(Uh?

111 m tram
Gin Eh E arn t
T HE V E I L O F D I V I NAT I O N
I ll u s tra t i n g Th e G r ea t e i A n d L e s s e r A r ca n a
'

E MB R A C I N G
TH E V E I L AND I T S S Y M B O L S S E C R E T TRAD I .

T I O N U N D E R TH E V E I L O F D I V INA TI O N AR T .

O F TAR O T D I V IN ATI O N O U TE R M E TH O D .

O F TH E O R A C L E S TH E TAR O T IN .

H I S T O RY INN E R S Y M B O L I S M
. .

T H E G RE A T E R K E Y S .

By
L . W d e L a u r en ce
AU T H O R O F TH E M A S T E R KE Y
,
TH E I M M A NEN C E O F G O D,
.

K N OW T H Y S EL F G OD T H E B I B L E T R U T H AN D C H R I S TIA N
.
, ,

TH E O LO G Y M ED I C AL H Y P NO S I S AND M A G NE TI C H Y P N O TI S M
. .

M A N U AL O F D I S E A S E AN D M ODE R N M E D I C I N E VAL M O N DI .

T H E O L D B OO K O F A N C I EN T M Y S T E R I E S TH E D E A D M A N S

.

HOM E . S E L F C ON S C I O U S NE SS
-
IN P U B LI C TH E G R EAT .

B OOK O F MA G I CAL ART , H I ND U M AG I C AN D E A S T I N DIAN

'

O CC U LTI S M , A S E L F G U I DE F O R AL L ME N , E T C , E T C . .

T h e d e L a u r en ce C o m pa n y
Ch i ca go Ill , .
, U . S A . .
 C opyr ig h t ,
1 91 8

By

d e L AU R E NC E ,
S CO TT CO .

SP E C I AL NO TI C E

Th e i llus t r a t i on s, c ov er de s i n
on t e t s f th i s g a n d c n o
Vol ume p ro t e t e d b
a re p c h t d y st t b
co yr lg a n m u n o e

re ro d e d o r o i e d W i th o t w r i tt en p e r i ss i on f r
,

p uc c p u m om
t h e P b l i s h ers
u

D is e r d f th i s w rn i n g W l l s b je t h ff e n de t
.

ga
r
o a i u c t e O r o
the p e n l t y p r i ded b y l w
a ov a .

i
Th s b ook i s m a n u fa c t u r e d in st r i c t co n for m i ty
wi t h G ov e r n m e n t r eg ul a t i on s fo r sa v m g pa pe r .

P r i n t ed i n U . SA
. .
 rrfarr

It seems rather of necessity than predi l ectio n in the sense of

a pol og i a that I should put on reco rd in the rst place a plain
statement o f my personal position as on e who for many years ,

o f literary life h a s been subj ect t o h i s spiritual and other lim i ,

t a t i on s an exponen t of the higher mystic schools

,
It will be .

thought that I am acting strangely in concerning mysel f at this

day with what ap pears at rst sight and simply a wel l known -

method O f fortune telling N ow the Opinions o f some even in

-
, , ,

the literary reviews are of no importance unless they happen to

,

agree with our own but in order t o sanctify this doct rine we
,

must take care that our Opinions and the subj ec t s out o f which ,

they arise are c on c ern ed only with the highest Ye t it i s j ust

,
.

this which may seem doubtful in the present instance not only , ,

t o those whom I resp ec t W ithin the proper measures O f detach

,

ment but t o some of more rea l consequen c e seeing that their

, ,

dedications are mine To these and to any I woul d sa y that

.

a fter the most illuminated F rater Christian R osy Cross had

beheld the Chemica l Marriage in the S ecret P ala c e of T r a n sm u
t a t ion his story breaks off abruptly with an intimation that he
, ,

e x pe c ted next morning t o be door keeper After the sam e man -

.

ner it happens more o ften than might seem li kely that those who
,

have seen the O ccul t P ower s o f Nature through the most clearest
veils o f the sacraments are th ose who assu m e thereafter the hum
blest O f c es O f all about the H oris e o f Wisdom B y such simple .

devices also are the Ad epts and G r ea t M a s t er s in the secret orders

:
-

distinguished from the cohort o f Neophytes as s er vi s er vor um

m ys t er i i S o also or in a way which is not entirely unlike
'

Tarot cards at the outermost gates amidst s

h
.
, ,

yit
:
m eet y h t h e

w ca m utt a r t s; 55513? w

f t itt e r i n g s a nd

h it
m

- ~

e sm allest d cepti on } j

on e in th i r sen ses h a s su
' ' '

t
m m

d h
l

re
r

a yfd
' m

e j
et
a no ther re g on fo r they con
i
'
- -

tai n am ery high symboli sm wli ih i s iii terpr et d a ccOrd iii gTi the
w w r '

.
,

L aws O i Grace ra t h er th a n by t h e pr et e xts a n d i n t ui ti Ons O f t h at

' '

'

..

which passes for di vinati on m e r g er m at OT G O d

' -

( Nature ) is foolish n es s w
.

i th men does not crea t e a presumption

-

that the foo l ishness o f this wor l d makes in any sense for Di vine
Wisdom ; so neither the scholars in the o rdinary classes nor the
 P R E FA C E .

pe d ago gues I n the seat s of the migh ty wi ll be quic k t o perceive the

likelihood or even the pos sibility o f this propos i t i on The subj ect .

has been I n the hands o f ca rt om a n ci st s as part O f the stock in t rade - -

o f their industry ; I do not seek to persuade any on e outside my

own circles that this is O f much or o f no consequence ; but on the
historica l and interpretative sides it h a s not fared bet ter ; it h a s
been t here in the hands o f exponents who have broug ht it into
utter contemp t for those people wh o possess philosophica l insight
o r facu l ties fo r the appre c iation o f evidence It is time that it
.

should be rescued and this I propose to undertake once and for

,

all that I may have done with the side I ssues which distract from
,

the term As poetry i s the mos t beautiful expression of the things

.

tha t are of a l l mos t beauti fu l so i s symbo l ism the most catholic

,

expression in con c ealment of things that are mos t pro found in

the S anctuary and that have n ot been de cl ared ou t side it with the
same fullness by means o f the spoken word The j ustication .

o f the ru l e o f silen c e is no part O f my present c oncern but I have ,

put on record elsewhere and qui t e recen tly wha t it is possib l e to

, ,

sa y on t his subj ec t .

The l i ttl e treatise which f o ll ow s i s divided in t o t hree part s in ,

the rs t of which I have dea lt with the antiquities O f the subj ect
and a few t hings that arise from and connect therewith It should .

be u n ders t ood th a t it is n ot pu t forward a s a contribu t ion t o the

histo ry o f pl aying cards abou t which I know and care nothing ;
,

i t is a consideration dedicated and addressed to a cert ain schoo l

o f occu l tism, more especially in F rance as to the source and
,

center of a ll the phantasmagoria which h a s entered into ex pres

sion during the last fty years under the pretense of considering
Tarot cards his t ori c ally In the se c ond part I have dea lt with
.
,

the symbo l ism according to some of its higher aspects and this ,

a l so serves to introdu c e the comp l ete and rectied Taro t which ,

i s avai l able separately in the form o f colored cards

, the designs ,

o f whi c h are added to the present text in black and W hite They

.

hav ebeen prepared under my supervision in respect of t he a tt r i

butions and meaningsby a l ady who has high claims as an artist .

R egarding the di vinatory part by which my thesis is termina t ed

, ,

I consider it personal l y a s a fact in the history o f the Ta r ot ; a s

such , I have drawn from a l l pub l ished sources a harmony of
, ,

the meanings which have been attached to the various cards and ,

I have given prominence to on e method O f working t hat h a s not

been pub l ished previously ; having t he meri t of simp l icity while ,

it is also of universa l app l ication it may be held t o re pl ace the

,

cumbrous and invo l ved sys t em s of the l arger hand boo k s .

P RE F A C E

An exp l anation o f the persona l kind An i ll ustration from

mysti c literature A subj e c t whi c h c alls to be res

cued L imits and intention o f the work .

P AR T I

TH E V E IL AN D IT S S Y M B O L S

I Introdu c t ory And General

.
'

2 C lass
. I The .Trumps M aj or O therwise Greater ,

Arcana .
r

3
C.l ass II The F.our S uits O ther wise L esser
,
Ar c ana .

4 The Taro t In History
. .

P AR T II

TH E D O C T R I NE B E H I ND TH E VEI L
I .
The
Tarot And S e c ret Tradition .

2 T h e.Tru m ps M aj or And Their Inner S ymbolism .

3
Conclus
. i on As T O The Greater Keys .
 C O N TENT S .

P AR T III
T H E O U T ER M E T H OD O F T H E O R A C L E s

I D istinction
. B etween The Greater And L esser
Arcana .

2
. The L esser Arcana O therwise
,
The F our S uits O f,

Tarot Cards .

The S uit O f Wands .

The S ui t O f Cups .

The S uit O f S words .

The S uit O f P enta c les .

3 The
. Greater Ar c ana And Their D ivinatory M ean
I ngs .

4
S ome Additiona l M eanings O f The L esser Ar c a n a
. .

5
The
. R e c urren c e O f Cards In D ea l ing .

6 The Art O f Tarot D ivination
. .

7
An An c ient Ce l tic Method O f D ivination
. .

8 An Alternative Method O f R eading The Tarot
.

C ards

.

9 The
. M ethod O f R eading B y M eans O f Thirty v e -

C ards .

B I BL I O G R AP HY

A C O N C I S E B I B LI O G RA P H Y O F TH E C H I EF W ORK S D E ALI N G
W IT H TH E T A RO T A ND IT s C ONNE C TI ON S
T H E V EI L A ND I T S S Y M B O L S
 a n Ellluz i r a t vh iKr y
E n E li P E a r n t
l -

i9m (th a t

THE V E I L A ND I T S S Y M B O L S

S E C TI ON I
I NT R O D U C T O R Y AN D G EN E RAL
The pathology o f the poet says that th e un d evout a s tr on om er
is m a d the pathology O f the very plain man says that th e g en i us

is m a d and between these extremes whi c h stand for ten t hou ,

sand analogous excesses the sovereign reason takes the par t O f a

,

moderator and does wh a t it can I d o not think that the re i s a

.

pathology o f the occul t dedi c ations but about their extravagance s

,

no on e can questio n and it is n ot l ess di f c u l t than thankles s t o

,

act as a moderator regarding them Moreover the patho l ogy i f.

, ,

it exi sted woul d probably be an empiri c ism rather than a diag

,

nosis and would O ff er no criterion Now occultis m i s n ot l ike

,
.
,

mystic facu lt y and it very se l do m works in harmony either with

,

business aptitude in the things O f ordinary l i fe or with a k now l

edge of the canons o f evidence in it s Own sphere I k no w t ha t .

fo r the high art o f ribaldry there are few things more du ll t ha n

the criticism which maintains tha t a t hesis i s untrue and cannot ,

understand that it i s de c orative I know also t ha t after l ong dea l

.

ing with d oub t ful d oct r i n e or wit h di fcult resea rch i t i s a l ways
'

refreshing in the domai n o f this art t o meet with what i s O b v i

, ,

ously o f fraud o r at least o f complete unreason B ut the aspec t s .

O f histo r y as seen through the lens O f o cc u l tism are no t a s a

, ,

ru l e de c orative and have few g i fts of re freshmen t to hea l t h e

,

l acerations which they ini c t on the l ogi c al understandin g I t .

almost requires a F r a t er S a pi en s d om i n a bi tur a s tr is in the Fel l ow

shi p Of the R osy Cross t o have the patience which i s not l os t
amidst clouds O f folly when the consideration of the Tarot is
undertaken in ac c ordance with the higher l aw O f symbo l ism T h e .

true Tarot is symbolism ; it speaks n o other l anguage and O ffers

no other signs Given the inward meaning o f its emblem s they
.
,

do be c ome a kind of a l phabe t whi c h is c apable O f indenite combi

nations and make s t rue sense in all O n the highest pl ane i t O ffer s
.

9
10 I LL U S T R ATE D KEY T O THE T AR O T .

a K ey To Th e M ys t er i es in a manner which is not arbitrary

'
,

and has not been read in B ut the wrong symboli c al stories have
.

been told c on c erning it and the wrong h i sto ry has been g iven in
,

every published work whi c h s o far has dealt with the subj ect - .

It has been intimated by t wo or three writers that at least in ,

respect o f the meanings this is unavoidably the case be c ause few

, ,

are acquainted with them while these few ho l d by transmission

,

under pledges and c annot betray their trust The suggestion i s .

fantastic on the surfa c e for there seems a c ertain anti climax in

,
-

the proposition that a parti c ular interpretation of fortune telling -

l a r t d e t i er l es ca r t es c an be reserved fo r S ons O f t h e D O C

r

t rine The fa c t remains notwithstanding that a S ecr et Tr a d i ti on

.
, ,

exists regarding the Ta r ot and as there i s a l ways the po ssibility

,

that some minor arcana o f the M ysteries may be made public

with a ourish o f trumpets it wil l be a s well t o go before the
,

event and to warn those who are curious in such matters that any
revelation wil l c ontain only a third part O f the ea rth and sea a n d
a third part o f the stars o f heaven in respe c t O f the symbolism .

This is for the simple reason that neither in root matter n or in -

development has more been put into writing so that mu c h wi l l ,

remain t o be said after any pretended unveilin g The guardians .

O f c ertain temples o f initiation wh o keep watch over mysteries o f

this o rder have therefore n o cause for a l arm .

In my preface to Th e Ta r ot O f Th e B oh em i a n s which rather , ,

by a n accident O f things has recent l y come to be r e issued after a

,
-

long period I have said what was then possible or seemed most
,

necessary The present work i s designed more es pecially as I

.

have intimated to introduce a re c tied set O f the cards them
se l ves and to te ll the unadorned t ruth concerning them so far a s ,

this is possible in the outer c ircles As regards t he sequence o f .

greater symbo l s their ultimate and highest meaning lies dee per
,

than the common l anguage O f picture o r hierogl yph This wi ll be .

understood by those wh o have received some part o f the S ecr et

Tr a d i ti on . As regards the verba l meanings a l lo c ated here t o the
more important Trump Cards t hey are designed to set aside t he ,

fo l lies and impostures O f past attributions t o pu t those who have ,

the gi ft O f insight on the righ t track and t o take c are within the , ,

limits O f my possibilities that they are t h e truth so far as they go

, .

It is regrettable in several respects tha t I must con fess to cer

tain reservations but there is a question O f honor at issue Fur
, .

t h e r m or e betwe en the follies on the on e side o f those who kno w

,

nothing O f the tradition ye t are in their Own Opinion th e expo

,

n en t s O f something called occult science and philosophy and on ,

the other side between t he make believe of a few writers wh o -

 TH E V EI L AND IT S SYM B O LS . 11

ha ve received par t of the tradition and t hin k tha t i t constitu t e s

a l egal title to scatter dust In the eyes of the world without I fee l ,

that the time has come to say what it is possible t o say so that the ,

e ff ect of current charlatanism and unintelligence may be reduced

t o a minimum .

We shal l see in due course tha t t h e his t ory O f Tarot cards is

l argely O f the negative kind and that when the I ssues are c l eared
, ,

by the dissipation O f reveries and gratuitous speculations ex

pressed In the terms of certitude there I s i n fact o histo ry prior ,
n

to the fourteenth centu ry The deception and self deception r e

.
-

garding their origin in E g ypt I n d ia or C h i n a put a l ying spiri t

,

into the mouths o f the rst expositors and the l ater occult writers ,

have done little more than reproduce the rst false testimony in
t he go od faith O f an intelligence unawakened t o the issues O f t e
search As it so happens all expositions have worked within a
'

.
,

very narrow range and O we comparatively speaking l itt l e t o t h e

, , ,

inventive faculty O ne brilliant opportunity has at least been

.

missed for it h a s not so far oc c urred to any on e tha t the Taro t

,

might perhaps have done duty and even originated a s a secre t

symbol ca l language o f the Albigensian sects I commend t hi
i s .

su g e st i on t o the l inea l d ecen d a n t s i n the spiri t o f Gabriele R os

g
sett i and Eug ene A r oux to M r Haro l d B ay l ey a s another Ne w
, .

Lig h t O n Th e R en a i ss a n ce and a s a taper at least I n the darkness

,

which with great respe c t might be se r vi c eable to the zealous and

, ,

a ll searching mind of M r s Cooper O akley Think only what the

-
.
-
.

supposed testimony o f watermarks on paper might gain from the

Ta r ot C a r d O f the P ope or Hierophant i n connection with t h e ,

notion O f a secre t A l bigensian patriarch O f which M r B ayley h a s , .

found I n these same watermarks s o much materia l t o his purpose .

Think only for a moment abou t the card O f the High P riestes s a s
repre senting the Albigensian church itse l f ; and think of t h e
Tower struc k by L ightning as typi fying the desired destruction o f
P apal R ome the city on t h e sev en hills with the ponti ff and h i s
'

, ,

temporal power cast down from the spiritua l edice when i t is

riven by the wrath of God ( Nature ) The possibilities are so .

n umerous and persuasive that they almost deceive in their expres

sion on e O f the elect who has invented them B ut there i s mo re .

even than this though I scarcely dare to cite it When the time
, .

came for the Tarot cards to be the subj ect O f their rst forma l
e x planation t he arch aeologist Court de Gebeli m reproduced some

,

O f their most important emb l ems and f I may so t erm it the
i

,

code x which he used h a s served by means of his engraved p l ates

a s a basis O f reference for many sets that have been issued sub
sequently The gures are very primiti ve and di ffer as such from
.
 LU R TE D T AR O T

12 IL S T A KE Y T o T HE .

the card s O f E t t eilla the Marsei ll es Tarot and others sti ll curren t
, ,

in F rance I am n ot a good j udge in such matters but the fact

.
,

that every on e O f the Trumps M aj or might have answered for

watermark purposes is shown by the cases which I have quo t ed
and by on e most remarkable example O f the Ace O f Cup s .

I should call it an eucharistic emblem after the manner of a

ciborium but this does n ot sig n i fy at the moment The point i s
,

.
, ,

that M r Harold B ay l ey gives six analogous devices in his N ew

.

L ig h t O n T h e R en a iss a n ce being watermarks on paper O f the

,

seventeenth century whi c h he c l aims to be O f Albigensian origin

,

and to represent sa c ramental and Graa l emb l ems Had he only .

heard O f the Tarot had he known that these cards O f divination

, ,

ca rds O f f o rtune cards of al l vagrant arts wer e p erhaps c ur r e n t

, ,

at the period in the S outh o f F rance I think that his enchan t ing ,

b u t a ll t oo fantastic hypothesis might have dilated stil l more

l arg ely in the atmosphere O f his dream We should no doubt .

have had a vision O f Christian Gnosticism M ani c h aeanism and al l , ,

tha t he understands by pure primi t ive Gospel shining b ehind the ,

p icture. s
I d o no t l oo k th rough such gl a sse s and I can on l y commend the
,

subj ect to his attention at a l ater period ; it is mentioned here that

I may introdu c e with an unheard O i wonder the marve l s of arbi
-

t r a r y speculation a s to the hist o ry o f the cards .

With reference to their fo rm and number it shou l d scarce l y be ,

necessa ry to enumerate them for they must be almost commonly

,

familiar but a s it i s precarious to assume anything and a s there

, ,

are also other reasons I wil l tabu l ate them briefly as follows
,
 C LA S S I

J
S E C TI O N 2

T R U M PS MA O R

O T H E RW I S E , G R E ATE R A R C AN A

I . Th e M a g us ,
M a g ici a n ,
or J ugg ler the caster O f the dice
,

and mountebank in the world of vulgar trickery This is the

, .

colpor ta g e interpretation and it has the same correspondence

,

with the real symbolical meaning tha t the use o f the Tarot in
fortune t e l ling h a s with i t s mystic constru c tion according to the
-

secret science O f symbolism I should add that many I nde .

pendent students O i the subj e c t following their own lights have , ,

produced individual sequences O f meaning in respect of the

Trumps Maj or and their l ights are sometimes suggestive bu t
, ,

they are n ot the t rue l ights For example E liph a s L vi says that .
,

the M agu s signies that unity whi c h i s the mother of numbers ;

others say that it i s the D ivine U nity ; and on e O f the l atest
F ren c h commentators considers that in its general sense it i s
the wi l l .

2 . Th e H ig h P r i es t ess t h e P ope J oa n or F ema l e P onti ff ;

, ,

earl y e x positors hav e sought to term this card the Mother or ,

P ope s Wi fe whi c h i s opposed to the symbolism I t i s some

.
,

times held to represent the D ivine L a w and the G n osis in which ,

case the P riestess c orresponds to the idea o f the S h ek i n a h S h e .

is the S ecret Tradition and the higher sense O f the instituted

My steries .

3
. Th e E m pr es s wh o I s sometimes represented with ful l face
, ,

whi l e her co rrespondence the Em peror is in prole As there , ,

.

h a s been some tendency to ascribe a symbolica l signicance t o

this distinc t ion it seems desirable to sa y that it carries no inner
,

meaning The E m pr ess has been connected with the ideas of

.

universa l fecundity and in a general sense with activity .

4. T h e E m pe r or by imputation the,
spouse O f the former H e .

i s occasiona l ly represented a s wear i ng i n addition to h i s per ,

14 I LLUS T RAT E D KE Y T O T HE TA R O T .

sonal insignia t he stars or ribbons of some order O f chiva l ry

, .

I mention this t o show tha t the cards are a med l ey O f Old and
new emb l ems Th ose who insis t upon t he evidence O f the on e
,

may deal i f they c a n with the other NO e ffectua l argument

, , .,

for t he an t iquity o f a particular design can be drawn from the

fac t tha t i t incorporates old material ; but there is also none
whic h can be based on sporadic novelties the intervention of ,

which may signi fy only the unintelligent hand O f an editor or o f

a l a t e draugh t sman .

5. T h e H i g h P r i es t or H i er oph a n t called a l so S piritual F ather , ,

and more commonly and Obviously the P ope It seems even to .

have been named the Abbot and then its correspondence the , ,

High P riestess wa s t he Abbess or Mother O f the Convent

,
.

B o t h a re arbitrary names The insigni a of the g ur es are papal

'
.
,

and in such case the High P ries t ess is and can be only the Church ,

to whom P ope and priests are married by the spiritual rite o f

ordination I think howeve r that in its primiti ve form this card
.
, ,

did n ot represen t t he R oman P onti ff .

6 Th e L ov er s or M a r r i a g e This symbo l has undergone many

. .

variations a s migh t be e x pected from its subj ect In the

,
.

eighteenth century form by which it rst became known to the ,

world o f arch aeological researc h it i s really a card of married ,

l i fe showing father and mother wi t h their chi l d placed between

, ,

them ; and the pagan Cupid above in the act of ying h is shaft , ,

is O f course a misapp l ied emblem The Cupid is O f love begin

, ,
.

ning rathe r than of love in it s ful n ess guarding the f ruit thereo f ,
.

The card i s said to have been entitled S i m ula cr um d ei the ,

symbo l of conj uga l faith for which t he rainbow a s a S ign O f the

,

c ovenan t wou l d have b een a more appropriate c oncomi t ant The .

gures are also he l d t o hav e sig nied Truth Hon or and L ove , ,

bu t I suspe c t that this was so t o speak t he g l oss o f a com , ,

m en t a t o r moralizing It h a s these but it h a s other and h i gher

.
,

aspects .

T h C h i t This i s represented in some exta nt cod i ces

7. e a r o .

as being drawn by two sphinxes and the device is i n consonance ,

with the symbolism but it must n ot be supposed that such was i ts

,

origina l form ; the variation wa s invented t o support a part i cular

historica l hypo thesis In t he eigh t eenth century wh i te horses
.

were yoked to t he ca r As regards its usua l name the lesser

. ,

stands for the grea t er ; i t i s r eally the King in h i s tr i umph t yp ,

i

fyin g however the vic t ory Which creates kingsh i p as it s natural

, ,

consequen c e and n ot the vested royalty o f the fourth card M . .

Court de Gebeli m said that it wa s O siris Triumphing t h e con ,

quering sun in spring time having vanquished the Obstacles O f

-
 T HE V EI L AND IT S S Y M B O L S . 15

wi n t er W e know n ow that O siris rising f rom the d ead is no t

.

represen t ed by such Obvious symbolism O ther anima l s than .

horses have also been used to draw the cur r us tr i um ph a lis as for , ,

example a lion and a l eopard

, .

8 F or ti t ud e
. This is on e of the cardina l virt ues o f which I
.
,

sha ll spea k l ater The fema l e gure is usually represented a s

.

c l osing the mouth of a lion In the earlier form which i s .

prin t ed by Court de G eb elin she is Obvious l y Opening i t The , .

rs t alternative i s better symbolical ly but either i s an ins t ance ,

O f s t rength in its conventiona l understanding and conveys the ,

idea of mas t ery It has been said t ha t the gure represents

.

o rganic force mora l force and the principle O f all force

, .

9
. T h e H er m i t a s h e i s t,
ermed in common parlan c e s t and s ,

next o n the list ; he i s a l so the C apu c hin and in more phi l osoph ,

ical l anguage the S age He i s said t o be in search o f that Truth

.

which i s l ocated far O ff in the sequence and of Justice which ,

h a s preceded him on the way B ut this is a card O f attainment

.
,

a s we shal l see l ater rather than a card o f quest ,

It is said als o .

tha t his l an tern contains the L ight O f Occ ult S cien ce a n d tha t
'
'

h is sta ff i s a M agic Wand These interpretations are comparable

.

in every respe c t to the divinatory and fortune tel l ing meanings -

with which I shal l have t o dea l in their t urn The diabolism o f .

both i s that they are true after their own manner but that they ,

miss a ll the high things t o which the Greater Arcana shou l d be

a ll ocated It is a s i f a man who knows in h is heart that al l roads
.

lead to t h e heights and tha t God ( Nature ) i s at the great heigh t

,

o f all shou l d choose the way O f perdition or the way O f folly a s

,

t he path of h i s own attainment E l i ph a s L v i h a s alloc ated this .

card to P rudence but in so doing he h a s been actuated by the

,

wish to ll a gap which would otherwise oc c ur in the symbolism .

The four cardinal V irtues are necessary t o an ide alogical se quence

l ike the T rumps M aj or but they must not be taken only I n that
,

rst sense which exists for the use and consolation O f him who
in these days of hal fpenny j ourna l ism i s called the man in t h e
street In their proper understanding they are the correlatives o f
.

the counse l s o f perfection when these h a ve been similarly r e ex -

pressed and they read a s fo l lows :(a ) Trans c endenta l Justice

, ,

the counter equilibrium of the sca l es when they have been over
-
,

weigh t ed so that t hey dip heavily on the side o f God ( Nature ) .

