfriendly condition. Eternal, because this
counsel is based on eternal principles, never on the expediency of the moment.
Opening our inner ears is not enough. Mischief-maker and enemies as well as friends, dwell on the Astral Plane. These are not the Voice, but the voices who always betray their lower state.
They excel in subtle flattery. The “reveal” mysteries which they say are hidden from others not so favored. They make supposed revelations of the details of former incarnations. Since they exist on the astral plane these “revelations” may be quite accurate. Only the limitations of our physical bodies conceal our past experiences from others. Those who exist on the astral plane and use senses can read our lives from birth to death, for even our private thoughts and feelings are engraved on the scroll of the High Priestess.
Some of these entities are well-meaning and kindly but this does not mean that they are capable of guiding you toward a successful future. Just because a man has shed his physical body does not change his nature. In the physical body he may have given bad advice and he will continue to do so on the astral plane.
The Voice never demands, never flatters, never says anything to increase our self-esteem. Anything it says can be checked by reason.
The word, INTUITION, in the sense of “inside or interior teaching”, gives the general meaning of Key 5. The picture on this Key gives us all we need to know to distinguish genuine intuitions from baseless feelings which merely echo our own emotional states and stem from our ignorance. Intuition is not a substitute for reason. It flows logically from good reasoning. The Inner Teacher instructs only those who take the trouble to observe, to remember, to imagine and to reason. Hence Key 5 logically follows Key 4.
The flowers on the garments of those kneeling before their teacher are the same as those found in the garden of the Magician. They represent personally acquired knowledge (lilies) and personally developed and cultivated desires (roses).
The only difference between the Emperor and the Hierophant is that in Key 4 the emphasis is on the objective, external world from which we gather experience. In Key 5 the emphasis is on the inner realm where we gain wisdom and knowledge of the meaning of what goes on around us. This is merely the outside and the inside of the same world. Neither is more real, nor more true than the other. Either, taken by itself is incomplete, and devoid of meaning without the other. The wisdom of the inner world must be put to use and service in the outside world.
When you have a problem to which you can find no solution, AFTER YOU HAVE DONE ALL YOU CAN IN THE WAY OF OBSERVING, REMEMBERING, IMAGINING AND REASONING, then look at the Hierophant. Call up his image and practise the LISTENING attitude of mind. Unless you silence the noise of your own thinking and talking to yourself you will fail to
hear the Voice. The Voice never speaks loud. You may not hear an audible voice at all, especially at the start, but when you do you will never again mistake the Voice for the “voices”.
Be still. Stop racking your brains. Call on the Hierophant. Every great principle, every great truth, is already part of the wisdom of your true Self. Intuition is a sort of recollection. It brings up wisdom buried deep in the race subconsciousness and brings down new wisdom from the superconsciousness. The price for this is SILENCE.
KEY 6, THE LOVERS
ZAIN (pronounced ZAH’YEEN) means sword. It is the Hebrew letter “Z”, the number 7, and is attributed to “The Disposing Intelligence” and the sign Gemini. Here again there is contrast with the preceding card. Nails fasten things together. Swords cut them apart. Key 5 symbolized union. Key 6 represents division.
The main lesson of this Key is that Super-consciousness (the angel) sheds its influence impartially upon both self-consciousness (the man) and subconsciousness (the woman). These two are co-equal. Subconsciousness is always amenable to suggestion, but unless rightly directed by self-consciousness, falls prey to the appearances and delusions emanating from physical sensation. The serpent coiled around the tree behind the woman, and the five fruits referring to the life of the physical senses, represent the appearances and illusions which seem to attractive to those who yield to its temptations. Knowledge of the life of sensation is of no value at all in guiding ourselves. It only appears to be useful.
As long as the life is under the guidance of the superconsciousness (the angel), all goes well. When the connection is broken through the mistaken illusion that we can plan our lives from the reports of physical sensation, all goes wrong.
The superconsciousness is not an outside ruler imposing his will on human beings. It is the true SELF, the innermost reality at the core of every single human life. When we depend on it our life is regulated and arranged from a level above that of either the self-consciousness or the subconsciousness.
When the Magician is consciously related to what is above him every pattern he makes is a good one. Hence the record on the scroll of the High Priestess is clear and definite and produces good wheat (mental imagery) in the garden of the Empress. Then the Emperor is so completely identified with the ONE SELF that the superconsciousness acts directly through the personality. The clear vision of the Emperor (who is both the Magician and the Fool under another guise) is then supplemented by the Voice of the Hierophant and the happy state pictured by the Lovers is brought into being. The two human figures are nude because they conceal nothing from each other. The two aspects of
human personal consciousness, when they stand in correct relation to superconsciousness, have none of the concealments which, too often, characterize the relation between these two same aspects of personality in most men and women.
The average person is always putting on an act but he himself is the most deluded victim of this act. From this hypocrisy comes the miseries which man suffers. He who deliberately surrenders his personal life to superconscious direction becomes immediately the agent of the One Self.
Selfconsciousness and subconsciousness are different, but equal. Each has its own special field of operation and its own special powers. They must have no concealments. Each must leave the other free to carry out their own particular type of activity. Selfconsciousness gathers accurate data through observing the objective world. Subconsciousness acts as the connecting link between self-consciousness and superself-consciousness.
