Tarot and the Gates of Light

by Mark Horn

  These cards can also point to someone who is suffering from grandiosity in their fantasies of success, so that even if they do reach some level of success, it isn’t good enough to satisfy them. They’re unwilling to adjust the grandiosity of their dreams to the reality of their experience, so that regardless of succeeding in some respects, they see themselves as having failed. I’ve also known people who fit this description. And I hate to admit it, but in my younger and less mature days, I could fall prey to this kind of thinking.

  For commentary on this Sephirotic pairing, again I turn to the Wizard of Menlo Park, Thomas Edison, who is attributed as saying: “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” Of course, you’ve been doing the very hard work of this practice for thirty-two days now. Which means there’s just a little bit more than two weeks to go. If you’re feeling tired, discouraged, or drained at this point along this inner quest, take inspiration from Edison: he never gave up.

  Take heart. Everyone gets discouraged. But you’ve got the power of Netzach in you, and it’s within every Sephira, since of course the whole Tree is in each individual Sephira. It’s always there to call on when you’re feeling down.

  Day 32: Netzach of Hod in Yetzirah

  The Seven and Eight of Swords

  _________within_________

  In The Esoteric Tarot, Ronald Decker divides the four suits into those that show blessings and those that show curses. And there’s no question that today’s pairing in the suit of Swords feels like a curse. The esoteric name that the Golden Dawn gave the Seven of Swords is the Lord of Unstable Effort. This is of course the shadow aspect of Netzach, and if the virtue is Perseverance, it’s opposite can be seen as irresolution, vacillation, and cowardice.

  When we look at the man in the Seven of Swords, he is someone who can be described as cowardly. Yes, we can see him as someone who has snuck into the camp to steal something, which takes a trickster’s kind of courage. But in this case, I see him as someone who was part of the camp and who has decided to decamp with the goods, someone who was part of this army but who has decided it’s safer to sneak away—and to take some valuables with him. He is both cowardly and untrustworthy. His cowardice is born of his inability to Endure; he can only envision a future of victimization, so he runs away and in so doing victimizes himself. He believes that to save himself from an imagined fate, it’s acceptable to break his vows to stand with the others he is deserting and to steal from them as well.

  In the Eight of Swords, we have someone who is afraid to move forward. This is a different kind of cowardice; it’s the shadow side of Hod, where Humility has turned against oneself so that self-esteem is so lacking that the figure in the card feels completely helpless, even though we can see that the bonds holding her are loose and the swords do not surround her. She can free herself and walk away at any time. But she is blinded by her perception of being a helpless victim.

  Together, these cards create the dynamic of competitive victimhood. At the international level, we can see this at work in how the Israelis and Palestinians both work to portray themselves as victims of the conflict. And of course, Israelis hold what they believe is the trump card of victimhood for the twentieth century, the Holocaust. But everyone from African-Americans to Armenians can fall prey to this kind of thinking. What is competitive victimhood? It’s a mental framework where one believes that one’s group has suffered more when compared with another group that’s considered an outsider group that also has experienced suffering. For example, there is a sizable contingent of Americans who believe Christians are subject to religious discrimination in the United States that is greater than the discrimination LGBTQ people face.21

  On the individual level, people who suffer from what is known as “victim identity” have come to define their identity around the crises, traumas, or other difficulties that have occurred in their lives, so that they believe that they have no agency (see the figure in the Eight of Swords) or that there is a “they” who will always kick them down, trick them, or betray them and that this can be used by the “victim” to avoid taking responsibility for his or her actions (see the figure in the Seven of Swords) and for the failures in his or her life.

  Often such “victims” appeal to others to help save them from some situation, but then find a way to refuse help or sabotage the effort because it would change the narrative they live by. Even worse, on the personal level, some who suffer from this dynamic attract people who are bullies. You’ve probably seen people in relationships that fit this description.22

  This is a particularly difficult psychological dynamic to free oneself from. As a queer Jew, unfortunately, I’ve had many opportunities to meet people in marginalized groups (and some from groups that aren’t marginalized at all) who suffer from this misperception of reality, with the resulting lack of agency or acceptance of responsibility.

  Together, these two cards represent the worst of these tendencies. And it’s a true curse. So for a moment of comic relief, let me direct you to find a YouTube video of Monty Python’s skit “The Four Yorkshiremen.” In this wildly weird comedy bit, four successful men each try to outdo each other with their stories of being brought up impoverished and abused. It’s a race to the bottom of victimization, and in this case it’s very funny. When we see it among people we know, however, it is anything but.

  Day 32: Netzach of Hod in Assiyah

  The Seven and Eight of Pentacles

  _________within_________

  Agriculture and manufacturing—two activities of our species that together distinguish us from all the other inhabitants of our planet—are pictured in these two cards. The figures in these cards are the recipients of the blessings of their work. In the Seven of Pentacles, the farmer sees the fruit of his labor, traditionally seen as a grapevine, which has connotations of transformation and holiness. The wine we create from the fruit of the vine is a blessing that we receive. When we drink this wine, we say a blessing that recognizes its Divine origin. That Source can be seen in the stars inside each Pentacle on the vine.