The corresponding counse l is t o use loaded di c e when you p l ay

for high stakes with D ia bolus The axi om i s An t D eus a ut n i h i l .
,
.

( ) D ivine Ecs t asy a s a coun t erpoise t o something ca ll ed Tem

b ,

p e r a n ce the s
,
i g n of whi c h is I believe the extinction
, O f lights i n ,

the tavern The corresponding counse l i s t o drink on l y of n ew

.
16 I LLU S T R AT E D KE Y T O THE TA R O T .

wine in the Kingdom O f t h e Fa t her b ec a use G od ( Nat ure ) is a ll

,

in a ll The a x i om i s tha t man being a reasonable being must g et

.

intoxicated with God ( Nature ) the imputed case i n poin t i s ,

S pinoza ( )
c The state O f R oyal F o rtitude which I s the state O f
a Tower O f Ivory and a House o f Gold b i it i t is God ( Na t ure
.
,

,
)
and n ot the man who has become Tur r is for ti tud i n is a fa ci e i n i
m i ci and out o f that House the enemy h a s been cast
,
The corres .

ponding counse l i s that a man mus t not spare himse l f even in t h e

presence of death but he must be c ertain that his sacrice sha ll b e
O f any Ope n course the best that will ensure h i s end
,

Th e .

axiom i s that the strengt h which I s raised t o such a degree t ha t a

man dares lose himsel f sha l l show h im how Na t ure (G od ) is
,

f ound and a s t o such refuge dare t herefore and l earn (d ) .

P rudence i s the economy which fo ll ows the l ine O f leas t resistance ,

t ha t the sou l m a y ge t bac k whence it came I t i s a do ct rine of .

divine parsimony and conservation o f energy because of the s t ress ,

t he terro r and the mani fes t impertinences of this life The corre .

spon d in g c ounsel i s that true prudence is con c erned with the on e

thing needful and the a x iom i s :W as t e no t want no t The con

, , .

e l usion o f the whole matter i s a business proposition f ounded on

the law o f exchange :You cannot help getting wha t you seek in
respe c t O f the things that are D ivine : it is the law O f supply and
demand I have mentioned these few matters a t this point for t wo
simple reason s :
.

( )
a because in pr oportion t o the impartiali t y O f
the mind it seems sometimes more di fcu l t to determine whethe r it
i s vice or v ulgarity which l a ys wa ist e the present world more pi t e
O usly ; ( b ) because I n order t o remedy the imperfections o f the ol d

not i ons it i s highly need ful on occasion t o empty t erms and

, ,

phrases o f their a c cepted signicance that they m a y receive a ,

n ew and more adequate meaning .

IO . Th e Wh eel of F or tun e There i s a current M a n ua l of

.

C a r t om a n cy which has obtained a considerab l e vogue in England ,

and amidst a grea t sca t t er m ea l of curious things t o no pu rpose h a s

intersec t ed a few serious subj ec t s In its l ast and l argest edition

.

i t t rea t s in e secti n O f the Tarot ; whi c h i f I interpret the

on o

author right l y it regards from beginning to end a s the Whee l
o f Fo r t une this ex pression being unders t ood i n my o wn sense
, I .

have n o Obj ection t o such an inclusiv e though conventiona l de

scripti on ; it Obtains i n al l the worlds and I wonde r t hat it h a s no t
,

been adop t ed previous l y a s the most a ppropriate name on t he side

O f common fo r tune t el l ing I t i s also t he t itle o f on e of the
-

Trumps M a j
.

or that indeed O f our concern a t t he m omen t a s my

-
,

sub tit l e shows

-
O f recent years this h a s su ffered many fan t as ti c
.

presen ta t ions and O ne hypothe t ica l recons t ruction which i s sug

18 I LLU S T R AT E D KEY T O THE T AR O T .

The arms are bound behind him and on e leg is crossed Over the
other Accord i ng to another and indeed the prevailing i n t e pr e
; ,
'
r

t a t i on he s i gn i es sacrice but all current meanings attribut e d

, ,

to this card are ca r t om a n ci st s intuitions apart from any real

,

value on the symbolical side The for t une tel l ers O f the eigh
, .
-

t een t h century who c irculated Tarots depi c t a semi feminine ,

youth i n j erkin poised erect on o e foot and loosely attached to

,
n

a short stake driven into the ground .

I 3 D ea th The method o f presentat i on I s a l mos t invariable

.
,

and embodies a bourgeois form O f symbolism The scene is the .

eld O f li fe and amidst ordinary rank vegetation there are living

,

arms and he ads protruding from the ground O ne of the heads i s .

crowned and a skeleton with a g reat scythe i s in the act O f mow

,

ing it The transparent and unesca pable meaning is death but

.
,

the alternatives allocated to the symbol are change and t r a n s for

mation O ther heads have been swept from their place pre
.

v i ously bu t it is in its current and patent meaning more

, , ,

especially a card o f the death of Kings In the e x otic sense it h a s .

been said t o signify the ascent of the spirit iii the divine spheres ,

creation and destruction perpetual movement and so forth

T em per a n ce The winged gure O f a fema l e who in O p
.
, ,

I4 . .
,

position to all do c trine concerning the hierarchy O f angels is usu

ally allocated to this o rder o f ministering spiritsis pouring liquid
,

f rom on e pitcher to another In his l ast work on the Tarot D r .

,
.

P a pus abandons the t raditional form and depicts a woman wear

i ng an E gypti a n head dress The rst thing which seems clear -
.

on the surfa c e is that the e ntire symbol has no especial connection

with Temperan c e and the fact that this designat i on has alway s
,

Obtained for the card O ffers a very obvious i nstan c e O f a mean i ng

behind meaning whi c h i s the title i n c hief to Consideration I n r e
,

spe ct O f the Tarot as a whole .

1 5 . T h e D evi l In the eighteenth c en tury this c ard seems t o

.

have been rather a symbol O f merely animal impudi c ity Except .

for a fantastic head dress the c hief gure is en tirely naked ; it h a s

-
,

bat like wings and the hands and feet are represented by the
-
,

c l aws O f a bird In the right hand there is a scepter terminating in

.

a sign which has been thought to represent re The gure a s a .

whole is not particularl y e vil ; it has n o tai l and the commentators ,

who have said that the claws are those of a harpy have spoken
at ra ndom There 1 8 no better ground for the a l ternative sugg es
.

tion that they are eagle s c l aws Atta ched by a cord depending
.
,

from t heir col l ars to the pedestal on which the gure is mounted
, ,

are t wo small demons p r esumab l y male and female These a r e , .

t ai l ed but not winged S in c e 1 8 56 the inuence O f E liph a s L e vi

'
.
 THE V EI L AND I T S S Y M B O L S . 19

and his doc t rine of occu l tism has changed the face of this card ,

and it now a ppears as a pseudo B aphomet i c gure with the head -

of a goat and a great torch between the horns ; it is seated instead

o f erect and in pla c e O f the generative organs there i s the Her
,

metic c aduceus In L e Ta ot D i vi n a t oi e O f P a pus the small

. r r

demons are repl aced by naked human beings male and female , ,

who are yoked only to ea c h other The author may be felicitated .

on this improved symb olism .

1 6 Th e T ower s tr u ck by L ig h tn i n g I t s a l ternative tit l es

are :Castle O f P lutus God s ( Nature s ) House and the Tower Of
. .

B abe l In the l ast case the gures falling therefrom are held to
.
,

be Nimrod and his minister I t is assuredly a c ard o f con fusion . ,

and the design co rresponds broadly speaking to any o f t h e des , ,

ig a t i o s ex c ept M a is on D i eu unless we are to understand that

'
'
n ,

the House O f God ( Nature ) has been abandoned and the vei l O f
the temple rent It i s a little surprising that the device h a s n ot
.

so far been allo c ated to the destru c tio n of S olomon s Temple

when the l ightning would symboli z e the re and swor d with

which tha t edi c e was visited by the King o f the C haldees .

I7 .Th e S ta r D og S tar or S irius also cal l ed fantastica ll y

,
-
, ,

the St ar O f the M agi Grouped about it are seven minor l umi

.

naries and beneath it i s a naked female gu r e with her l eft knee

, ,

upon the earth and her right foot upon t h e water S h e is in the '
.

a ct of pouring uids from two vessels A bird is per c hed on a

tree near her ; for this a butter y on a rose has been substituted in
some l ater c ards S O a l s o the S tar has been c alled that of Hope
. .

This is o e o f the cards which Court de G b elin describes a s

n

wholly Egyptian that is to say in h i s own rever i e , .

1 8 .Th e M oon S ome eighteenth century c ards show t he

.
-

l uminary on its waning side ; in the debased edition o f E tt ei lla it ,

is the moon at night in her plentitude set in a heaven of stars ; ,

O f re c ent years the moon i s shown on the side O f her in c rease In .

nearly al l presentat i ons she i s shining bright l y and shedding t he

moisture O f fertili z ing dew in great drops B eneath there are two .

towers between whi c h a path winds to the verge O f the ho rizon

, .

Two dogs or alternatively a wol f and dog are bayin g at th e

, ,

moon and in the foreground there i s water t hrough which a

, ,

cra ysh moves towards the l and .

1 9 .T h e S un The luminary is distinguished in O l der card s

.

by chie f rays tha t are waved and salient alternately and by se c on

dary salient rays It appears to shed its inuence on earth not
.

only by light and heat but l ike the moon by drops O f dew
, .

Cou r t de Gebeli m termed these tears O f gold and O f pear l j ust as

he identied the l unar dew with the tears of Is is B eneath the .
20 I LLU S T R ATE D KEY T O THE T AR O T .

-
dog star there is a wa ll suggesting an enc l osure as it migh t b e ,

a walled gardenwherein are two ch i ldren either naked or ,

lightly c lothed fa c ing a water and gambolling or running hand

, , ,

i n hand E liph a s L evi says tha t these are sometimes r eplaced by

.

a spinner unwinding destinies and otherwise by a mu c h better

symbol
,

a naked child mounted on a white horse and dis pl aying

a scarlet standard .

20 . Th e L a s t J ud g m en . I have
po k en of t hi s symbo l a l
t s
ready the form o f which is essentially invariable even in the E t
, ,

teilla set An ange l sounds h i s trumpet per s epul ch r a r egi on um

. ,

and the dead arise It matters little that E t t eilla omits t he ange l
.
,

o r that D r P a pu s subst i tutes a ridi c u l ous gure which is how

.
, ,

ever in consonance with the genera l motive of tha t Tarot

,
set

which a c companies his latest work B efore rej ec t ing t he t rans .

parent interpretation of the symbo l ism which i s conveyed by t he

name O f the c ard and by the pi c ture which i t presents t o the
eye we should fee l very sure o f our ground O n the surface at

.
, ,

least it is and can be only the resurrection of that t riad father

, ,

mother child who m we have me t with already in the eighth
,

card M B ourgeat ha z ards the suggestion that esoterically it i s

. .

the symbol o f evolutio O f which it carries none of the signs

n .

O thers say th at it signies renewal which is Obvious enough ; ,

t hat it i s the triad O f human l i fe ; that it i s the generative force

o f the earth and eternal life C ourt de G eb elin .

makes himsel f I mpossible as usual and points out that if the ,

grave stones were removed it c ould be accepted a s a symbo l o f

-

c reation .

21 which however in most of the arrangements i s the cipher

, ,

card number nothing Th e F ool M a t e or U n wis e M a n C our t

, , , .

de G eb elin pla c es it at the head O f the whole series a s the zero or

negative which is pre supposed by numeration and a s this i s a ,

simpler so als o it is a better arrangemen t It has been abandoned .

because in later times the cards have been attributed to the let
ters o f the Hebrew al phabet and there has been apparent l y some,

di fculty about allo c ating the zero symbo l satis f actori l y in a se

u n ce O f letters all O f which signify number s In the present
q e .

referen c e o f the c ard to the l etter S h in which corresponds to 20 0 , ,

the di fculty or the unreaso n remains The truth i s that the rea l .

arrangement of the c ards has never t ranspi red The F oo l carries .

a wallet ; he is l ooking over his shoulder and does no t know that

he is the brink a precipi c e ; but a dog or other animal som e
on O f

call it a tiger is atta c king him from behind and he is hurried to ,

his destru c tion unawares E t t eilla has given a j ustiable varia

.

t ion o f this card as genera l ly understood in the form o f a cour t
 TH E V EI L AND IT S SY M B O L S . 21

j e ster with cap bells and mot l ey garb The other des c riptions
, ,
.

say that the wallet conta i ns the bearer s fol l ies and vices which

seems bourgeois and arbitrary .

22 . Th e W or l d t h e U n i v er s e or Ti m e
,
The four living ,
.

creatures O f the Apocalypse and E z ekiel s vision attributed to the

evangelists in Christian symbolism are grouped about an ellipti c ,

garland as i f it were a chain o f owers intended to symboli z e al l

,

sensible things within this garland there is the gure of a woman ,

whom the wind has girt about the loins with a light scarf and ,

this is all her vesture S h e is in the a c t o f dan c ing and has a

.
,

wand in either hand It is eloquent as an image O f the swirl o f

.

t he sensitive l ife o f j oy attained in the b Od y o f the soul s in t ox i

, ,

c ation in the earthly paradise but still g uarded by the D ivine

,

Watcher s as i f by the powers and the gra c es o f the Holy Nam e

, ,

T et r a g a m m a t on m m ,
those four ine ffable letters which are
sometimes attributed to the mysti c al beasts E liph a s L evi c alls .

t he gar l and a c rown and reports that the gure represents Truth
,
.

D r P a pus c onne c ts it with the Absolute and the reali z ation o f the
.

Great Work ; fo r yet others it is a symbo l of humanity and the

eterna l reward o f a l ife that h a s been spent well It should be .

noted t hat in the four quarters o f the garland there are four
owers distinctively marked A cc ording t o P Christian the
. .
,

garland should be formed o f roses and this is the kind o f c hain ,

whi c h E liph a s L evi says is l ess easi l y broken than a c hain o f

i ron . P erhaps by antithesis but for the same reason the iron
, ,

crown o f P eter may lie more lightly on the heads O f sovereign

ponti ffs than the crown o f g old o kings

n .
22 I LL U S T R A TE D KEY T O TH E T AR O T .

CLA S S 11

S E C T I ON 3

T HE F O U R S U IT S
O T H E R W I S E L E S S E R AR C A N A
,

The resources O f interpretation have been lavished i f n ot ,

exhausted on the twenty two T rumps M aj or the symbolism o f

,
-
,

whi c h i s unquestionable There remain the f our suits being

.
,

Wands or S c epters ex h ypoth es i in the ar c h aeology of the sub

j :
,

e ct,
t he antecedents O f D iamonds in modern cards Cups cor ,

responding to Hearts ; S words whi c h answer t o Clubs as the

weapon o f chivalry is in relation t o the peasant s quartersta ff
, ,

or the Alsatian bludge on ; and nally P enta c les c alled also, ,

D eniers and M oney whi c h are the prototypes o f S pades In .

the Old as in the new suits there are ten numbered cards but in
, ,

the Tarot there are four Court Cards allo c ated to ea c h suit or
,

a Knight I n addition to King Queen and Knave The Knave is

, .

a page valet or d a m ois ea u most c orre c tly he is an esqu i re

, , , , ,

presumably in the servi c e of the Knight b ut there are c erta i n ,

rare sets in whi c h the page becomes a maid O f honor thus pa i r i ng ,

the sex es in the tetrad o f the court cards There are naturally .

distinctive features in respec t of the severa l pi c tures by whi c h ,

I mean tha t the King of Wands i s n ot exa c tly the same per
s on a g e a s the King O f Cups even after allowan c e h a s been
,

made for the di ff eren t emblems that they bear ; but t h e symbo l
ism resides i n their rank and in the suit to whi c h they belong .

S O als o the smaller c ards whi c h until now have never been
,

issued picto rially in these our modern days depend on the pa r ,

t icula r m eaning atta c hing to thei r numbers i n c onne c tion with

the parti c u l ar suit I rese r ve there fore the details O f the L esser
.
, ,

Arc ana till I come to speak in the second part o f the re c tied
,

and perfected Tarot whi c h ac c ompanies this work The c on .

sensus o f divin atory meanings attached b oth t o the greater and

l esse r symbo l s be l ongs to t h e third par t .
 T HE V E I L AND I T S SY M B O LS . 23

S E C TI ON 4

T HE TA R O T I N HI S T O RY

O ur immediate nex t con c ern is to speak o f the cards in their

history so that the spe c ulations and reverie s whi c h have been
,

perpetuated and mu l tiplied in the schools of occul t resear c h may

b e disposed o f On c e and fo r all a s intimated in the prefa c e hereto
, .

L et it be understood at the beginning of this poin t that there

are severa l sets or sequen c es o f an c ient c ards which are on l y in
/
part O f O ll l concern Th e Ta r ot O f Th e B oh em ia n s b y P a pus

.
, ,

which I have re c ently carried through the press revising the ,

imperfect rendering has some useful in formation in this con

,

n ect i on
,
and except fo r the omission o f dates and other evidences
,

o f the ar c h aeologica l sense it wil l serv e the purpose o f the gen

,

era l reader I do not propose to extend it in the present place

.

in any manner that can be ca l led considerable but certain addi ,

tions are desirable and so also is a distinct mode o f presentation .

Among an c ient cards whi c h are mentioned in connection with

t he Tarot there are rst l y those o f B aldini which are the cele ~
, ,

b r a t e d s et attributed by tradition to Andrea M antegna though ,

this view i s now generally rej e c ted Their date i s suppo sed to .

be abou t 1 4 70 and it i s thought tha t there are n ot more tha n

,

four co l lections extan t in Europe A C opy or reproductio n .

referred to 1 48 5 is perhaps equally rare A complete set con .

tains fty numbers divided into ve denaries or sequen c es O f t en

,

cards each There seems to be no record that they were used fo r

.

the purposes o f a g a m e wh et h er o f chance or ski ll they could

,
'

scarce l y have l ent themselves to divination or any form o f

fortune telling ; while it would be more than idle t o impu t e a pr o
-

found symbolica l meaning to their Obvious e m blematic designs

The rs t denary embodies Conditions o f L i fe a s follows :
.

( )
I The ,

B eggar (2 ) t he Knave ( 3 ) the Artisan (4 ) t he Merchan t

'

, , , ,

( 5) the Nob l e (6 ) the Knight ( 7 ) the D oge (8 ) the King

, , , ,

(9 ) t he Emperor 1 0) the P ope The second con t ains the

Muses and their D ivine L eader :( 1 1 ) C a l liope ( 1 2 ) U rania
, .

, ,

( 3)
I Terpsichore ( 4)
1 Erato ,( 5)
1 P o l yhymnia ( )
I 6 T ha lia
, , ,

( 7 ) Me l pomene ( 1 8 ) Euterpe ( 1 9 ) C li o ( 2 0 ) Apollo The

I , , , .

third combines part O f the L ibera l Arts and S ciences with o ther
departments O f human l earning a s follows :( 2 1 ) Grammar , ,

( )
22 L ogic ( 3)
2 ,
R he t oric (24 ) Geometry (25) Arithm et ic
, , ,
24 I LL U S T R A TE D KEY TO THE TA R O T .

26
( ) Music P oetry ( 2,
8 ) P hilosophy ( 9
2 ) As t ro l ogy , , ,

(3 )0 Theology The fourth denary completes t he L iberal Arts

and enumerates t he V irtues :
.

(3 )1 Astronomy (3 )
2 C hronology , ,

(3 3 ) Cosmology (3 4 ) Temperance ( 3 5) P rudence

, (3 )
6 ,

S trengt h (3 7 ) Justice ( 3 8 ) Charity ( 3 9 ) Hope (40 ) Faith

The fth and l ast denary presents the S ystem o f the Heavens :
, , , , .

(4 ) 1 Moon ( )
4 2 Mercury ( )
,4 3 V enus ( )
4 4 S un (4 5) Mars , , , ,

(4 ) 6 Jupiter (4 7 ) S aturn ( )
4 8 ,
Eighth S phere (4 9) P r i m um , , .

M obile ( 50 ) First Cause

, .

We must set aside the fan t astic a tt empts t o extract comp l e t e

Taro t sequences out o f these denaries ; we mus t f orbear fro m
saying for exa m ple that the Conditions o f L ife correspond t o
, ,

t he Trumps Maj or the M use s t o Pentacl es the Arts and S ci , ,

en ces to Cups t h e V irtues etc to Sc epters and the conditions o f

, ,
.
, ,

l i fe t o S words This kind O f t hing can be done by a process o f

.

menta l contortion bu t it h a s no pla c e in reality At the same

, .

t ime it is hardly possible t hat individual cards should not exhibit

,

certain and even striking analogies The B aldini King Knight

, , .
,

and Knave sugges t t he corresponding court cards o f the Minor

Arcana The Emperor P ope Temperance S trength Justice
.
, , , , ,

Moon and S un are common t o the Mantegna and Trumps Maj or

o f any Tarot pack P redisposition has also connected the B eggar
.

a n d F 0 0 1 V enus and the S ta r Mar s and the Chariot S a t urn and , ,

t he Hermi t even Jupiter or a l terna t ive l y the Firs t C ause with

, , ,

t h e T aro t card o f the wor l d B ut the most salien t features o f .

the Trumps Maj o r are wanting in the Mantegna set and I do n ot ,

believe t ha t t h e ordered sequen c e in the latter case gave birth a s ,

it h a s b een suggested t o the others R omain Merlin maintained , .

this view and positivel y assigned the B aldini cards t o the end o f
,

t he f ourteenth century .

I f i t be agreed tha t excep t accidenta l ly and sporadic ally t he , ,

B a l dini emblematic or a ll egorical pi c tures have only a shadowy

a n d occasiona l connection with Tarot cards and whatever their , ,

mos t probable date tha t they can have supplied no originating ,

motive i t f ol l ows that we are still seeking not only an orig i n i n

,

p l ace and t ime for t he symbo l s with which we are concerned but ,

a speci c ca s e of t hei r mani festa t ion on t he continen t of Europe

'T h e b e g g a r i s p r a ct i ca l l n ake d an d th e a n a l og y i s c on s t i t ut d e
y
b y t h e p r e s e n c e o f t w o d o g s , o n e o f wh i c h s e em s t o b e y i n g a t h i s
,

leg s . T h e M a r s c a r d d e pi c t s a s w o r d b ea ri n g w a r r i o r i n a ca n o pi e d
c h a r i o t t o wh i ch h o w ev e r , n o h o r s e s a r e a t t a c h e d O f c our se , i f t h e .

B a l d i n i ca r d s b e l b n g t o t h e c l o se o f t h e ft ee n t h c e n t u r y t h e r e i s n o
, ,

r w r ore t ha t
,

q u e s t i o n a t i s s ue , a s t h e T a o t w a s k n o n i n E u o pe l o n g b e f
pe r io d .
26 I LLU S T R AT E D KEY T O T HE TA R O T .

suggest i on The question however remains whethe r there are

.
, ,

Eastern tra c es in any Tarot c ards .

We c ome in ne to the B olognese Tarot sometimes re ferred

, , ,

to as that o f V enice and hav i ng the Trumps M aj or c omplete b ut ,

numbers 2 0 and 2 1 are transposed In the M inor Arcan a the 2 .

3 4 and 5 o f the small c ards are om i tted with the result that

, ,

there are sixty t wo c ards In all The termination o f the Trumps .

M aj or I n the representation O f the L ast Judgment l s curious and ,

a l i t t l e arresting as a point o f symbolism but this i s all that it ,

seems ne c essary to em a k abo ut the pa c k O f B ologna ex c ept that

r i ,

it is said to have been invented or a s a Tarot more correctly , , ,

m od ie d about the beginning o f the fteenth century by an

exiled P rin c e o f P isa resident in the city The purpose for .

whi c h they were used is made tolerably evident by the fact that ,

I n 1 4 2 3 S t B ernardin o f S ienna prea c hed against playing c ards

,
.

and other forms o f gambling F orty years later the importation .

o f c ards into England was forb i dden the time being that o f King ,

Edward I V This is the rst c ertain record O f the subj ect in our
.

country .

It is d i fc ult to consult perfect examples o f the sets enumerated

above but it is not d i f c ul t t o meet w i th detailed and i llust i a t ed

,

des c riptions I should add provided always that the writer is not
,

an o cc ultist fo r a cc o unts emanating from that sour c e are usu ally

,

imperfect vague and preo cc upied by considerations whi c h cloud

,

the criti c a l issues An instan c e in point is O ffered by certain

.

v i ews which have been expressed on the Mantegna codex i f I

may c ontinue to dignify c ard sequences with a title o f this kind .

It has been ruled as we have seen ih occult reverie that Apollo

and the Nine Muses are in corresponden c e with P entacles but t h e ,

analogy does not Obtain in a working state o f researc h ; and

rever i e must bor d er on nightmare before we can identi fy Astron
om y Chronology and Cosmology with the suit o f Cups
,
Th e .

B aldini gures which represent these subj e c ts are emblems O f

their period and not symbols like the Tarot ,
.

In c on c lusion as to this part I observe tha t there h a s been a ,

disposition among experts to think that the T rumps Maj or were

not originally c onne c ted with the numbered su i ts I do not wish .

to O ffer a personal view I am not an expert in the history o f

,

games o f chan c e and I hate the pr ofa n um vulg us of d i vinatory

,

devi c es ; but I venture under all reserves to intimate that i f later

,

,

researc h should j usti fy su c h a leaning then ex c ept for the good ,

O l d art O f fortune tell i ng and its tamperings with so c alled destiny
-

it will be so mu c h the better for the Greater Arcana .