It is through subconsciousness that we contact the Voice of the Hierophant obtaining an understanding of significance. It is through the subconsciousness also that new ideas and new mental imagery come into manifestation. After looking at this Key and trying to gain an understanding of its meaning, frame a special message to your own personal subconsciousness. Use your own words but try to get the following meaning into it.
FROM NOW ON, SUBCONSCIOUSNESS, YOU WILL NO LONGER RESPOND TO SUGGESTIONS MADE BY ME AT THE LEVEL OF MY PERSONAL SELFCONSCIOUSNESS, UNLESS SUPERCONSCIOUSNESS CONFIRMS THOSE SUGGESTIONS. YOU ARE FREE FROM THE WRONG THINKING AND ERROR I HAVE MADE IN THE PAST.
By this means you will find yourself experiencing the wonderful and beneficient results of superconscious guidance every day of your life.
You will still make mistakes in your personal life. Your selfconscious mind has limits. These superficial errors, however, will be easy to overcome and correct because the subconscious mind will no longer regard them as suggestions or commands to elaborate. Only those opinions and commands of selfconsciousness that have been confirmed by the superconsciousness will be elaborated by the subconscious mind.
KEY 7, THE CHARIOT
CHETH (pronounced KHAYTH) means a fence, an enclosure, a field. It is the Hebrew letter “Ch”, the number 8, and is attributed to “The Intelligence of the House of Influence” and the sign Cancer. In contrast to the sword from Key 6, a weapon of offence and a cutting instrument suggesting division and separation, Cancer is the protective sign, sheltering and shielding and is said to rule the breasts which nourish babies, and the bony wall of the chest which protects the stomach, lungs and heart.
Key 6 shows things in the natural state of nature. The human figures are nude and stand in open country, their surroundings showing no trace of human construction. Key 7 has a city in the background with a stone wall around it. Before the wall is a river for further defence. In the foreground is the portable fence of the chariot and the rider wears armour as protection, particularly for the chest. On each shoulder is a lunar crescent confirming that this Key represents Cancer and its ruler, the Moon.
The two crescent Moons are connected by the rider’s body, the one on the left frowning while the one on the right smiles. The two sphinxes show a similar contrast. This is to emphasize the reconciliation and unification of opposites.
In Key 6, the two humans stand apart, though they get equal influence from the angel. They are male and female. One meaning of this is discrimination. The entire meaning of Key 7 has to do with the synthesis of all the principles we have considered up to this point – a synthesis brought about by human agency of WILL.
Yet the only Will there is in the universe is “the Will of God”. The River in Key 7 represents this will. It flows into the picture from outside, and flows out again. So too, the power that we feel which we exercise in doing things, is something which flows through the field of personal existence. The chariot or vehicle is the clue. Persons are instruments of the ONE LIFE. Persons originate neither themselves nor their actions. Personality, which is the end product of causes reaching far into the past, could not possibly have absolute free will of its own. Never-the-less, every human being has free will.
What we mean here is that the person is not the man. It is only the vehicle through which the spiritual MAN finds expression. MAN has been indicated so far in the Tarot by the dominant figure in each Key. The MAN is the Fool, the Magician, the High Priestess, the Empress, the Emperor, the Hierophant, the Angel, and the Rider in the chariot. The PERSON is shown by the Magician’s implements, his robes, and the flowers in his garden. Always those elements which relate to personality are subordinate – as the scroll, the roses, the wheat, the shield, the domain of the Emperor, the ministers kneeling, and the two Lovers. The inner meaning of Tarot will be more clearly revealed to you if you keep this in mind because the purpose of these Keys is a psychological training which, through SELF-revelation allows you to live in intimate contact with the SELF, and to experience the beneficial results of this union.
Those who become experienced in occult training have to break down these fences indicated by Key 7. To do this they must regain the use of the powers they once had. You do not obtain new powers, you simply regain powers that were yours but have been forgotten since childhood. We have always been able to communicate with others telepathically. Training since childhood has warped our way of thinking, making us forget. WE MUST LEARN TO REMEMBER.
are not really separate. The wall which sets us apart from our neighbours is artificial. Education and training have erected most of these walls that hem us in. Much of our seeming separation is due to habits and attitudes imposed upon us by parents, teachers, and other, older people.
We must remember that we are truly omnipresent because the true MAN at the heart of every human personality is none other than God.
KEY 8, STRENGTH
TETH (pronounced TAY’TH) means serpent or snake. It is the Hebrew letter “T”, the number 9, and is attributed to “The Intelligence of the Secret of All Spiritual Activities”, and the sign Leo. Again we go back to nature, away from the associations of human artifice shown in Key 7. Key 8 is an echo of what we have seen in Key 6, where a woman and a serpent were part of the design.
We must understand that temptation and evil, as symbolized by the serpent and the lion, are the results of man’s ignorant misuse of force, which, because it has a wavy motion and spiral nature, is typified by the serpent. Yet this same force is man’s means of liberation when properly understood and used.