  In the Eight of Pentacles, we see the craftsman creating something at his bench. What is he creating? It doesn’t matter, because within the matter, the material, is the spiritual Source, and he is aware of this. He is working with the understanding that as he opens to his creativity, he is actually partnering with the Divine creativity that expresses itself uniquely through him, and he is fulfilling his purpose by actively contributing to the ongoing work of Creation.23

  In readings, the Seven of Pentacles often is interpreted as feeling dissatisfaction with results (even when they appear to other eyes as successes). However, in this pairing with the Eight of Pentacles, I want to look at the way Netzach and Hod balance each other. Just as Chesed and Gevurah balance each other’s energy, Netzach and Hod are energies that seem opposed in the names Victory and Surrender. But in The Gates of Light, Joseph Gikatilla says that the level of Netzach and Hod is the access point for one of the seven heavens: Shamayim. And this is the place from which we receive great strength and where we are gifted with the vision that is associated with prophecy. So for today, I’d like to read the farmer as someone who does in fact have the vision to see the Divine origin of the fruit he is harvesting.

  Both the farmer and the craftsman see the Source that underlies all reality and have reverence for the Splendor of all Creation. So I see this pairing as the Triumph of Splendor. And because of the Divine’s urge to know Itself through manifestation in multiplicity, I also see this pairing as the Endurance of Glory—the Eternal movement throughout the universe to the Diversity of Creation. This pairing can serve as a wake-up call to look at whatever you are doing, whatever you are making in the moment and see it as an expression of the Divine. Because as we work toward making our creative dreams a reality, we move closer to alignment with our Divine Source.

  Questions for reflection and contemplation: Day 32

  1. (Wands) When your Humility ha
s been tested, how well has it Endured? Think of specific times when it Endured and when it did not: What made the difference?

  2. (Cups) A dream without a plan of action to realize it is a fantasy. A dream with a plan of action brings the possibility of a goal achieved. Are you firm in taking action toward your goals, or do you vacillate? Do you worry that taking action to reach your goals is seen as selfaggrandizing by others?

  3. (Swords) Do you see yourself as a victim anywhere in your life? Have you ever used victim status to excuse something you did or said? Who would you be without a story of victimization?

  4. (Pentacles) What are you working on, building, or creating in your life? Visualize yourself doing this work as one piece in a mosaic that extends beyond what you can see. Know that you hold an essential piece of this mosaic and spend the rest of the day seeing everyone you work with or encounter as also holding an essential piece.

  Day 33: Hod of Hod

  Glory, Glory Hallelujah

  Today is the thirty-third day of the Omer, which is four weeks and five days of the Omer.

  The thirty-third day of the Counting of the Omer is known as Lag B’Omer, which makes sense because it simply means “thirty-three days of the Omer.” There are all sorts of special customs around this particular day that are of obscure origin. For that reason, many of these customs have fallen out of practice. But one custom is still popular today, and in Israel, it’s a very big deal in the town of Meron, near Safed in the Galilee. That’s the site of the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai, the author of the Zohar (as ascribed by Rabbi Moses de León, who was in fact the real author of the Zohar). Even without the Zohar as his legacy, Rabbi Bar Yohai is the fourth most-quoted sage in the Mishnah, and there are many mystical legends about him, including that on the day of his death, he passed down many Kabbalistic secrets to his followers. Whether or not this is true, the anniversary of his death is considered a hillula, a celebration, since the death of a tzaddik is considered the reuniting of his soul with its Divine Source in a Divine Wedding. So today, on Lag B’Omer, Jewish mystics gather at his gravesite to light bonfires and dance through the night.

  This custom goes back centuries to the time of the eminent Kabbalist Rabbi Isaac Luria. There is a story told that on the Hillula de Shimon Bar Yohai, he went with his followers to light a bonfire and dance through the night. While they were dancing, an old man with a white beard appeared and joined Rabbi Luria in the dance. The face of the old man glowed, and as they danced, the face of Rabbi Luria began to glow as well. As the sun rose, the old man disappeared, and Rabbi Luria’s companions realized they had been visited by the soul of Shimon Bar Yohai himself. True or not, the tale as told makes Rabbi Luria the spiritual heir of the man they believed wrote the Zohar (which can be translated as “radiance”).

  Stories with someone who has a glowing face also connect that person to Moses, who is described as having had a radiant face when he descended from Mount Sinai—that the Glory of YHVH was upon him.24 And remember, Moses is described in the Torah as the most Humble man on Earth.25

  I have seen people of many traditions with such a glow. It was when I saw my friend Anne with her face glowing in this way that I asked her what had happened to her, and that was my introduction to Vipassana meditation. This glow is the natural response of quiet joy when one’s ego steps aside and recognizes with Humility that there is indeed a Higher Power guiding us. However you find this radiance within, I say to you, “Glory, glory, hallelujah.”

  And if you have a teacher you revere, someone who opened vistas for you previously unimagined, today would be a good day to say a prayer of gratitude in your teacher’s honor.