S O far as regards what is indispensab l e a s prel iminaries t o t he q

 THE V EI L A ND IT S SYM B O LS . 27

his t orica l aspects o f Tarot cards and I wil l now t ake up the ,

spe c ulative s i de O f the subj ect and produce its test o f value In .

my prefa c e to Th e Ta r ot O f Th e B oh em i a n s I have mentioned

that the rst writer who ma de known the fact Of the c ards was
the arc h aeologist Cour t de G eb elin who j ust prior to the F rench , ,

R evolution occupied severa l years in the publication o f h i s

,

M on d e P r i m i tif which extended to nine quarto volumes He

.
,

was a learned man o f his epoch a high grade M ason a member , ,

o f the historical L odge O f the P h i la le t h e s and a v i t u os o with a ,

r

pro found and lifelong interest in the debate on universal antiqui

ties before a s c ience O f the subj e c t existed Even at this day his .
,

memori als and dissertations collected under the title which I ,

have quoted are worth possessing B y an a cc ident o f things he

,
.
,

becam e a c quainted with the Tarot when it was quite unknown in

P aris and at once conceived that it was the remnants O f an
,

Egy ptian book H e made inquiries c on c erning it and ascertained

.

that it was in ci rculation over a considerable part o f Europ e

S pain Italy , Germany and the S outh o f F ran c e
,
It wa s in use .

a s a game o f c han c e o r skill

. after the o rdinary manner o f ,

playing cards ; and he ascertained further h ow the game wa s

-

played B ut it was in use also for the higher purpose O f divi

.

nation O r fortune telling and with the help O f a learned friend he

-
,

dis c overed the signi c an c e attributed to the cards together with ,

the method o f arrangement a d opted for this purpose In a .

word he made a distinct c ontribution to our knowledge and he

, ,

is still a source o f referen c e but it is on the question o f fact only ,

and not on the beloved hypothesis that the Tarot contains pure
Egyptian doctrine However he set the Opinion which i s pr eva
.
,

l ent to this day throughout the oc c ult schoo l s tha t in the mystery
and wonder the strange night o f the gods the unknown tongue
, ,

and the undeciphered hieroglyphics which symbolized Egypt at

the end o f the eighteenth century t he origin of the cards was lost , .

S o dreamed on e o f the chara c teristic li t er a ti o f F rance and one ,

c an almost understand and sympathize fo r the country about the ,

D elta and the Nile wa s beginning to l oom l argely in the pr eoccu

p a t i on o f l earned thought and om n e ig n ot u m pr o E g ypti a co wa s
,

the way the de l usion to whi c h many minds t ended It wa s .

ex c usable enough then but that t he madness was continued and

, ,

within the charm ed circle of the o c cult sciences sti l l passes from ,

mouth t o mouth there is no excuse for this L et us see there .
,

fore the evidence produced by M Court de G eb elin in support O f

, .

his thesis and that I may dea l j ust l y it sh a ll be summarized a s

, , ,

far a s possible in h i s own words .

( I ) The gures and arrangemen t O f t he game are mani fes tly

28 I LL U S T R ATE D KE Y T O THE T A R O T .

a ll egorica l ; (2 ) the a l legories are in con formity wi t h t h e ci vil ,

philosophical and religious doctrine of ancient Egypt (3 ) if the ,

cards were modern no High P riestess would be i nc l uded among

,

the Greater Arcana (4 ) t h e gure in question bears the horns o f

,

Isis (5) the card which i s c alled the Emperor has a scepter ter

m i n a t i n g in a trip l e cross ; ( 6 ) the card entitled the Moon who ,

i s Isis shows drops o f rain o r dew in the act O f being shed by

the luminary and thesea s we have seen are the t ears of Isis
,

which swelled the waters o f the Nile and fertili z ed the elds o f
Egypt ; (7 ) the seventeenth c ar d o S
r tar is the dog
,
star S irius
, ,

whi c h was c onse c rated t o Isis and symboli z ed the Opening o f the
year ; (8 ) the game played with the Tarot is founded on the
sa c red number seven which wa s o f great importance i n Egypt ;
,

(9 ) the word Taro t i s pure Egyptian I n which language

,

:
Tar way o road and O king or royal it signi fies there
r R ,

fo r e the R oya l R oad O f L i fe ; ( 1 0 ) alternative l y i t i s derived ,

from A _ do c trine ; R osh __M ercury : Thoth and the article ,

T ; in sum Ta r os h ; and therefo re the Tarot is the B ook O f

,

Th ot h or the Ta b le O f Th e D octr i n e O f M er cur y

, .

S uch I s the t estimony it being understood that I have s et aside

,

several c asua l statements fo r which no kind O f j ustication is

,

produced These t h er e fb r e are ten pillars which support the

.
, ,

edice O f the thesis and the same are pillars o f sand The Taro t

.
,

is o f course allegori c al that i s to sa y it s sy b si m o li m l but a l le

gory and symbol are c atholico f all countries nations and times ;
, , ,

they are not more Egyptian than M exican ; they are o f Europe
and C a thay o f Tibet beyon d the Himalayas and o f the L on d on
,

gutters As al l egory and symbo l the cards correspond to many

.
,

types O f ideas and things ; they are universa l and n ot particular ;

and the fact that they do not especially and pecu l iarl y respond to

Egyptian doctrine religious philosophica l or civi l i s clear from
,

the failure o f Court de Gebeli m to go further t han the a fr
mation The presence o f a High P riestess among the Trump s
.

M aj o r i s mo re easily explained as the memorial o f some popular

superstitiontha t worship o f D iana for example the persist , ,

ence of which in modern Italy h a s been t raced with such striking

results by L eland We have also to remember the universal ity
.

O f horns In every cu l tus n ot ex c epting that of Tibet The t rip l e

, .

c ross is preposterous as an instan c e o f Egyptian symbolism ; it i s

the cross o f the patriar c hal see both Greek and L atin O i V enic e -

o f Jerusalem for example a rid it is the form o f signing used to
, ,

this day by the priests and laity of the O rthodo x R ite I pass
J
.

over the idle allusion to the tears o f Isis because other occult ,

wri t ers have t o l d us that they are Hebrew od s ; a s regards the

 THE V EI L AND IT S SYM B O LS . 29

s even t eenth card it is the star S irius or ano t her a s p redispo si t ion
, ,

pleases ; the number seven wa s certainly importan t in Egyp t and

any treatise on numerical mysti c is m wil l show t hat t h e same
statem ent applies everywhere even i f we elect to ignore the ,

seven Christian S acraments and the Gifts O f the D ivine S pirit .

Finally a s regards the etymology o f the word Tarot i t i s suf

, ,

cient t o Observe that it wa s O ffered before the discovery o f the

R osetta S tone and when t here wa s no knowledge o f t he Egyptian
language .

The thesi s o f C ou r t de G eb elin wa s no t su ff ered to repose

undis t urbed in the mind of the age appealing to the learned ,

exclusively by means o f a quarto volume It created the O ppor .

t un ity Of Tarot cards i n P aris a s the center o f Fga n ce and al l ,

things F rench i n the universe The suggest i on that divination by .

cards had behind it the unexpected warrants of ancient hidden

science and that the root o f the whole subj e c t wa s in t he wonder
,

and mystery o f Egypt reected thereon almost a divine dignity ;

,

out O f the purlieus O f occult pra c tices cartomancy emerged into

fashion and assumed for the moment almost pon t ica l vestures .

The rst to undertake the role O f ba t el eur magician and j uggler , ,

wa s the illiterate but zealous adventurer Alliet t e the second a s , ,

a kind o f High P riestess full o f intuitions and revelations wa s

Mlle L en or m a n d but she belongs to a later period ; while lastly
, ,

came Julia O rsini who is referable to a Queen o f Cups rather in

,

the tatters o f clairvoyan c e I am not con c erned with these people

.

a s tellers o f fortune when destiny itself was shu fing and cutting
,

cards for the game o f universal revolution or for such court s ,

and courtiers a s were those O f L ouis 'V II I Charles IX and ,

L ouis P hilippe B ut under the o cc ult designation o f E t t eill a

.
,

the transliteration o f his name Alliet t e that per r uq ui er t ook , ,

himsel f with high seriousness and posed rather as a priest O f the

occult Sc iences than as an ord i nary adept in l a r t d e ti r er l es

ca r t es .Even at this day there are people like D r P a pus who , .

,

have sought to save some part O f h is bi z arre syste m fro m

Oblivion .

The l ong and heterogeneous s t ory o f L e M on d e P r im i tif had

c ome to the end o f i ts telling I n 1 78 2 and I n 1 78 3 the tra c ts o f ,

E t t eilla had begun pouring from the press testi fying that already ,

he had spent thirty nay almost fo rty years in the study o f E gy p

, ,

tian magic and that he had found the na l keys They were in
,
.
,

fact the Keys of the Taro t which was a book o f philosophy a n d

, ,

the B ook O f Th oth but at the same time it was a c tually written
,

by seventeen Magi in a Temple of Fire on the borders o f the ,

L evant some t hree l eagues from Memphis

, I t contained t h e .
30 I LL U S T R ATE D KEY T O THE T AR O T .

science of the universe and the ca r t om a n cist proceeded t o app ly

,

it to Astrology Al c hemy and fortune telling without the slight

, ,
-
,

est d ifd en e o reserve as to the fa c t that he wa s driving a trade ;

c r

I have really l i ttle doubt that he considered it genuine as a m ti er ,

and that he himself wa s the rst person wh om h e convinced con

c erning h i s system B ut the point which we have to notice i s tha t
.

in this manner wa s t he antiqu i ty o f the Tarot generally trumpeted

forth The li tt le books O f E t t eilla are proo f positive that he did
.

not kno w even his own language ; when in the course of time he
produced a reformed Tarot even those who think o f him tenderly ,

admit that he spoiled its sym bolism ; and in respect of an t iquities

he h a d on ly Court de Gebeli m a s h is universa l authority

.

The ca r t om a n cist s su c ceeded on e another in the manner which

I have mentioned and o f c ourse there were r iv a l a d ept s O f these
, .

less than least mysteries ; but the scholarsh i p o f the subj ec t if it ,

can be said to have come into existen c e reposed after all in the ,

quarto O f Court de Gebeli m fo r something more than sixty years .

O n h i s authority there is very little d oubt that every on e who

,

became acquainted by theo ry or practi c e by casual or special

, ,

concern with the question o f Tarot cards ac c epted thei r E gyp

, ,

tian chara c ter It is said that people are taken c ommonly at their
.

own valuation and following as it does the line o f l east resist
ancethe unsolicitous general mind assuredly accepts a r ch aeo
,

logica l pretensions in the sense O i their own daring and o f those ,

who put them forward The rst who appeared to reconsider the .

subj ect with some presumptive titl es to a hearing was the F rench
writer D u c hesne but I a m compelled t o pass him over with a
,

mere reference and so also some interest i n g researc hes on the

,

general subj ect o f playing c ards by S inger in England The lat -

.

ter believed that the Old V enetian game c alled Trappola was the
earliest European fo r m o f c ard playing that it was o f Arabian -
,

o rigin and that the ft y two c ards used for the p u rpose derived
,
-

f rom that region I do n ot gather that any importance was ever

.

atta c hed to this vie w .

D u c hesne and S inger were followed by another English writer ,

W A Chatto who reviewed the available fa c ts and the cloud o f

. .
,

spe c ulations which had a l ready arisen on the subj ect This was .

in 1 8 48 and his work h a s still a kind of standard authority b ut

, ,

after every allowance fo r a certain righteousness attributable to

the independent mind it remains an indi fferen t and even a poor
performance It was however chara c teristic in its way o f the
.
, ,

approaching middle night o f the nineteenth century Chatt o .

rej ected the Egyptian hypothesis but as he was at very li t t l e pains ,

concerning it he would scarcely be held to displa c e Court de

,
 TH E V EI L AND IT S SY M B O L S . 31

G eb elin i f the latter had any rm ground beneath his hypothesis .

In 1 8 54 another F rench writer B oiteau , took up the genera l ,

question maintaining the oriental origin of Tarot cards though

, ,

without attempting t o prove it I am not c ertain but I think tha t .

,

he i s the rst writer who denitely identied them with t h e

Gipsies ; for him however the original Gipsy home wa s in India
, , ,

and Egypt did not therefo re enter i nto h is c al c ulation .

In 1 8 60 there arose E liph a s L evi a brilliant and pro found ,

i llum i n whom it is impossible to accept and with who m it i s ,

even more impossible to dispense There wa s never a mouth .

de c laring su c h great things of all the western voices which have

,

proclaimed or interpreted the science called oc c ult and the d oc

trine called magica l I suppose that fundamentally speaking he

.
, ,

cared a s mu c h and as little as I do for the phenomenal part but ,

he explained the phenomena with the assurance o f o e who n

Op enly regarded charlatanry a s a great means to an end i f used

'

,
'

in a right c ause H e came unto his own and his own re c eived
.

him also at his proper valuation as a man o f great learning

, ,
'

which he never was and a s a revealer O f al l mysteries withou t
having been re c e i ved into any I do not think that there was ever
.

an instance o f a writer with greater gi fts after their particul ar ,

kind who put them to such indi fferent uses A fter all he wa s
,
.
,

Only E t t eilla a second time in the esh endowed in his t r a n sm u ,

t a t i on with a mouth o f gold and a wider casual knowledge This .

n otwithstand i ng he h a s written the most co m prehensive bri l

, ,

lian t en c hanting H is tor y O f M a g i c which h a s e ver been drawn

,

into writing in any language The Tarot and the de Gebeli m .

hypothesis he took into his heart o f hearts and all occult F rance ,

and all esoteric B rita i n M a r tinists half instructed Kabalists

, ,
-
,

s c hool s O f s oi d is a n t theosophy there here and everywhere ,

have a cc epted h i s j udgm ent about it with the same conden c e a s

h i s interpretations o f those great c lassi c s O f Kabalism which he
had skimmed rather than read The Tarot fo r him wa s not only .

the most perfe c t instrument o f divination and the keystone o f

occult s c ien c e but it was the primitive book the sole book o f t he
, ,

ancien t M agi the miraculous volume whi c h inspired all the sacred
,

writings o f antiquity In his rst work L evi was content h ow

.
,

ever with a c cepting the construction o f Cour t de G eb elin and

,

reproducing t he s eventh Trump M aj or with a few E gyptian

characteristics The question o f Tarot tra nsmission through the
.

Gipsies did no t occupy him till J A V aillant a bi z arre writer

, . .
,

with great knowledge O f the R omany people suggested it in h is ,

work on those wandering tribes The two authors were a l mos t .

coincident and reected on e another thereafter It remained for .

32 I LLU ST R AT E D KEY TO THE TA R O T .

R omain Merl in in 1 8 69 to poin t out what shou l d have b een

, ,

obvious namely that cards o f some kind were known in Europe

, ,

prior to the arrival O f the Gipsies I n or about 1 4 1 7 B ut a s t his wa s .

their arrival at Lii n eb urg and a s their presen c e can b e tra c ed

,

antecedently the correct i on loses a c onsiderable part o f it s force ;

,

it is safer therefore t o say that the evidence fo r the use of the

, ,

Taro t by R omany tribes was not suggested till after the year
1 8 40
,
the fact that some Gipsies before this period were found
using cards i s quite explicable on the h ypothesis not that they
brought them into Europe but found them there already and
added them to their stock I n trade .

We have n ow seen that there I s no particle o f evidence for t he

Egyptian origin o f Tarot c ards Looking in other direct ions it .
,

wa s once advanced on nativ e authority that cards o f some kind

were invented in China about the year A D 1 1 20 Court de . . .

G eb elin believed in his zeal that he had tra c ed them to a Chinese

inscription O f great imputed antiquity which was said to refer t o
the subsidence o f the water s o f the D eluge The characters o f .

this inscription were contained in seventy seven compartments -

,

an d this constitutes the analogy I n di a had a l so it s tablets .

,

whether cards or otherwise and t hese have suggested similar ,

slender similitudes B ut the existence for example of ten suits

.
, ,

or style s O f twe l ve numbers each and representing the avatars o f

, ,

V ishnu a s a sh tortoise boar lion monkey hatchet um

, , , , , , ,

bre ll a or b ow a s a goa t a boodh and a s a horse in ne

, , , ,

are no t g oing t o help us t owards the origin o f our own

Trumps Maj or n or do crowns and harps nor even the presence
,

o f possible coins a s a synonym o f deniers and perhaps as an

f
equiva l ent o penta c les do mu c h to elu c idate the L esser Arcana .

I f every tongue and people and clime and period possessed their
.

cards i f with these also they phi l osophi z ed divined and ,

gamb l ed the fact wou l d be interest i ng enough but unless they b ,

were Tarot c ards they would illustrate on ly the universal ten

,

deney o f man t o be pursuing the same things in more or less the

same way .

I end there fore t he h istory O f this subj ect by repeating t hat it

, ,

h a s n o history prior to t he fourteen t h century when the rst ,

rumor s were heard concerning cards They may have existed .

fo r cen t uries but this period would be ear l y enough i f they were
, ,

on l y intended for people to t r y their luck a t gamb l ing or thei r

luc k a t seeing the future on the other hand i f they contain the
, ,

deep in t imat i ons o f S ecret D o c trine then the four t eenth century ,

i s again ear l y enough or a t least I n this respec t We are get ti ng a s

,

m uch a s we can .
 ih a rt em u

T H E D O C T R I NE B E H I ND THE VEIL

S E CT I O N I .

T HE TAR O T AN D S E CR E T
T RAD ITI O N

The Tarot embodies symbolica l presentations o f universa l

ideas behind which l i e a ll the im plicit s o f the human mind and it
, ,

is in this se n se that they contain se c ret do c trine whi c h is the real ,

i a t i on by the few O f truths imbedded in the cons c iousness o f all

z ,

though they have not passed into express re c ognition by ordinary

men The theo ry is that this d ect i e has always existed that
.
~

. r n
is to say has been excogi t ated in the cons c iousness o f an ele c t
,

minority ; that it h a s been perpetuated in secre c y from on e to

another and has been recorded in se c ret literatures l ike those o f ,

Al c hemy and Kabalism that it is contained also in those Instituted

M ysteries o f which R os i c ru c ianism O ffers an example near to our
hand in the past a d Craft M a son r a living summary o r general

,
n I
,

memorial for those who can interpret its real me aning B ehi n d
,
.

the S ecret D octrine it is held that there is an experience or prae

tice by whi c h the D o c trine i s j ustied It is O bvious that in a .

handbook like the present I c an do l ittle more than state the

c laims which however h a ve been dis c ussed at length in several
, , ,

o f my other writings while it is des i gned to treat t wo o f its more

,

important phases in books devoted to the S e c ret Tradition in

F reemasonry and in Hermetic l ite r ature As regards Tarot .

claims i t should b e rem embered that some considerable part o f

,

the imputed S ecret D octrine has been presented in t h e pi c torial

emblems O f Alchemy so that the imputed B ook O f Th oth is in n o
,

sense a solitary devi c e o f this emblema tic kind Now Al c hemy .

,

had two b ran c hes as I have exp l ained ful l y e l sewhere , and the
,

pi c toria l embl ems whi c h I have mentioned are common t o both

divisions Its materia l side is represented in the strange sym
.

b oli sm o f the M utus L i ber printed in t he great folios O f

,

34
 THE D O C T R I N E B EH I N D THE V EI L . 35

M a n g et us Ther e the process for the performance o f the great

.

work o f transm utation is depi c ted in fourteen copper plate en g r a v -

ings which exhibit the di fferent stages O f the matter in the vari
,

ous chemical vessels Above these vessels there are m yt h o

.

logical planetary solar and lunar symbols as if the powers and ,

, ,

v i rtues which according t o Hermetic teaching preside over the
development and perfe c tion o f the metallic kingdom were inter
v en i n g actively to assist the t wo Operators who are toiling below

.

The operators curiously enough are male and female The .

spiritual side o f Alchemy is set forth in the mu c h stranger

emblems o f the B ook O f L a m bspr i n g and of this I have already ,

given a preliminary interpretation , to which the reader may be

referred ' The tract contains the mystery of what i s called the
.

m ys t i ca l or ar c h natural elixir being the marriage o f the soul a d

-
,
n

the spirit in the body of the adept philosopher and t h e t r a sm u n

t a t i o o f the body as the physical result O f this marriage

n I have .

never met with more c urious intimations than in this one little
work I t may be mentioned a s a point of fact that both tra c ts
.

are very mu c h later in ti m e than the latest dat e that could be

assigned to the general distribution O f Tarot c ards in Europe by
the most drastic form o f c riti c ism They belong respectively to

the end o f the seventeenth and sixteenth centuries AS I a m not .

drawing here on the font of imagination to refresh that o f fact

and experience I do not suggest that the Tarot se t the example
,

o f expressing S e c ret D octrine in pictures and that it wa s followed

by Hermetic writers ; but it i s noticeable that it is perhaps the
earliest example o f this art It is also the most catholic because .
,

it is ot by attribution or otherwise a d erivative o f any on e school

n , ,

or literature of o cc ultism ; it is not o f_ Al c hemy or Kabalism or

Astrology or Ceremonial M agi c ; but as I have said it is the pres , ,

e t a t i on o f universal ideas by means o f universa l types and it i s

n ,

i n the combination o f these types f anywhere that it presents

i
S e c ret D o c trine .

That combination may ex h ypoth es i reside in the numbered , ,

sequence O f its series or in their fortuitous assemblage by shu f

ing cutting and dea l ing a s in ordinary games o f chance played
, ,

with cards Two writers hav e adopted the rst view without
.

prej udice to t he second and I shall do well perhaps to dispose at

, , ,

on c e o f wha t t hey have said Mr M a cG r eg or M athers who . .

,

on c e published a pamphlet on t he Tarot whi c h was in t h e main

devoted to fo rtune telling suggested that the twenty
,

-
two T r umps
,

M aj or could be constructed following their numerical order into , ,

S ee th e O ccu l t R evi ew ,
v ol . v iii ,
1 908 .
36 I L L U S T R AT E D KE Y T O T HE TA R O T .

wha t he ca ll e d a connec t e d sen t ence I t wa s in fac t t he heads .

, ,

of a mora l t hesis on the human wi l l i t s enlightenment by science

represen t ed by t he Magician it s mani festation by actiona s ig
, ,

n i ca n ce a tt ributed to t he High P riestess i t s rea l ization ( the

Empress ) in deeds of mercy and b en ecen ce which qua l i t ies ,

were alloca t ed t o the Empero r He spoke also in the familiar .

conventiona l manner o f prudence fortitude sacrice hope and , , ,

ultimate happiness B ut i f this were the message o f the cards i t

.
,

i s certain that there would be no excuse for publishing them at

this day or taking the pains to e l ucidate them a t some l ength I n .

h is Ta r ot O f Th e B oh em ia n s a work written with zea l and en t h u

,

s ia sm sparing n o pains o f thought or research within its pa r t icu

,

l ar l ines but un fortunately without real insight D r P a pus h a s .

given a singu l arl y e l aborate scheme o f the Trumps Maj o r I t .

depends l ike tha t o f Mr Mathers from their numerical

, .
,

sequence but e x hibits their in t errelation I n the D ivine World the

, ,

Macrocosm and M icrocosm In this manner we get a s it we re .

, ,

a spiritua l histo ry o f man or o f the sou l coming out from the

,

Eterna l passing into the darkness of the materia l bo d y and

, ,

re t urning to the height I think that the author is here within a

.

measurab l e distance o f the right track and his views are to this
exten t informing but his method ii i so m e res pectscon fuses
,

the I ssues and the modes and planes Of being .

The Tru m ps Maj o r have a l so been treated in t he al t ernative

met h od which I have mentioned and Grand O rient in h is , ,

M a n ua l O f C a r t om a n cy under the guise o f a mode o f t r a n scen

,

dental divination has really O ffered the result o f cert ain illust ra
,

tive readings O f the cards when arranged a s the result o f a

fo rtuitous combination by means o f shu fing and dealing The .

use o f divinato ry methods with whatsoever intention and for ,

whatever purpose carries with it two suggestions It may be

, .

though t that the deeper meanings are imputed rather than real ,

but this i s disposed o f by the fact o f certain cards like the ,

Magician the High P riestess the Wheel o f F ortune the Hanged

, , ,

Man t he Tower or M a i son D ieu, and several others whi c h do

, ,

not correspond to C onditions o f L i fe Arts S ciences V i r tues or , , , ,

t he other subj ect s contained in t he denaries o f the B aldini em

b lem a t ic g ures T hey are a l so proo f positive that obvious and
.

na t ura l mora l ities cann ot exp l ain the sequence S uch cards testify .

concerning themse l ves after another manner ; and a l though

the state i n which I have l eft the Taro t i n respect o f it s h ist or
ical side is so much the more di fcu l t a s it i s so mu c h the more
Open they indicate the rea l subj ect matter wi t h which we are
,

concerned The me t hods show a l so that the Trumps Maj or a t

.
 THE DO C T R I NE B E H I N D THE V E I L . 37

lea st have been adap t ed t o fo rt une t e ll ing ra ther than be l ong

-

there t o The co m mon divinat ory meaning s which wi ll b e given

.

in t he t hird par t are l arge ly arbi t rary at t ribu t ions or t he product ,

o f secondary and unins t ructed in t ui t ion ; or a t the very most , ,

they be l ong t o t he subj ect on a l ower p l ane apart f rom the origi ,

nal in t en t ion I f the Tarot were o f fortune t e ll ing in the root

.
-

matter thereo f we should have t o look in very strange places for

,

the mo t ive which devised t t o Witchcraf t and th e B l ack

i
S abba t h rather than any S ecret D octrine
, .

The t wo c l asses o f sig nicance which are attached to the Taro t

in the superior and inferior worlds and the fact that n o o c cult or
,

other writer has attemp t ed t o assign anything bu t a divinatory

meaning to the Minor Arcana j ustify in ye t another manner the
,

hypothes is that the t wo series do n ot be l ong t o on e another It is .

possible that their marriage wa s e ff ected rs t in t he Tarot O f

B ologna by that P rince o f P isa whom I have mentioned in the
rst part It is said that h is device obtained for him public rec
.

og n it i on and reward from the city o f h i s adoption which would ,

scarce ly have been possible even in those fantastic days for the
, ,

production O f a Tarot which only omitted a few o f the smal l

c ards ; but as we are dea l ing with a question of fac t which h a s to
be accoun t ed for somehow it i s conceivab l e tha t a sensation
,

might have been created by a combination of the minor and

gamb l ing cards with the philosophica l set and b y t he adaptation ,

o f both t o a game o f chance A fterwards i t would have been

.

further adapted to tha t o t her game of chance which i s called

fortune te l ling I t shou l d be understood here that I am n ot
-
.

denying the possibility o f divination but I take exception as a,

mystic to the dedications whi c h bring people into these paths as i f ,

they h a d any relation to the M ystic Quest .

The Tarot cards which are issued with the smal l edition o f the
presen t work t ha t is to say with the K ey T o Th e Ta r ot have
, , ,

been drawn and colored by M iss P amela Co l man S mith and will , ,

I thin k be regarded a s very stri k ing and beauti fu l in their design

, ,

alike and execution They are reproduced in t he presen t

.

enlarged edition o f the K ey as a mean s o f reference t o t he text .

