Tarot and The Kabbalah
In the Tarot and The Kabbalah, the term ‘Arcana’ is plural. The singular aspect of this term is ‘Arcanum.’ ‘Arcanum’ refers to a type of knowledge, which is for the initiated, or a kind of knowledge that is mysterious for the average person. It is a science or understanding that one has to be introduced to. When we study the twenty-two Arcana, we are studying twenty-two laws, or twenty-two mysteries, that we have to be initiated into experientially in order to understand them.
22 Laws
The twenty-two Arcana of the Kabbalah are twenty-two laws. We know in the Judeo-Christian tradition that we hear have ten primary laws, or Ten Commandments, that are discussed very commonly. But there are twelve more. These twenty-two laws, or twenty-two Arcana, contain the entire process of religion, or in other words religare, which is Latin for “union.”
The major arcana of the Tarot cards, or the images of the major arcana, form a book. These twenty-two images symbolise and represent twenty-two Arcana, steps, laws, mysteries, which the initiate needs to understand and know in order to understand and know the Path to self-realisation of the Being.
The Hebrew Alphabet
These twenty-two Arcana are also symbolised and represented in the twenty-two characters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each character of this alphabet symbolises and represents different laws and aspects of the Path to the self-realisation of the Being.
The Path
So for those of us who aspire to comprehend that Path, to enter that Path, to make it manifest in us, it is vital that we understand the nature of these twenty-two laws. Within them is the Path itself. More than that, the foundation upon which we work in Gnosis is direct experience. The term ‘Gnosis’ itself indicates that. Gnosis is not a mere belief or a theory; it is a science of direct experiences or a scientific method that leads to one’s own direct experience of the Truth. The Truth itself is the twenty-two Arcana, so to experience directly the nature of Truth, we study these twenty-two Arcana in order to help us organise our own experiences, to understand them.
Genesis and the Tree of Life
When we study the Judeo-Christian tradition, and we look into the book of Genesis, we see that there is a great symbol at the very beginning of the book, in the first few chapters. We find two trees in the Garden of Eden. The first tree is the Tree of Life. This is a symbol of the Kabbalah, or the science of numbers, which we will begin to analyse here.
Map of the Universe
The Kabbalah is a map of our own consciousness. It is also a map of the universe. The universe and our consciousness are reflections of one another, and the Kabbalah encodes that, it symbolises that. So the Tree of Life in the Bible is a symbol of this science of numbers. And of course, as anyone who studies the Bible knows, numbers play a huge role throughout the Bible. There are always seven of this and three of that — we see in all religions that numbers have a huge importance; this is evidence of the universal presence of Kabbalah, even if it is not called by that name. The twenty-two Arcana introduce us to the science of understanding the symbols of those numbers in order to help illuminate our own path.
The Tree of Knowledge
The second tree is the Tree of Knowledge, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad, or Good and Evil. This tree is the source of the forbidden fruit. In the Bible, it is clearly stated that we should not eat of the forbidden fruit. In order to understand what that means, we need to know what the Tree of Knowledge is; it is symbolic of something within us. The term ‘knowledge,’ of course, is the word ‘Gnosis.’ Gnosis itself is the root of the term knowledge. But in Hebrew, it is the term Daath.
Levels of Consciousness
The Tree of Life, which is the first tree that I described, is the Kabbalah. It is symbolised in its most common representation as ten spheres. These ten spheres are organised as a structure of three columns on which hang three triangles. So already we see numbers. The Kabbalah, these ten spheres, or Sephiroth, represent levels of consciousness, aspects of our own inner psychology.
The Tree of Knowledge, or Daath, is one more sphere, which is hidden within the Tree of Life. These two trees are said to share the same roots; they are closely interrelated.
Illuminating Our Consciousness
When we study Gnosis, or study any religion, it is important for us to understand we have to study both of these trees together. The Tree of Life is the study of our own consciousness, the study of our own psyche, the study of our own Inner Being. And the Tree of Knowledge is the science of Alchemy; it is the secret wisdom, or secret knowledge, which illuminates the Tree of Life.
The sphere of Daath, or the Tree of Knowledge, has always been hidden, has always been esoteric; it is something that one must be “initiated” into (or introduced into). Daath is the Great Arcanum, it is the Truth of truths, the Secret of secrets. It is what has always been veiled in the Temple. It is the Ark of Noah, and the Ark of the Covenant — the great ARC-anum. The Twenty-two Arcana are mere elaborations of the one Great Arcanum.
Wisdom and Love
When it comes to the relationship between the Tarot and the Kabbalah, it is vital to examine these two trees continually, compare them, and understand them, side by side. This is Kabbalah and Alchemy. These are the two columns of the great hierarchies of God: Wisdom and Love. Daath, this secret knowledge, or esoteric knowledge, related to alchemy, is wisdom. And the Tree of Life, the Kabbalah, is love. These are the two columns which form the foundation of the Temple, or the support of the Temple.
That temple, of course, is our own soul, the Temple of our own Living God. To construct and perfect our own inner temple is the purpose of religion, or religare (Latin for reunion). And the construction of our own inner temple is supported by and made strong by the study of these two trees together.
The Science of Self-Realisation
The Tree of Life in ourselves must become fully illuminated — that is Self-realisation. But the illumination, the light, is provided by the Tree of Knowledge. So these two trees, these two columns, are in themselves the science to self-realise the Being.
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Except from an article on the website of GnosticTeachings dot org.
Thanks for reading,
Psychic Madeline Rose
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Here’s a site where you’ll find my writings.
The Bravehearts of Belgrave High is now published. I have completed the first in a series of novels that I wrote for teens. It is the courageous story of a young girl growing up in a home filled with domestic violence. She also has to endure a school and neighbourhood full of bullies. We read how she maneuvres her way through such a difficult situation. Plus, how she grows because of it, among other themes in the novel.
The desired outcome for young readers is that they will be inspired to treasure their unique differences. If they don’t fit in with the system or with those around them, then they should realise that it’s quite okay not to fit in.
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