The Tarot can accompany us on this journey of realization of that form of perfection that potentially already belongs to us, guiding us without hurry and at our own pace. Taking us by the hand, it points out that which is right and which is not, that which is good and that is to be avoided, that which is favourable or choices which are not, also and above all in the daily “little things” of which is woven our existence. In practice, in order to allow us constant progress at our own pace, it becomes a stool when we are tired and a ladder when we are ready to climb.
For these reasons, therefore, it is not irreverent on our part to ask if it is “a good idea to buy that house” which we wish to acquire; it is not disrespectful to ask advice regarding how to deal with a colleague or with any delicate situation. These are normal happenings of any existence and these Icons, precisely because the condition of their sacredness remains authentic as a condition of maintaining connection with man and his reality are part of this flow, extraneous to nothing of that which concerns him, including his very humanity. It is enough to ask directly, with an open heart and sincere intention, as there is no religion superior to that truth of which our own Soul is part.
This is the vision of Tarology: the Tarot as marvellous, prodigious, extraordinary Spiritual Intelligence. Let us therefore seek to learn, as has already been written, to not ask, “will I meet the man or woman of my life?”, but to understand why we have not yet met them on our life’s path. What is it in us psychologically, or from an energetic or material point of view, which prevents it. Let us not ask if we will obtain that certain position but try instead to understand if it is truly favourable for us to obtain it.
Let us attempt to follow the answer as a suggestion--for a possibility of change, of transformation, realizable through action, ceasing to consider it an inescapable response, a predestined obligation which would have the effect of merely creating an indolent and lazy expectation which might occur, paradoxically, even without our participation...For this reason, and please pardon the quip, an able tarologist should not reassure us that love will arrive, but help us to understand why it has not yet found us!
Danger Alert
There exists another context of utilization, different and more delicate, which we feel we must mention. We wish to introduce it with a question to which the reader must seek to give a well pondered and sincere reply... Let us imagine to have planned a journey. If there was a possibility of danger regarding the vehicle chosen for the trip, would it not be better to be aware of it, in order to substitute it or to arrange another means of travel?
Differently from cartomancy, which has always found itself incapable to offer solutions to problems (or dangers), Tarology, the true Science of the Tarot, thanks to its method of interpretation as shown before, illustrates clearly the possible alternatives, the solutions which the consultant may put into practice in order to avoid certain problems. This is actually an elevated use of the Arcana, which may offer a further immense contribution to the development and protection of the individual and of the community. Many will think that that each of us has his destiny to fulfil. Is it right, then, to modify it, even, admittedly, for the purpose of doing good? Others will object that if man is not born with the gift of clairvoyance, it is not right that he have access to this dimension. We are of a different opinion and we cannot omit certain reflections. How may we exclude, for example, that it is in the Destiny of that individual to be able to avoid a certain event, thanks to a reading of the Tarot...? Who may decide that a similar circumstance may or may not be part of his Path? Is there something that belongs in his Destiny, something that does not? This sort of judgment would be quite arbitrary because, in truth, the event itself of the consultation is an essential part of the existence of that individual, as much as another any other episode.
Furthermore, as both Eastern and Western teachings remind us, any man may potentially develop advanced psychic capabilities, which are not the exclusive prerogatives of mystics and prophets. Intuition itself, which we have all experienced at least once in our lives, is the demonstration of a form of superior and perfect perception, which becomes gradually more and more articulate.
If the Tarot exists and functions as a Spiritual Intelligence, with a power not only divinatory but even prophetic, what human being, judging from his own limited level of consciousness, has the right to decree that this is wrong? Actually, the great prejudice of modern times derives from another subject entirely. The iniquitous and shameful use of the Arcana, which have been used without a genuine knowledge of their principles which only a comprehension of the Coded Structure can guarantee, has created the belief that they are an evil and negative instrument, not to be trusted. In fact, although not for everyone, but surely for many, their reading is associated with charlatanism, with that which is the closest thing to diabolical use and the farthest away from the occult truth of which the Tarot is the genuine representative.
In this way, these practices, including the prediction of the future (without solutions), instead of being placed at the service of man to aid and counsel him, has been transformed into an inopportune and coercive force, psychologically and materially. There exists, however, the possibility of pure divination of a legitimate and even beneficial nature, which offers warnings regarding particularly adverse issues? (which the consultant is always free to consider or not), which might in this case be modified or avoided. After all, Destiny is meritorious precisely with those who merit it...
With these affirmations, we do not wish to unleash unfounded anxieties or fears. The Tarot is an essential part of this immense mosaic which is human life, in which difficulties, accidents, harm, and problems are daily occurrences. Its purpose is not to sweep all obstacles from our path. The Arcana are not “thieves of experience”, which are in truth necessary to our evolution; their function is to protect our passage as would a good father, who does not prevent his child from committing his own errors but watches over him with an alert and benevolent eye, careful that he may continue to be free to commit them...