They di ff er in many importan t respects from t he conventiona l

ar c haisms of the pas t and from the wretched products o f col por
tage which n ow reach us f rom Ita l y and it remains for me t o ,

j ustify their varia t ions so far a s the symbolism i s conce r ned .

That for once in modern t imes I presen t a pac k which i s the work
o f an artis t d oes not

I pr esum e ca ll for apo l ogy even t o the
peop l e i f any remain amon g u' s who use d t o be described and
, , ,

t o ca ll t hem se l ves very occult I f any one wil l l oo k a t t he g or

.
38 I LLU S T R AT E D KE Y T O T HE TA R O T .

g e ous T arot valet or knave wh o is emb l azoned on on e o f the page '

p lates o f Chatto 5 F a cts A n d S pecula ti on s C on cer n i n g Th e H i s

t or y O f P l a yi n g C a r d s he wi l l k now tha t Italy i n t he O ld days

,

produced some sp l endid packs I c ould on ly wish t ha t i t had .

b een possible to i ssue the restored and rectied cards I n t he same

s ty l e and S i ze ; such a course would have done ful l er j ustice t o the
de signs bu t t he resu lt would have proved unmanageable for those
,

practical purposes which are c onnected with cards and for whi c h ,
.

allowance must be made wha t ever my views thereon F or the , .

variations in the symbolism by whi c h the designs have been

a ffected I alone am responsible In respect O f the M aj or
,
.

Arcana they are sure t o o c casion c riticism among studen t s actua l

, ,

and imputed I wish therefore to say within the reserves o f

.
,

courtesy and la h a ut e con ven a n ce belonging t o the fe l lowship o f

research that I care nothing utterly for any view that may nd
,

expression There i s a S ecre t Tradition concern ing the Tarot a s

.
,

wel l a s a S ecr et D octr i n e contained therein ; I have followed some

part o f it without exceeding the limits which are drawn abou t
matters o f this kind and belong to the laws O f honor This tradi .

tion has two parts and as one o f them has passed into wri t ing it
,

seems to follow that it may be betrayed at any moment which wil l ,

not signify because the second a s I have intimated has not so

, , ,

passed a t present and 1 5 held by very few indeed The purvey .

o r s o f spurious copy and the tra fckers I n stolen goods may take
note o f this po i nt i f t hey please I ask moreover to be dis
,
.
, ,

t i n g ui sh ed from two or three writers in recent times who have

though t t t o hint that they coul d say a good dea l more i f they
liked for we do not speak the same language ; but also from any
, ,

on e who now or hereafter may say that she or he will tell all b e
, , ,

c ause they have only the accidents and n ot the essentia l s necessary
for such disclosure I f I have followed on my part the counsel o f
.

R obert B urns by keeping something to myself which I scarce l y

,

tel l to any I have still said as mu c h as I c an ; it is the truth after

'
,

its own manner and as much as may be expe c ted or required in

,

those outer circles where the qualications o f special research

c annot be expected .

In regard to the M inor Arcana they are the rst in modern b ut ,

not in al l times to be accompanied by pi c tures in addition to what

,

is called the pips that is to sa y the devices be l onging t o the

'
,

numbers of the various suits These picture s respond t o the .

divinatory meanings which have been drawn from many sources

,
.

To sum up t herefore the p resent division o f this k ey 1 3 devot ed

, ,

to the T rumps Maj or ; it elucidates their symbo l s I n respec t of the

'

higher in t ent i on and with reference t o the designs i n the pack .

 THE D O C T R I N E B EH I N D THE V EI L . 39

The third division wil l give the d ivinatory signicance in respect

o f the seventy eight Tarot cards
-
,and with particular reference
to the designs o f the Minor Arcana I t will give in ne some
.
, ,

modes o f use for those who require them and in the sense o f the
,

reason whi c h I have already explained in the preface That .

whi c h hereinafter follows should be taken for the purposes o f

,

c omparison in c onne c tion with the general description o f the Old

, .

Tarot Trumps in the rst p art There it will be seen tha t the
.

z ero card o f the F O O 1 is allocated as it always is to t he pla c e

, ,

whi c h makes it equivalent to the number twenty one The -

.

arrangement is ridiculous on the surface which does not much

,

signify but it is a l so wrong on t he symbolism nor does this fare

, ,

better when it is made to rep lace the twenty second point o f the
-

sequenc e E t t ei lla recognized the di fculties o f both attributions

.
,

but he only made bad worse by allocating the F0 0 1 to the place

which is usually o cc upied by the Ace o f P entac l es a s the last O f
the whole Tarot series This rearrangemen t has been followed
.

by P a pus recently in L e Ta r ot D ivi n a t oir e where the confusion is

,

o f no c onsequence a s the ndings O f fortune telling depend upon

,
-

fortuitous positions and n Ot upon essential place in the general

sequence o f cards I have seen yet another allocation o f the zero
.

symbo l which no doubt obtains in certain c ases but it fails on the

, ,

highest planes and fo r our present requirements it wou l d be idle

to carry the e x amination furt he r .
40 I LLU S T R AT E D KEY T O THE T AR O T .

J
S E C T I ON 2

T H E T R U M P S M A O R AND T H E I R
I NNE R S Y M B O L I S M

O NE . T H E MAG I C IAN

A youthfu l gure in the robe o f a magician having the coun ,

t en a n ce o f divine Apol l o with smile o f condence and shining

,

eyes Above h is head i s the mysterious sign of t he Holy S pi r it

.
,

the sign of l i fe l i k e an end l ess cord forming the gure 8 in a

horizon t a l posi t ion w Abou t his wais t i s a serpent cinc t ure
, ,

-
.
,

t he serpen t appearing t o devour i t s own tai l T his i s fami l iar to .

m os t a s a conven t iona l sym b o l o f e t erni t y b ut here i t indica t es ,

more e specia lly the e t ernity o f a tt ainmen t in the spiri t In the .

Magician s righ t hand i s a wand raised toward s heaven while t he

l e ft hand is pointing t o the eart h T his dua l S ign i s known in .

very high grades of the In st i t u t ed Mys t eries it shows the descen t

of grace virtue and ligh t drawn from t hings a b ove and derived
, ,

t o things belo w The suggestion throughou t is there fore the

.

possession and communication o f the P owers and Gifts o f the

S pirit O n t he tab l e in fron t o f t he Magician are the sym b o l s O f
.

the four Tarot suits signi fying the e l emen t s of na tura l li fe which
, ,

l ie l i k e coun t er s before the adept and he adap t s them a s he wi l ls

,
.

B eneath are roses and l i l ies t he flos ca m pi an d li li um con va llium

, ,

changed into garden owers t o show t he cu lt ure O f aspiration , .

This card signies the divine mo t ive in man re ec t ing God the , ,

wi ll in t he liberation o f it s union wi t h t ha t which i s ab ove It i s .

a l so the unity of individual being on a l l p l ane s and in a very high ,

sense i t i s t hought in the xation thereo f With further re fer

,
.

ence t o wha t I have ca ll ed the sign o f li fe and its connection with

t he nu m b er 8 i t may be reme m bered tha t C hristian Gnosticism
,
'
spea k s o f reb i rth in C hris t a s a change un t o t he O gdoad The
.

mys t ic numb er i s t ermed Jerusa l em above the L and owing with ,

Mi lk and Honey the Ho l y S pirit and the L and of t he L or d

,
.

A ccording t o Mar t inism 8 I s t he numb er o f C hris t

,
.
 I LL U S T R ATE D KEY T O THE T A R O T .

TW O . T H E HI G H PR I ES T E SS
Sh e has the lunar crescent at her feet a horned diadem on her ,

head with a globe in the midd l e p l a c e and a large solar cross 0 1 1

, ,

her breast The scroll in her hands is inscribed with the word
.

Tor a signifying the Greater L a w the S e c ret L a w and the se c ond

, ,

sense o f the Word It is part ly covered by her mantle to show

J
.
,

that some things are implied a n d som e spoken S h e is seat ed I

.

between the white and black pillars and B O f the mysti c . .

Temp l e and the vei l o f the Temp l e is behind her : i t i s em b r oid

ered with pa l ms a n d pomegrana t es The vestmen t s are owing
.

and gauzy and the mant l e sugg ests l ight a shimmering radi
,

ance S h e h a s been ca l led Oc cu l t S c ience on t he threshho l d o f

.

the S anctuary o f Isis but she i s rea lly t h e S ecre t Church the
, ,

House w h ich is of God ( Nature ) and man S he represents a l so .

the S econd Marriage o f the P rince who i s no l onger o f this

wor l d ; she is the spiritual B ride and Mother t h e daughter o f the ,

s t ars and t he Higher Garden O f Eden S he i s in ne the Queen.

, ,

o f the b orrowed light b ut this I s t h e light o f al l

,
S he is the .

Moon nourished b y the mi lk o f the S uperna l Mother .

In a manner sh e is a l so the S uperna l Mother hersel f that i s

,

t o sa y sh e i s the brigh t re flection I t is in this sense o f re ection
,
.

tha t her t rues t and highest name in bo sm s S h ek i a h the

l i i n
co habi t ing glory
-
According to Kaba l ism the re is a S h ek in a h
.
,

both above and b e l ow In the superior wor l d i t is ca ll ed B i n a h

.
,

the S uperna l U nderstanding whi c h reects to the emanat ions t ha t

.

are benea th In the lower wor l d i t is M a lk uth t ha t wor l d being
-
.
,

for t his purpose understood a s a bl essed KIn g d om tha t with

,

which i t is made b l essed being t he Indwe ll ing G l o ry Mystica l ly .

speaking the S h ek i n a h is t he S piri t ua l B ride of the j us t m a n and

, ,

when he reads t he L a w sh e gives the D ivine meaning There are .

'

some respects in which t his card is the highe st an d ho l ies t o f t he

Grea t er Arcana .
T H E D O C T R I N E B EH I N D T H E V EI L . 43
 I LL U S T R ATE D KEY T O THE T A R O T .

T H R EE . TH E EM PR E SS

A s t ate l y g ure seated having rich ve stments and roya l aspec t

, , ,

a s o f a daughter o f heaven and ear t h Her diadem i s o f twe l v e

, .

s tars , g a t hered in a cluster The symbol of V

. enus i s on the
shield which rests near her A eld o f corn is ripening in front
.

o f her and beyond there I s a fall o f water

, The scepter which .

sh e bears is surmounted by the globe o f this world S h e i s the .

in ferior Garden o f Eden the Earthly P aradise al l tha t is sym

, ,

b oliz ed by the visible house of man S h e is not R eg i n a coeli bu t

.
,

she is sti ll r efug i um pecca t or um the fruitful mother o f t hou

,

sands .There are also certain aspects in which she h a s b een cor
r ect ly described a s desire and the wings t hereo f a s t he woman ,

c l othed with the sun a s G lor ia M un d i and t he vei l O f the S a n c

,

t um S a n ct o r um ; but she is not I may add the sou l t ha t h a s

, ,

a t tained wings unless all the symbolism is c ounted up another

,

and unusual way S h e is above all things universa l fecundity

.

and the outer sense o f the Word This is Obvious because there
.
,

i s no direct message which has been given t o man like that which
is born e by woman ; bu t she does no t hersel f carry it s in t erpr e
t a t ion .

I n another order idea s the card of t he Empre ss signi e s t he

of ,

doo r or gate by whi c h an entran c e is obtained into this l i fe a s ,

in to the Garden o f V enus ; and then the way which leads out
therefrom into t ha t which is beyond i s t he secret known t o the
, ,

High P riestess : it i s communicated by her to the e l ect Most O l d .

at t ributions o f this card are complete l y wrong on the symbo l ism

a s for example its identication with t he Word D ivine Nature
, , , ,

the Triad and so forth

, .
TH E D O C T R IN E B EH I N D T H E V EI L . 45
46 I LL U S T R ATE D K E Y T O THE T A R O T .

FO UR . T HE EM PER O R

He has a form o f t he C r ux a n s a ta for his s c epter and a globe in

h i s le ft hand He is crowned monarch commanding stately
.
, ,

seated on a throne the arms o f which are fronted by rams heads

,

.

He i s executive and reali z ation the power o f this wor l d here

, ,

cl othed with the highest of it s natural attributes He is oc c a .

S on a lly represented as Seated on a cubic stone which

i however , , ,

con fu ses some o f the issues He is the vi rile power t o which

.
,

the Empress responds and in this sense is he who seeek s t o

,

remove the V ei l o f Isis ; yet she remains vi r g o i n ta cta .

It should be understood that this card and that of the Empress

do not precisely represent the c ondition o f married life though ,

t his state i s implied O n the surfa c e a s I have indicated they

.
, ,

stand for mundane royalty upli fted on the seats o f the mighty ;
,

but above this there is the suggestion o f another presence They .

signi fy a l so and the male gure especially the higher ki n g
,

ship occupying the intelle c tual throne Hereo f is the lo rdship o f

,
.

'

thought rat her than o f the ani m al world B oth persona l ities .
,

af t er their own mann er are full O f strange experience but

, ,

theirs is n ot consciously the wisdom which draws from a higher

world The Emperor h a s been des c ribed as (a ) will in its
.

embodied form but this is onl yo e O f its appli c ations and ( b )

,
n ,

a s an expression o f virtualities contained in the Absolute B eing

bu t this is fantasy .
T H E D O C T R I NE B EH I N D T HE V E I L . 47
48 I L L U S T R AT E D KEY T O THE T AR O T .

F IV E . TH E HI E R O P H AN T

He wears the trip l e crown and is seated between two pi ll ars ,

bu t they are not those o f the Temp l e which i s guarded by the

H igh P riest ess In h i s l eft hand he ho l ds a scep t er termina t ing
.

I n t he t rip l e cross and with h i s right hand he gives the well

,

k nown ecc l esiastica l sign which i s ca l led that o f eso t ericism d i s ,

t in g ui sh in g between the mani fest and concea l ed par t o f doc t rine .

I t i s no t iceab l e in this connection that the High P riestess ma k es

n o sign . A t h is feet are the crossed keys ,and two pries tl y minis
t ers in a l bs k nee l b efore him He h a s been usual l y cal l ed the
.

P ope which is a particular app l ication o f the more general o fce

,

t hat he symb o l izes He is the ru l ing power o f externa l re l igion

.
,

a s the High P riestess i s the prevailing genius O f the eso t eric ,

wit h drawn power The proper meanings o f this card have suf
.

fer ed woefu l admix t ure from nearly a ll hands G r a n d O r i en t

.

says t ru l y that the H ierophant i s the power o f t h e keys exo t eric ,

orthodo x do c trine and the outer side o f the life which leads to
,

the doc t rine ; bu t he i s certainly no t the prince of occu lt d octri n e ,

a s ano t h er commenta t o r h a s suggested .

He i s rather the s um m a toti us th eolog i w when i t h a s passed

,

into the u t most rigidity o f expression ; bu t he symbo l izes also al l

t hing s tha t are righteous and sa c red on the mani fest side As .

such he i s the channe l o f grace be l onging to the wor l d o f insti

,

t ut i on a s distinc t from t ha t o f Nature and he i s the l eader o f

,

sa l vation for t he human race a t l arge He is t he order and the

.

head of the recognized hierarchy whi c h is the re ection o f

,

another and grea t er hiera rchic order ; but i t may so happen that
the ponti ff forgets the signicance of this his symbo l ic s t ate a n d
acts a s i f he contained within h i s proper measures a ll that his sign
sign i e s or h is symbo l seeks t o S how forth He is n ot as it h a s
b ee n t hough t phi l osophyexcep t on the theologica l side ; he is
.
,

n ot inspira t ion ; and he is not religion a l though he i s a mode o f

,

it s e x pression .
50 I LL U S T R ATE D KEY T O THE T A R O T .

S I' T HE L O VE R S
.

The sun shines in the z enith and beneath is a great winged g

,

ure with arms extended p ouring down in uences In the fore

, .

ground are two human gures ma l e and femal e unveiled before

, ,

ea c h other as if Adam and Eve when they rst o cc upied the

,

paradise of the earthly body B ehind the man is the Tree o f L ife
.
,

bearing t we l ve frui t s and the Tree o f the Knowledge O f Good

,

and Evi l i s behind the woman ; the serpent is twining round it .

The gures suggest youth virginity innocence and l ove before

, ,

it is contamin ated by gross materia l desire This is in all sim .

p l i ci t y the card O f human love here exhibited

, as part o f the way ,

t h e truth and the li fe . It replac es by recourse to rst principles

, ,

the Old card o f marriage which I have described previously and

, ,

the later follies which depicted man between vi c e and virtue In .

a very high sense the card is a mystery O f the Covenan t and

,

S abbath .

Th e suggestion in respect of the woman is that she signies that

attra c tion towards the sensitive life whi c h carries within it the
idea O f the Fa ll o f M a n but she is rather the working o f a S ecret
,

L a w o f P rovidence than a willing and conscious temptress It i s .

through her imputed lapse that m a n shall arise ulti m ately a n d ,

on l y by her can he complete himsel f The card is therefore in it s

.

way another intimation concerning the great mystery o f woman

hood The old meanings fal l to pieces o f necessity with t h e ol d
.

pic t ures but even as interpretations o f t h e latter some o f them

, ,

were of the order o f c ommonplace and others were fa l se in

symbolism .
T H E D O C T R IN E B EH I N D T HE V EI L . 51
52 I LLU S T R ATE D KEY T O THE T AR O T .

S EVEN . T HE C H AR I O T

An erect and princely gure carrying a drawn swor d and corre

spon d in g , broadly speaking t o the t raditiona l d escrip t io n which I
,

ha v e given in t he rst par t . O n the shoulders of t h e vi c t o ri ou s

hero are supposed to be t he U r im .
and Th um m im . He h a s l e d

captivity captive ; he is conques t on al l planesin t he min d , in

science in progress in certain trials

, , of initiat ion . He has t hus
replied t o t he S ph i n x and i t is on this ccount tha t I hav e
,
a
accepted t he variation of E liph a s L evi ; two sphinxes thus draw
h is chariot . He is above a ll things triumph in the mind .

It is t o be understoo d for this reason (a ) that t he question of

t he sphinx is con c erned with a M ystery of Nature and no t of t he

worl d of Grace to which the chario t eer cou l d O ff er
,
no an swer ;
(b ) that the planes o f his c onquest are mani fest or ex t erna l and
no t within hims el f ( c) tha t the liberation which he e ffects m a y
l eave himself in t he b ondage o f the l og ical understanding ;

(d ) t ha t the tests of initiation through which he has passed in

t riumph are to be understood physically rationally and (e ) that or

i f he came to the pillars o f that Temp l e be t ween which t he High

P riestess i s sea t ed he coul d
,
n ot open t he scro ll ca ll ed Tor a , nor
if sh e ques t ioned him cou l d he answer . He is no t hereditary
roya lt y and he i s n ot priesthood .
T H E D O C T R I N E B EH I N D T H E V EI L . 53
 I LL U S T R ATE D KEY T O THE T A R O T .

E I G HT . S T R EN GTH O R F O RT IT U D E ,

A woman over w h ose head there broods the same symbol o f

,

l i fe which we have seen in the card o f the Hierophant i s closing ,

the j aws o f a l ion The only po i nt in which this design di ffers

,
.

from the conventiona l presentations is that her b en ecen t forti

tude has already subdued the lion whi c h is being led by a c hain o f
,

owers For r ea s on s wh ich satisfy myself this card has been

.
i
,

interchanged with that o f Justi c e whi c h is usually numbered ,

eight As the variation carries nothing with it whi c h will signify

.

to the reader there is no cause for explanation Fortitude in

,
.
,

on e o f its most exalted aspe c ts is c onnected with the D ivine

,

Mystery O f U nion ; the virtue o f course O perates in al l planes

'

, , ,

and hence draws on al l in its symbolism It c onne c ts also with .

i n n ocen ti a i n vi ola t a and with the strength whi c h resides in con

,

t em pla t i on .

These higher meanings are however matters o f inference and

, , ,

I do n ot suggest that they are transparent on the surfa c e o f the

card They are intimated in a concealed manner by the cha i n o f
.

owers which signies among many other things the Sweet yoke
, , ,

and the light burden o f D ivine L a w when it has b een taken into ,

the heart o f hearts The c ard has nothing t o do with self

.

con d en ce in the o rdinary sense though this has been suggested ,

-
but it con c erns th e condence o f those whose strength is God
( N ature ) who ,
have found their refuge in Him Ther e is one .

aspect in whi c h the l i on signies the passions and sh e who is ,

called S trength is the higher nature in its liberation It has .

walked upon the asp and the basilisk and has trodden down the
l ion and the dragon .
T H E D O C T R I NE B EH I N D T H E V EI L . 55
56 I LLU S T R A T E D KE Y T O TH E TA R O T .

N IN E . T HE H ERM IT

The variation from t h e conventional models in this card is onl y

t hat t he la m p is not enveloped partially I n the man tl e of it s

b earer ,
wh oblends the idea o f the Ancient o f D ays with the L ig h t
of t he World . I t is a star whi c h shines in the la n fer n . I have
s aid that this is a card o f attainment and to extend this con cep ,

t i on the gure is seen holding up his beacon on an eminence .

Therefore the Hermit is not , as Court de G eb elin explained , a

wise man in search o f truth and j ustice ; no r is he ,

as a l ater
ex p l ana t ion proposes an especial example o f experie n ce
, . H is

b e acon in t imates that where I am , you also may be ;

It is further a card which is understood quite incorrec t ly when

it is connected with the idea O f o c cult isolation , as the pro t ec t ion
of personal magnetism against admixture . This is on e o f t he
f rivolous renderings which we owe to E l iph a s L evi . It has b een
adopted by the F rench O rder of Martinism and some o f us have
heard a grea t dea l of t he S i l ent and U nknown P hilosophy
enve l oped by his mant l e from the knowledge o f t he pro fane In .

t rue Martinism t he sig ni cance o f the term P h ilos oph e i n con n u

,

wa s o f another order It did not refer to the intended concea l

.

men t of the Ins t itu t ed Mysteries much less o f their substitu t es

, ,

b utl i k e t he card i t se lft o t he t ruth t ha t the D ivine Mys t eries

secure their own pro t ection f rom those who are unprepare d .
58 I L LU S T R ATE D K E Y T O T HE TA R O T .

T EN . WH EE L O F F O RT U N E

In this symbol I have again followed the reconstruction o f

E liph a s L evi Wh o has furnished several variants
,
It is leg it i .

mate as I have intimated to u se Egyptian symbolism when this
serv es ou purpose provided that no theory o f origin is implie d
r ,

therein I have however presented Typhon in his serpent form

.
, , .

The symbolism is o f c o u rse not ex c l usively Egyptia as the four

, ,
n ,

L iving Creatures o f E z ekiel o c c upy the angles o f the card and ,

the wheel itsel f follows other indi c at i ons o f L evi in respect

of E z ekiel s vision as illustrative o f the particular Tarot

Key With the F rench o cc ultist and in the design itsel f

.
, ,

the symbolic picture stands fo r the perpetua l motion o f a

ui d i c universe and for the ux o f human l ife The S phinx is .

the equilibrium therein The t r ansliteration o f Ta r o as R ota i s

.

ins c ribed on the wheel c ounter c hanged with the l etters o f the
,

D ivine Name to show that P roviden c e is i m pli ed t h r ough all
'

But t his is the D iv i e in t e t i on within and the similar intention

n n ,

without is exemplied by the fo u r L iving Creatures S ometimes .

the sphinx is rep esented c ou c hant on a pedesta l above whi c h

r ,

defrauds the symbolism by stulti fying the essential idea o f sta

b il it y amidst movement .

B ehind the general notion expressed in the symbol there lies

the denia l o f chance and the fatality which is implied therein .

It may be added that from the days o f L evi onward the occult
, ,

explanations o f this card are even for o c cult i sm itsel f o i a
in g u la r ly fatuous kind It h a s been said t o mean principle
. ,

fe c undity virile honor ruling authority etc The ndings o f

, , ,
.

common fortune telling are better than this on their own plane
- .
TH E D O C T R I N E B EH I N D T H E V EI L . 59
60 I LL U S T R ATE D KE Y T O T HE T AR O T .

E L EVEN . J
U STI C E

As this c ard follows the traditional symbolis m and carrie s

above all its obvious meanings there is little , to say regarding it
outside the few c onsiderations c olle c ted in the rst part t o which ,

the reader is referred .

It will be seen however that the gure is seated be t ween

, ,

pillars like the H igh P riestess and

, , on this a c count it seems desir
able to indi c ate that the mora l prin c iple which deals unto every
man according to his
works whi l e , of c ourse it is in s trict
,
,

analogy with higher thing y di ffers in its essence from t he spiri t

ua l j ustice wh ch is involved in the idea of election . The l at t er
belongs to a mysterious order of P rovidence in virtue , of which
it is possible fo r c ertain men to c onceive the idea o f dedication
to the highest things . The operation of this is l ike the breathing
of the S pirit where it wills and we have no canon
, of criticism
or ground o f explanation c on c erning it . It is analogous to the
possession of the fairy gifts and the high gifts and the gracious
gifts of the poet :
we h ave them or have not and their presence ,

is as much a mystery as their absence The l aw o f Justice . is n ot ,

however involved by either alternative In conc l usion the pil l ars

, .
,

of Justi c e open into on e world and the pillars of the High

P riestess into another .
TH E D O C T R I N E B EH I N D T H E V EI L . 61
62 I LL U S T R A TE D KE Y T O T H E T A R O T .

TW E LVE . TH E H AN G ED MAN

T h e g a l lows
'
from wh i c h he is suspended forms a Ta u cross ,

w h ile the g ur e from the po s n l on o f the

l egs forms a fy l fot
cross . There is a nimbus about the head of the seeming mar tyr .

It should be noted ( I ) that the tree o f sacrice is livi ng wood ,

with l eaves thereon ; (2 ) that the fa c e expresses deep entrance

ment not su ffering ; (3 ) that the gure as a whole sugges t s li fe
, , ,

in suspension but life and not death

,
. It is a card o f pro found
signican c e but all the signi c ance is v eiled
, . O ne o f his editors

suggests that E liph a s L evi did not know the meaning which ,
is

unquest i onable nor did the editor himself . It has been called
falsely a c ard o f martyrdom a c ard o f prudence a card o f the
, ,

Great Work a c ard o f duty ;

,
b ut we may exha u st all published
interpretations and nd only vanity . I w i ll say very simply on

my own part that it expresses the relat i on in one , of its aspe c ts ,

between the D ivine and the U niverse .

