Category: Numbers and Tarot

The Lovers or The Lover. Ahhh… to finally do what you enjoy. To establish yourself in the world. It’s most important what comes out of ones mouth than what one puts into it. The struggle of existence. RE Lating. Connecting. The Dual world. Finding no opponent. Can we master the duality of the existence and be as one? Better yet can we glimpse the ultimate nature of reality where duality is not. This journey of relating, understanding where Eden may truly be and how grace runs in the veins of our lives.
Namaste. Namaste. Namaste.
(the buddha in me recognizes the buddha nature in you)
3 x 2 or six times really.
Living in the presence of the present.

“A strange passion is moving in my head. My heart has become a bird which searches in the sky. Every part of me goes in different directions. Is it really so that the one I love is everywhere.”- Rumi

Now that we have been considering with what we are aligning it is time to move onto The Hierophant, or The Pope in the Tarot of Marseilles. The Emperor is that moment of stability, and The Hierophant is entering spirituality. The V, moving beyond; deeply spiritual. Who has the authority to guide and to bestow blessings on humanity? What does that mean at this point in the tarot journey? Where do you receive benediction, and what is it exactly? It seems on the surface that The Hierophant is about being a student or a teacher, but on deeper scrutiny it is referencing who is the spiritual guide. The question then is, who are you entrusting with the deepest truths? I now know why it has taken me longer than usual to write this posting, because from where I sit I can only pose questions. If we can awaken at any moment, then why don’t we? Are we too attached? Have we found the proper pope (please note the small p) for our guidance? Where and to what are we dedicated? Perhaps if there is a contemplation of such questions then we can move forward to the Lovers (card VI) which is about doing what we love here and now.

The Emperor asks the question: What are you uniting with? If you penetrate this question you will find the “holes” where vitality leaks and you weaken. Reclaim authority. How capable are you, and can you stay in a neutral place while taking your authority back? The Emperor guards the throne of life through the love of God. The one who loves existence has chosen well and can lead others. This is the post of stability. Yahweh. Spiritual profundity filled with wisdom. The ultimate alignment, is vertical. Align vertically and be in the horizontal world but not of it.

The Empress, the explosion of creativity w/ no sense of direction. It is sacred or divine magic. Putting this into practice: that the subtle rules the dense. In other words, from super or divine conscious to the gross or material. Being in touch with our true nature. Faith, Hope, Love…the 3. She is the place of freedom, of Eternal Love. The wisdom of Love. The balance of giving and receiving love. Take to heart this vital importance, since harmony is attained from their very balance. Check in, meditate deeply on this point. Pull from the ultimate to the dense to create from the tree of life. There are 3 legs here, as it’s from expanding beyond the gathered experience, and not yet about stability. Faith is the source of magic power. The way of the Empress is of regeneration. De-intellectualize; one must do this to become a mage. Sacred magic is through life; the Mystery of Blood. The Goddess, the Mother.

The High Priestess knows. She is a pillar. This is why in the Tarot deck of Marseilles she is seated. The Magician stands. She is the gathered experience. In the Thoth deck she is a character that is absolutely androgynous, with a sun and moon on the top of the head, the lower part of the body very yang, linear, masculine, while the top half is curvaceous, yin, feminine. This is collective awareness leading to a self trust anchored in the knowing, in the intuition. There is harmony & self containment. The camel on the card represents self-resourcefulnesss of having gone long distances and finding an oasis. Embracing the personality; preparing to love fully. The number 2, the shared experience, the checking in, the understanding that comes. The creativity and stability which will follow when you are self contained. Synthesis. This ability is imperative for society. An individual that can welcome someone back from the trenches and offer a space for integration before sending him home, which was typical in the times of temple priestesses, is a high service to the whole.

There is something to be said about silence. This proceeds any knowing.

I quote from the Meditations on the Tarot, author unknown, A Journey into Christian Hermeticism, regarding the Magician:
Learn at first concentration without effort; transform work into play; make every yoke you have accepted easy and every burden that you carry light!

The Magician is about Communication. I write it with a big C because if we only knew how powerful it is we would reserve it for or highest intentions. Words live. To my understanding that which is thought or spoken exists eternally. The Magician is about daily communication that represents you appropriately. The timing of what is said as well as it’s content are crucial. Well-timed delivery assures better reception. Appropriate content is about being organized and clear. The wizard nature of the magician supports all of this.

With this great gift of incarnation, the ability to express ourselves through words that are both spoken and written, we create and destroy our reality. Taking the magician to heart will improve communication skills. It’s a profound piece of the matrix of our lives which when looked at for it’s power can change your life.

I spend every Saturday possible at Ananda Ashram. Joan Suval teaches from the essence of the guru she knew and loved for 45 years (he is still there of course just not in his body). We all sit and absorb these teachings from Masters such as Shri Brahmananda, Osho, and Maharaj.
Yesterday she said all gurus will tell that you have to know that your ego and your conditioning is not your fault, and that what we need to develop is the ability to witness from the nature of our true self and watch our mind and our body. On no level are they saying that you are not responsible, but you have to know the nature of how the ego works, and step aside from it’s workings. This takes vigilant practice.
This brings the fool home for me, because when we are critical and separate we are not free to fully be who we are. Being hard on ourselves and finding fault in ourselves and others is a dead end. This is aging, this is all ego. But innocence and purity is our nature. Our divine right and this is the fool

The Fool represents who we really are. It is the state of no fear. The ability to be in touch with our courageous nature and give birth to new forms. Taking risks and trusting are the guides. This is the journey of the hero, and since the fool is the space between life and death it is mystical and transcendent.

Angeles Arrien writes in her book, The Tarot Handbook, that the Fool helps one to birth new feelings, new ways of transforming, new ways of creating well-being, and new ways of setting limits and boundaries to vulture like people and situations.

So get out there & take some risks. Develop the awe of a child as you anticipate and create new forms.

More than anything be conscious of what it is you want to begin anew.

Come journey with me as i deepen my study of the ancient Tarot. The actual deck i use is the Thoth, but have an attraction to the deck of Marseilles. I will travel through the Major Arcana. I will write about and post my inquiries & findings. As i share, it will become interactive & if you choose to incorporate it into your weekly experience then PLEASE DO! There is the space to write and share your findings on the blog. You can also storehouse them & do it at your own timing. This is starting on the new moon. The power of this Art, is about cycles, patterns, rhythms, & archetypes. The dance of consciousness. The Major Arcana, starting at 0, the fool, & going through 21 & back to 22 which is the fool again, are the major teachings or universal laws that we all experience in different aspects and at different times in our lives. Arcana, or archetype are those things we experience collectively regardless of family or culture. They are profound as they travel together, one influencing the next, generously giving us a map. This came to me as I left my deck on my window ledge which never gets wet & a torrential flash storm blew in & moistened the deck! I then very intimately and carefully dried & looked after each card w/ some very new eyes and this idea was born.
Have fun, enjoy & may peace  & awareness guide your words and deeds!