by Dave Hughes

Created on: August 04, 2009   Last Updated: September 30, 2009

The symbology of the tarot deck ties it directly to the Tree of Life, the essential glyph that bonds together the elements of Western mystery tradition. The tree itself, with its many spheres (sephiroth) identifying different facets of the human psyche, is defined by the Kabbalah, the oral transmission of Egyptian, Chaldean, Greek and ancient Hebrew magical philosophies through which humanity may come to understand the universe and its Creator.

The Kabbalah was first put to print in medieval Spain by Moses de Leone, a rabbi and Talmudic scholar who felt the human condition would improve if only man could readily grasp the intent of the Almighty in His two primary creations: the Universe and Man.

Reading and fathoming the Kabbalah is a lifetime's work. Better to have some method to transmit the knowledge contained there in a form virtually everyone could understand. To this end, the tarot came into being and became a popular tool for those who wished to learn the arcane details of the Universe's structure and function. The tarot deck, and most especially the major arcane, contains a series of pictograms representing the various stages of life along with the influences that set people on one path or another through certain times in their lives. Although there were many versions of the deck, all featured the cycle of life, and in its simplicity a directness, drew those who wanted to determine the future, for what better way could there be to foretell events than something that held every possibility in its very structure?

The Kabbalah can be complex, and its study can be stultifying, but the text itself elaborates remarkably and intricately what the tarot only represents. There are psychics who use only the tarot to answer questions concerning everyday life events like love, the chance of getting a better job, or coming into inordinate wealth, but for truly probing questions about deeper matters sends a good psychic to the Kabbalah to discern precisely the pathways that the future may open before the seeker and which ones favor the bold in spirit but hold the greatest reward.

An excellent comparison is using Mapquest or some similar software package to find the best way between tow pints. Typically, the answer comes on two forms: a map showing the basic way to get from here to there, and an elaborate, extremely detailed legend that describes every important detail of the planned sojourn.

Tarot is the map; Kabbalah the legend.

For most seekers, the thrill of a reading

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>