He who c an understand that the story o f his higher nature is

imbedded in this symbolism will re c eive intimations con c erning

a great awakening tha t is possible and will know that after ,

the sa c red M ys t er y O f D ea t h there is a gloriou s M ys ter y Of

R es ur r e cti on .
HE D O C T R I NE B EH I N D T HE V EI L . 63
64 I LLU S T R A TE D KE Y T O T H E T A R O T .

THI RT EEN . DEATH

The veil or mask o f life i s pe r pe t ua t e d

'
in c hange t rans forma
,

tion and passage from lower to higher and this is more , t l y

represented in the re ctied Tarot by on e of the apocalyptic

visions than by the c rude notion o f the reaping skeleton . B ehind
it l ies the whole world of ascent in the spirit . The mysterious
horseman moves slowly bear i ng a bla c k banner embla z oned with
,

the M ystic R ose ,

which signies li fe . B etween two pillars on

the verge of the hori z on there shines the sun o f im m or t a l i t v .

Th e horseman c arries no visible weapon but king and c hild and ,

maiden fall before him wh i le a prelate with c lasped hands awaits

,

his end .

There should be no need to po i nt out that the suggestion of

death whi c h I have made in c onne c tion with the previous c ard
is ,
of course to be understood mysti c ally but this is
, ,
n ot the c ase
i n the present instance . The natural transit o f man to the nex t
s t age of his being either is or may be on e form of his progress ,

but the exotic and almost unknown entran c e while still in this ,

l ife into the state

, of mystical death is a c hange in the form of

consciousness and the passage into a state t o which ordinary

death is neither the path n or gate The existing occult explana .

tions o f the l gt h card are o the whole better than usua l rebirth
,
n , , ,

creation destination renewal and the rest

, , ,
.
66 I LLU S T R AT E D KE Y T O T HE T AR O T .

F O U RT EEN . T EM P E RAN C E

A winged angel with the s i gn , of the sun upon h is forehead

and on h is breast the square and triangl e o f the septenary . I
speak of him in the mas c uline sense but the gure is neither
,

male nor female . It is held to be pour i ng the essences of li fe

from cha l ice to c halice . It has one foot upon the earth and one
upon waters thus illustrating the nature o f the essen c es
, . A

direct path goes up to c ertain heights on the verge o f the horizon ,

and above there is a great light through whi c h a crown is seen ,

vaguely . Hereo f is so m e part of the S ecret of Eternal L i fe , as

it i s possible to man in his in c arnation . All the conventiona l

emblems are renoun c ed h er ein .

So also are the c onventional meanings whi c h re fer to c hanges ,

in the seasons perpetual movement o f li fe and even the combi

, ,

nation of ideas . It is more over untrue to say that the gure

, ,

symboli z es the geni u s o f the sun ,

though it is the analogy o f so l ar
light reali z ed in the third part
,
o f ou r human t r ipli ci t v
. It is

ca ll ed Temperan c e fantastically because when , , , th e rule of it

o b tains in our c onsciousness it tempers c ombines and harmonizes
, ,

the psy c hic and material natures . U nder that rule we know in
our rationa l part something o f whence we came and whithe r
we are going .
TH E D O C T R I N E B EH I N D T H E V EI L . 67
68 I LLU S T R ATE D KE Y T O THE T A R O T .

FI FT EEN . T HE DEV I L

The design is a n ac c ommodation mean or harmony be t wee n

'

, ,

s e v era l moti v es mentioned in the rs t part The H orned Goa t

.

o f Mendes with wings like those o f a bat is s t anding on an

, ,

a l tar At the pi t o f the stomach there i s the sign of Mercu ry

. .

The right hand is upraised and extended being the reverse of ,

t ha t benediction which is given by the H i erophan t in the ft h

card In the l eft hand there is a great aming torch invert ed
.
,

t owards the earth A reversed pentagram is on the f orehe a d

. .

There is a ring in front o f the altar from which two chains a r e

,

carried to t he necks o f two gu res male and female These a r e

, .

ana l ogous with those o f the fth card as i f Adam and Eve a fter
,

the Fa ll Hereo f i s the chai n and fata l ity o

. f the ma t eria l l ife .

The gures are tailed to signi fy the animal nature bu t t here is

, ,

human in t e l ligence in the faces and he who is exalted above the m

,

is n ot to be their master for ever Even now he is a lso a bonds

.
,

man sustained by th e evil that is in him and blind to the l iberty

,

o f s ervice With more than his usual derision fo r the a rts which
.

he pretended t o respect and interpret as a master therein E liph a s ,

L evi a f rms tha t the B ap hometi c gur e is occu l t sc i ence and

magic Another commentato r says that in the D ivine worl d i t
.

signies predestination but there is n o correspondence in tha t

,

wor l d with the t hings which below are o f the bru t e Wha t i t .

doe s signify i s the D wel l er on the Threshold withou t the M ys

t ica l Garden when those are driven forth therefrom wh o have
ea t en the forb idden fruit .
T H E DO C T R I N E B EH I N D VE I L . 69
 I LL U S T RA TE D KE Y T O THE TA R O T .

S I 'T EEN . TH E T O W E R

O ccu lt exp l anations attached to t his card are meager a n d

mostly disconcerting It is id l e to indi c ate that it depicts ruin in
.

al l its aspects because it bears this evidence on the surface It

,
.

1 8 said further that it c ontains the r st allu s ion to a material

building but I do n ot co ce1 v e that the Tower is more or less
'

,
n

m ateria l than the pillars which we have met with in three pre

vio n s cases I see nothing to warrant P a pus in supposing that

.

it is litera l ly the fa ll o f Adam but there is more in favo r o f h is ,

a l terna t ive that it signie s the materiali z ation o f the spiritual
word The bibliographer Christian 1 magines that it is the down
.

fa ll o f the mind seeking to penetrate the mystery o f God

,

( N ature ) . I agree rather with Grand O rien t that it i s the ru i n

o f the House o f L ife when evil has prevailed therein and above
, ,

a ll that i t is the rending o f a House o f D o c trine I understand .

that the referen c e is however to a House o f Falsehood It

, ,
.

il l us t ra t es a l so in the mos t comprehe n sive way the old t ruth that

excep t the L ord bui l d the house they labo r in vain that bui l d it ,
.

There i s a sense in which the c ata st rophe is a ree c tion from

t he previous c ard but not on the side o f the symbo l ism which I
,

have t ri ed t o indi c ate therein I t i s more c orre c tly a ques t ion o f

.

ana l ogy ; on e is concern ed with the fa l l into the materia l and -

a nima l sta t e while t he other signi e s destru c tion on the inte l

,

l ectua l side The Tower has been spoken o f a s the chas t isemen t
.

o f pride and th e intelle c t overwhelmed in the attempt t o pene

t rate the M ystery o f God ( Nature ) b u t in neither case d o t hese

exp lanations ac c ount for t h e two persons who are the l iving suf
fe r er s. The on e is the l iteral wo rd made void and the other it s
f a lse interpretation In yet a deeper sense it may signify a l so
.
,

t he end o f a dispensation but there is no possibility here for t he

,

c onsideration o f this involved question .

T H E D O C T R I N E B EH I N D T H E V EI L . 71
 I LLU S T R ATE D KE Y TO THE T AR O T .

S EVEN T EEN . T HE S TAR

A great radiant star o f eight rays surrounded by seven l esser
, ,

s tars also o f eight rays . The female gure in the foreground is

entirely naked . Her left knee is on the land and her right foot
upon the water . Sh e pours Water of L ife from two great ewers ,

irrigating sea and land . B ehind her is rising ground and on the
right a shrub or tree whereon a bird alights
, . The gure
ex presses eternal youth and beauty . The star is l e t oi l e am

b oya n t e, whi c h appears in M asoni c symbolism but has been con

,

fused therein . That whi c h the gure communi c ates to the l iving
scene is the substan c e o f the heavens and the elements . It ha s

been said truly that the mottoes o f this c ard are Waters o f L i fe
freel y and Gifts of the S pirit .

The summ ary of several tawd ry explanations says that it is a

card o f hope . O n other planes it has been certied as im m or

tality and interio r ligh t . F or the maj ority o f prepared minds ,

the gure will appear as the type o f Truth unvei l ed glorious ,

in

undying beauty pouring ,

on the wa t ers of the sou l some part and
m easure of her priceless possession . B ut she is in rea l ity the
G r ea t M ot h er in the K a ba lis ti c S eph i r a B i n a h ,
which is superna l
U nders t anding who communicates to the
,
S eph i r oth that are

b e l ow in t he measure tha t t hey can receive her in ux .

74 I LLU S T R ATE D KE Y T O T HE TA R O T .

E I G H TEEN . T H E M OO N

The distinction between this c ard and some o f t he conven t iona l

t ypes is that the mo on is increasing on what is ca l led the side of

mer c y to the right o f the observer

,
. It has sixteen chief and s ix

teen secondary rays . The card represents life o f the imagination

apart from life o f the spirit . The path between th e t owers is t he

issue into the unk nown . The dog and the wol f are the fears o f
the natura l mind in the presence of that place o f exi t when there ,

is only ree c ted light to g uide it .

The las t re feren c e is a key to another form o f symbo l ism . Th e

intelle c tual light is a ree c tion and beyond it is t h e unknown mys

t er y which it cannot show forth . It i l luminates our anima l
,

nature types o f whi c h are represented below the d og , the wo l f
and that whi c h c omes up out o f the deeps the nameless and hid ,

eo n s tenden c y whi c h is lower than the savage beas t . It strives t o

at t ain mani festation symboli z ed by c rawling from the abyss
, of

water t o the land but as a rule it sinks ba c k whence it came

, ,
. The
fa c e o f the min d dire c ts a c alm ga z e upon the u res t below ; the n

dew of thought falls ; the message is :

P eace be stil l ; and i t may ,

be t hat t h ere shal l come a cal m upon the animal nature whi l e t he ,

abyss beneath sha l l cease from g i vm

g up a form .
TH E D O C T R I N E B EH I N D T HE V EI L . 75
 I LLU S T R A TE D KE Y T O THE T AR O T
'

76 ~
.

N I N ET EEN . TH E S U N

Th e naked child mounted on a white horse and disp l aying a re d

s t andard has been mentioned a l ready as the be t ter symbo l ism
connected with this card . It is the destiny of t he S upernatura l

Eas t and the great and holy light whi c h goes before the end l es s
procession o f humanity c oming out fr om the walled garden o f the
,

sensitive l ife an d passing on the j ourney home . The card s ig n i

es there fore the transit from the manifest light

, , of this wor l d ,

represented by the glorious sun o f earth ; to t he light of the wor l d

to c ome which goes before aspiration
, an d is typied by the hear t
of a C h l ld .

B ut the l ast allusion is again the key t o a di fferent fo rm or aspec t

of the symbo l ism ; The sun is that o f consciousness in the spirit
the direct as the a ntithes i s o f the reected light . Th e chara c teri st ic

type o f hu m anity has

become a litt l e child therein a child in t he
i

sense of simpli c ity and innocence in the sense o f wisdom . In

t hat simpli c ity he bears the sea l
,
of Nature and of Art ; in tha t
innocence he ,
s rg m e s the restored world . W he n t he self know -

ing spirit has dawned in the c onsciousness above t he na t ura l

mind tha t mind in its renewa l l eads forth the ani m a l na ture in
,

a s tat e of per f ec t conformity .

THE DO C T R I N E B EH I N D T H E V EI L . 77
78 I L LU S T R ATE D KE Y TO THE T AR O T .

T WE N T Y . TH E LAS T J U D GM EN T

I h a vesaid that this symbol is essentially invariable in all Taro t

s e t s or a t l east the variations d o not al t er its charac t er
, The .

grea t angel i s here encompassed by clouds but he blows h i s b an

,

n er ed t rumpet and the cross a s usual is displayed on t he banner

, .

The dead are rising from th e ir tombs a woman on t he righ t a ,

man on the l eft hand and between them their child whose bac k
, ,

i s turned .B u t in this card there are more than three wh o are

res t ored and it h a s been thought worth while to make this varia
,

t ion a s il l ustrating the insu f c iency o f current explanations I t .

should be noted that a l l the gures are as on e in the wonder ,

adoration and ecstasy expressed by their attitudes It i s the card .

which registers the accompli shment o f the great work o f t rans ?

f o rmation in answer to the summons o f the S upernal 4which

summons is heard and answered from within .

Herein is the intimation o f a signi c ance which cannot wel l be

carried further in the present place What is that within us
.

which does sound a trumpet and all that is lower in our na t ure

rises in response a l mos t in a moment almos t in the twink l ing of
,

an eye ? Let the card continue t o depict fo r those who can s ee

,

no further t he L as t Judgmen t and the resurrection in the nat

,

ura l bo dy ; but l e t those who have inward eyes l ook and discover
t herewith They wi ll unders t and that i t h a s been called t ruly in
.

t he pas t a card of e t erna l l ife and for t his reason i t may b e

,

compared wi t h t hat whi c h p asses under t h e name o f Temperanc e .

T H E D O C T R I N E B EH I N D T H E V EI L 79
80 I LLU S T R ATE D KEY TO THE T ARO T .

'ER O
0 . T HE F OO L

With l ight step as i f earth and its tramme l s had l itt l e power t o
,

restrain him a young man in gorgeous vestments pauses at t he

,

brink o f a precipice among the great heights of the wor l d ; he

surveys the blue distance before him its expanse o f sk y rather
tha n t he pr ospect b elow H i s act o f eager walking i s sti ll indi

.

ca t ed though he is stationary a t the given mo m ent ; h i s dog i s stil l

,

bounding The edge whi c h opens on the depth has no terro r ; it

.

1 8 as 1 f angels were waiting to uphold him i f it came about t hat ,

he leaped from the height His c ountenan c e is full o f in t elli .

gence and e xpec tant dream He has a rose in one hand and in .

the other a costly wand from which depends over his right shou l
,

der a wallet curiousl y embroidered He is a prince o f the other .

world on his travels through this oneall amidst the morning

gl ory in the keen air The sun which shines behind him k nows
,
.
, ,

whence he came whither he is going and how he wi ll re t urn b y

, ,

another path after many days He is t h e spirit in search o f .

e x perience Many symbols of the Instituted M ysteries are sum

. .

m a r i ed in this card which reverses under high warrants al l t he

z , , ,

con fusions tha t have preceded it .

In h i s M a n ua l O f C a r t om a n cy Grand O rient has a curious sug ',

ges t ion o f the ofce o f M ystic F 0 0 1 as a part of h is process in ,

higher divination ; but it might call for more than ordina r y g i ft s

t o put it in t o operation We shal l see h ow the card fares accord
.

i n g to t he co m mon arts o f fortune telling and i t wil l b e an -

,

e x amp l e t o those who can discern o f the fac t otherwise so evi

, , ,

dent tha t the T rumps Maj o r had no place o riginal l y in the arts o f
,

psychic gamb l ing when cards are used a s the counter s and pre
,

te xt s O f t he circumstances under which this art arose we know

.
,

however very l it tl e The conventio n al explanations say tha t the

,
.

F0 0 1 signies t he esh the sensitive li fe and by a peculiar satire

, ,

it s subsidiary name wa s at one t ime t he a l chemist a s depicting ,

fo ll y a t t he most insensate stage .

82 I LLU S T R ATE D KE Y T O THE T AR O T .

TWEN TY O N E . T H E W O RL D

As this nal message of the M aj or Trumps is un c hangeda n d

indeed
un c hangeable in respe c t o f its design it has been part l y ,

des c ribed already regarding its deeper sense . It represents al so

t he perfe c tion an d end Of the Cosmos the secret whi c h is within ,

i t the rapture o f the universe when it understands itself in God

,

( Nature ) . It is further the state of the soul in the consciousness

of D ivine V ision ree c ted from the self knowing spirit
,
-
. B ut
these meanings are without prej udice to that whi c h I have said
concerning it on the material side .

It has more than one message on the macrocosmic side and is ,

for example the state ,

o f th e restored world when the law of

mani festation shall have been carried to the highest degree of

na t ural perfe c tion . B ut it is perhaps more especially a story of

the past re ferring

,
to that day when all wa s declared to be good ,

when the morning stars sang together and a ll the S ons o f God
( Nature ) shouted fo r j oy . O ne o f the worst e xp l anations con
c erning i t is t hat the gure symbolizes the M agus when he has

reached the highest degree o f initiation ; another account say s

t hat it represents the absolute whi c h ridiculous The gure ,
is .

h a s b een said to stand for T ruth which is however more prop , , ,

erl y a l loca t ed to the seventeenth c ard L ast lyit h a s b een ca ll ed .

,

t he C rown o f the M agi .

T H E D O C T R I N E B EH I N D T H E V EI L . 83
 I LLU S TR ATE D KEY T O THE T A R O T .

S E C TI ON 3

C O N C LU S I O N A S T O TH E G R E ATE R K EY S

There has been no attempt in the previous tabulation to presen t

the symbolism in what is ca l led the three w orlds that o f D ivin
i ty o f the M acrocosm and the M i c rocosm
, A l arge volume .

would be required fo r developments o f this kind I have taken .

the cards on the high plane of their more dire c t signicance t o

man who in materia l life is on the quest o f eternal things
, .

The c ompiler o f the M a n ua l O f C a r t om a n cy has treated them

under three headings :the World o f Human P rudence whi c h ,

does not di ffer fro m divination on its more serious side ; the
World o f Con formity being the li fe of religious devotion ; and
,

the W orld o f Attainment which is that o f the soul s progress

,

towards the term o f its research He gives also a triple process

.

o f consultation a c cording to these divisions to whi c h the reader

, ,

is r eferred I have no such process to o ffer as I think that more

.
,

may be gained by individual ree c tion on each o f the Trumps

Maj or I have also not adopted the prevailing att ribution of the
.

c ards o f the Hebrew alphabet st ly because it would serve no
r ,

purpose in an elementary handbook ; secondly because near ly ,

every attribution is wrong Finally I have not attempted to

.
,

rectify the position o f the c ards in their relation t o o e another ; n

the 'ero therefore appears after No 20 but I have taken care .

,

not to number the World or U niverse otherwise than a s 2 1 .

Wherever it ought to be put the 'ero is an unnumbered card

,
.

In con cl usion as to this part I wi ll give t hese further indica

,

tions regarding the F0 0 1 which is the most speaking of a ll t h e

,

symbols He signies the j ourney outward the state o f the rst

.
,

emanation the graces and passivity o f the spirit H i s wa l let i s

, .

inscribed with dim signs t o show tha t m any sub conscio us

,
-

memories are stored up in the sou l .

 PART I I I

T H E O UTE R M ETH O D O F O RACL ES

 a rt E lyn ?
l

THE O U T E R M ET H O D O F T H E O RA C L E S

S E CT I O N I

D I STI N C TI O N B ETW EEN TH E

GR EAT E R A N D L E SS E R ARCAN A

In respect o f their usua l presentation the b ridge b etween t he

,

Greater and esse Ar cana is supplied by the cour t cards King

L r ,

Queen Knight and S quire or P age ; but their utter distinction

,

from the Trumps M aj o r 1 8 shown by their convention al character .

L et the reader compare t he m with symbols l ike t he F 0 0 1 the ,

,

High P ries t ess the Hierophant or almost withou t exception
,

with any in the prev i ous sequence and he wil l dis c ern my mean
,

in g
. There I S no especia l idea c onnected on the surface wi t h the
o rdinary court cards ; they are a bridge o f conventions which ,

form a t ransitio n to t h e simp l e pretexts o f the counters a n d

denaries o f the numbers following We seem t o have passed
.

away utter l y from the regi on o f higher meanings i ll ustrated by

l iving picture s There was a period however when t he num
.
, ,

bered cards were a l so pictures but such devices were sporadic

,

inven t ions o f parti c u l ar art i sts and were either conventiona l

designs of the typica l or allegori c a l k ind distinct from what is

,

understood by symbolism or they were illustrations shal l we

,

s ya P o f manners customs and periods

, T hey were in a word
.
, ,

a d o m m en t s and a s su c h they did nothing t o raise the sign icance

,

o f the L esser Ar c ana t o the plane o f the Trumps M aj or ; more

over such variations are ex c eedingl y few T his notwithstanding
, .
,

there are vague rumors concerning a higher meaning in the minor

cards bu t nothing has s o far transpired even within the sphere
, ,

o f prudence which b elongs to the mos t occult circ l es ; these it i s ,

true have certain variants in respect of divinatory values bu t I

, ,

have not h eard tha t in practice they o ff er b et t er re su lts E ffort s .

87
88 I L L U S T RA T E D KEY T O THE TA R O T .

l i k e t ho se of in Th e Ta r ot O f Th e B oh em ia n s are st r en u
P a pus
ous a n d deserving a fter their own kind ; he in particular recog , ,

m ize s t h e elements o f the D ivine Immanence in t he Trump s

Maj o r a n d he seeks to follow them through the l ong series o f t h e
,

l esse r card s a s i f these represented lt r a t ion s of t h e W orld o f

,

Grac e t hrough the World o f F ortune ; bu t h e on ly pr oduces an

arbi t ra ry scheme o f division which he ca n carry n o further and ,

h e h a s recourse o f necessity in the end t o a common scheme o f

, ,

divination a s the substitute for a t itl e to exis t ence on the par t of

t h e L esse r Arcana Now I a m prac t ica l ly 1 n t he s ame pos i tio n ;
.
,

b u t I sha ll make no at t emp t here to save t he situation by draw i ng

on t h e m ystica l proper ti es o f numbers a s h e and ot her s have ,

a tt emp t ed I shal l recognize a t once tha t the T rumps Maj or

.

b e l ong t o the divine dealings o f philosophy bu t a ll tha t fo ll ows t o ,

fo r t un e t e l ling since i t h a s never ye t been translated in t o another

-
,

l anguage t he course thu s adopted will render t o divination and

, ,

a t need even t o gamb l ing t he things tha t belong to this particu l ar

,

wor l d o f ski ll and i t will set apar t fo r their proper busines s those
,

m at t ers that are o f an other order In this free introduction t o

.

t he subj ec t in hand it i s only necessa r y t o add t hat the di ff erence

,

be t wee n the fty six L esser Arcana and the ordinary p l aying
-

cards i s n ot on l y essentia l ly s l ight because t he substitution o f ,

C up s for Heart s and so forth consti t utes an accidenta l varia t ion

, , ,

b u t because the presence of a Knight in each o f the four suits wa s

charac t eristic at one time o f many o rdinary packs when t his ,

p er s onage usually replaced t he Queen In the recti ed T arot .

which il l us t ra t es the presen t handbook al l numbered cards of the

,

L es ser Arcana t h e Aces only excepted are furn ished with

gure s or pictures t o illustrate bu t with ou t e haust ing t hex
divina t o r y meaning s attached thereto .

S ome wh o are gifted with reective and discernin g f acu lt ie s in

more than the ordinary sense and I am not speaking of c l air
voyance may observe that m many o f the L esser Arcana there
are vag ue i ntimations con veyed by the designs which s eem t o
ex ceed the stated divinato r y va l ues It is desirab l e t o a v oid m is
.

concep t ion by specifying denite l y that except in rare i n stances

and t hen on l y by accidentthe variations are no t t o b e regarded
,

a s suggestions o f higher and e x t ra divinatory symbo l i sm -

I have .

said tha t t hese L esser Arcana have n ot been translated i n t o a

l anguage which transcends tha t of for t une telling I shou l d n ot -
.

indeed be disposed t o regard t hem a s be l onging in thei r e x i sti n g

f o rms t o another rea l m t han t his ; bu t t he e l d of di vina t o r y pos
sib i lit i es i s inexhaustib l e by t he hypo thesis of t he ar t a n d t he
, ,

c om bined sys t ems of cart omancy have indica t ed on l y t h e b are

90 I LLU S T RAT E D KE Y TO THE TA RO T .

T HE SU IT O F WANDS . KI NG .

Th e physica l and emotiona l nature t o which this car d i s a t t r ib

ut ed i s dark , ardent lithe animated , impassioned , noble
, ,
.Th e
King uplif t s a owering wand and wears , like h i s three corre
,

s pon d en ces in the remaining suits , wha t is called a cap o f main

t en a n ce ben eath h i s crown .H e connects with t he symbol of t he

lion which i s emblazoned on the back o f h is t hr one D i vi n a t or y
:
.
,

M ea n in gs D ar k m a n , friendly , coun t ry m an genera ll y married ,

,

hones t and conscientious Th e card a l ways signies honesty a n d

.
,

may mean n ew s concerning an unexpected heritage to fa ll in

b efore v e ry l on g . R ev er s ed :
Good , b u t severe ; aus t ere yet,

t ole ran t .
 O UT E R M E T H O D O F THE O RA C L E S . 91

WANDS .
Q U EE N .

W ands throughout this suit are a l ways in l ea f it i s

Th e

, as a
suit o f li fe and animation Emotionally and otherwi se t h e

.
,

Queen s personality corresp onds to that o f the King b u t is mo re

magnetic D ivi n a tor y M ea n in g s :A dark woman cou n t ry

,

.
,

woma n f ri endly chaste l oving honorab l e I f t he ca r d b e sid e

, , , , .
~

her signies a man sh e i s we l l disposed towards him ; i f a wo m an

, ,

she i s interes t ed in the Queren t A l so l ove of money or a cer

'

tain success in b usiness R ever s ed :Good economica l obl i gi ng

.
, ,

serviceab l e S ig n ies a l sobu t in cer tain positions and in t h e

.
, , ,

neighborhood of o t her cards t ending in such direc t ions O p posi

.

t ion j ea l ousy even decei t and inde l ity

, , .
92 I LLU S T R AT E D KE Y T O T HE TA RO T .

WAN D S . K N I G HT .

He i s shown as i f upon a j ourney armed with a sh or t wand

, ,

and although mailed is not on a warl i ke errand He i s p assing.

mounds or pyramids The motion of the horse i s a key t o t h e

.

chara c ter o f its rider and sugges t s the precipita t e mood or

things connected therewith D i vi n a t or y M ea n in gs :D eparture
, ,

.
,

absence ight emigration A dark young man friendly

Change o f residence R ever s ed :
.
, , .
,

. R upt u re division in t e r rup t io n

, , ,

discord .
 O UTE R M E T H O D O F THE O RAC L E S . 93

WAN D S
PAG E . .

I n a scene s imilar to the former a young man stands in t he act

,

o f proclamation He is unknown b ut faithful and h is tidings a r e

strange D i v ina t or y M ea n i n gs :D ark young man faithful a
.
,

.
, ,

l over an envoy a postman B eside a man he will bear favo rable

, , .
,

testimony concerning him A dangerous rival i f fo l lowed by

.
,

t he P age o f C ups H a s the chie f qua l ities o f his suit H e may

signify fami ly intelligence R ev er s ed :Anecdotes announce
. .