When dealing with the problems of human life it is ridiculous to think we can escape danger by denying that it exists. The only way we can solve problems is by facing them. Neither can we solve them by attempting to DESTROY their cause. The causes of evil are to be overcome by transmuting them into allies.
This is symbolized in Key 8 by the woman who has tamed the red lion by opening its mouth. The idea here is that whenever we understand any seemingly adverse power, we can tame it and make it an instrument to help us express and realize human aspirations.
The law is that SUBCONSCIOUSNESS IS ALWAYS AMENABLE TO CONTROL BY SUGGESTIONS STARTING AT THE LEVEL OF SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS. This is shown in Key 8 by the white robe the woman wears, similar to that worn by the Magician and the horizontal figure 8 over her head which is also shown in Key 1.
All material forms in our environment are built up of radiant energy. This streams from our Sun to provide physical energy for our entire solar system. This energy seems to be a mass of tiny particles or waves moving at terrific speed. These particles are fundamentally all alike: the electrons, ions, neutrons, etc., in an atom of gold being no different than those in an atom of lead. Those which make up your body are no different than those in a concrete wall.
Everything is alive. Inorganic as well as organic forms build from this radiant energy. Wherever there is life there is some degree of consciousness. We call the consciousness latent in minerals and vegetables SUBCONSCIOUSNESS to designate levels of awareness below that of human awareness. This is indicated in the law given above which says that every level of consciousness
below that of human selfconsciousness responds invariably and automatically to suggestions originating at the level of selfconsciousness.
THIS MEANS THAT THE ENERGY WHICH TAKES FORM AS EVERYTHING IN OUR ENVIRONMENT MAY BE CONTROLLED DIRECTLY BY MAN THROUGH THE USE OF HIS THOUGHT AND IMAGINATION. This control is indirect by imagining combinations of things outside the body and directly through use of the mind.
Machines, chairs, airplanes, etc., are thought-forms materialized by human imagination. Through using the steps outlined by Keys 0 to 7, man, by imaging truly, has command of the things and forces surrounding him.
Through use of Tarot such indirect control may be dispensed with. Tarot unfolds the deeper, latent powers of subconsciousness, whereby the will of man acts directly on this radiant energy (or light), and by this means can modify all nature.
In Key 8, the lion (power) is led by a chain of roses (cultivated desire), showing that the subconscious level of the activity of the radiant energy is to be controlled by trained, systematic, coherent use of the RELATED desires, expressed in clear images.
Looking at Key 8 will bring from your inner consciousness an understanding of the truth that you are now in touch with an instantly available and inexhaustible source of power. Through it you understand that what ignorance dreads and fears is really your most powerful ally. As you use it, it will evoke courage and confidence.
Beginners will find that while using this card when depressed or afraid of appearances in their personal world, that this picture will raise their spirits and drive away their fears.
KEY 9, THE HERMIT
YOD (pronounced YODE) means hand, the hand of man open, the Hebrew letter “I” or “Y”, the number 10, and is attributed to “The Intelligence of Will” and the sign Virgo. The Hermit stands at the summit of the peak shown in the background of Key 8. The figure in Key 8 is a woman. In Key 9, the Hermit is male. The woman and lion stand in the sunlight, but the Hermit stands holding a lantern to light the way for travellers climbing the path toward the mountain top.
In a sense, 9 has certain of the properties of 0. Multiply any number by 0, and 0 is always the result. Multiply any number by 9, and the product will always be a number whose digits add to 9. 9 is simply a zero with a tail. Both the Fool and the Hermit are on a mountain but the Fool looks at the height ahead of him while the Hermit looks down on the way he has come.
Solitude and superiority are pictured by this Key as shown by the height on which he stands and by the beard symbolizing experience. Nine (9) signifies completion and the completion of human life
is attainment of adeptship and mastery. So Key 9 symbolizes the perfected state of human consciousness, the union with the ONE SELF.
Adepts and masters are God’s hands. So are we, but we are as the hands of little children. We have the powers but we are lacking in training. The rays from the Hermit’s lantern signify that every man and woman on this planet is connected with the ONE SELF by a ray of cosmic light. All personal action is a response to impulses coming from this Father of Lights.
Persons seem to be separate and think they have separate “selves”, but the supreme conscious attainment is the realization that the ONE SELF is also the ONLY SELF. This is why the Hermit is standing alone. Virgo is the sixth sign and is designated by the six pointed star in the lantern. This portion of the zodiac is assigned to the small intestine where the basis substance with which our blood is filled with the materials needed to repair and promote the functioning of our bodies is extracted.
Although an adept and any other human being may look alike, yet they differ greatly inwardly. The adept’s blood is different. His organs function better, and his glands and centers are fully functioning instead of being mere rudimentary structures.
Mercury, the Magician, rules this sign, and indicates that it is possible, by intelligent control of the body-building process, to make great changes in the chemistry of the blood and the working of the physical organs. This is done by the conscious knowledge of the use of selfconsciousness in the right selection of food and by using the law pictured in Key 8 to transfer to subconsciousness the pattern of a higher and finer type of physical organism.
