The Tao in the Tarot

by Sarita Armstrong

  He who possesses much – supreme success! … Its virtues are firmness, strength and cultural achievement. Because it is responsive to heaven and performs all things at the proper time, it wins supreme success.

  The Taoists and especially the Confucians regarded the role of an Emperor as extremely important and onerous for the true understanding and well-being of the people was equally as important as wielding one’s authority and power. The Taoists even had a name for the role: the Chu Tao which was ‘the way to be a monarch’ – in other words the way to rule one’s subjects in accordance with the harmony of the Tao.

  Just as the Empress loses nothing in her giving, so the Emperor receives even more than he already has by allowing himself the luxury of giving way. When you have supreme power you can afford to be generous, and it is this quality that turns him from being simply a strong and powerful ruler into a great and wise ruler. The Yang line which changes the Receptive-Passive Principle into the Army gives strength to the Empress, and the Yin line which changes the Creative Principle into Hexagram 14 for the Great Possessor enables the Emperor to be even greater than he was. It gives him the ability to hold back from action when inaction is what is required, for he is able to see that action and re-action are not always the best course. The Empress and the Emperor each become more than they would have been by accepting into themselves an element of each other.

  The symbiosis between them becomes more significant in realising how important an army (Hexagram 7 for the Empress) is to an Emperor or a ‘Great Possessor’. An Emperor needs an army to ensure the smooth running of his possessions and to protect them. Equally, without an Emperor to give it some direction and control, there would be no point to an army and it would soon run amok.

  Card 5: The Hierophant (Yang/Yin)

  The Hierophant is usually represented as the High Priest or the Pope in the Christian church. Each and every religion has its priest or shaman who is able to communicate directly from earth to God, regardless of whatever form their particular god is given. One should not forget that this is the true function of a Pope: to act as a vessel for the divine light or influence. As the combination of the male and female aspects of the whole, he should be represented as a combined female-male figure, an hermaphrodite, for he needs that (female) emptiness of the High Priestess to allow the light to flow into him as well as the (male) creative trick of the Magician to pass the light on to all people (the congregation). The Hierophant needs the female intuition to allow it to happen and the male reasonableness to direct it properly. Unfortunately there are very few who can operate in this way in the world today because we have lost our connection with the source. We all know of male priests who deny their intuition and emphasise their power and their understanding of the word of God. We also know of female spiritual mediums who use their intuition without any grounding in male reason and end up tied in their own knots.

  Rather than the representation of the Priest or Pope for this card I have chosen a simple cross, the cross being a universal symbol far older than Christianity. It is a symbol that combines in simplest form the Yang power, as represented in the wand of the Magician: with the earth symbol of Yin receptiveness to form a cross In my picture the upright part of the cross is pure light and energy. The horizontal beam is made of wood representing the earth which with the acceptance of the light (the creative spirit) brings forth fruitfulness in the form of the buds and flowers. It is from this that the Fool’s staff is made. In the colour spectrum, the blue of the unconscious infused with the yellow of the light creates the green of the world.

  The Hierophant is the offspring of the union of the Emperor with the Empress, leading us back to the Yang of the Magician and the Yin of the High Priestess. For us poor worldly creatures the Hierophant is the link between ourselves and the most primordial influences in existence. He is ‘the go-between’.

  When we make the sign of the cross on entering a church, with the movement of our hand we are acknowledging the Yang force entering the receptive Yin - heaven entering earth. We are acknowledging that here we are in a place where both aspects are combined: a place worthy of our worship, a holy place where dwells the Hierophant.

  Today when we enter a church we bow our heads and make a surreptitious sign of the cross (if we do anything at all). When the priest or vicar blesses us it is with barely a movement of the hands held close to his chest. Yet, when we visit early Christian churches or catacombs with their vast array of inspired frescos, I cannot help feeling we must be a long way distant from the early Christianity that inspired such devotion and outpouring of heartfelt empathy. What was different back then? What are we missing now? Some years ago with this thought much in my mind, I entered a deserted cave-church in Cappadocia and walked to the raised stone area where the priest would have stood. I raised both arms straight above my head then, feeling the energy flow in and through me, I lowered them to my breast then down to my sides, so that the energy flowed down to the earthen floor to ground it. Bringing my arms back up I raised the energy again to the level of my shoulders then out through each arm as I spread them sideways, releasing the blessing through each open hand to the unseen congregation that would have stood before me. At that moment the early morning sun peaked above the mountaintop and shone straight into the entrance of the cave-church bathing everywhere in light. This was how priestly blessings would have been made and received by the congregation; not with bowed heads but with open arms.

  Jesus, with his heavenly father being from above and his worldly mother from the virgin earth, made himself into the prime symbol of the Hierophant when he was crucified on the more ancient symbol of the cross. In spite of the dramatic horror of turning his very life into a symbol for us all to understand, the state church unfortunately chose to emphasise the horror of a tortured man dying in agony, rather than the symbolism of the cross represented in the god-man himself.