.
,

ments evi l news Also ind eci sion and the instabi l ity which
, .

accompanies it .
94 I LL U S T RAT E D KE Y T O T HE TA R O T .

WA N D S . T EN .

A m an oppressed by the weight o f the ten staves which he is

carryin g . D i vi n a t or y M ea n i n g s :A card of many sig n ica n ces ,

a n d some o f the readings cannot be harmoni z ed I set aside tha t

.

which connects i t with honor and good fai th The chief mean
.

i n g i s op pression si m p l y but it i s also fortune g ain any kind o f

, , ,

succe ss and t hen it i s the oppression o f these things

,
It i s also .

a card of fa l se seeming dis guise pe r d y

-
, , .The place which the g
u r e i s approaching may su ffer from the rod s th a t he carries S uc .

c ess i s st ult i e d i f the Nine o f S w ords follows and i f it i s a ques

,

tio n o f a l awsuit t here wil l be certain loss R ever sed

, .

C on t rar ie t ies di fcu l ties in t ri g ues and t heir analog ie s

, , ,
.
 O U T E R M ET H O D O F THE O R AC L E S . 95

WAN D S . NIN E .

Th e gu re l eans upon his sta ff and has an expec t an t l oo k a s if

B ehind are eight other staves erect in
,

a waiting an enemy
D i vi n a t or y M ea n i n g s :
.
,

order l y disposition l ike a palisade

,
. The
card signi es st rength in opposition I f attacked the person wil l
.
,

mee t an ons l aught bold ly ; and his bui l d shows tha t h e may prove
a fo rmidab l e antagonis t With this main signicance there a r e
a ll it s possib l e adj uncts de l ay suspension adj ournmen t
.

R ever s ed :
.
, ,

O b st ac l e s ad versity calamity
, , .
96 I LLU S TR AT E D KEY T O THE TA R O T .

WA N D S . E I G HT .

The card represents motion through t he immovable a ight o f
wands through a n open count ry ; but they draw to the ter m o f
thei r co urse That whi c h they sig n i y is at hand ; it may be even
:
.

o n t he threshold . D i vi n a t or y M ea n i n g s Activity in under

t akings t he pat h o f such a c tivity swiftness as that o f an express
, , ,

messenger ; great haste great hope speed towards an end which

, ,

promises assured felicity ; generally that whi c h is on the move ;

: Arrows o f j
,

a l so the arrows o f love R ev e

. r s e d ,
i
ealousy nterna l
dispu t e stingings o f cons c ience , quarrels ; and domestic dispute
,
s

for persons who are married .

98 I L LU S T RA TE D KEY T O THE TA R O T .

WAN D S . SI' .

A l aure ll ed horseman b ears one sta ff adorned with a l aure l

crown ; footmen with staves are at his side D ivi n a t or y M ea n
in gs :
.

The card has been so designed that it can cover severa l sig
n ica t i on s ; on the surface it is a v i ctor t riumphing but i t i s a l so
, ,

great news such a s might be carried in state by t he King s

,

courier ; it is expectation crowned with its own desire the crown

and so forth R ever s ed :Apprehension fear a s of a
,

o f hope ,
.
, ,

vic t orious enemy at the gate ; t reachery disl oyalty a s o f g at e s

, ,

being op ened t o the enemy ; also indenite delay .

 O UTE R M ETH O D O F THE O RACL E S . 99

WAN D S . FIV E .

A posse o f yo uths who are brandishing staves a s i f in spo rt

'

, ,

o r strife It is m i mi c warfare and hereto c orrespond the D ivi n a

t o y M ea n i n g s :
.
,

r Imitation as for example sha m ght but also

, , , ,

the strenuous competition and st ruggle o f the search after riches

and fortune In this sense it connects with the b a ttle o f li fe
. .

Hen c e some attributions say that it is a card o f gold gain opu

l ence R ev er s ed :
, ,

. L itigation disputes trickery contradiction

, , , .
1 00 I L L U S T R AT E D KE Y T O T H E T ARO T .

WAN D S . FO U R .
F ro m t he f our great staves p l an t ed in the foregroun d th er e i s a
g rea t garland suspended ; two female gures uplift nose a
g y s ; a t
thei r side i s a bridge over a moat l eading t o an old manoria l
h ous e D ivi n a t or y M ea n i n gs :
,

They are fo r once a l mos t on t h e

.

s urface country l i fe haven of refuge a specie s of domes t ic

, ,

harvest home repose con cord harmony prosperity peace a n d

-

R ev er s ed :
, , , , , ,

t h e perfec t ed work o f these . The meanin g r emai n s

un a lt e r ed ; i t i s pr osperi t y increase fe l ici ty b eau ty em b e ll ish
, , , ,

m en t .
1 02 I LLU S T R A TE D KEY T O THE TA R O T
.

WAND S . T WO .

A ta ll man l ooks f rom a battlemented roo f over sea and shore ;

h e holds a globe in his right hand w hile a sta ff in his left rests on
,
'

the battlement ; another is xed in a ring The R ose and Cross

.

and L ily should be noticed on the left side D ivi n a t or y M ea n

in gs :
.

B etween the alternative readings there is no marriage pos

sible ; on the on e hand ri c hes fortune magnicence ; on the
, , ,

other physic a l su ffering disease chagrin sadness m ort ica t ion

, , , , ,
.

The design gives on e suggestion ; here is a l ord over l oo k ing h i s

dominion and a lternately c ontemplating a gl obe ; it l oo k s like the
ma l ady t he m or t ica t ion the sadness of Alexander amidst the
grandeur o f this world s wealth R ever s ed :S urprise wonder
, ,

.
, ,

enchan tmen t emotion trouble fear

, , , .
 O U TE R M ET H O D O F T H E O R AC L E S . 1 03

WAN D S . AC E .

A hand issuing from a C loud grasps a s t out wan d or c l ub

D ivin a t or y M ea n i n g s :
.

Creation inve n tion enterprise the powers

, , ,

which result in these ; prin c iple beginning sourc e ; birth family

, , , ,

origin and in a sense the virility which i s behind them ; the s t art
,

ing poin t o f ente rprises ; a c cording to another accoun t money

fortune inheritance R ev er s ed :
, ,

F al l decadence ruin perdition

t o perish ; a l so a cer t ain c l ouded j
, .
, , , ,

oy
.
1 04 I LL U S T R ATE D KEY T O THE TA R O T .

TH E S U IT O F C U PS . K I NG .

He holds a short s c epter in his l eft hand and a grea t cup in h is

righ t ; h is t hrone is set upon the sea ; on one side a ship is riding
and on the other a dolphin is l eaping The i m plicit i s tha t the
.

S ign o f t he Cup naturally refers to water which appears in a ll

the cou rt cards D ivi n a t or y M ea n i n g s :Fair man man o f busi
,

.
,

nes s l aw or divinity ; responsible disposed to oblige the Querent ;

, , ,

also equi ty art and scien c e including those who pro fess science
, , ,

law and ar t ; creative intelligen c e R ev er s ed D ish onest double

.
'
.
,

dealing man ; roguery e x act ion inj ustice vice scanda l pill age
, , , , , ,

con siderable l oss .

1 06 I LL U S T R ATE D KEY T O THE TA R O T
'

C U PS . K N I G HT .

Gra c eful bu t no t warl ike ; riding quietly wearing a winged

, ,

h elmet referring to those higher grace s of the imagination which

,

sometimes characterize this card He t oo i s a dreamer but the

.
,

images o f the side o f sense haunt him in his vision D i vin a t or y

:
.

Me a n i n s Arrival approach sometimes that o f a messenger ;

g ,

advances proposition demeanor invitation incitemen t R e

v er s ed :
.
, , , ,

Trick ery artice subtlety swindling duplicity fraud

, , , , , .
 O U T E R M ETH O D O F TH E O R A C L E S . 1 07

C U PS
PAG E . .

A f air p l easing somewhat e ffeminat e; page o f stu d io us a n d

, , ,

intent aspect contemplates a sh rising f rom a cup t o l ook at him

, .

It is the pictures o f the mind taking form D i vin a tor y M ea n

i n gs :
.

F air young man o e impelled t o render service and with

,
n

whom the Querent wil l be connected ; a studious you t h ; news ,

message ; app l ication reection meditation ; a l so these things

dire c ted to business R ever sed :Tas t e inc l ina t i on a tt achmen t
, ,

.
, , ,

seduction deception ar t ice

, , .
1 08 I LLU S T R AT E D KEY T O THE TA R O T .

C U PS . T EN .

A ppea r ance Cups in a rainbow ; it is co n te m p la ted in wo n d er

of
a n d ecstasy by a man and wo m an below evidently husband and
,

wi fe . His right arm i s about her ; his left is raised u pward ; sh e

raises her right arm The t wo children dancing near them have
.

not observed the prodigy but are happy after their own manner
There is a home s c ene beyond D ivi n a t or y M ea n i n gs :Content
.

-
.

ment repose of the entire heart ; the perfection of that state ; al so

,

perf ect ion o f human love and friendshi p ; i f with severa l picture
cards a person wh o is taki n g c h a rge of t he Q uer en t s interest s ;
,

a l so the town vil l age or country inhabited by the Queren t

R ever sed :
.
,

R epose o f t he fa l se hear t i n d i gn a t ion vio l enc e

, , .
1 10 I LL U S T R A TE D KEY T O THE TA R O T .

C UPS . E I G HT .

A man o f dej ec t ed aspect is deserting the c ups o f his felicity ,

enterprise und e rtak ing or previous c on c ern D ivi n a t or y M ea n

i n gs :
.
,

The card speaks for itself on the surfa c e but other readings
,

are entirely antithetical giving j oy mildness timidity honor
, , , ,

modesty In practice it is usually found that the c ard shows the

.
,
.

decline o f a matter or that a matter which h a s been thought t o be

important i s really o f slight c onsequenceeither for good or evi l
,

Great j
R ev er s ed :
.

oy happiness feasting
, , .
 O UTE R M E TH O D O F T H E O R AC L E S . 1 11

C UPS S EVEN
. .

St range cha l ice s o f vision but the images are more especia lly
t hose of the fantastic spirit D i vi a t or y M ea n i n g s :
,

. n F ai r y favors ,

images o f reection sentiment imagination things seen in t h e

, , ,

glass of contemplation ; some a tta inmen t in these degrees but

nothing permanent or substantia l i s suggested R ever s ed :
,

D esire wi ll de t ermination proj ec t

, , , .
112 I LL U S T R ATE D KEY T O THE TA R O T .

C U PS . SI'
.

C hi l dre n in an ol d garden their c ups l led wi t h ower s

D ivi n a t or y M ea n i n g s :
, .

A card o f the past and of memories look

ing back a s for exampleou childho od ; happiness enj oyment
,

, , ,

bu t coming rather from the past ; things tha t hav e vanished .

Another reading reverses this giving n ew relations new know l

, ,

edge new environment and then t he children are disporting i n a n

un familiar precinct R ev er sed :
, ,

. Th e f ut ure renewa l that whic h

, ,

wil l come t o pass presen tl y .

1 14 I LLU S T R AT E D KEY T O THE TA R O T .

CU P S . F O UR .

A yo ung man is seated under a tree and contemp l a t e s three

cups set on the grass before h im ; an arm issuing from a cloud
o ff ers h im another cup H is expression notwithstanding i s one
o f discontent with h is environment D ivi n a t or y M ea n i n gs :
.

Weariness disgust aversion imaginary vexations a s i f the w i ne

o f this woi l d had caused satiety only ; another wine as i f a fairy
, , , ,

gift i s now o ff ered the wastrel but he sees no c onsolation therein

This i s also a card o f blended pleasure R ev er s ed :No ve l ty
.
, ,

.
,

presage n ew instruction new relations

, , .
 O UTER M ETHO D O F THE O R AC L E S . 115

C U PS . TH R EE .

Maidens in a garden ground with c ups uplifted as i f p l edgi ng

-

D ivi n t or y M ea n i n g s :The c onclusion o f any

,

on e another . a

mat t er in plen t y perfection and merrimen t ; happy issue vic t o ry

fullmen t solace healing R ever s ed :Expedition dispatch
, , ,

, ,
.
, ,

achievement end It signies also the side o f excess in physica l

, .

enj oymen t and t h e plea sur es o f the senses

,
~
.
116 I LLU S T R ATE D KEY T O THE TA RO T .

C UPS . TW O .

youth and maiden are pledging on e another and a b o ve t heir

,

cups r i ses the Cadu c eus o f Hermes between the great wings of
,

which there appears a lion s head It is a variant of a sign which

.

i s found in a few old examp l es o f this car d S ome curious

.

emblematica l meanings are att a ched t o it bu t they do n ot con

cern us in t his place D ivi n a t or y M ea n i n gs :L ove passion
,

.
, ,

friendship a fnity union concord sympathy the inter relation -

, , , , ,

of the sexe s and as a suggestion apart from a ll o fces o f divi

'

nation that desire which is no t in Nature bu t by whic h Na t ure

,

i s sanctied .
118 I LL U S T R ATE D KE Y T O THE TA R O T .

T HE S U IT O F SW O RD S . KI NG .

He sits in j udgment holding the unsheathed sign o f h is suit

, .

He re c alls of c ourse the conventional S ymbol of Justice in the

, ,

Trumps M aj or and he may represent this virtue but he is rather

, ,

the power o f li fe and death in vi r tue o f his O f c e D i vin a t or y

M ea n i n g s :
.
,

Whatsoever arises out o f the idea of j udgment and all

its connec t ionspower command authority militant intelligen c e
l aw offi ce s o f the c r own and so forth R ev er s ed :C ruelty
, , , ,

, .
, .
,

perversi ty barbarity per d y evi l intenti on

, , , .
 O U TE R M ET HO D OF TH E O R AC L E S . 1 19

SWO R D S Q U EEN
. .

Her right hand raises the weapon vertically and t he hilt r est s
on an arm o f her royal c hair ; the left hand is extended the a r m ,

raised ; her countenance is severe but chastened ; it suggests

familiarity with so rrow It does not r epresent mercy and her
.
, ,

sword notwithstanding she is scarcely a symbo l o f powe r .

D i vi n a t or y M ea n i n g s :
,

Widowhood fema l e sadnes s and embar

,

r a ssm en t absence sterility mourning privation separa t ion Re

v ers ed :
.
, , , , ,

Malice bigotry artice pru dery bale decei t

, , , , , .
1 20 I L LU S T R A TE D KE Y TO T H E TA R OT .

SWO R D S . K N I G HT .

He i s riding in f u ll course a s i f scattering h is en em ie s In t h e

, .

d esign h e i s really a pro t o t ypica l hero of romantic chiva l ry

- He .

m i ht almos t be G alahad whose sword i s swif t and sure b ecause

g
D i v in a t or y M ea n i n gs :Sk i ll b rave r y
,

h e i s c l ean o f heart .
, ,

c apaci t y defense addre s s en m ity wrath war destruction oppo

, , , , , , ,

s it ion
, resistance ruin There is t herefore a sense in which the
, .

ca rd s ignies death but i t carrie s thi s m ea n in on l in i t s pro x

g y
R ever sed :
,

i m ity t o other cards of fa t a l i t y . Imprudenc e in c a ,

p a ci t y,ex travagance .
1 22 I L LU S T R AT E D KE Y T O T H E TA R O T .

S WO RDS . TEN .

pr o st r a t e gur e pierced by a ll the swords b e l on i

g gn t o t h e

card D i vi n a t or y M ea n in gs :Whatsoever is in t imated by the

,

design ; also pain a f iction tears sadness desolation I t is not

especia lly a card o f vio l ent death R ev er s ed :Advantage prot
.
, , , ,

.
, ,

success favo r bu t none o f t he se are permanen t ; a l so power a n d

, ,

au thori t y .
 O UTE R M ETH O D O F TH E O R AC L E S . 1 23

SWO R D SNIN E
. .

O n e seated on her cou c h in l amentation with the swo r d s over

,

her S h e is as o e who knows n o sorrow whi c h i s like unt o

n

hers It is a card o f utter desolation D ivin a t or y M ea n i n gs :

.

. .

D eath failure m i sca r r Ia g e delay deception disappoin t ment

despair R ever s ed :Imprisonment suspicion doubt r ea son a ble
, , , , , ,

.
, , ,

fear shame
, .
1 24 I LLU S T R ATE D KEY T O THE TA R O T .

SW O R D S . E I G HT .

A woman bound and hoodwinked with t he swords of t h e car d
, ,

a bo u t her Yet it is rather a card o f temporary durance t han o f

irretrievable bondage D ivin a t or y M ea n i n g s :B a d new s v io l ent
.

.
,

c hagrin cris i s censure power in t rammels conict C a l umny

al so sic kness R ever s ed :D isquie t di fculty op posit i on a cc i

, , , , ,
O

.
, , ,

den t t reachery ; what is unforeseen ; fatality

, .
1 26 I L LU S T R ATE D KEY T O T H E TA R O T .

SWO R D S . S I' .

A f erryman c arrying passengers in h is pun t t o the furt her shore .

Th e c ourse is smooth and seeing that the freigh t i s l ight i t may

, ,

b e n o t e d t ha t t he wor k i s n ot beyond his streng t h D iv in a t or y

M ea n in gs :
.

Journ ey by water route way envoy commissiona r y

R ev er s ed :
, , , , ,

e xpedien t . D e c laration confession pub l icity ; on e a c

, ,

coun t say s t hat it i s a proposa l o f lov

 O U TE R M E T H O D O F THE O RA C L E S . 1 27

SW O R D S . FIV E .

A di sdain fu l man l oo k s af t er t wo re t rea t ing an d d ej ect ed

gu res Their swords l ie upon the ground H e carri e s t wo
. .

ot her s on h i s l eft shoulder and a t hird swo rd i s in h i s righ t hand

, ,

po in t t o earth He i s t he master in p ossession o f t h e e l d

D i vi n a t or y M ea n in gs :
. .
,

D egradation destruction revocation i n

, , ,

f amy dishonor l oss with the variants and ana l ogue s of t he se

R ev er sed :
.
, , ,

The same ; b uria l and obsequies .
1 28 I LLU S T R ATE D KEY T O THE TA R O T .

SW O R D S . FOUR .

The ef gy o f a knight in the attitude o f prayer a t fu ll

upon h i s tomb D ivi n a t or y M ea n in g s :V igilance retreat soli
,

. , ,

tude hermit s repo se exile tomb and co fn It i s these l as t tha t

have suggested the design R ever s ed :Wise administration cir

.

, , ,

. ,

cum spect i on economy avarice precaution testament

, , , ,
.
1 30 I L LU S T R ATE D KEY T O THE TA R O T .

SW O R D S . TW O .

A hoodwinked female gure ba l an c es two sw ords upon her

shoulders D ivi n a tor y M ea n i n g s :Conformity and the equipoise
.
'f

whi c h it suggests c ourage friendship con c ord in a state o f arms ;

, , ,

another reading gives tenderness a ffection intimacy The sug

, ,
.

gestion o f harmony and other favorable readings mus t be con si d

e red in a quali ed manner a s S words generally are no t symbo l ica l
R ever s ed :
,

o f b en ecen t forces in human a ff airs . I mpos t ure

,

fa l sehood duplicity disloya l ty

, , .
 O UTE R M E T H O D O F TH E O RA C L E S . 1 31

SW O R D S . AC E .

A han d issues from a cloud g r a spIn g a swo rd the poin t of

which is encircled by a crown D ivi n a t or y M ea n i n gs :Triumph
, ,

. ,

the excessive degree in everything c onquest t riumph o f fo rce

'

, , .

It i s a c ard o f grea t force in l ove a s wel l a s in hatred Th e

, .

crown may carry a much highe r signicance t han comes usua l ly

within t he sphere o f fort une t elling R ev er s ed :The same bu t
-

.
,

the resu l ts are disastrous ; another accoun t say s concep t io n

chi l dbi rth augmentation mu l tip l icity
, , .
1 32 I LLU S T R A TE D KEY T O THE TA R O T .

TH E S U IT O F P EN TACL E S . K I NG .

The face o f this gure i s dark suggesting courage and t he

, ,

b ul l s head should be noted as a recurrent symbol on the throne

.

The sign of this suit i s represented throughout as engraved with

the pen t ig r a m t ypi fying the correspondence of the four elements
,

in human na t ure and that by whi c h they may be governed In .

o ld Taro t pack s t h is suit represented money .The c onsensus

o f divina t or meanings is on the side o f change a s the cards do
y ,

not deal especially with questions o f money D ivi n a tor y M ea n

i n gs :
.

V alor intelligence business mathemati c al gifts and success

in t hese paths R ever s ed :V ice weakness perv ersity peri l
, , , ,

. .
, , ,
1 34 I LLU S T RATE D KE Y T O THE TA R O T .

P EN TACL E S KN I G H T . .

He rides a slow enduring heavy horse to which h is own

, , ,

aspect corresponds He exhibits his symbol but does not look

therein D ivi n a t or y M ea n in gs :U ti l ity serviceableness inter
.
,

est responsibility rectitudeall on the norma l and e x terna l

.
, ,

pl ane R ev er s ed :Inertia idleness repose o f tha t k ind stag

, ,

.
, , ,

nation ; a l so placidity discouragemen t carelessness

, , .
 O U TE R M ETH O D O F TH E O RA C LE S . 1 35

P EN TACLE S PA G E . .

A you t hfu l gure l ooking intently at the penta c le which hovers

,

over h i s raised hands H e moves slowly insensible o f that whi c h

D i vi n a t or y M ea n i n g s :Application study schol
.
,

i s abou t him.
, ,

a r sh ip reection ; another reading says news messages and the

bringer the reo f ; a l s o rule management R ever s ed :P rodigal

, ,

.
,

ity dissipation l iberality l u xury unfavorab l e news

, , , , .
1 36 I LLU S T R AT E D KE Y TO THE TA R O T .

P EN TACL E S T EN . .

A man and woman beneath an arc hway whi c h gives entrance

to a house and domain They are ac c ompanied by a c hild wh o
.
,

looks curio u sly at two dogs a cc osting an an c ient personage seated

,

in the foreground The c hild s hand is on on e o f them D ivi a

n

t or y M ea n i n g s : Gain ri c hes ; family matters archives extrac

. .

tion the abode o f a fam i ly R ev er s ed : Chan c e fatality los s

, , ,

, .
, , ,

robbery games o f ha z ard ; s ometimes gift dowry pension

, , ,
.
 I LLU STR AT E D KE Y

1 38 T O T HE TA R O T .

P EN TACL E S E I G H T
. .

/
An art ist in st on e at his work whi c h he exhibi t s in the form o f
trophies D i vi n a t or y M ea n n g s :Work employment commis
,

. i , ,

sion cra ftsmanship skil l in craft and business perhaps in the

preparatory stage R ev er s ed :V oided ambition vanity cupidity
, , ,

.
, , ,

exa c tion usury It may also signi fy the possession of skill i n

, .
,

the sense of the ingenious mind turned t o cunning and in t rigue .

 O U T ER M E T H O D O F T HE O RAC LE S . 1 39

P EN TACL E S S EVEN
. .

A young man l eaning on h is sta ff l ooks intent ly a t seven

, ,

pentacles attached to a clump o f greenery on h is right ; on e would

say that these were his treasures and that h is heart wa s there
D ivi n a t or y M ea n i n g s :These are exceedingly contradicto r y ; in
.

the main it i s a card o f money business barter ; but one reading

gives altercation quarre land another inno c ence ingenuity
, , ,

purgation R ev er s ed :Cause for anxie ty regarding money which

, , ,

i t may be proposed t o l end .

1 40 I LL U S T R ATE D KEY T O THE TA R O T .

P EN TACL E S SI' . .

A person in t h e guise o f a merchant weighs m oney in a pair o f

s c ales and distributes it to the needy and distressed It is a tes
.

t im on y t o his own success in life as well as his goodness o f heart

D ivi n a t or y M ea n i n g s :P resents
, .

, gi fts grati c ation ; another

,

account says attention vigilan c e ; n ow is the a c cepted time pres

ent p rosperity etc R ever s ed :D esire cupidity envy j ealousy
, ,

, , , ,
t ,

il l usion
.
1 42 I LLU S T R AT E D KE Y TO THE TA RO T .

P EN TACL E S F O UR . .

crowned g ure having a pen t a c le over his crown Cl asps

, ,

another with hands and arms ; two pentacles are under his feet
He holds to tha t which he has D ivin a t ory M ea n i n gs :The
.

surety o f possessions c leaving to that which on e has gift legacy

inheritance Rever s ed :
, , , ,

. S uspense delay opposition

, , .
 O UTE R M ETH O D O F THE O R A C L E S . 1 43

P EN TACL E S TH RE E. .

A s c ulptor at his work in a monastery C ompare t h e d esign

.

whi c h illustrates the Eight o f P entacles The apprentice o r ama

.

t eu r therei has received his reward and is now a t work in

n

earnest D ivi n a tor y M ea n i n g s :Met ier trade skilled labo r ; usu

.

, ,

ally however regarded as a card o f nobility aristocracy renown

glory R ever s ed :
, , , , ,

. Mediocrity in work and o therwi se pueri l i ty

, , ,

pettiness weakness
, .
1 44 I LLU S T R ATE D KEY T O THE TA R O T .

P ENTACL ES TWO . .

A young man in the act o f dancing h a s a pentac l e i n eith er

, ,

hand and they are j oined by that endless cord which i s l ike t h e
number 8 reversed D ivi n a t or y M ea n in gs :
,

. O n the on e hand i t is
represented as a card o f gaiety recreation and it s connec t ions
, ,

which i s t he subj ect o f the design ; but it i s read a l so a s new s and

messages in writing a s obstacles agitation trouble embroi l men t :
R ever s ed :
, , , ,

En forced gaiety simulated enj oymen t l i t era l sen se

, , ,

handwriting c ompo sition l e tt ers of e x chang e

, , .
1 46 I LLU S T RA TE D KEY T O THE TA R O T .

S E C TI ON 3

T HE GR EAT E R ARCAN A AN D
TH E I R D IVI N AT O RY M EAN I N G S

ITh e
.
S kil l diplomacy address subt l ety ; sick
M a g i ci a n , , ,

ness pain l oss disaster snares o f enemies ; self con d en ce wil l ; -

the Queren t i f male R ev er s ed :P hysician Magus men t a l

, , , , ,

,
.
, ,

disease disgrace disquiet

, ,
.