RESPONSE is the most important lesson of this Key. No act of human personality is self-originated, but all acts of personality are truly SELF-originated since they have their origin in the over-shadowing life of the ONE SELF. We seem to be struggling upward, but the ONE SELF, signified by the Hermit looking down, works through every-one to bring about our own conscious union with the Divine.
This does not negate free will. Our response is to something inside ourselves, not outside. For it is a response to our true, innermost nature.
There are many paths on all sides of the mountain which lead upward to the peak on which the Hermit stands. Yet they all meet in one place. So do the paths of human attainment differ in details and appear to differ in direction also, but all lead to the ONE and only SELF. We may have momentarily lost our way, but sooner or later the light from the Hermit’s lantern will serve as a beacon to bring us back to the path.
Use Key 9 to remind you that your true SELF is already all that your personal mind hopes and dreams of being. Use it to increase your understanding of the truth that you are ever under the watchful supervision of that same great “I AM”. Use it so your subconsciousness, which understands every detail of this Tarot Key’s meaning, will respond to it by beginning to build the finer body you
require.
KEY 10, THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE
KAPH (pronounced KAH’FF) means the hand of man closed as when grasping. It is the Hebrew letter “K”, the number 20 and is attributed to “The Conciliating Intelligence” and the planet Jupiter. This contrasts to its use as touch which is given in Key 9. When we grasp anything with the mind it is ours to control and use. Thus a thorough grasp of the meaning of the events of our lives brings wealth. A poor grasp makes our control uncertain and leads to poverty.
Wealth may be in dollars and cents but it can take other forms. He who really grasps man’s place in this world need never suffer material want. To judge life by appearances only is to be deceived into thinking it a “Tale told by an idiot, signifying nothing”. This is what Key 0 signifies to the uninitiated also.
Key 10 signifies our comprehension and its number is the sum of the numbers from 0 to 4. Hence in Key 1, we observe; in Key 2, remember; in Key 3, we imagine hidden relationships; in Key 4, we reason truly. All together signify comprehension, the full development of the meanings of the Emperor, because 10 is the extension of 4.
Key 10 shows that order is fundamental. Season follows season. The planets follow their cyclic pattern. All life is rhythmic and therefore predictable. The four fixed signs of the zodiac which are represented by the four mystic animals at the outer corners of the picture stand for the four elements of nature, the four tools of the Magician, and the Divine Name, Jehovah, signified by the Hebrew letters round the outer circle of the wheel.
Taurus, the bull, stands for the element of earth and the coin or pentacle. Leo, the lion, stands for the element of fire and the wand. Scorpio, the eagle, stands for the element of water and the cup. Aquarius stands for the element of air and the sword.
From the four Roman letters ROTA is formed the word TAROT by beginning at the top of the wheel and reading clockwise, beginning and ending with T. It also forms the word ATOR, the ancient Latin rendering of the Egyptian goddess Hathor, personifying Nature represented by the Empress, Key 3, and Venus. Nature is a general term of our experiences in the field of the four elements, which is basically the work of our subconscious powers.
An eight-armed cross within the outer circle has four arms pointing to the Hebrew, and four arms pointing to the Latin letters. The four arms pointing to the Latin have four symbols. Beneath the letter T is the alchemical symbol for Mercury. Beside the alchemical symbol for Sulphur is the letter A. Above the letter R is the symbol for Aquarius, and an alchemical symbol for dissolution. The symbol besides the letter O stands for Salt. All are essential in the Great Work.
nature of his environment, and by discovering its real instead of apparent nature, can reduce everything to its primal substance, THE LIMITLESS LIFE-POWER symbolized by the Fool. Once he has done this he can, by means of mental vision and creative imagination, reshape this primal substance as he sees fit. He can also, by working directly upon this primal substance, mentally bring forth forms corresponding to his own images.
The descending serpent, outside the wheel, represents the vibrating force, symbolized by Key 8 and the letter Teth, which constitutes man’s environment. The Egyptian god, Hermanubis, the guide of the soul in its journey through the underworld, rises on the other side. It has a human body and an jackal’s head and is related to Mercury and the Magician. His eye is alongside the letter A (Aleph) indicating that the advanced intellect can see what is pictured by Key 0, but few can KNOW THE INNER SELF as a direct personal experience. Since some have an intuitive perception the ears of Hermanubis are above the letter A in that part of the wheel with the letter Yod, the Hermit, showing that it may get knowledge of the higher method of knowing through interior hearing.
The sphinx, which is a synthesis of male and female, human and animal, sits above the letter T (Tav), the final letter of the Hebrew alphabet and Key 21. It represents the completion of the Great Work, which is to develop the metaphysical senses corresponding to the physical senses. It is to have direct experience of oneness with the ONE SELF. When this happens one is adjusted to the cosmic rhythm and is free from the ups and downs of fortune. Planets veil a LIVING ORGANISM in which you have your being. Your consciousness is one with it, the ONE LIFE which indwells all.
