Some years ago I conceived an ambition to understand better the way the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn understood the tarot. I knew that certain cards represented various initiations, and so on.
Needless to say this ambition got out of hand. Unfortunately the forthcoming Golden Dawn tarot I wrote about a while ago has had its publication put back to November this year, so I still don't have that one.
In the meantime I have been reading the book called Qabalistic Tarot by Robert Wang, and finished it today.
Now I'm not going to lie, even though I have been making notes and already had some understanding of qabalah, I haven't come away with a comprehensive intellectual understanding of the qabalistic tarot. However a point which Wang makes repeatedly is that by meditative work the subject is changed. He claims physiological changes, and while they're probably not medically measurable I think he is right.
I am taking this as cognate with the magical principle that the real object of magic is always the magician.
Even though Wang uses the example of meditation, of course this applies to other magical acts, and although we don't call reading a magical, changing, act, I haven't yet met a magical person who wasn't well read.
This reading may itself be cognate with the monastic practice of lectio divina - a slow, meditative reading aiming at contemplation and change rather than retention. The sixteenth century writer Blosius describes this reading as a washing.
So out of what I thought would be a simple act of looking the rites up on t'internet has grown one of those occult rabbit holes which signify a change. I have the Complete Golden Dawn book and will read the references to tarot, and also reread the book which comes with the Magical Tarot of the Golden Dawn. Next, though, I'm going to start on the book by Pat Zalewski who is the designer of the deck being published later this year. If at the end of all this I haven't had enough, I have Lon Milo Duquette's Chicken Kaballah and Dion Fortune, and then of course there's Aleister Crowley....
Physiological changes? Did IDV's sigil reveal all my pointy bits? Pointy ears, brow, nose and high cheekbones? When I told my spouse people keep assuming I'm a witch he said its because they don't know what an Eladrin is. Such a flatterer!
ReplyDeleteWhat do you thing about the modern popularity of tarot cards being used as an art form?
Oh hon your pointy bits had already been revealed but at least now I know what an Eladrin is!
DeleteI looove tarot cards being used as an art form because it builds and strengthens the archetypes in the world's consciousness.
I do so enjoy an unexpected trip down a research rabbit hole. However, I often find the timing of such a trip leaves a lot to be desired, such as being referred to a different book or clicking a related link when one should be getting ready to go somewhere or do something else. Still, I hope you find your understanding (and DEFINITELY eat the cake and drink the potion as these can lead to different perspectives - although, you already know this, so you don't need me to tell you).
ReplyDeleteOh, and I think Wang is correct. Reading must affect changes to the eye (temporary) and neurons in the brain (permanent - at least until those neurons are replaced by new ones), at the very least? I wonder what Melanie was reading at a young age to leave her so pointy, though?
Yes the universe is most inconsiderate like that. I suspect Melanie was reading those Make Your Own Adventure books?
DeleteYou're so sweet, you two! I was highly disappointed early in life to find that my only superpower at the time was my "above average reading comprehension." I'm rarely the fastest, smartest or prettiest person in a group, but I can "read the room" well enough and use it to my advantage. I read LOTR, The Hobbit, Sarah Crewe and for whatever reason wore out the library copy of The Book of Five Rings starting at eight years old. Now that I think about it, that's probably where I picked up my persona as a duel-wielding rogue. No wonder I'm so pointy! I'll be in the attic sharpening my swords if you need me.
ReplyDeleteGulp.
DeleteThat'll be it then.
I saw some ring sword things (they were Indian and must be the originals of the swords in the Sikh khalsa symbol) in the Pitt Rivers museum in Oxford. Bloody scary. If someone threw one of them at you, you'd lose your head!