2 . Th e H ig h P r i es t ess S ecrets , mystery the fu t ure a s yet ,

unrevealed ; the woman who interests the Querent i f male ; the ,

Querent herse l f i f female ; silen c e tena c ity ; mystery wis d om

science R ev er s ed :P assion moral or physi c a l ardo r c onceit
, , , ,

.
, , ,

surface knowledge

.

3 . T h e E m p r ess F ruitfu l ness a c tion I.nitiative l ength o f , , ,

days ; the unknown c landestine ; als o di f c ulty doubt ignorance

R ev er s e d :
.
, , ,

L ight truth the unravelling o f involved matters pub

, , ,

lic rej oi c ings a c cording to another reading va c illation

, .

4 Th e E m per or
. S tability power protection realization ; a
.
, , ,

great person ; aid reason convi c tion ; also authority and will , ,
.

R ever s ed B enevo l ence com assion credit ; also confusion to

.

p , ,

enemies obstruction immaturi ty

.
, ,

5 . Th e H i er o p h a n t M arriage al l iance captivity . servitude ; , , ,

by another account mercy and goodness ; insp i ration ; the man t o

whom t he Querent h a s re c ourse R evers ed :S ocie ty good um
,

.
,

d e r s t a n d in g c oncord over kindness weakness -

6 Th e L over s Attraction love beauty tria l s overcome

, , , .

R ev er s ed :
. .
, , ,

F ailure foolish desi ns

g Another
, accoun t speaks of .

marriage frustrated and contrari eties of a l l kinds

.

7 Th e C h a r i o t S uc c or providence ; a l so war triumph pre

sumption vengeance t rouble R ever s ed :R io t quarre l dispute
. .
, , ,

.
, , , , ,

l itigation defeat
8 F or ti t ud e
.
,

P ower energ y action courage magnanimi t y ;

R ev er s ed :
.
, , ,

a lsp comp l ete success and hono rs D espotism abu se .

,
.

o f p ower weakness discord sometimes even disgrace

, , , .

9 T h e H er m i t P ru d ence circumspection ; also and espe

treaso n dissimulation roguery corruption R ever s ed :
. .
,

cia lly , , , .

Concealment disguise policy fear unreasoned caution

, , , , .

10 Wh eel of F or tun e D estiny fort une success e l e va t io n -

luck felicity R ev er s ed :Increase abundance supe r uity

.
, , , ,

.
, , , .

II J u s t i ce Equity rightness probity executive triu m ph o f

the deserving side I n law R ev er s ed :
. .
, , , ,

L a w i n al l i t s d epar t men t s
.
,

l ega l comp l ications bigo t ry b ias e x cessive severity , , ,

.
 O U T E R M E T H O D O F TH E O R A C L E S . 1 47

1 2 Th e H a n g ed M a n Wisdom circumspe ction discernmen t

tria l s sacrice in tui t ion divination prophecy R evers ed :S e l f
.
, , ,

.
, , , ,

i sh n ess the crowd body politic

I 3 D ea t h End mortality des t ruction corruption ; a l s o for a
, ,

.
, , , ,

man t he l oss of a benefacto r ; for a woman many contrarieties ;

for a maid failure o f marriage proj ects R ever s ed :Inertia
, ,

, .
,

sleep l e t hargy pet rifaction somnambulism ; h O pe destroyed

1 4 T em per a n ce Economy
.
, , ,

mode ration frugality manage

ment accommodation R ev er s ed : Things connected with
.
, , ,

.
,

churches religions sec t s the priesthood sometimes e ven the

, , , ,

priest who will marry the Querent ; also disun ion unfo rt una t e ,

combinations competing interests

.
,

1 5 Th e D evi l R avage vio l ence vehemence extraordinary

e ff orts jor ce fata l ity ; that whi c h is predestined but is not fo r
. .
, , ,

this reason evil R ever s ed :Evi l fatality weakness pettiness

, ,

.
, , ,

blindness
Th e Tower Misery dis t ress indigence adversity cal am
.

1 6.
, , , ,

i ty disgrace deception ruin It i s a card in particular o f un for e

seen catastrophe R ever s ed :
.
, , ,

Acco rding to on e account the sam e

.
,

in a l esser degree ; also Oppression imprisonment tyranny

1 7 Th e S t a n L oss
.
, ,

theft privation abandonment ; another

reading says hope and bright prospects R ever s ed :

.
, , ,

Arrogance .
,

haughtiness impotence
Th e M oon Hid d en enemies danger ca l umny darkness
.
,

1 8

terror deception occult forces erro r R ev er s ed :Instability

. .
, , , ,

, , , .
,

inconstancy silence lesser degrees o f de c eption and error

Th e S un Material happiness fortunate marriage con
.
, ,

1 9.
, ,

t en t m e n t R ev er s ed The same in a less er sense

Th e L as t J ud g m en t Change o f position renewal out
. .

20 .
, ,

come Another account spe c ies total loss through lawsuit

R ever s ed :
. .

Weakness pusillanimity simplicity ; also de l iberation , , ,

decision sentence
'er o Th e F O O L Fol l y mania ex t ravagance into x ication
, .

delirium frenzy bewrayment R evers ed :Negligence absence

.
, , , ,

, , .
, ,

dis t ribution carelessness apathy nullity vanity

, , , , .

21 Th e Wor ld Assured su c cess recompense voyage rou t e

emi g ra t ion ight change o f place R ever s ed :Ine rtia x ity
. .
, , , ,

.
, , , ,

stagnation permanence , .

It wil l be seen that excep t where there is an irresis t ib l e sugg es ,

tion conveyed by the surface meaning that which i s extracted ,

fro m the Trumps Maj or by the divinato ry ar t i s at once articia l

and arbitrary a s i t seems to me in the highest degree B ut o f
, , .

on e order are the mysteries o f l ight and o f another are those o f

fantasy The allo c ation of a fortune te ll ing aspec t t o t hese card s

.
-

i s t he s t o ry o f a pro l onged impertinen ce .

1 48 I LL U S T R AT E D KE Y T O T HE TA RO T .

S E CT IO N 4

S O M E ADD ITI O NAL M EAN I N G S O F

TH E L E SS E R A RC AN A

WA N DS Ki n g Genera lly favorable ; may signi fy a good
marriage R ever s ed :
.

Advi c e that should be followed

. .

Q u ee n A goo d harvest whi c h m ay be taken in several senses

R ev er s ed :
, .

Good will t owa r ds the Que rent but without the oppor ~
-
'

t un i t y to exercise it
K n ig h t A bad card ; according to some readings alienation
.

R ev er s ed :
.
,

F or a woman marriage bu t probably frustrated

P a g e Y oung man o f fami l y in search o f youn g la d y
, , .

Re
'

v er s ed :
. .

B ad news .

Ten D ifcult i es and con t radictions i f near a good card

Ni n e
-
. .
,

Generally speaking a bad c ard

.
,

i
E gh t D omestic disputes for a married person
. .

S ven
e A dar k chi l d .

Si r S ervants may l ose t he condence o f their masters ; a

young lady may be betrayed by a friend R ever s ed :Fullment .

o f deferred hope
F i v e S uccess in nan c ia l speculation R ev er s ed :Quarrels
.

may be turned to advantage

R ev er s ed :A married
.

F our i U nexpe c ted good fortune .

woman will have beauti ful children

.

Th r ee A very good card ; colla b or a t O n will favor enterprise

. I .

Two A young lady may expect trivial disappointments

Cala m ities o f all kinds R ever s ed :
.

A ce A sign o f birth . .

C U P S Ki n g B eware o f ill will on the part o f a man o f posi

.

t ion and o f hypo c risy pretending to help R ev er s ed :

.

L o ss . .

Q u e e n S ometimes denotes a woman o f equivocal c hara c t er

R ev er s ed :
.

A rich marriage for a man and a distinguished on e for

a woman .

Kn gh t
i A visit f rom a friend who will b ring unexpected
money t o the Querent R ever s ed :
,

Irregu l arity
. .

P a ge Good augury ; also a young man who I S un fortunate in

-

l ove R ev er s ed :
.

O bstacles o f all kinds

. .

T en For a male Que r ent a good marriage and one beyond h i s

e x pec t a t ions R ever s ed :
,

S orrow ; also a serious quarrel

. .
1 50 I LL U S T R ATE D KEY T O THE TA R O T .

T h r ee Fo r a woman the i ght of her lover R ev e s ed :A ,

. r

meeting with o e whom the Querent has c omprom i sed ; als o n

a nun

.

Tvo o Gifts for a lady inuential prote c tion for a man In ,

sea rc h o f help R ev er s ed D ealings with rogu es

Great prosperity o r great misery R ev e s ed :Marriage
. . .

A ce . . r

broken off for a wo m an through her own impruden c e

, , .

P EN T A C L E S K i n g A rather dark man a mer c hant master

. .
, , ,

pro fesso r R ev er s ed An old and vi c ious man

. . .

Q u ee n D ark woman ; presents fro m a ri c h relative rich and

happy marriage for a young man R ev r s ed :
.
,

An illness e

R ev er s ed :A
. .

K n ig h t A useful man ; use ful discoveries .

brave man out o f employment .

P age A dark youth ; a youn g o fcer or soldier ; a c h i ld R e

-

v er s ed :
. .

S ometimes degradation and sometimes p i llage .

T en R epresents house o r dwelling and derives i ts value from

.
,

other c ard s R ev er s ed An oc c asion whi c h may be fortunate o r

.

.

otherwise .

Ni n e P rompt fullment o f what i s presaged by neighboring
cards R ev er s ed :
. V ain hopes .

E ig h t A yo ung man in business who has relations with the

Querent ; a dark girl R ev er s ed :The Querent will be c ompro
.

m i se d I n a matter o f mone lending

y
-

S ev en Improved posit i on fo a lady s f uture husband Re r

v er s ed :
. .

Impat i en c e apprehension s u sp c i on i

The present must not be relied on R ev er s ed :A che c k

.

, ,

Si r . .

on the Q u e e t s ambition

r n

F i v e Conquest o f fortune by reason R v er s ed :Tro ubles

.

. e

in love
F our R ev er s ed :
.

For a ba c helor pleasant news from a lady

.
, .

O bservat i on h i ndran c es
R ev er s ed :
.
,

Th e e
r I f for a man celebrity for his eldest son ,
.

D epends o neighboring cards n

Tw o Troubles are more imagin a ry than real R ev er s ed :

.

B a d omen ignoran c e inj u sti c e

A ce The most favorable o f all c ards R ev er s ed :
, , .

A share in .

the nding o f treasure .

It will be observed ( 1 ) that th ese a d d i ta rn en ta have little con

n ect i on with the pictorial designs o f the c ards to whi c h they refer ,

a s these correspond with the more important speculative values ;

( ) and further that the additional meanings are very o ften in

2

disagreement with those previously given All meanings are .

largely independent of on e another and all are redu c ed a ccen t u ,

a t ed or subj ect t o modication and sometimes almost reversa l

 OU TE R M ETH O D OF TH E O R AC L E S . 1 51

b y their place in a sequence There is scar c ely any c anon of

.

criti c ism in matters o f this kind I suppose that in proportion

.

as any system descends from generalities t o details it becomes

naturally the more pre c arious ; and in the re c ords o f pro fession a l
fortune telling it o ffers more o f the dregs and lees o f the subj e c t
-
, .

At the same time divinations based on intuition and second sight

,

are o f little pra c ti c a l value unless they come down from the
region o f universals to that o f particulars ; but in proport i on as
this gift is present in a parti c ular c ase the S pe c i c meanings
,

re c orded by past ca r t om a n cist s will be disregarded in favor o f

the personal appreciation o f c ard values .

This has been intimated already It seems necessary to add

.

the following speculative readings .

 S E CT I O N 5

TH E R E C U RR EN C E O F C AR D S I N DEAL I N G
I N T HE N AT U RAL P O S IT I O N

4 Kings : great honor ; 3 Kings : c onsultation ; 2 Kings

minor counsel .

4 Q ueens great debate ; 3 Queens de c eption by women ;

2 Queens sin c ere friends .

4 Knights serious matters ; 3 Knights lively debate ;

2 Knights : intima c y

:
.

4 P ages : dangerous illness ; 3 P a ges : dispute 2 P ages

disq uiet .

4 Tens condemnation ; 3 Tens new c ondition ; 2 Tens

c hange .

4 N ines : a good friend ; 3 N ines su cc ess ; 2 Nines

c e ipt .

4 Eights reverse ; 3 Eights marriage ; 2 Eights new

knowledge .

4 S evens intrigue ; 3 S evens inrmity ; 2 S evens

4 S ixes abundan c e ; 3 S ixes su cc ess ; 2 S ixes
r .

bili fy .

4 F ives regularity ; 3 F ives determination ; 2 F ives

vigils .

.
4 F ours : journey near at hand ; 3 F ours : a subj e c t o f
reection ; 2 F ours insomnia .

4 Threes progress ; 3 Threes unity 2 Threes c alm .

4 Twos c ontention 3 twos se c ur i ty ; 2 Two s ac c ord .

4 Aces favorable chan c e ; 3 Aces smal l su c cess ; 2 Aces

trickery
R EVER S ED
4 Kings ce l erity ; 3 Kings c ommerce ; 2 Kings proj ects .

4 Queens bad c ompany ; 3 Queens gluttony 2 Queens

work .

4 Knights allian c e ; 3 Knights a duel or personal e coun

,
n

ter ; 2 Knights : sus c eptibility

.

4 P ages : privatio ; 3 n P ages : idleness ; 2 P ages so c iety .

Tens : event happening Tens : disappointment Tens

expec t ation j ustied

4 , ; 3 2

.
1 54 I LLU S T R ATE D KE Y TO T HE TA R O T .

S E CT I O N 7

AN A N CI EN T C ELT I C M ET HO D
O F D I V I N AT I O N

This m ode of divination is the most suitable for obtaining an

answer to a denite question The D iviner rst selects a card to
.

represent the person or matter about whi c h inquiry is made .

This c ard is called the S ig n i ca t or S hould he wish to ascertain .

something in c onne c tion with himsel f he takes the one whi c h

corresponds to his personal description A Knight shou l d be .

chosen as the S ig n ica t or i f the subj e c t o f inquiry is a man o f

fo rty years old and upward ; A King should be chosen for any
ma l e wh o is under that age ; a Queen for a woman over forty
y ears ; and a P age for any female o f less age .

The four C ourt Cards in Wands represent ve ry f air people ,

with yellow 0 1 auburn hair fair complexion and b l ue eyes The

, .

C ourt Cards in Cups signify people with light brown or dul l fair
hair and grey or blue eyes Those in S words stand for people
.

having ha z el o r grey eyes dark brown hair and dull complexion

,
.

L astly the Court Cards in P entacles are referred to persons with

,

v ery d a r k brown o r bla c k hair dark eyes and sal l ow or swarthy,

complexions These allo c ations are subj ec t however to the

.
, ,

following reserve which will preven t them being taken too con
,

v en t i on a lly You c an be guided on o c casion by the known

.

temperament o f a person ; o e who is ex c eedingly dark may be n

very energeti c and would be better represented by a S word card

,

t han a P enta c le O n the other hand a very fai r subj ect who is
.
,

indolen t and l ethargic should be referred t o C ups r a ther than t o

Wands .

I f it is more convenient for the purpose o f a divination to t ake

a s the S ig i ca t or the matter about whi c h inquiry is t o be made
n ,

that Trump or small c a rd should be selected whi c h has a meaning

corresponding to the matter L et it be supposed that the ques
t i on is :
.

Wil l a lawsui t be necessary ? In this c ase take the Trump

,

No I I or Justi c e as the S ig ica t or

. This has reference to
n .

l egal a ffairs B ut i f the question is :

, ,

. S hall I be success fu l in my
l awsuit ? on e o f the Court Cards must be chos en as the S ign i

ca t or S ubsequently consecutive divina t ion s m a y b e performed

.
,
 O U TE R M E T H O D OF TH E O R A C L E S . 1 55

to ascertain the c ourse o f the process itself and its result t o each
o f the parties con c erned .

Having sele c ted the S ig n ica t or place it on the table face , ,

upwards Then shu fe and cut the rest o f the pa c k three t imes
. ,

keeping the fa c es o f the c ards downwards .

Tu rn up the t op or F I R S T C A RD o f the pack ; cover the S ig

n i ca t or with it and say : This covers him This card gives the
,
.

inuence which 5 a ffecting the person or matter o f inqui r y gen

1

e r a lly the atmosphere o f it in whi c h the other currents work

Turn up the S E C O ND C A RD and lay it a c ross the F I R S T saying :
.
,

This crosses him It shows the nature o f the obstacles in the

.

matter I f it is a favorable card the Opposing fo rc es will not be

.
,

serious or it may indicate that something good in itself will not

,

be produ c tive o f good in the parti c ular conne c tion .

Turn up the T H I RD C A RD ; place it above the S ig n ica t or and

say :
,

This crowns him It represents (a ) the Q ue e t s aim o r . r n

idea l in the matter ; ( 1 ) the best that can be a c hieved under the
7

cir c umstances but that whi c h has not yet been made actual
,
.

Turn up the F O U RT H C A RD ; p l a c e it below the S ign i ca t or and

say :
,

This i s beneath him It shows the foundation or basis o f .

the matter that whi c h has already passed into actuality and which
,

the S ign ica t or h a s made his own .

Turn up the F I FT H CA RD ; place it on the side o f the S ig n ica

to r from which he is looking and say : This is behind h i m It ,
.

gives the inuence that is j ust passed or is now passing away ,

.

N B
.
I f the S ig n i ca t or i s a Trump o r any small c ard that
.

c annot be said to fa c e either way the D iviner must decide be fore ,

beginning the Operation which side he will take it as fa c ing .

Turn up the S I 'T H C A RD pla c e it on the side that the S ig

and say :This is before him It shows the
,

n ica t or i s fa c ing , .

inuence that i s c oming into action and will operate in t he near

future .

Th e cards are now dis po sed in the form o f a cross t he S ig

n ica t or covered by the F irst Card b eing in the center
,

The next four cards are turned U p in succession and placed on e

above the other in a line on the right hand side o f the c ross , .

The rs t of these or the S EVEN T H C A RD o f the operation sig

,

n i es himself that is the S i n i ca t or whether person o r thing

,

g
and shows its position or attitude in the c ircumstances
,

The E I G H T H CA RD signies his house that 1 5 h is environment , ,

a nd the tenden c ies at work therein which have an e ffect o the n

matter fo r instan c e his position in li fe t h e inuence o f imme
, , ,

diate f riends and so forth , .

The NI N T H C A RD g ives his hopes or fears in the matter .

1 56 I L L U S T R ATE D KEY T O THE TA R O T .

The T EN T H is what will c ome the na l resu l t the culmination

, ,

whi c h is brought about by the inuences shown by the other cards

that have been turned up in the d i vination .

It is on this card that the D iviner should espe c ially c oncentrate

his intuitive fa c ulties and his memory in respe c t o f th e o f c ial
divinato ry meanings atta c hed thereto It should embody what
.

soever you may have divined from the other c ards on the table ,

including the S ign ica t or itsel f and c oncerning him or it n ot ,

excepting such lights upon higher signicance as might fall like

sparks from heaven i f the card whi c h serves fo r the oracle the
card for reading should happen to be a Trump M a j
,

,
or .

The operation is now completed ; but should it happen that the

l ast card 1 5 o f a dubious nature f rom whi c h no nal decision can
,

be drawn or whi c h does not appear to indi c ate the ultimate con
,

c lusi on o f the a ffai r it may be wel l to repeat the operation taking

, ,

in this case the Tenth Card as the S ig n i ca t or instead o f the one ,

previously used The pack must be again sh ufed and c ut three

.

times and the rst ten c ards laid out as before B y this a more .

detailed account o f What will c ome may be obtained

'
.

I f in any divination the Tenth Card should be a Court Card it ,

shows t hat the subj ect o f the divination falls ul timately into the
hands of a person repre sented by that c ard and its end depends ,

main l y on him In this event also it is useful t o take the Court

.

Card in question as the S ig i ca t o r in a fresh operation and dis

n ,

cover what is the nature o f his inuence in the matter and to what
issue he will bring it .

Great fa c ility may be o b tained by this method in a c ompara

t iv e ly short time allowance being always made for the gifts o f the

,

operator that is to say his fa c ulty o f i nsight latent or developed

and it has the spe c ial advantage o f being free f rom all compli
, ,

cat i ons
.
1 58 I LL U S T R ATE D KE Y T O T H E TA R O T .

S E CT I O N 8

A N A L T E RN AT IV E M ETH O D O F R EA D I NG
T H E TA R O T C A R D S

S hu fethe entire pa c k and turn some o f the c ards round so as ,

to invert their tops .

L et them be cut by t h eQuerent wi th his left hand .

D eal out the rst forty two c ards in six packets o f seven cards
each face upwards so that the rst seven cards fo rm the rst
, ,

,

packet the fo l lowing seven the second so on a s in the fo ll owing
,

diagram

Take up the rst packet ; lay out the cards on the table in a r ow ,

from right to left ; pla c e the c ards o f the second packet Upon them
a n d then the pa c kets whi c h remain Y ou will thus have seven
.

n ew packets o f six cards each arranged as follows

,

Take the t op card of each packet shu f e them and l ay out

from right to lef t making a line o f seven cards
,
.

Then take up the t wo next cards f rom each pac k et shu fe and ,

l ay them out in two lines under t he rst line

-
.

Take up the remaining twenty on e cards o f the packets shuf

-
,

'
e and la y t h em out in three l ines be l ow the others .
 OU TE R M ETH O D O F TH E O R A C L E S . 1 59

Y ou wi ll thus have six horizontal line s e e card s each

of s v n ,

arranged a fter the following manner .

I st l ine .

2n d l ine .

3 d
r l ine .

4 t h line .

st h l ine .

6 th l ine .

,

In this method t he Querent i f o f the male is r epr e
s ex

sented by the M agician and if female by the High P riestess ; but

,

the card in either case is not taken fro m the pack unti l the
, ,

forty two cards have been laid out a s above directed I f the
, .

required card 1 5 not found among those p l aced upon the t ab l e it ,

m u st b e sough t among the remainin g t hirty s i x card s which ha ve

,
1 60 I L L U S T R ATE D KEY T O THE TA R O T .

not been dealt and should be placed a little distance to the righ t
,

o f the rst hori z onta l line O n the other hand i f it is among

.
,

them it is also taken out pla c ed as stated and a c ard is drawn

, , ,

haphazard f rom the thirty six c ards undealt to ll the vacant -

position s o that there are still forty two cards laid out o the
,
-
n

table .

The cards are then read in suc c ession from right to l eft ,

t hroughout b eginning at c ard No I o f the topline the last t o be

, .
,

read being that on the extreme left o No 7 o f the bottom line ,

r .
,
.

This method is recommended when no denite question is

asked that is when the Querent wishes to learn generally c on
,

cerning the c ourse o f his li fe and destiny I f he wishes to know .

what may befall within a certain time this time shou l d be clearl y ,

spe c ied before the c ards are shu fed .

With further re feren c e t o the reading it shou l d be remembered ,

that the cards must be interpreted rel atively to the subj e c t whi c h ,

means that all o f c ial and conventional meanings o f the c ards may
and sho ul d be adapted to harmonize with the conditions o f this
particu l ar case in question the position time o f life and sex o f

,

the Querent or person for who m the c onsultation is made

,
.

Thus the F0 0 1 may indi c ate the whole range o f menta l phases
,

between mere excitement and madness but the particular phase ,

in each divination must be j udged by considering the genera l
trend o f the cards and in this naturally the intuitive faculty plays
,

an important part .

It is well at the b eg n n in g o f a reading to run through the

1 ,

cards quickly so that the m ind may re c eive a genera l impression

o f the subj e c t the trend o f the destiny and afterwards to start
,

again reading them on e by o e and interpreting in detail n .

It should be remembered that the Trumps represent more

powerful and compelling for c es by the Tarot hypothesisthan
are referable t o the small cards .

The value o f intuitive and cl airvoyant faculties is o f course

assumed in divination Where these are naturally present or
.

have be en developed by the D iviner the fortuitous arrangement ,

o f cards forms a link between his mind and the atmosphere o f

the subj e c t o f divination a n d then the rest is simple Where
,
.

intuition fails or is absent con c entration intelle c tual observation

, , ,

and d eduction must be used t o the fullest extent t o obtain a satis

factory result B ut intuition even i f apparently do r mant may
.
, ,

be cultivated by pra c ti c e in these divinatory processes I f in .

doubt a s to the exa c t meaning o f a c ard in a parti c ular c onne c tion .

,

the D iviner is re c ommended by those who are versed i n the ,

matter to place his hand on it t ry to refrain from t hinking o f

, ,
 I L LU S T R ATE D KE Y T0 T HE TA R O T .

S E C TI O N 9

TH E M ETH O D O F R EAD I NG B Y M EANS .

O F T H I RTY FI V E C A R D S
-

Whe n the reading is over a cc ording to the s c heme set fort h in

the last m ethod it may happen as in the previous casethat

,

something remains doubtful o r it may be desired to carry the

question further which i s done as follows :
,

Take up the undealt cards whi c h remain over not having been ,

used in the rst operation with 4 2 c ards The latter are set aside .

in a heap with the Querent face upwards on the top The

, , , .

thirty v e c ards being shu fed and cut as before are divided by
-
, ,

dealing into six packets thus

P a ck et I consists o f the rst S EVE N C A RD S ; P a k et 1 ] c onsists c

o f the S I ' C A RD S next following in order ; P a ck e t I l l consists o f

the F I VE CA RDS following ; P a ck e t I V contains the ne xt FO U R
C A RD s ; P a ck et V contains T wo C A RD S ; and P ock et VI c ontains
the last E L EVEN CA RD S The arrangement will then be as
follows :
.

P a ck et P a ck et P a ck et P a ck e t P a ck et P a ck et
III .

Take up these pa c kets su cc essively ; deal out the card s wh i ch

they conta i n in s i x lines wh i c h w i ll be ne c essarily o f unequal
.

length .

T H E F I R S T L I N E stands for the house the environment and so ,

forth .

T H E S E C O N D L I N E stands for the person o r subj ect o f the

divination .

T H E T H I RD L I N E s t ands for what is passing outside events , ,

persons etc , .

T H E FO U R T H L I N E stands fo r a surprise the unexpected et c , ,

.

T H E F I F T H L I NE st a n d s for c onsolation and may moderate al l

'

tha t is un favorable in the preceding lines .

 O U TE R M ETH O D OF THE O RA C L E S . 1 63

T H E S I 'T H L I N Eis that which must be consu l ted to elucidate

the enigmatic oracles o f the others ; apart f rom them I t h a s no
importance .

