As we have seen, not even a science such as quantistic physics, when it must calculate the position and the moment of subatomic corpuscles, allows itself such conduct. We may, however, ascertain through empirical experience, that is, through the interpretations, that the cards show “tendencies to exist” and “tendencies to occur” according to a criteria of sense which is no longer arbitrary as in the past, but is disciplined by unequivocal rules (the Laws and Codes) and, as such, certifiable a priori. These are the only reasons for which we might change our mental attitude towards this subject. We could no longer affirm, as in particular do the detractors of an esoteric use of the Tarot that, as the person who reads it establishes the interpretation, everything is valid and acceptable and, nothing being demonstrable, there can be no attendibility. On the contrary, we should consider the question and the answer as united by a synchronistic event.
Fig. 3
Example of disposition of cards during a reading
In this way, we will comprehend that he who interprets the Tarot, applying precise and pre-determined rules to the cards that present themselves in that specific reading, allows the emergence of an unmistakeable and provable meaning in relation to the question asked. In fact, precisely because the Codes and Laws are established a priori by the comprehension of the Structure of the Tarot, the interpretation is none other than the practical application of a theoretical model and is therefore completely certifiable. With this example we have illustrated a system based upon scientific and causal qualities (Codes and Laws) associated however with Synchronicity, characterized by apparently casual criteria. Again...causal or casual? Naturally, it is not our intention to offer a definitive answer to the question, which exemplifies the modern debate between the scientific and the Philosophical communities. We would in fact go beyond the purpose of this work, which intends to offer a new, although antique, point of view regarding a subject too often ridiculed and little or badly known. To this consideration is added the certainty that this sort of investigation would be fruitless with only the means of a purely rationalistic method. What reason could there be, otherwise, to confront areas such as mysticism and quantistic physics, worlds which require an approach so different from the ordinary, both beyond the limits of a reality able to be explored with the common senses? As we know that the temptation of knowledge is great, we wish to add a reflection. In a reading of the Tarot, it is possible to observe a fracture in the normal calculation of possibilities, as those which we have called “meaningful coincidences” occur constantly, Synchronicity, whose probability of occurrence far exceeds statistics. This is as much as our reason, observing thanks to objective parameters (Codes and Laws), may ascertain. However, we will not be completely satisfied. In fact, even admitting the empirical evidence of these manifestations, we intend to understand fully, to give an answer to everything, from beginning to end, in a totally rational manner. This is normal and not to be reproved, as our Cartesian part is used to this strong dominance. In general, the incessant and irrefutable certification on the part of reason is that which we seek in any context, even in those apparently distant from rationality, as is the Tarot. If on the one hand this attitude is necessary, as it reassures us regarding the authenticity and concreteness of that which we research, on the other it must not become tyrannical.
Let us be content, then, to objectively take note with objectivity of that which we observe in the course of a reading and let us fix a limit to investigation into “ultimate mechanisms”. We need a pause for concentration in order to understand better the concept of this brief tale.
Once there was a man who wished to climb to the top of the highest mountain. He prepared everything that might help him on his difficult climb, in particular, strong, sturdy shoes. The man began his journey and as he ascended, thanked God that he had fitted himself out with such solid and efficient shoes which, step after step, were proving to be such a great help and support. However, almost to the top, just at the final meters, he realized that those shoes, which until then had been so precious, owing to the particular nature of that area near the top of the peak, were causing him to slide backwards. He took them off quickly and, with more grip with his bare feet, reached the top of the mountain, where he wept for joy.
This metaphor, in our opinion, perfectly describes the attitude we should assume when approaching certain less-known themes. Ascending the comprehension of the Tarot, our mind, logical and rational, solid and resistant like a pair of trekking boots, is indispensable for us as it guides us in penetration of the Coded Structure based on Codes and Laws. When we near the top, where we may touch the more elevated dimension offered by contact with the Arcana, at the moment of the answer to the consultant’s question, we may ascertain if that which we are observing is real or not, if it functions or not. If affirmative, we will realize that the story suggests to us that we must not continue to ask ourselves how all this may be true. Let us remember that, if we wish to reach the top, we must decide to take off our shoes, which now not only are not helping us, but are actively hindering our climb. Briefly, therefore, we must verify if the Tarot, in practice, responds according to the rules that we know and if their mechanism, revealing coherence between two principles, is in agreement with the criteria that we have learned during our theoretical studies. If and when all this is ascertained, we do not attempt to go further, as there is the risk of sliding backwards...
In fact, beyond any possible explanation, which we have in any case wished to propose, a part of understanding, here as in any other authentic and traditional context, is to be accepted in a serene and receptive manner without allowing the logical-rational component to transform itself from ally into oppressor. If in effect it will no longer be possible to say, “no, it is not true, it is all a fantasy”, because the Codes and Laws will immediately prove such affirmation wrong, on the other hand, thanks to obvious obsolescence of the statistics, a new, perhaps totally unexpected horizon will open before us which, precisely for this reason, will not always be easy to integrate. Our advice is to accept it with the humility of one who, as a human being, cannot know and understand all but should, facing a Mystery, walk again barefoot...