  It is very important to realise that it is not for a man or woman, or even for a Hierophant to purposefully bring down the creative spirit, but to be open and receptive enough for the creative spirit or whatever you wish to call it, to be received. It is also important to be pure enough and wise enough not to be a vehicle for lesser entities to take advantage of the openness created.

  In mythology the Hierophant is the god Hermes or Mercury, who is the messenger of the gods. He is rarely seen and when he does appear it is just a glance, just a hint, and then he is gone again. But that is enough to leave his message - more would be too much for a poor human being! There are two planets that move between the earth and the sun: one is Venus and the other is Mercury. Mercury is the closest to the sun and is only glimpsed in the early morning before the sun has quite risen. Therefore, Mercury is the messenger that brings the light of the sun to the earth.

  The orbit of the planet Mercury has three retrograde periods when it appears to move backwards and so traces across the sky as viewed from the earth the formation of a six-sided star (as in Figure 4: The Major Arcana Tarot Cards in the form of a Hexagon). We would therefore expect the Hierophant to be the sixth card of the Tarot, though it is given number 5.

  If the Fool is placed in its traditional position at the start of the pack, the Hierophant is the sixth card, but this connection would need to be obscured by Bembo and other earlier users of the Tarot from those in positions of power in the orthodox religion. One would expect this connection to be hidden but hinted at, and so we find the Hierophant is given number 5. However, five is the number of the sacred pentagram which guards all holy places and protects them from evil influence and so is relevant in this respect. Five is closely associated with Venus. The Tarot card of the Star, which is also connected to Venus, stands exactly opposite the Hierophant on the circle (Figure 1: The Major Arcana Cards Laid out in a Circle). As we shall see, the number six is perfectly relevant to the following card, the Lovers. Bembo was very clever.

  The Exhortation: Perceive Blessings!

  The Hierophant is twinned with


  Hexagram 11 T’ai: Peace

  Upper Trigram: K’un: earth, female, receptive, (heat, dark). Mother; Larger Yin.

  Lower Trigram: Ch’ien: heaven, male, creative, (sky, cold, light). Father; Larger Yang.

  SYMBOL This hexagram symbolizes heaven and earth in communion. It is as though a mighty ruler, by careful regulation of affairs, has brought to fruition the way of heaven and earth. In harmony with the sequence of their motions, he gives help to people on every hand.

  The Hierophant inevitably dwells in a place of peace, and Hexagram 11 is entitled Peace. It is to a place of peace, be it church, temple, or sacred grove that we go to receive the blessing of the Hierophant. Holy places have always been sited specifically in situations on the earth’s surface where the energies are strongest and most harmonious – a place of Peace. It is at such sites, some of which have been used continually for the purpose since the very earliest days of mankind that a hierophant is most easily able to perform his function. The earth is the receptacle where spirit is perceived and possibly received through the function of the Hierophant, which is to open up the flow of energy and create the movement between ‘the opposites’ of heaven and earth.

  This hexagram is a combination of the two unchanged trigrams in the previous two hexagrams (the ones that have no moving lines). The lower one is formed of Ch'ien heaven, male, active; and the upper one is K'un earth, female, receptive. It might seem the wrong way round, for one thinks Ch'ien should be above, coming down from heaven, and K'un should be below, passive and waiting, but that is the static way of things. In true Oriental fashion, the opposite is the case, for their positions are reversed and so they are mutually responsive - moving, rotating.

  In a note John Blofeld explains:

  ... where the trigrams symbolize heaven and earth in what would appear to be their normal position, that arrangement is held to be disastrous; [it is actually Hexagram 12 Stagnation/Obstruction assigned to the Devil] whereas here, where they seem to be upside down, everything is propitious. This may be because heaven above earth is held to imply that the two are existing separately without that intercourse which is the root of all growth; whereas here their intercourse is so absolute that heaven is actually supporting earth.

  The symbol is explained:

  This hexagram symbolizes heaven and earth in communion.

  This is the hexagon formed by the combination of the two triangles, as explained earlier.

  It is as though a mighty ruler, by careful regulation of affairs, has brought to fruition the way of heaven and earth. In harmony with the sequence of their motions, he gives help to people on every hand.

  The mighty ruler is the Hierophant who is able to control and harmonize – to co-ordinate the lightening strike of the creative principle with the receptivity of Earth and then to pass it on to give help to people on every hand as a blessing. Every priest who stands at the head of his congregation should be aware that this is his job.

  The Confucian commentary on the text tells us:

  … the celestial and terrestrial forces have intercourse and all things are in communion with one another. High and low mingle and are of one will. The active, bright principle (Yang) lies within; [i.e. in the natural position of the Yin] the passive, dark principle (Yin) lies without [in the natural position of the Yang] - strength lies within, glad acceptance without.

  The Commentary is not about the sexual position (as mentioned by Blofeld) but about the Yin's position generally being within or coming from within, whilst the Yang's position is generally coming from the outside. (Yin Earth; Yang Sky). Here their positions are reversed, so the Commentary is saying there is movement between them because they are each within the space of the other - hence strength (Yang) is at the heart of the matter with glad acceptance (Yin) showing on the outside.