These cards should all be read from left t o r igh t beginning ,

with the uppermost line .

It should be stated in conclusion as to this divinatory part that

there is no method of interpreting Tarot cards which 1 5 no t a p
plicable to ordinary playing cards but the additional court cards-
, ,

and above all the T rumps M aj or are he l d to increase the ,

elements and values o f the orac l es .

And now in c onc l usion as to the who l e mat t er I have l e ft for

,

these last words as if by way o f epi l ogue on e further and

nal po int It is the sense in which I regard the Trumps M aj or
.

as containing S ecret D octrine I do not here mean that I am .

acquainted with orders and fraternities in which such doctrine

reposes and is there found to be part o f higher Tarot know l edge .

I do not mean tha t su c h doctrine being so preserved and trans ,

m itt e d can be c onstru c ted as imbedded independent ly in the

T r um ps M a j
,

I do not mean that it is something apart from

or .

the Tarot Associations exist which have special knowledge o f

.

both kinds ; some o f it is deduced from the Tar ot and some o f i t

i s apart therefrom ; in either case it is the same in the root matter

B ut there are a l so things in reserve w

.
,

hich a r e not in orders or

so c ieties but are transmitted after another manner Apart from
, .

al l inheritance o f this kind let any on e wh o is a mystic consider

,

separately and in combination the Magi c ian the Foo] the High , ,

P riestess the Hierophant the Empress the Em peror the Hanged

, , , ,

Man and the T ower Let him then consider the card called the
.

L ast Jud g ment They contain the legend o f the soul The other

. .

T rumps aj or are the detai l s and as on e might say the acci
M
dents P erhaps such a person will begin to understand what lies
.

far behind these symbols by whomsoever rst invented and how

,

ever preserved I f he does he wi ll see a l so why I h ave concerned

.
,

myself with the subj ect even a t t he risk of writing abou t di vina
,

ti on by card s .
 B I B L I O G RAP H Y
A C on ci se B ib l i ogr a ph y O f T h e C h i e f W or k s D ea l in g
W it h T h e T a r ot An d It s C on n e ct ion s
As in S pite o f its modest pretensions this monograph is so , ,

far as I am aware the rst attempt to provide in English a com

,

p le t e synoptic a cc ount o f the Tarot with i t s ar c h aeologi c al position

,

dened i t s available symbolism developed and as a matter o f

,
,

c uriosity in o c cultism with its divinatory meanings and modes o f

Operation su fciently exhibited it is my wish from the l iterate
, ,

standpoint to enumerate those t ext books o f the subj ect and the
,
-
,

most important in c identa l referen c es thereto which have come ,

under my notice The b ili og a ph ica l parti c ulars that fol low lay
. r

no c l aim to completeness as I have c ited nothing that I have not

,

seen with my o wn eyes ; but I can understand that most o f my

readers wil l be surprised at the extent o f the literature i f I may
s o term i t conventionally whi c h has grown up in the course o f

the l as t 1 20 years Those who desire to pursue their inquir i es

.

further wi l l nd ample materials herein though i t i s not a course ,

whi c h I am seeking to c ommend especiall y a s I deem tha t enough ,

h a s been said upon the Tarot in this pla c e to stand for all that
has preceded it The bibliography itsel f is representative after a
.

similar manner I should add that there is a considerable cata

.

logue o f cards and works on card playing in the B ritish M useum

-
,

but I have not had o c casion t o consul t it to any extent for the
purposes o f the present l ist .

M on d e P r im i t if
'
a n a lys e et l e M on d e M od er n e
a r e a v ec

J
com p
'
, .

Pa r M Cour t de G eb elin
. . V ol 8 4 to , P aris 1 78 1
.
, , .

The articles on the eu d es Ta r ots will be found a t pp 3 6 5 to .

41 0. The plates at the en d show the Trumps M aj or and the A c es

o f ea c h suit . These are valuable as indi c ations o f the c ards at the
c lose o f the eighteenth c entury They were presumab l y t h en in
.

C i rcu l a t ion in t he S outh o f France a s i t i s sai d t ha t a t t he perio d

,

1 64
1 66 I L L U S T R ATE D KEY T O THE TA R O T .

C ards were known in Europe prior to the appearance the of

Egyptians The work has a good deal o f curious in formation and
.

the appendices are valuable but the Tarot o cc upies comparatively,

l itt l e o f the text and the period is too early for a tangib le cr it i
ci sm o f it s c l aims There are ex c ellent reproductions o f early
.

specimen design s Those o f Cour t de G eb elin are als o g iven i n

.

ex t en s o .

F a cts a n d S pecula ti on s on P la yi n g C a r d s . B y W A C hatto

. . .

8 vo, L ondon , 1 8 4 8 .

The author suggested that the Trumps Maj or and the numera l
cards were on c e separate but were afterwards combined The , .

oldest speci m ens o f Tarot cards are n ot later than 1 440 B ut the .

c l aims and value of the volume have been su fciently described

in t he t e x t .

L es C a r t es a l on er et la C a r t om a n ci e . Pa r D . R . P . B oiteau
d Am b ly 4 to , P aris , 1 8 54

. .

There are some interesting illustrations o f early Taro t cards ,

which are said to be o f O rienta l origin ; but they are not referred
to Egyp t The ear l y gipsy connection is afrmed but there 1 5
.
,

n o evidence produced The cards came with the gipsies from

.

India where they were' designed to show forth the intentions of

,

the unknown divinity rather than t o be the servants o f pro fane

amu semen t

D og m R i tu el d e la H a u t e M a g i e
e et P a r E liph a s L evi 2 vo l s ,.
, .

demy 8 v o, P aris 1 8 54 ,
.

This is the rst pub l ication of Alph onse L ouis Constant on

occult philosophy; and it i s also his m a g n um opus I t i s con .

structed in both volumes on the maj or Keys o f the Taro t and

h a s been therefore understood as a kind o f development o f their
i m plici t s in the way t hat these were presented to t h e mind o f
,

the author To supp l e m ent what h a s been said of this wor k in

.

t h e t e x t o f t he pre sen t monograp h I need on l y add t ha t t h e ,

s ec t ion on t ransmu t a t io n s in t h e second vo l ume c on t ains what i s

t ermed the K ey of Th oth T h e inner circ l e d epicts a t rip l e Ta u

with a he xagram where th e b ase s j

. .

o in an d b enea th is the Ace of ,

 I
B BL I O G R A P HY . 1 67

C ups . Within the externa l c ircle are the l etters TAR O and ,

about this gure as a whole are grouped the symbols o f the Four
L iving Creatures the Ace o f Wands Ace of S words the letter
, , ,

S h in and a magi c ian s can d le which is identical according to

, , ,

L evi with the lights used in the Goeti c Circle o f B lack Evocations
,

and P a c ts The triple Ta u may be taken to represent the Ace o f

.

P enta c les The only Tarot card given in the volumes is the
.

Chariot whi c h is drawn by t wo sphinxes ; t he fashion thus set

,

has been followed in later days Those who in t erpret the work .

as a kind o f c ommentary on the Trumps M aj or are the con ven

t i on a l o c cult students and those wh o follow them will have only
the pains o f fools .

L es R om J
es A .V aillant D
Pa r emy 8 v o P
. aris 1 8 57
. .
, , .

The author tells us how he met with the cards but the account ,

is in a c hapter o f ane c dotes The Tarot i s the si d er ea l b ook o f .

Enoch modelled on the astral wheel o f Athor There i s a de

l

.
,

scription o f the Trumps M aj or which are evident l y regarded as ,

a n heirloom b rought by the gipsies from Indo Tartary The

,
-
.

pub l i cation o f L evi s D og m e et R i tuel must I think have i m

, ,

pressed V ail l ant very much and although in this which was the , ,

writer s most important work the anecdote tha t I have men

t i on ed is practi c ally his on l y Tarot referen c e he seems t o have

gone much further in a l ater publi c ation C l ef M a g i q ue d e la
,

F i ct i on e t d a F a i t but I have not been able to s ee it nor do I

, ,

t h in k ,from the reports concerning it tha t I have sustained ,

a l0 5 5 .

H is t or i e d e la M a g i e . P a r E liph a s L evi . 8 y o, P a r I S , 1 8 60 .

The referen c es to the Tarot are few in this brilliant work ,

whi c h will be available sho r tly in English I t gives the 2 I t

/
. s

Trump M aj or c omm only called the U niverse or Worl d under

J
, , ,

the title o Y i n x P a n t om or h e a seated gure wearing the

f
c rown o f Isis This has been reprodu c ed by P a pus in L e Ta r ot
.

D ivi a t oi r e
n The author exp l ains that the extant Tarot has come
.

down to us through the Jews b ut i t passed somehow into the ,

hands o f the gipsies who b rough t it with them when t hey rst
,

entered F rance in the ea r ly pa r t of the f t een th century The

'

a u t hority here i s V ai ll a n t .
1 68 I LL U S T R ATE D KEY T O TH E TA R O T .

La C lef d es G ra n ds M ys ter es . P a r E liph a s L evi , 8 vo, P a ris ,

1 8 61 .

The fron t ispiece t o this work represents the ab so l ute Key o f

the occul t s c iences given by William P ostel and comp l e t ed by t h e
,

writer I t is reproduced in Th e Ta r ot O f Th e B oh em ia n s and

.

.
,

in the preface which I have prexed thereto a s indeed e l sewhere , ,

I have explained tha t P ostel never constru c ted a hierogl yphica l

key E liph a s L evi i n d en t ie s the Tarot a s tha t sacred alphabe t
.

which has been various ly referred to Enoch Tho th C a dmus and , ,

P alamedes It consists o f abso l ute ideas attached to signs and

.

numbers In respect of the l atter there is an extended com m en

.
,

tary on these as far a s the number 1 9 t he series being inter ,

r et ed as the Keys o f O ccu l t Theo l ogy The remaining thre

p e .

numerals which complete the Hebrew alphabe t a r e called the

Keys o f Nature The Tarot is said to be the origina l o f Chess
.
,

as it is a l so o f the R oyal Game o f Goose This volume contains .

the author s hypothetical reconstruction o f the t enth Trump

Maj or showing Egyptian gures on t he Whee l of F ort une

, .

L H om

m e R oug e d es Tui ler i es . Pa r P . Chris t ian . Fcap . 8 vo ,

P aris , 1 8 63 :
The wo rk is exceedingl y rare is much sough t and wa s once ,

high l y prized in F rance ; but D r P a pus h a s awakened t o the .

fact that i t i s rea ll y of slender value and the statemen t might ,

be extended It is interesting however as containing the writer s

.
, ,

rst reveries on the Tarot He wa s a foll ower and imi t ato r o f

.

L vi In the present work he provides a commentary on the

.
,
'

Trumps M aj or and thereafter the designs and meanings of al l

the M inor Arcana There are many and curious astrologica l
.

attributions The work does not seem t o mention the Tarot by

.

name A l ater His t oir e d e la M ug i e does l ittle more than repro

.

duce and e x tend the account o f the Trumps M aj or given h erein .

Th e H is t or y of P la yi n g C a r d s . By E . S . Tay l or . Cr . 8 v o L on
.

don , 1 8 6 5 .

This was published posthumously and is practi c al l y a t r a n sla

t ion of B oiteau It therefore cal l s for little remark on m y part
.
.

T h e O pinion is t ha t cards were impor t ed by t he g ip sie s fro m

1 70 I L L U S T R ATE D KEY T O TH E TA R O T .

Meanwhi l e A merica is still awaiting the fullmen t of t he con

,

cluding fo recast that some few will ere l ong hav e so far devel
,

oped in that country as to be able to read perf ectly in tha t

perfect and divine syb i ll in e work the Taro P erhaps the cards
'
,
.

which accomp a ny t he present vo l u m e wi ll give t he oppor t unity

and t he impulse

Lo och d e Na ips . P er Joseph B runet y B e ll e t . Cr . 8 v0 , B arce

l ona , 1 8 8 6 .

With reference to the dream o f Egyptian origin the autho r ,

quotes E Garth Wilkinson s M a n n er s a n d C us t om s of t h e

.

E g ypti a n s as negative evidence at least that card s were unknown

in the old c ities o f the D elta The history o f the subj ect i s .

sket c hed following the Chief authorities but without reference

, ,

to exponents o f the o c cult schools The mainstay t hroughou t .

i s Chatto There are some interesting pa r ticu l ars abou t t he pro

.

h ib i t i on o f cards in S pain and the appendices include a few ,

valuab l e documen t s by on e o f which it appears a s already men

, ,

t i on ed t hat S t B ernardin o f S ienna preached against games in

, .

genera l and cards in particu l ar so far back a s 1 42 3 There are

, , .

illustrations of ru de Taro t s inc l uding a curious e x ample o f an,

Ace of C ups with a phoenix risin g therefrom and a Queen o f

, ,

Cups from whose vessel issues a ower

, .

Th e Ta r ot :
O ccul t S ig n ica n ce U
1 ts ,
se in F or un e Telli n g ,
t -
a nd

M e t h od of P la y B y S L M a c G . . . r eg or M athers . Sq . 1 6m o,
L ondon ,
1 888 .

This booklet was designe d t o accompany a se t of T aro t cards ,

a n d the current pa c ks o f the period were imported from abroad ,

for the purpose There is no pretense o f original research and

.
,

t he only pers ona l Opinion expressed by the writer or cal ling for
n oti c e here states that the Trumps M a j or are h ie r og yl h i c sym
p
b ols corresponding to the o c cult meanings o f the H ebrew alpha
bet He r e the authority is L evi from whom is als o derived the
.
,

brief symbolism allo c ated to t he twenty two Keys The divina -

.

tory meanings foll ow and then the modes of opera t ion It is a, .

mere sketch written in a pretentious manner and is negl igib l e in

a ll respec t s .
 B I B L I O G R A P HY . 1 71

X V II
Tr a i t e M t h od i q ue d e S ci en ce O ccul t e P a r B apus 8 vo, P aris ,

. .

1 89 1 .

The rectied Taro t published by O swa l d VVir th after the in

d ica t ion s of E li ph a s L
evi is reproduced in this work whi c h it

,

may be mentioned extends to nearly pages There i s a .

section on t he gipsies considered as the importers o f esoteric

,

t radition in t o Europe by means o f the cards The Tarot is a .

combination of numbers and ideas whence its c orresponden ce ,

with the Hebrew alphabet U n fortunately the Hebrew citations

.
,

are rendered a l mos t unin t e ll igible by innumerable t ypographical

e rrors .

X V II I
E liph a s L evi :
L e L i vr e d es S pl en d eur s D emy 8 v o P ari s 8 94

.
, ,
1 .

A section on the E l em en ts of th e K a bola h a frms (a ) That

t he Tarot contains in the several cards o f the four suits a four
fold explanation o f the numbers I to 1 0 ; ( b ) that the symbols
which we n ow have only in the form o f cards w e re at r st medals
and then afterwards became talismans ; ( c ) that the Tarot i s
the hieroglyphical book o f the Thirty two P aths o f Kabalistic -

theosophy and tha t its summary explanation is in the S eph er

,

.

Y etz ir a h ; ( d ) that it i s the inspiration o f all religiou s theories

a n d symbo l s ; ( e ) that its emblems are found on the ancient
m onuments o f E g ypt With the his t orica l va l ue of t he se preten
.

sion s I ha v e dealt in t he te xt .

C lefs M a gi q ues et C la vi cules d e S a lom on P a r E liph a s Levi . .

S q 1 2 mo P aris 1 8 9 5
.
, , .

Th e Keys in question are said to have been restored in 1 8 60 .

in their primiti v e purity , by means o f hieroglyphical signs and

number s withou t any admixture O f S amaritan or Egyptian
,

image s T here are rude designs o f t he Hebrew l etters attributed

.

t o the T rumps Maj or with meanings mo s t of which are t o be
,

found in other Works by the same writer There are also com .

b in a t ion s o f the l et t ers which enter into the D ivine Name ; these
combinations are a t tributed to the cour t cards o f the L esser Ar
cana Ce rtain ta l ismans o f s pirits are i n ne furnished w i th
.
'

Tarot attributi ons ; the Ace of Clubs corresponds to the D eus

A bs con d i tus the F irst P rinciple The l ittle book wa s issued at a
, . ,
1 72 I LL U S T RATE D KE Y TO T HE TA R O T .

high price and as somethi g that should be reserved to adeptsn ,

or those on the p a th o f adeptship but i t is really without value ,

symbolica l or otherwise .

L es L a m es H er m eti ques d a Ta r ot D i vi na t oir e P a r R Fa l

xx n . .

con n i er D emy 8 v o P aris 1 8 9 6

.
, , .

The word Tarot comes from the S anskrit and mea ns xed
star which in it s turn signies immutable tradition , theosophical
'
,

synthesis symbolism o f primitive dogma etc Graven on golden

, , .

plate s the designs were used by H ermes Tris m egistus and thei r
,

mysteries were onl y revealed to the highes t grades of t he priest

hood of Isis It is unnecessary therefo re t o say that the Tarot i s
.

o f Egyptian o rigin and the work o f M Fa lcon n i e r h a s been to .

reconstruct it s primitive fo rm which he does by reference to the

monuments that is to say after the fashion o f E liph a s L evi , he
,

draw s the designs o f the T rumps M aj or in imitation o f Egyptian

ar t This product ion h a s been hailed by F rench occultists a s
.

presentin g the Tarot in i t s perfe ction but the same h a s been ,

said of the designs o f O swald Wi rth which are quite unlike and ,

no t Egyptian at all To be frank these kinds o f foolery may be

.
,

a s much a s can be e x pected from the S anctuary o f the Com die

n

F ran cai se t o which t he author be l o n gs and it should be reserved

, ,

there t o .

Th e M a g i ca l R i tua l o f t h e S a n ct um i n t er pr e t edR eg n um
b y t h e ,

Ta r ot Tr um ps . Translated from the M S S o f E liph a s L evi .

and edited by W . Wynn VVest cot t , M B F cap 8 vo L ondon . .

, , ,

1 896 .

I t i s nece ssary t o sa y t ha t the interes t o f t his memoria l rest s

r ather in t he fact o f i t s existence than in its intrinsic importance .

There i s a kind of in formal c ommentary on the Trumps Maj or ,

or rathe r there are considerations which presumably had arisen

t herefrom in the mind o f the F rench author For example the .
,

card ca ll ed F ortitude i s an opportunity for expatiation on wil l ,

a s the secre t o f strength The Hanged M a n is said to represent

.

t he completion of the Great Work D eath suggests a d ia t r ib e .

a gains t Necromancy and G o t ia ; b u t such phantoms have no

e x istence in the S a n ct um R eg n um of life Temperan c e pro
.
'
.

duces only a few vapid commonplaces and the D evil whi c h i s , ,

b lind force i s the occasion for repetition o f much that h a s bee n

,

sa id already in the earlier works o f L evi The Tower r epr e .

the psychic reads in the folly o f the queren t Did he counse l .

honesty it i s suggested that he would lose h is c l ients I have

, .

written severe cri ticisms on o c cult arts and sciences bu t this i s ,

astonishing from on e of their past pro fessors and moreover , ,

I think that the p sychic occasionally i s a p sychic and sees in a

manner a s such .

'X I V
L e S er p en t d e la G en eseL i vr A
e H ; L a Clef d e l a M a g i e NO i r e
Pa r S tanislas de Guaita . 8 v o, P aris , 1 90 2 .

It I s a vast commentary on the second septenary o f t he Trump s

Maj o r Justice signies equilibrium and it s agent ; the Hermi t
.

typie s t he myster i es of solitude ; the Whee l of Fo rtune is t h e

ci r culus o f becoming or attaini n g ; F o rt itude signies t he powe r

residen t in wil l ; the Hanged Man i s magica l b ond a ge whic h ,

sp eaks volumes for the clouded and inverted insigh t o f thi s fan
t a si a st in occultism ; D eath 1 5 o f course that which it s name sig
, ,

n i e s bu t with reversion to the second death

, Temperance mean s ,

the magic o f trans formation s and there fore suggest s e x ces s ,

rather than abstinence There i s more o f the same k ind of

thingI be l ievein the rst book but this will serve a s a speci
.

, ,

men The demise o i S tanislas de Guaita put an end to h is

.

s c heme of interpreting the Tarot Trumps but it shou l d be under ,

stood that the connection is shadowy and tha t actua l referen ces
could be reduced to a very few pages .

XX V
L e Ta r ot :Ap er gu h is t or i q u e . Pa r .
J J B ourgeat
. . Sq . 1 2m o,
P aris 1 90 6 ,
.

The author h a s il l ustrated h is work by purely fan t astic de

signs o f c ertain Trumps M aj o r as fo r example the W h ee l of , , ,

F ortune D eath and the D evil

,
They have no connection with .

symbolism The Tarot i s said t o have o riginated in India

.
,

whence it passed to Egypt E liph a s L evi P C hristian and J A . .

, . .

V aillan t are cited in suppor t o f st a t em eiI t s and poin t s of vie w

,

The mode o f divination adopted 1 5 ful ly and carefu l ly set out .

XX V I
L Ar t d e t ir er les C or t es

. Pa r Ant onio Magus . Cr . 8 vo P aris ,
,

1 1 (1 ( about
. .

T his i s not a work o f any especia l pretension ,

n or it any
has
title to consideration on account o f it s modesty . F rankly it i s ,
 B I B L I O G R A P HY .

l ittlei f anybetter than a bookseller 5 e xperimen t There is a

.

summary a c count o f the c h ief methods o f divination derived ,

from famil i ar sources ; there i s a history o f cartoman c y in

F rance ; and there are iiI d i ffer en t reproductions o f E t t eilla Tarot
c ards with his meanings and the well known mode o f Operation
,
-
.

F inally there is a section on common fortune te l lin g by a piquet -

s et o f ordinary cards :
,

this seems to lack the only merit that it

might have possessed namely perspicuity ; but I S peak with t e
, ,

serve a s I am not perhaps a j udge possessing idea l quali c ations

,

in matters o f this kind In any case the quest i on signi es .

,

nothing It is j ust t o a d d that the c oncealed author maintains

.
,

what he terms the Egyptian tradition o f the Tarot whi c h is the ,

Great B ook of Th oth B ut t h er e i 5 a light accent throughout h is

.

thesis and it does not follow that h e took the claim serious ly
,
.

XX V II
L e Ta r ot D i vi n a t oi r e : Cl e f
d a t ir a g e d es ca r t es et d es s or t s .

P a r l e D r P a pu s . . D emy 8 v o P aris , 1 90 9
.
, ,
.

The text is a c companied by what is termed a c omp l ete recon

s t it ut i on o f all the symbols which means that in this manner we ,

have yet another Taro t The T rumps Maj or follow the tradi
,

t i on a l l ines with various exp l anation s and attributions on the

,

margin s and this p l an obtains throughout the series From the

,
.

draughtsman s point of view i t must be Said tha t t he designs

,

are indi fferently done and the reproductions see m worse than
,

the designs This is probab l y o f no espe c ial impo rtance t o the

.

class o f readers addressed D r P a pus a l so presents by wa y . .

'

o f curious memorials the evidential value o f which he seems to

,

accept imp l icitly certain unpublished design s o f E liph a s L evi ;

,

they are certain l y interesting a s examples o f t he manner in

which the great occultis t manufactured t he arch aeo l ogy o f the
Tar ot to b ear out h is persona l views We have (a ) T rump .

Maj o r NO 5 being Horus a s the Grand H iero phant ; drawn

, .
,

after the monuments ; ( b ) Trump Maj o r No 2 being the High .

,

P rie stess a s Isis also after the monuments ; and ( c ) ve im a g

,

i n a r y specimens o f an Indian Tarot This is how la h a ut e s ci en ce .

in F ran c e contributes to the illustration o f that work which D r .

P a pus terms l i vr e d e la s ci en ce e t er n elle ; i t wou l d be called by

rougher names in English criticism The editor himself takes .

his usua l pains and believes that he h a s discovered the time a t

tributed to each card by ancien t Egyp t H e applies i t to the .
,

purpose of divination so tha t the skilfu l fortune t el l er can now

,
-
1 76 I L L U S T R ATE D KEY T O THE TA R O T .

predict the hour and the day when the dark young

m
g n wi ll meet
with the fair widow and so forth ,
.

XX V III
] Ta r ot d es B oh em i en s P a r P a pus 8 vo, P aris , 8 89 Eng

. e . . 1 .

l ish T ranslation second edition 1 9 1 0

, ,
.

An exceedingly c omplex work which claims to present an a b ,

sol ute key to occult science I t wa s t ranslated into English by

.

Mr A P Morton in 1 8 9 6 and this v ersion h a s bee n r e issued

. . .
,
-

recently under my own supervision Th e preface which I have .

prexed thereto contains all that it i s necessary to sa y regarding

it s c l aims and it should be certainly consulted by readers o f
,

the presen t P i ctor i a l K ey t o th e Ta r ot The fac t that P a pus .

regards the great 'sheaf of hieroglyphics a s the most ancien t

book in the w orld a s the B ible o f B ibles and therefore as

, ,

the prim itive reve l ation does not detract from the c l aim o f

,

h i s genera l study which i t should be added

, is accompanied
by numerous valuable plates exhibiting Tarot codices old and , ,

new and diagrams summari z ing the personal thesis o f t he

,

writer and of some others who preceded him Th e Ta r ot of th e .

B oh em i a n s i s published at 6s by William R ider 81 S on Lt d .

, .

XXIX
M a n uel S yn t h eti que

et P r a ti q ue d a Ta r ot . Pa r Eude s P icard .

8 V0 , P aris 1 9 09
, .

H ere i s ye t one more handbook the subj ec t presenting in of

a series of rough plates a complete sequence o f the cards T h e .

Trumps Maj or are those o f Court de G eb elin and for the L esser
Arcana the writer has had recourse to his imagin a tion ; it can
be said tha t some o f them a r e curious a very few t hinly sug ,

g e s t i v e and the re s t bad The explanations embody

. neither r e

search n or thought a t rs t hand ; they are ba l d su m maries of the

occult authorities in France fo llowed by a brief genera l sense ,

d r awn out a s a harmony o f the who l e The method of use is .

conned t o four pages and recommends t hat divination should

be performed in a fasting state O n the history o f the Taro t .
,

M P icard says (a ) that it is con fu sed ; ( b ) that we d o n ot know

.

precisely whence it comes ; ( c) t hat this notwithstanding it s in , ,

t r od uct i on is due to t he Gipsies He says na lly tha t it s in t erpr e.

t a t ion is an ar t .