Auspicious is every crisis, which is, in itself, an initiation; but honoured as well the aid offered us by Destiny, in whatever form it manifests, including that of an authentic and knowledgeable interpretation of the Tarot!
8.3 Multiplicity of Teachings
In the course of this present work, we have often repeated that those wondrous figures are custodians of an ancient and Traditional Knowledge. It would, however, be more correct to say that the levels of this teaching are multiple and that may be explained only through a gradual comprehension of the system of Codes which characterizes their internal, esoterical dimension. Therefore, taking into account the decryptions already demonstrated, it is possible to describe a part of that which is contained in them, examining in depth the relations that exist between them with respect to certain doctrinal subjects.
1) The Builders
The Map of the World shows Christ in a “mandorla” (vesica piscis), the symbol of Christ and the four Evangelists, which appears at the entrance of many churches. Might there be a common connection between the Builders of cathedrals and the creators of the Tarot?
Fig. 1
The Cathedral of Arles (France)
Fig. 2
Particular of the central frontispiece
Fig. 3
The World
The many medieval cathedrals diffused across Europe are one of the most precious treasures left to us by our progenitors, and bear witness to an epoch in which man reached one of the highest points of expression. In general, we may refer back to many details of their constructions and of the successive events of which they were protagonists; and yet, on the whole, we know little of their more enigmatic and authentic significance, as our times, dominated by a rationalistic and obsessively scientific attitude, limit these masterpieces to a prevalently artistic and historical dimension.
Nonetheless, they speak to man at a much deep
er level, enclosing mysteries and symbols connected to the essence itself of spiritual life. They are, in fact, coffers of wisdom, centres of universal knowledge, which, going far beyond single factions and religious cliques, belong to the entire human race. This patrimony, obscured during the Renaissance epoch by the revival of the values of Greek and Roman civilizations, and even today often neglected, expresses the extraordinary esoterical richness of the West, which draws its lymph from the culture of the Mediterranean basin and, firstly, from ancient Egypt. The Builders of these edifices, similar to actual books in stone, were certainly genial artists and able artisans, but above all, guardians of millennial knowledge expressed in symbols, able to cross centuries and cultures in order to speak to every man of God and the Sacred. Among the many mysteries of which they were custodians we find secrets of construction based on the use of the so-called Golden Number (or Number of Phi). This is a mathematical proportion expressed by the irrational value 1,648(...) obtained from the equation: (√5 + 1)/2. Although it was thought that this relationship was defined for the first time by Euclid, three centuries before the birth of Christ, analysis of the mathematical knowledge of the ancient Egyptians has led many researchers to assign to them not only the discovery but also the deep cosmological significance. This section, called Aurea, may be obtained dividing a segment of a straight line in 2 unequal parts so that the entire length is to the longer part as the same is to the shorter. Let us take the segment and divide it into the C point:
A______C___B
The AC segment represents the Golden Section of AB if it satisfies the condition:
AB: AC = AC: CB
In practice, in order to technically apply this proportion, it is sufficient to divide a first length by 1,618 in order to obtain a second. The two measures, if used in construction, generate a special harmony and, according to some theories, create a particular syntony, which predisposes humans to the perception of superior vibrations. This is a phenomenon known for thousands of years and Builders of cathedrals, to name but a few, have used them in a systematic manner.
Fig. 4
Rapport Length - Width
What is the relationship with the Icons? Even the Marseilles Tarot of Nicolas Conver was engraved with the above-mentioned geometrical concept which, expressed in several ways in all of the cards, contributes to codify certain messages and to render sacred the entire content. For example, referring to the symbol of Christ in the Mandorla described by the World, we will not be surprised to rediscover the Golden Section in the height and width of the oval, whose division, tolerating a slight deviation owing to the techniques of the 1700’s (which might have caused a minor possibility of definition on a millimetrical scale), leads precisely to the value of 1.618(...). All this, on the one hand reinforces the idea of a relationship with the Builders and on the other, prompts reflection on the use of this proportion and its extraordinary characteristics.