KEY 11, JUSTICE
LAMED means “ox-goad” and is pronounced LAHM’ED. It is the Hebrew letter “L”, the number 30 and is attributed to “The Faithful Intelligence” and the sign Libra. The goad is a thing grasped in contrast to the hand which grasps in Key 10. Ideas of control and direction are associated with Key 11. In Key 0 we have Aleph the ox, and in Key 5 we have Vau, corresponding to Taurus, the Bull. Hence the education, or ox-goading, implied by Lamed, has to do with directing this pair of oxen. The Fool typifying Superconsciousness, and the Hierophant indicates intuitive knowledge of reality. Lamed imparts the education necessary for us to apply this Superconsciousness and inspiration from within to the conduct of our life.
Lamed also has to deal with work or action and he who is truly educated has more than knowledge. He is able to apply this knowledge for practical use in the management and direction of affairs. Key 11 is a pair of 1’s signifying that what is shown in Key 1, the Magician, is unfolded, increased, and extended by doubling. Since doubling is represented by Key 2, the High Priestess, the meaning of Key 11 has to do with the recording and growth gained by means of the activities represented by the High Priestess resulting in BALANCE.
The fundamentals of education are observation and memory. Practical skill comes from training which establishes habits. It is not until our bodies have been changed by the operation of
subconsciousness that these habits can be fully established. The various skills and trades leave quite definite traces of their presence on the physical body. Thus the difference between an adept and an average human being is one of physiology. The adept has practical knowledge and makes continuous use of all that he knows.
Practical knowledge allows one to make adjustments and establish a working arrangement bringing harmony into the life. Abstract justice is law. Key 11 is named Justice. Libra is attributed to Lamed and its symbol is a pair of scales. The ruler of Libra is Venus, represented by the Empress, hence the figure in Key 11 has yellow hair and wears a crown. She represents creative imagination as related to work. All good work has to be planned and this requires the use of the subconscious power to form clear mental images of the intended actions.
When the framework of these images is true to fact these clear images are very effective. This framework resembles the bones of the body, and the planet Saturn, which is exalted in Libra, rules the bones. Hence the T-cross, which ornaments the dress of the woman and which is a deep indigo, is the colour of Saturn on the Queen’s scale.
In order to make adjustments that will change a problem into an advantage, we must do two things. First, we must have accurate measurements and facts. We cannot guess or make approximations. Secondly, we must act in harmony with our knowledge of the actual situation, and this action must be aimed at removing whatever restricts our freedom. Hence the scales of Justice are balanced by the sword.
Whatever restricts freedom and interferes with the harmonious adjustment of our lives must be eliminated. Remember that the sphinx in Key 10 also holds a sword. Key 6, the Lovers, Zain the sword, is symbolized by two persons standing side by side like the two 1’s in 11. Practical skill in adjusting one’s life is the use of the power of discrimination pictured in Key 6. Since 5 plus 6 is 11, we see that practical skill is discrimination combined with intuition.
As Key 1 is the complement of Key 0, so Key 11 is that of Key 10. The wheel of fortune symbolizes cosmic law and Justice is the symbol for the application of that law through human action. Hence a seated woman is the central figure of Key 11. She is passive and receptive and represents the subconscious side of our lives. The basis of successful action is the mental state of agreement with the nature of things as they really are.
Faith is also connected with Key 11. True faith is the habitual (subconscious) conviction that whatever is, is for our good. Appearances which seem to indicate something inimical to man are due to our ignorance. Facts measured correctly, especially those about human nature, enable us to establish justice in our lives and surroundings.
KEY 12, THE HANGED MAN
attributed to “The Stable Intelligence”, the element water and in some systems the planet Neptune. This is perhaps the most important Key in the Tarot. Its meaning is that it is necessary to reverse the way we think, speak and act from the way in which most people think, speak and act in order to reverse misery, disease and failure and turn them into their opposites of health, happiness and success.
What we are now is a result of what we have thought. Hatred cannot be stopped by hatred. Hatred ceases only by love. Key 12 is a practical method by which we can reverse our false thinking. Just looking at the picture will help you go a long way toward right thinking. Knowledge of its meaning and correspondences will form a bridge that will bring its suggestions more easily into our subconsciousness. Here are set into motion forms of mental activity which will make habitual a change in our mental attitude – attitudes which underlie the misery and failure we want to overcome. Mem means water and water was the first mirror. All mirrors reverse the images cast upon them. Occult water is the Astral Fluid – the seed of minerals, the energy which is the substance of all things. The Astral Fluid flows in waves, forms itself into vortices, drops, and corpuscles. All matter is composed of atoms and every atom contains a definite number of drops, or corpuscles of this basic substance.
The matter which surrounds us appears so dense, so inert and hard to move that it is difficult for most people to believe that mere thinking has any power over it. This is being deceived by mere surface appearance. The densest appearing physical substance, as well as the lightest gases, are forms built up of widely separated tiny drops of cosmic water. There is no essential difference between the energy forming a thought form and that which takes the form of the hardest metal or diamond. Knowing this, and not being deceived by appearances, we can effect a reversal of our normal thought and change conditions for the better.
Key 12 indicates the outflowing of the powers of subconsciousness (2) through the fixing of self-consciousness in acts of attention (1). The Hanged Man shows that when concentration is prolonged we experience directly the superconscious state of being. This is perfect union of the personal with the cosmic consciousness. The Hanged Man indicates the suspension of personal activities, which is attained by concentration, and release of the powers which will give you control over your mind, body and the conditions of your environment. To do this we must reverse our attitude toward life. By doing this you will realize that you are an instrument for the manifestation of the limitless power of the cosmic Life. No longer will you be deceived into thinking that personality can be separate from the sum-total of all universal activity.
