Tarot and Kabbalah
The tarot deck is a set of 78 cards, and its origins are quite mysterious. Tarot Cards are used to predict the future, to read energetic tendencies and to help people on their spiritual path. But what do they tell us?
The Symbolic Language of the Soul
The imagery of the cards pretty much stayed the same over time, though various artists have been interpreting it in unique ways. Reason for that is the archetypical expression of the cards: the symbols of the Tarot are universal symbols, directly linked to our subconsciousness.
Only on a mundane level, the mind’s expressions are clear, structured sentences – that what we refer to when we say: we think. But the less we refer to the world around us and instead focusing on our inside-life, the less our words are capable of expressing what is going on there. Thoughts are limited in their expression due to their limited structure.
To understand the universe in its mystic nature, the rational thinking of thoughts is just not enough. Therefore, whenever the mind starts to process larger contexts of meanings it switches to another form of expression: Archetypical symbols. (That’s why we love our emojis so much.)
The Language of the Tarot Cards
Like the symbols of our dreams are functioning as a map to our subconsciousness, our archetypical symbols are mapping the subconsciousness of our culture. Some of these symbols are intercultural, whereas some of the archetypical symbols are unique to a certain culture sphere. The Tarot, on contrary to the I-Ging, uses traditional western archetypical symbols.
Every symbol transports a variety of meanings – and the power of symbols lies in their direct access to our subconsciousness. They bypass, so to say, our rational thinking and therefore the shortcomings of our mind do not stand in their way.
The Kabbalah and the Tarot
To understand the symbolic language of the Tarot Cards, it seems necessary to look at the Tarot as a system. The structure of the Tarot is based on the Kabbalah and it’s cabbalistic symbol: “The Tree of Life”.
“The Tree of Life” symbolizes the universe, as well as the human body. It has 10 centres (the 11th is not yet fully manifested).
These 10 centres are manifested spheres or evolutionary states of the universal energy. The 10th centre represents the sphere of the earth.
The Small Arcana Cards of the Tarot
The 10 Centers (Sephiroth) of the Kabbalah are represented in the Tarot by the small arcana cards. The 4 aces equal the first centre, the 4 twos the 2nd centre, and so on.
Each of these 10 centres has 4 aspects or 4 different spheres of manifestation, which correspond with the mystical aspect of the elements. These 4 aspects of the centres are represented in the Tarot by the set of wands, swords, cups and pentacles.
- The Wands represent the fire energy, or the world of emanation: The pure power.
- The Swords stand for the element of air, or the mental world: The concepts.
- The Cups are watery energy, or the world of manifestation: The emotions.
- The Pentacles represent the earth element, the world of deed and matter: The solid.
Because the 10 centres of the Tree of Life representing manifested energy, the small arcana do as well represent actual manifested energy.
The Major Arcana Cards of the Tarot
The major arcana cards of the Tarot represent the 22 paths of consciousness. These 22 paths connect the centres of the Tree of life. As such, the major arcana cards do represent states of consciousness. As our outside world reflect what is going on inside of us, these cards show us the path we are on.
The Road Signs
To give a better understanding of all that, imagine a map: The cities and towns would be the centres, and to go from one city to another, on has to take a certain road. The major arcana card are the road signs show us which way to go, or where we are.
The Court Cards
The Court Cards are standing for the elements a such. They are the suits, we are putting on, to move forward- and they do represent actual persons as well as the way we move.
Each of these elements has 4 different aspects, corresponding to the 4 different worlds or spheres of manifestation:
- Kings or Knights (Thoth Tarot) represent the fiery aspect of an element
- Queens represent the watery aspect of an element
- The Knights or Pages (Thoth Tarot) stands for the airy aspect of an element
- The Pages or Princesses (Thoth Tarot) stands for the earthy aspect of an element
For example, the queen of cups would be the watery aspect of water. The queen of wands would represent the watery aspect of the fire element. But we will go into that.
In the next Article, we will explore the divinatory aspect of the Tarot Cards, as well as how to use the them.
Stay tuned.
Love Leni
In between, check out: My favourite Tarot Readers on YouTube