  Day 33: Hod of Hod in the Four Worlds

  The Eight of Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles

  _________within_________

  The Humility within Splendor. The Splendor within Gratitude. The kaleidoscopic combinations on “doubling” days are in fact examples of the Splendor and the Glory. But on this day, I’d like to look at pure Humility since it is a quality that is much overlooked in this world of “selfies” and online narcissism.

  People with a healthy sense of Humility aren’t posting online photos of everything they eat and what their pet did today hoping for “likes.” They are secure in themselves. Humility isn’t self-abasement; it’s not about holding yourself in low regard. It’s about holding others in high regard—knowing that everyone you meet is just as much an entire universe as you are and giving space to that, being open enough to take the other person in with all their complications (because after all, you have complications too). In this way, Humility isn’t about making yourself small; it’s about knowing your full expanse within and opening to that expanse, that Splendor, that Glory in others.

  The Hasidim teach the practice of bittul, which is sometimes translated as “self-abnegation,” but I think that’s too negative sounding when the reality is that it’s more about selflessness in service to the Divine. This is a service that puts self-concern aside. And here is the key: what others think of you is completely unimportant. And indeed, what you think of you is unimportant. These are only thoughts. And the practice of Humility is a kind of meditation where you put any thoughts of yourself aside. Just as when you’re meditating and you think about how good a meditator you are so that you’ve stopped meditating and fallen into a mind trap, so too when moving through the world with Humility, if you think about how good you are at being Humble, you’ve fallen into Humility’s exact opposite: pride. This is a practice where all thoughts about the self are put aside, all judgments (positive or negative) are put aside as just thoughts. And as the mind becomes quieter, something amazing happens.

  Rabbi Jonathan Sacks taught that Humility is actually a form of perception. When you can silence the “I” enough to hear the “Thou,” Humility will open your heart to all Creation.26

  Let’s look at how the cards reflect this teaching. And as always, we’ll start with the suit of Wands. The “I” is silent in the Eight of Wands; there is no one there at all. And you can hear the “still, small voice” in the wands racing down from the Heavens, always audible for those who have ears to hear.

  In the Eight of Cups, the turning away from the pursuit of pleasures of the senses to go off on an inner quest is a Surrender of the self, and this is one way to move in that direction. However, I want to reemphasize that Judaism is not a path of renunciation of sensual pleasures. Pleasures are to be enjoyed, but with an awareness of the holiness within them. And of course, in moderation.

  The Eight of Swords has gotten a bad rap throughout this book and in tarot books in general. But on this day, I’m staying with the meditation theme and Humility as a meditative practice. For those of us who tend to intellectualize everything, there is an important teaching in this card. If we consider the swords as representing discriminating thought—and the goal of this practice is to put these thoughts aside—then the woman in this card has literally and figuratively closed her eyes to these thoughts. Like any meditator, she holds her body still, the better to open to the inner stillness and open the inner senses to the Divine whisper. Part of the practice of Humility is the awareness of the limits of one’s knowledge and thinking. This is one of those places where I run into trouble since I’m a know-it-all. Except, of course, I don’t know it all. But I like it if people think I do.

  There is a well-known Zen story of a professor who had studied Zen academically and who went to visit a Zen master to learn from him. While the master was making tea, the professor nattered on about his knowledge of Zen. As the master poured tea into the professor’s cup, the professor kept talking until he noticed that the master had poured so much tea that the cup started to overflow. The professor blurted out, “Stop, the cup is full!” To which the master responded, “Like this cup, you are full of your own learning, opinions, and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”

  This is a very elegant way to tell someone that he’s full of himself.
And in the Eight of Swords, the figure understands this conundrum. She is someone who has great powers of intellect, but she also knows this intellect can be an obstacle in the practice of Humility. This doesn’t mean one should reject the intellect; it simply means that we need to know its limits. The woman in the Eight of Swords knows the limits of intellect and is willing to put herself in a situation where it can’t be her guide; even though it feels constricting and unnatural to her, she knows doing this can take her somewhere she couldn’t go otherwise.

  Finally, we come to our Humble craftsman in the Eight of Pentacles. Working hard at manual labor is often looked down on by those of us who work in glass towers in front of glass screens. He doesn’t take that judgment into account. He doesn’t feel any vanity either, even though he is turning out beautiful work. He has stepped aside inside himself so that the creativity flows through him. He sees the Divine working through him, and he feels joy and satisfaction in his work and Gratitude that he has been so gifted.

  Together these four cards provide a road map for the deep practice of Humility. May we all walk this path together.

  Questions for reflection and contemplation: Day 33

  1. (Wands) How good a listener are you? Look up the principles of active listening and try to consciously practice these principles all day, with everyone you speak with. Notice the ways your experience differs from the usual. As you practice active listening, add one more instruction to the practice: listen for the Divine Whisper when you find time to be alone.

  2. (Cups) Go on a social media fast for twenty-four hours. Notice any time you have the urge to post anything. Consider how you might be using social media to construct a story line or image of yourself to seek attention or approval. After twenty-four hours, before you go back, consider ways to bring the practice of Humility to your use of social media.