Even Jesus said, “Of myself I can do nothing”, because he knew that all personal actions are a particular manifestation of cosmic laws and forces. The value of the personality lies in the fact that a person is an agency through which the limitless power of the ONE LIFE may be brought to bear in controlling conditions in this field of relative existence.
and symbolizes the real world which is hidden from the ignorant because of their delusions. By reversing your conception of personality you will realize that the real world is the body of God. You will know that you are a member of that body.
The average person rationalizes instead of reasoning and his false images render his condition worse the more he rationalizes. You must learn to select your mental images with care and see that they are true images. Then you will imagine creatively and have a true vision of man’s place in the cosmic order. The light around the Hanged Man’s head indicates the illumination which comes from suspending the activity of personal consciousness. This glory is also shown by the Sun in Key 0 and 6. His hair is white but his face is that of a youth, combining the two aspects of the LIFE-POWER – GOD and MAN.
Through use of Key 12 you will learn to adopt the mental attitude of utter dependence on the ONE LIFE. FROM THIS MENTAL ATTITUDE HEALTH AND WELL-BEING FOLLOW AUTOMATICALLY. It will remove all negative states of mind, which is the cause of failure.
KEY 13, DEATH
NUN means “fish” and is pronounced NOON. It is the Hebrew letter “N”, the number 50 and is attributed to “The Imaginative Intelligence” and the sign Scorpio. BODIES die. Ignoring or denying this is stupid. However, part of every person is something immortal which is not born with the body and which will never die. IT IS THE IMMORTAL SOMETHING WITHIN US WHICH BRINGS ABOUT THE DEATH OR DISSOLUTION OF OUR PHYSICAL BODIES.
We must face the fact of physical death and by learning its meaning find out how to overcome and erase it completely from our consciousness and experience. Those who perfect their knowledge of death here on Earth need have no experience of physical dissolution. This is not just a change of consciousness. Those who understand death are able to maintain their physical bodies in perfect health for any length of time, limited only by their own deliberate choice.
Key 13 gives this knowledge symbolically. It calls forth from the subconsciousness, through the sense of sight, the knowledge which will help us to overcome death. As a verb, the letter Nun means to sprout, to grow. Key 13 shows that the liberating power of truth, or reality, is a result of the power of growth represented by Nun. This power of growth, in the human body, is what causes multiplication of cells and the development of structure. It is also the basic principle of reproduction. Hence it is assigned with Scorpio, the sign of the zodiac presiding over reproduction.
As the eighth sign, Scorpio has rulership over the natural eighth house of the horoscope, the house of death and inheritance. DEATH IS OUR MOST PRECIOUS HERITAGE. Without death, life would remain in the same rut. There would be no progress. Most of us have to be forcibly removed from this physical plane, again and again, until we have progressed spiritually to that state where we have learned, through direct experience and perception, the true nature of life in its relationship with the ONE LIFE.
Number 13, in Hebrew, has two meanings. One meaning is UNITY. The other is LOVE. THE ONE POWER from which comes all things manifests as the LOVE POWER which attracts and creates, and also manifests as the DEATH POWER which brings about the dissolution of the physical body. Yet they are not two powers, but one, having opposite forms of manifestation.
The skeleton in Key 13 is not the “Grim Reaper”. It shows that without the foundation of the skeleton none of our muscular activities would be possible. The skeleton, therefore, symbolizes the basis of all function, the base of all growth and development.
The ONE POWER, specialized in the reproductive functions of the body, is the SEED POWER, as shown by the symbol of the seed placed in the upper left-hand corner of the picture. The NO-THING remains eternally itself throughout all apparent appearances, yet relatively speaking, the parade of transformation is actual, and requires the dissolution of outworn forms.
The skeleton in Key 13 has two twists in its spinal column, one just above the pelvis (the Mars center), and the other at the neck (the Venus center). This is the main secret of Key 13. We must learn to give a certain twist to the Mars energy by means of its complement, the Venus force specialized in the center of the throat. The Mars center controls the reproductive activities of the body and unless deliberately turned in the right direction we cannot overcome death. We do this by a change in our mental imagery. As this current of nerve force rises we receive a change of consciousness and an increase in the manifestation of occult powers which were formerly latent. All people travel, at least occasionally, in the astral body with no recollection of their experiences. When we begin to have conscious waking recollection of these experiences we are freed from the delusion that our personality depends on having a physical body to exist as a self-conscious, thinking being. These higher powers are shown by the scythe, with a “T” shaped handle, showing that this occult work uses the power of the Saturn center at the base of the spine.
This Key is intended to awaken the Imaginative Intelligence. Begin by imagining yourself as being free from the bondage of physical existence. This will aid in setting in motion those subtle inner activities which will cause the force from the Mars center to move up instead of down. No other concentration is needed for this purpose.