  For the first time the two opposite aspects come together. This represents the hypotenuse on the triangle drawing the two divergent lines together (see Figure 7: ). The Emperor and the Empress can only come together by remembering the deeper spiritual aspect from which they each developed and by acknowledging the inexorable quality of Time that has brought them together.

  Card 6: Lovers/The Beloved (Yin)

  The card for the Lovers and the card for the Chariot/Charioteer as a pair represent how mankind on the most physical level may attempt through the sexual act to reach those fundamental principles that govern his or her spiritual life. Mankind desires to procreate. Just as the Emperor and the Empress created the Hierophant, so a man and a woman through the physical enjoyment of sex may reach back to their own Source through this primordial driving force, and in so doing re-create life in themselves. It is rather wonderful that human beings should be given on this most material level the ability to symbolise the divine amalgamation of the opposites within their most enjoyable physical experience! However, a man and a woman go about this experience in completely different ways, which is only natural since they are approaching the same goal from two entirely different starting points.

  I prefer to call this card the Beloved rather than the Lovers, as it reflects the underlying female attitude to the sexual act (whilst the Chariot/Charioteer reflects the male attitude). In this act she can symbolise the receiving of the Yang power whereby in her complete acceptance of it she becomes whole. She is the world awaiting the heavenly, procreating spirit – waiting but alert! On the material level the act of union is the complete physical joining of the man and woman whereby their differences are overcome and hence complete fulfillment or wholeness ensues. The masks we all wear through life are dropped and in that moment the true creative spirit can enter in.

  In the Waite card the naked man looks at the woman but the woman is looking at the angel. That extra dimension connects her via the Hierophant and the Empress to the unconscious depths of the High Priestess. In Greek mythology the Beloved would be Persephone, the daughter of Demeter (the Empress) who is seduced by Pluto (the Charioteer) and taken to Hades. By going into the unconscious depths of the Underworld she connects back to the deeply loving unconscious of the High Priestess and through this subliminal attitude of mind she can give herself wholly. In my image the Beloved is falling back into the arms of her lover, who is not seen clearly, for it is the magic of the act that is important for her. It is in that complete giving, through that small death, that she falls back into her own Source. Her man has to be so much more than he really is, for he too has to be able to reach back to the source of his own line of power.

  What is it that makes the sexual act right for a woman? The card tells us even in the name. Love is all-important, and she cannot even begin to properly accept the physical act without that feeling within her. Not just love for and from the man in question, but the knowledge that this means more than either of them could probably explain.

  The man of her choice will be the one most nearly matching the condition of her own animus at that time, and the same applies to a man who undoubtedly searches for a woman who matches his anima. For this reason our choice of lovers may appear totally at odds with the rest of our lives, or appear quite extraordinary to casual acquaintances, and indeed may be quite different from our choice of spouse.

  The number of this card is six (sex in Latin), the most procreative number, and we should remember that procreation is (in the main) what the sexual act is about. We need to expand ourselves in all sorts of ways, and procreation is the one that makes sense to anyone on the material level.

  The Exhortation: Allow yourself to be loved!

  Lovers/The Beloved is twinned with

  Hexagram 19 Lin: Approach

  Upper Trigram: K'un: earth, female, receptive, (heat, dark). Mother; Larger Yin.

  Lower Trigram: Tui: lake, rain, marsh. Younger Daughter; Larger Yang. Autumn.

  SYMBOL This hexagram symbolizes land rising above marsh. The Superior Man’s [Elite Traveller’s] teaching and his affection for his juniors are inexhaustible. Nothing hinders him in his care for the people.

&nbs
p; A moving line at the third place in Hexagram 11, Peace, evolves it into this hexagram, Approach, and we now have two male lines in an essentially female hexagram. The lower trigram signifies joy whilst the upper signifies compliance between the lovers.

  The text is auspicious:

  Approach. Sublime Success! ... The strong is well-watered and grows large; joy and willing acceptance are conjoined.

  Wilhelm’s translation expands the idea:

  The organisation of this hexagram is altogether favourable. The two lines entering from below and pushing upward give the structure of the hexagram its character. Tui [Joy] below moves upward, the upper trigram K’un [earth/female] sinks downward; thus the two movements come toward each other. [This could be a literal description of the sexual act.] The same thing takes place to an even greater extent as regards the nuclear trigram. The lower, Chên, is thunder [germination or sprouting] which moves upward, while the upper, K’un [earth/female] moves downward …1

  Blofeld tells us the Chinese regard the best position for the sexual act as being with the woman above the man. Within each hexagram there is contained two ‘nuclear trigrams’ and here Blofeld is referring to the nuclear trigrams of Chên which represents thunder and arousing which is lying below K’un representing the feminine. In each case the feminine is above and in the main hexagram Tui representing Joy is below, whilst the lower nuclear trigram is Chên representing the arousing thunder. The auspicious position for the trigrams is much the same, as in Hexagram 11 for the Hierophant. This prevents us falling into the situation of domination and separation that could otherwise evolve, as in Hexagram 12, Stagnation, which matches the card of the Devil. In the present case: