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Introduction To The Tarot By Keith Rowley |
If you wish to comment on, or contribute to these essays, then simply go to our Blog Us! page: your contributions will be warmly welcomed. We have placed these blog links throughout the following essays so that you may click through at any time.
Getting Right Down to IT! Okay, so you've ended up on this page because you have an interest in the Tarot. I don't know if you're an advanced student, an Adept, or a Novice. But this is the important thing: It doesn't matter: no matter what your current status, you will benefit from these essays:
Blog Us! Will I Learn to Read the Tarot Here? Yes - eventually! But unless or until you understand what the Tarot is, until you are familiar with its personalities and forces and structure, it is not possible to use it for divining (the usual subject of this question), or anything else. So in this series of essays, I will attempt to introduce, card by card, the forces that underpin the universe and the mixture of these forces that makes up each of the 78 cards.
When our studies reach methods of instruction for reading the Tarot, we will require more than an intellectual knowledge of each card: we will need to have developed an intuitive understanding of each disparate element in each card, and its both its internal relationships and dynamics (which are relatively static) and the much more dynamic relationships formed with other Tarot entities as they appear in a reading spread. This takes substantial training, meditation and practice. Blog Us! Why the Crowley Tarot? 1. Because the Crowley Tarot was devised for the new Aeon of Horus that began in 1904 with the unveiling of the Book of the Law.
2. Because the symbolism used by Crowley in the cards is an integrated compendium of Kabbalistic, Alchemical and astrological knowledge gleaned over a lifetime of study and therefore accessible to study and analysis. 3. Because it really works. Magick and Divination Using the Tarot for divination is an act of Magick. Now unlike conventional science, Magick, in all of its forms requires the application of every facet of a human's essence and ability, from the spiritual right down to the mundane physical. Logic, reason and intellect in themselves are not sufficient. This fact is properly and strongly stated in Liber AL, The Book of the Law ::
" He shall fall down into the pit called Because, and there he shall perish with the dogs of reason. "Now a curse on Because and his kin! "May Because be accursed forever!" Liber AL 2, 27-28
And so, in the structure of our essays, we will include a recommendation for a meditation exercise for each force and each card. Let us now commence where Crowley, The Master Therion left us with The Book of Thoth . As I recently re-read Part 1 of this text, I was profoundly amazed by the amount of mental cross referencing I was compelled to do by the texts' continuous references to The Book of the Law , The Tree of Life , Kabbalah and so much else. This is hardly surprising, as The Book of Thoth was written towards the end of Aleister Crowley's remarkable life, and it is therefore comprised of a compendium of Crowley's unrivalled knowledge of general metaphysics, Kabbalah, and all systems of esoteric knowledge extant in the world up to the mid twentieth century. The problem this poses for the student is that the Crowley's Book of Thoth is incomprehensible to anyone without a thorough grounding in the matters I have highlighted above - Kabbalah, myth, general metaphysics and so forth. And so, with the aim of making the Tarot more accessible, this set of essays is my earnest attempt to translate a work Crowley doubtless thought accessible to all but the mentally challenged. So this is an essay for beginners. We will open with some background information on the Tarot in general... Blog Us! What is the Tarot? The Tarot is a map of the living universe; of the metaphysical entities, intelligences and places that permeate the human mind as much as they permeate every stone and tree and fish and leaf: it is a map of the ALL that fits comfortably on the Tree of Life, which is itself the chief glyph (composite symbol) of the Holy Kabbalah. Although we intend to have an ongoing project on this site wherein Kabbalah is explained in simple terms, it is sufficient that the reader of this work on the Tarot should be aware that the seventy-eight cards of the Tarot populate the Tree of Life and represent its elements, and the relationships between them. This is an extremely important point. I have known many people unsuccessfully attempt to study the Tarot without bothering with the Kabbalah, This is rather like studying physics without an understanding of mathematics - you don't get very far.
As we examine the cards and entities of the Tarot we will discover that they contain the symbols of:
But the powers that drive these entities are derived from the primal forces of the Kabbalah's Sephiroth.. Without the Kabbalah, we have no metaphysical underpinning and we become superstitious dabblers playing with pretty pictures. But that is not all. Because the cards are attached to real sources of coherent and organised power, they transcend the limitations of the mannequin and live as real personalities that may be evoked and invoked by the magician. Of this, we will have more to say when we investigate the uses of the Tarot. So as we take you, step by step through Aleister Crowley's Thelemic Tarot, you will also learn a good deal about elementary Kabbalah. Let us now proceed to analysis of the the 22 Atu. Click on the link to proceed to An Introduction to the 22 Key Cards (Atu). | The 22 Atu - Introduction | Atu 0 to III | Atu IV to VII | The Suit of Disks | The Suit of Cups | The Suit of Swords | The Suit of Wands | Thelema Tarot Forum | | Return Home | Art Mall | Thelema Literature | Contact | Magick | Thelema Prints | The Crowley Tarot | Blogs and Forums | Thelema Guest Book | |
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