KEY 14, TEMPERANCE
SAMECH means “a prop” and is pronounced SAMH’EKH. It is the Hebrew lettter “S”, the number 60 and is attributed to “The Intelligence of Probation” and the sign Sagittarius. This picture shows us how we may confirm our beliefs and theories. Its basic meaning is Verification. In order to know, we must do. Our theories must be tested in day to day experience. Samech represents a snake with its tail in its mouth, a symbol of completion and eternity. As a verb it means “to prop, to bear up, to sustain, to establish”, and in Tarot it gives stability and firmness to our house of life.
the numerical value of the noun, ZAWHAB,* Gold, is 14. Temperance here means “the act of tempering or mingling” and thus means regulation and the proper, measured proportion of related parts.
Alchemy, the Great Work, combines and harmonizes all the elements which enter into the makeup of human personality, blending them into a united whole.
The archangel MICHAEL, angel of the Sun and of the element of fire, is the central figure of Key 14. The solar disk, and the yellow glowing hair surrounded by rays, show this. He corresponds to the great angel described in the tenth chapter of Revelation. The seven thunders mentioned there are identified with Jupiter, who rules the sign of Sagittarius, to which Key 14 corresponds. The Hebrew name for this sign is also the name for “rainbow”.
The angel, by his actions, shows the operation of the Law. He also is identified with the ONE LIFE. The seven pointed star, under the name Jehovah on the angel’s breast refers to the Seven Spirits of God – the seven phases of the One Conscious Energy.
The water falls from the vase (Astral Fluid) in a triple stream, showing that although it is usually associated with subconsciousness, it here includes self-consciousness and superconscious operations also.
The water falls on a lion who here represents not only the sign Leo and the element of fire, but also the Biblical symbol of the devil, the “Roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour”. The water falling on the lion also indicates the modification of the animal nature, through the blending of opposite elements, water and fire, by the powers of human consciousness.
From the torch in the angel’s left hand fall five flames, each shaped like the letter Yod, and indicate the fivefold division of the LIFE-BREATH into ether, fire, water, air and earth. The torch symbolizes the consuming of physical forms by the fiery action of the LIFE-POWER.
The eagle here symbolizes the sign Scorpio, which is a water sign. The flames falling on the eagle indicate the blending of opposites, resulting in equilibrium. The eagle is also the bird of Jupiter, which rules Sagittarius.
The rayed crown, suspended between the two mountain peaks in the center, left background, represents Kether, the Crown. The first of the ten Kabbalistic Sephiroth. It symbolizes completion of the Great Work when man attains the perfect union with the ONE SELF. The twin mountain peaks represent Wisdom (Chokmah) and Understanding (Binah).
The pool represents consciousness, and the earth the physical form. The angel, standing on both, shows that the Great Work is a psychochemical operation in which changing mental states brings about corresponding changes in the physical organism.
The main idea of this Key is that we can prove for ourselves the teaching that man is destined to complete the cosmic manifestation of the LIFE-POWER through his personal actions. To do this man changes his body so that the brain registers consciousness of identity with the PRIMAL WILL of which all activities are expressions.
By concentrated attention on this Key we can keep steadily in mind the real meaning of daily experience. Practice of the mental states brought out by Key 14 is the PRACTICE OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD, or the KNOWLEDGE AND CONVERSATION OF THE HOLY GUARDIAN ANGEL.
KEY 15, THE DEVIL
AYIN means “eye” and is pronounced AH-YEEN. It is the Hebrew letter “O” and the number 70 and is attributed to “The Renewing Intelligence” and the sign Capricorn. The angel in Key 14 is an angel of light. In Key 15 it shows an angel of darkness.
This is a very important Key as it reveals the secret of alchemy and magic. Whosoever knows this secret is able to make the Philosopher’s Stone and the Elixir of Life. But those who know cannot tell others because the essential point cannot be expressed in words. All this instruction can do is plant a seed in your mind which will grow into knowledge when you are ready.
The letter-name AYIN means not only “eye” and “fountain”, but also “outward appearance”. Thus Key 15 is a picture of the way things look and not of the way they really are. Keep in mind that every Key of the Tarot is a picture of humanity itself, a symbol for some aspect of the ONE SELF which is manifesting in the numberless personalities making up the human race. When we become aware of the undeveloped aspect of personality we have taken the first step towards overcoming our “devilish” responses to life experience.
Now the word “devil” is a Greek noun meaning “slanderer”. It stands for anything that gives one a bad opinion of the worth and value of his nature. This refers to the appearances that make up human environment, but once we know what they are, what causes them, and what their purpose is in the cosmic order, we soon understand how to handle them.
All creation was good because the Lord had no material except his own substance. So we see that it is the APPEARANCE which deceives us and is the immediate cause of our fears and our poor opinion of human nature.
Briefly, Key 15 shows the ONE POWER as it APPEARS to those who accept appearance at face value. Nothing like the creature in the picture actually exists yet everything in it is some aspect of reality and reflects the confusion apparently existing in the world around us.
