The Origin of Tarot and a Quick Overview
Originally created in the 15th century as an Italian card game, the Tarot was first used for divination and self-reflection in 18th century France, before occultists and later the Golden Dawn - a british secret society - embued it with esoteric knowledge and symbolism, as well as astrology.
It is divided into the Major and Minor Arcana - arcana meaning secret -, with the majors indicating big karmic and soul-level shifts, as well as archetypes, and the minors adressing more day-to-day happenings, questions pertaining to the mundane. The cards function as a symbolic language and map of consciousness, mirroring back to you your current energetic state, making you feel seen, understood, and inspired. They are an amazing tool for communication, with both your own subconscious mind and unseen beings. So let's dive in together.🌹
The Qabalistic Tree of Life and its Relation to the Tarot
Below you see the Tree of Life according to the hermetic qabalists of the Golden Dawn. In their belief system, all of life is emanating from an ultimate divine blueprint, and therefore everything in our manifested world could be compared to rays of sunlight, originating from the same source, the same big sun. That sun would here be represented by the first Sephiroth (sphere) Kether - God (wanting to understand itself), nothingness from which all forms emerge, within which all forms are contained. It is associated with the Aces in the Tarot. The Twos in the Minor Arcana then all correspond to Chokmah, the energy of the Divine Father, the first spark of creation, bringing wisdom and development - and with the Threes (three being the number of creativity, expansion, the Divine Mother), said development takes on a specific observable form. In the same manner, all of the Fours correspond to Chesed, and so on... Until we reach Malkuth at the bottom of the tree, the completely manifested world.
The Major Arcana on the other hand is being made visible in the paths leading from one Sephiroth to the next - these are the big archetypal developmental stages we must integrate in order to reach the subsequent level of spiritual maturity. The Fool is the very first card, a young soul, completely innocent, jumping from nothingness into the abyss, a divine madman, radiating spiritual aliveness and intuitive wisdom - however, without the practical experience needed to actually share this higher knowledge in a way that would make sense to people. His journey is a long one - down the entire tree, until, in Malkuth, we reach enlightenment with the World card, finding spirit in matter, returning to source as realized, individuated beings, having successfully integrated all the lessons from all the trials and errors of every path to every Sephiroth on the Tree of Life. Herein lies another secret of the Tree: Everything is in Kether, time and space are illusions, and so God is to be found even in the mundane. The dancer in the last card, the World or Universe, being enlightened, obviously knows that, and so as soon as we reach that level, making love to matter and the present moment, we reach oneness - or rather, noneness -, tasting the unity of Kether all over again, and a new cycle begins.
The Four Worlds on the Tree of Life and its Relation to the Elements
This reassimilation happening through the natural process of manifestation, creation and destruction, is the secret of the four worlds I'm speaking to in my explanation videos on the Minor Arcana - each element actually has its own tree, Atziluth (Wands), Briah (Cups), Yetzirah (Swords) and Assiah (Pentacles). Esoterically, we start with Wands - the fire element as the first spark of creation -, with the Ace being represented by Kether, and the Ten by Malkuth. As soon as we reach Malkuth, our enlightened mind catapults us back to Kether, but , having reached the next level of development, we are now in a different world entirely, the world of Briah or Cups, associated with the element of water and our emotions, as well as intuition. This world is a little closer to physical reality, but still quite abstract. And having undergone our journey within the world of Cups, we then reach the world of Swords or the mind and intellect, Yetzirah. As beautiful of a tool as the mind is, there can also be found a lot of hardship in this qabalistic world - overthinking and analyzing, as we, in our perception, build barriers with concepts and ideas, drifting further away from spirit. The last world, the Manifest World, finally, is the world of Pentacles or Earth, standing for all that is tangible and material. We reach ultimate abundance and mastery over legacy and money in the 10 of Pentacles, Malkuth of Assiah, ultimate Earth - material fulfillment, already seeding its death and resurrection, the next life-cycle in this endless circular chain of creation - constantly devouring its own tail like the Ouroboros the Magician in the Major Arcana so casually wears as a belt around his waist.