2) The Freemasons
Freemasonry is an initiatic Order whose members strive for the moral and spiritual elevation of man and of the human family. Its nature and that of its institutions is humanitarian, philosophical and moral, its purpose being the perfection of the individual. Its members, the Freemasons (from the French franc-maçons), were originally called Stonemasons. Their origin seems to be connected to the association of workers in the legend of Hiram Abif, the chief architect of the construction of the Temple of Solomon.103 These works were carried out well before the I century AD and therefore the Freemasons seem to have quite ancient roots. We refer to these facts merely to avoid the temptation to propose dating the Marseilles Tarot to the XVII or XVIII century, maintaining that, the Freemasons having appeared only in that period, a more remote genesis of the Icons would be anachronistic. In truth, a precise temporal indication is impossible, as originally these Orders were so secret that they continue even today to be surrounded by mystery. Modern Freemasonry considers itself the operative and active heir of the Masonic Tradition, and for this reason, its symbols mirror the ancient ones in such an evident manner. It has been amply demonstrated that among operative Masons there exists an esoterical preparation, as it involves brotherhoods whose perspective, beyond the strictly professional areas, touched the spiritual sphere. These men together attempted to reach the highest ascetic perfection, carrying out their work with great integrity; and the same tools used in their daily lives became the symbols of their quest. It is thus that the square and the compass became the great emblems of Freemasonry and these, as are many other Masonic elements, are to be found also in the Marseilles Tarot. The Tarot, therefore, is the depositary of the Science of the Great Architect of the Universe104 and describes the initiatic Path of the Builders of times past.
Fig. 5
Masonic symbols
Square and Compass
The Square and Compass are among the better-known symbols because they express, with admirable synthesis, the entire itinerary from Earth to the Heavens. The first, in fact, allows us to draw the square rectangle, which symbolizes the terrestrial; the second is used to draw the circle, the celestial. If we observe the Bateleur (I) and the World (XXI), that is, the beginning and the end, we find the form of the square rectangle in the table and that of the oval circle in the mandorla.
Fig. 6
The Magician
Fig. 7
The World
This is a confirmation of Dualism, which demonstrates yet again, that along the Way of the Tarot we proceed from the squared square to the circle compass, from Earth to the Heavens, from the personality to the Soul. If we wished for more confirmation, we might pinpoint this symbolism, not only at a conceptual and allegorical level, but at a graphical level as well. Where should we look? Let us take, as an example, the Emperor:
Fig. 8
The Emperor
Fig. 9
The Compass of the Emperor
On his helmet is a compass of which we see only one branch. In Freemasonry, the diverse distributions of its areas with respect to the square describe the so-called three administrative degrees:
• The Entered Apprentice: compass behind the square. Prevalence of the terrestrial.
• The Fellowcraft: alternating compass and square. Terrestrial-celestial equilibrium.
• The Master Mason: compass in front of the square. Prevalence of the celestial.
Fig. 10
Square Ruler behind the Compass:
Degree of Master
In the card, as one of the arms is hidden, the Emperor-Builder is a Fellowcraft who “explores the terrestrial globe,” that is, investigates the Material. His gaze, in fact, is fixed on the symbol of the tripartite circle surmounted by a cross, which symbolically represents the Earth. To confirm the hypothesis of a connection with the Freemasons, among other and more complex details, contributes the particular disposition of the legs as well, whose relationship with a square is obvious. In the same Arcanum, therefore, we find several elements, which, through different encryptions, lead back to the same notion.
Fig. 11
Emperor and Square Ruler
These described are only certain examples of the two best-known Masonic symbols. Many other elements are hidden in the Icons but encoded under more subtle forms, a few of which we will now analyze.
The Artisan
In the Mantegna Tarot105, an ancient Italian deck, the first Arcanum is the “ARTIXAN”. The name is not casual, and recalls the iconography of the Magician, Arcanum I, an artisan who utilizes the tools spread out on the table. This symbolism, similar to that of initiatic fraternities, describes again the Path which the pilgrim travels from the level of Apprentice-artisan towards that, first of Fellowcraft, then of Master Mason.
Fig. 12
The Artixan of the Mantegna Tarot
Fig. 13
The Magician - Artisan
The Three Points in a Triangle
The thre
e points in a triangle, used in Freemasonry to abbreviate words, according to their different disposition also express the symbolism of the four elements:
• Earth is associated with the equilateral triangle;
• Water, to the right triangle;
• Fire, to the isosceles triangle;
• Air, to the scalene triangle.
In the Tarot, we find the three points in an equilateral triangle in the Devil, on the chest of the small personage on the left. This indicates that the two acolytes, under the demon’s influence, find themselves in a primitive and terrestrial condition, as suggested by their animalistic characteristics (tail, horns, claws, etc.). At the same time, remaining in the Masonic sphere, from the presence of the cord around their necks we understand that the two subjects are candidates for initiation. In this stage, they must still overcome certain temptations because they are prisoners, as are all human beings during the course of their process of evolution, of the influence of that which is more earthly and material. Only when purified, in fact, will they be free to enter the Temple, as shown in the Tarot itself, in which the House of God (card XVI), the equivalent of the Temple, follows immediately after the Devil (card XV).
The Tarot Code Page 21