Capricorn was said by the ancient Egyptians to be Typhon, and Typhon was the source of much that is included in later notions of Satan. Some symbols for Capricorn are: 1. A monster with the head
and body of a goat and the tail of a fish; 2. A crocodile with the head of an elephant; 3. A donkey; 4. The Leviathan and the Old-Serpent in Job and in Revelation. It is a feminine sign related to the mother-power, which, after trial and temptation, brings forth the Savior, the Redeemed One. It represents the Renewing Intelligence and by its means all is renewed that is begun afresh in the creation of the world.
Eliphas Levi has said, “Satan, as a superior personality and power, has no existence. The devil is the Great Magic Agent employed for evil purposes by a perverse will.” This perversity is due to ignorance.
The Devil picture in Key 15 is androgyne, half male, half female, shown by the one male and one female breast. From the pentagram to the end of his right-hand horn there are ten divisions. On the other there are twelve, representing the twenty-two forces corresponding to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet and to the Tarot Keys. The inverted pentagram, a symbol of evil magic, represents the inversion of the powers of normal humanity. When man inverts his true position by wrong thought he creates for himself the hideous figure of the Adversary.
Since the donkey is one of the symbols of Capricorn, the Devil has the ears of an ass. The goatish face refers to the sexual manifestation of the LIFE-POWER. The element of earth is suggested by the gross, hairy body with its brown, earthen tint. The bat’s wings are wings of darkness and symbolize the occult agencies through which the forces of the physical plane are transmuted from one form to another. The eagle’s wings and talons refer to Scorpio and the ideas represented by the letter Nun, Key 13.
The symbol of Mercury, with its yellow, upper part and red cross, represents the combining of the powers of Mercury with those of Mars (who is exalted in Capricorn), and suggests to subconsciousness we can transform our emotions, thoughts and actions to bring Light into the dark area of our lives.
The astrological symbol for Saturn is on the raised right hand which seems to imply that nothing is hidden. What you see is all there is. This is the fundamental falsehood of superficial appearances which leads us into trouble. The inverted torch in the Devil’s left hand burns smokily and gives off little light. It symbolizes the inverted use of the Mars force. The two bestialized human figures chained to a cube, symbol of the half-knowledge of the physical world, represent what happens to human consciousness when it is controlled by false knowledge.
Since the Great Secret of this Key cannot be told, we must use our understanding to ferret it out. THERE IS NO DEVIL, if one means an evil, independent principle of personality OPPOSED to God and man. THERE IS A DEVIL, if by this name you mean the universal power of the boundaries of the physical plane. This power APPARENTLY subdivides the ONE LIFE into many separate lives. But this is the same power that renews, enlightens, redeems and finally frees us. When we understand what it really is, the Adversary is overcome. His name is LEGION, or MULTIPLICITY, while the consciousness which overcomes it is the realization of UNITY.
This realization can be developed by attention, by observation, by forming correct interpretations and right plans, which are all powers of Mercury. Then the power which held us in chains becomes the power which sets us free, and the opponent who frames the problems that now beset us becomes the one who helps us find the answers to play the game of life.
KEY 16, THE TOWER
Seven steps in the spiritual unfoldment of man are illustrated in the last seven Keys of the Tarot. The first step, illustrated by Key 15 is fear, ignorance and misery.
PEH means “mouth” and is pronounced PAY. It is the Hebrew letter “P” and the number 80 and is attributed to “the Exciting Intelligence” and the planet Mars. Peh refers to the open mouth of man as the organ of speech. This is in contrast to the eye, Ayin, Key 15, which is the organ through which we receive impressions from our apparent environment. Through the mouth we express our thoughts in speech, hence Peh gives articulate expression of the scientific understanding which is symbolized by Key 10, the Wheel of Fortune.
The number 16 when analyzed gives the same conclusion. It is 6, the Lovers, showing discrimination, expressed by means of self-consciousness, 1, the Magician. It can also be reduced to 7 (1 plus 6), Key 7, the Chariot, and the letter Cheth, which corresponds to the function of speech.**
Peh corresponds to the planet Mars, which rules Aries (the brain) and Scorpio (the reproductive process) and is exalted in Capricorn, corresponding to Key 15.
Mars is what gives tone to our muscles. It is the force sent out from the brain, which sets off the activity of the muscles. Hence the Magician, symbolizing Mercury and self-consciousness, wears a red (Mars colour) robe, indicating that the conscious mind uses the electrical energy of the brain to set off the explosions of muscular activity.
Basically, we think in pictures, hence Key 4, the Emperor, is connected with the sense of sight. However, until we can say that what we see agrees with things as they really are, instead of being mere opinions, we cannot plan intelligently nor secure the cooperation of others. All ideals can be put into words, hence to learn thought control we must learn word control. When we say that health, happiness and success come through right thinking, we mean that these things are manifested by the right use of language. So also, sickness, misery and failure follow wrong use of words. Our life is built with words and we must choose and arrange them carefully.
Key 16 related to language. Count the courses of masonry in the tower. You will get twenty-two. You will also find a total of 22 Yods hanging in the air on either side of the tower. Every letter of the Hebrew alphabet is developed from the letter Yod, and these Yods are symbols of the powers represented by the Hebrew letters and the Tarot Keys. They hang in the air because these forces in themselves have no physical basis. They are self-supporting and the foundation of all else.