Footnotes - Chapter 5
72 Tao Te Ching, Lao Tsu, chap. 73.
73 Aśvaghosa, The Awakening of Faith, Open Court, Chicago 1900.
74 Filone Alessandrino De Opificio Mundi.
75 Agrippa, De occulta philosophia, chap.14 p. 19.
76 D. Bohm and B. Hiley, On the Intuitive Understanding of Nonlocality as Implied by Quantum Theory in Foundation of Physics, 1975 p. 96, 102.
77 Karl G. Jung, Sincronicità, Biblioteca Bollati Boringhieri, 2009.
78 Fritjof Capra, Tao della Fisica, Adelphi edizioni 2009, p. 151-152.
79 The more of an expert connoisseur is the tarologist, regarding the functioning mechanisms of the Tarot, the greater will be his capacity of objective interpretation which, ideally, should be the only evidence.
Chapter 6
“Truth did not come nude into this world, but in symbols and images.”
(Gospel of Philip)
6.1 An optical language
For the Tarot, the Coded Structure is an aspect of fundamental importance. The Codes and Laws allow an objectivity that greatly exceeds the interpretative and personal use of the Arcana typical of the past. We reiterate this concept because the prejudices of the scholars, although not always unmotivated, continue to hold fast:
“It is obvious that, set before great archetypical figures such as the Emperor, the Pope, the Lovers, the Chariot, Justice, the Tower, and so on, the multitude of references, of attributes and reminiscences, becomes impenetrable and any variable is possible(...). In other words, we must be careful not to consider the Tarot as we would the symbolic setup of an altarpiece or a celebratory fresco on the wall of a cathedral or of a princely hall. Certain aberrations of the so-called “esoterical interpretations”, sometimes ta
ken to such limits of arbitrary fantastication and beyond, depart from the two (for that matter, contradictory) principles of the premise of the existence of a meaningful and constant symbolic value, prompted to the least detail, and by the absence of a precise code by which the symbolic altarpiece should be inspired: which leaves the one interpreting free to abandon himself to exegetical virtuosities which range from the banal to aphilological anomie.80”
In synthesis, the possibility of considering the Tarot as a symbolic system (an altarpiece or a fresco) is contested, owing to the lack of a precise code to which the symbolism may refer. This lack would cause not only the inevitable degeneration into “esoterical” interpretations, considered personal and completely unjustified, but also the loss of oneself in critical interpretations with no foundation. May we be surprised at, or blame severely, those who conduct this sort of analysis? Evidently not, and the reason is quite simple: if the researchers did not (or do not) know of the presence of the Codes, how could they form an opinion different from the one they expressed? Therefore, we may not be surprised or pained by this error. It would be more serious if, even after ascertaining the presence of the codified system, one were to still refuse stubbornly to neither consider nor investigate it.
If the Codes and Laws furnish support which determines the certainty of the symbolic value and of the meaning of the Tarot, how may we apply all that in our practice, in the phase in which the Arcana are used for a reading for a consultant? In order to understand this dynamic, we will use a rather unusual comparison.
Fig. 1
Neurons
The Tarot may be termed a Metaphysical Machine, a sort of cosmic brain. In this sort of metaphor, actually quite realistic, each single Arcanum is depicted as a cell of the nervous system, a neuron. The Codes and Laws, which establish a relationship between the cards, create a dense web of interconnections and may be imagined as the extensions that connect the neurons to each other. The whole thus structured, a sort of neuronal web, allows the Tarot intelligence to express itself, to “speak”, with the tarologist. As we with our intelligence use the letters of the alphabet in order to converse with other individuals, in the same way the Tarot uses images (the Arcana) of the Codes and Laws to communicate with us in a prescribed manner allowing us to comprehend its thought, its message. In any case, differently than our language made of letters, in this case the alphabet used is made of illustrations: it is an optical language. What we have just said is not a simple allegory, because during a reading the mind of the Tarot effectively manifests itself in the form of statements, actual sentences which, instead of transmitting sound, are expressed in a graphic manner. This particular Language is created through two cardinal principles: a Grammar and a Lexicon. If we imagine studying a foreign language, we may better understand how this is possible. At the beginning, we are oriented towards assimilating the Grammar, the rules of structure. Gradually we learn the vocabulary, the terms with which, precisely because of the rules, we may read, write and communicate wholly meaningful sentences. Thus, studying the Tarot requires the same method. Let us see how.
Grammar: Codes and Laws
The Codes and Laws, which allow us to understand this sapiential teaching, are also the principles that establish the manner in which the Tarot expresses that which it intends to communicate in the course of a consultation. At the moment of a reading, Grammar is shown to be indispensable; it is the element by which we may comprehend the manner in which the sentences are regulated and structured. In fact, knowing a priori the principles, we may be sure to read correctly that which appears to our eyes, with no interpretative doubts. When we spoke of the Law of Duplicity and of the example of the house,81 we were using an example, which would facilitate the understanding of these affirmations. On that occasion, we learned that, when a symbol appears twice, it signifies that the Tarot is “underlining” it because it is of great interest for the question. This is a principle of grammar, a structural rule: every time that, in two cards near each other, we find the same symbol or concept, it means that the particular element is important for the question asked. We may therefore say that, generally speaking, the Laws are the rules which formalize the logic of the interaction of the cards, so that the tarologist may orient himself precisely in order to decipher the sentences, the message-replies of the Tarot.
Lexicon: the Keywords
Still in the same example, the symbol in question, the house, was a keyword. And a word is part of a... dictionary. What does this mean? The examination of the illustrations and the analysis of the Codes, lead to the comprehension of content hidden in the symbolism of the Tarot. Gradually during this process, the presence of keywords intrinsic to the structure and significance of the various Arcana, is revealed. Their individuation creates overall, a Lexicon, a vocabulary. This identification does not happen according to subjective or arbitrary criteria, but through a precise and rigorous process. The two principal procedures are:
1) Direct observation
2) Decryption.
Fig. 2
The High Priestess
Regarding the first method, simple observation of the images (as the house in the House of God and the Moon blades) allows us to distinguish immediately a certain number of keywords. In the second case, instead, esoterical meanings, internal and secret, of the Tarot are revealed through Codes. These concepts are keywords as well, which are added to the preceding ones. Here is a demonstration of the two methods, observation and decryption, of the High Priestess card.
Observation
The woman illustrated in the image holds a book in her hand. From what has been expressed just recently, it is easy to understand that the book, because it is visibly observable in an objective manner, is a keyword of the Arcanum. What do we do with a book? We read or study it. Thus, to read or study, easily deducible through a logical sense, are other keywords of the card. Up to here, we believe there will be no objections or difficulty in accepting these considerations, for the obvious reason that anyone will have been able to identify them, Let us go a step further.
Decryption
If we were to say that in the Priestess we find the keyword mother, there might be objections, and rightly so. In fact, if on the one hand there is something that allows us to hypothesize some truth to this affirmation, as the illustration is of a woman, on the other, there are not enough guarantees of this, because not every woman is a mother, or also because from a Priestess, a religious woman, we do not expect a maternity. Therefore, in order to demonstrate this concept with certainty, we must proceed through the analysis of Codes, by decryption. To do this, let us begin with a postulate:
The Priestess represents a Virgin Mother.
In order to demonstrate this hypothesis, we must go back in time and study the connection between the Tarot and Egypt, whose antique symbolism is a key which allows us to proceed in our search for the truth in the area of our mysterious and complex subject.
Until a few years ago, there were no elements to prove the presence of Egyptian esoterism in the Tarot. Many had hypothesized a similar connection, without however being able to prove it. Although the Priestess had already been compared to Isis by numerous authors, most considered this no more than an allusion borrowed from the symbolism. To connect the Arcana directly to Egypt has always been, for the greater part of scholars of the 1900’s, a specious fantasy and an impassable limit. It is difficult to argue with this position. In a reality where the Tarot has always been considered a second-rate activity, “the stuff of witches or charlatans”, there would have been no sense to adding other unproven elements; it would have only had the effect of giving more credence to that rumour. Today, however, thanks to the individuation of the Coded Structure, it is possible to prove scientifically that the Egyptian religion is truly contained in the Tarot. In this context, even if we offer an explanation limited and relevant only to the Priestess card, in order to avoid distancing ourselves excessively from
our theme, the demonstration should be enough to open a profound reflection upon the relationship between Egypt and the Tarot. First, from a strictly historical point of view, as we have already seen at the beginning of this book, in the early centuries of the first millennium, there was a close interdependence between this country and the dawning precepts of Christianity. To be more precise, we may say that Egyptian doctrine was conserved by those men who settled in the inland deserts, the Holy Hermits, destined later to become the Fathers of the Christian Church. This “Egyptian branch” of Christianity concerned itself with transmitting the teaching contained in the Tarot to Provence, by means of that order of the Abbey of San Vittore, founded by John Cassian, of which we have amply spoken. In Egyptian tradition, Isis was one of the most important divinities, being the goddess of fertility connected to the floods of the Nile. This yearly overflow, in such an arid and desert region, made it possible for the people to cultivate the fields made fertile by the river waters. In substance, Isis was she who guaranteed food and prosperity; it is easy then to understand the devotion of which she was object: her prestige was such that she was called “Virgin Mother”. Regarding this, there are many features common to both her iconography and that of Mary, the Virgin Mother of Christ. It is even reasonable to suppose that paleo-Christian artists were inspired by the first, in order to depict the second.
The Tarot Code Page 15