Category: Major arcana

Judgement, Part II

Posted C. LaVielle6 CommentsPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

The Judgement key is an obvious depiction of Judgement Day. The Hierophant and perhaps The Devil are the other blatantly Catholic major arcana, although most of the keys have a Catholic feel to them. If you lived in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries when tarot decks were becoming popular you were either Catholic or you were in trouble. The Church had zero tolerance for heretics, and Jews and Muslims were treated like dirt. This was also the time of the infamous European Witch Hunts. So it is not surprising that, even though their message is universal, the designers of the early tarot decks used a Christian theme to make their work more widely accessible. (See previous post on tarot origins) The death, redemption, and rebirth into a blessed afterlife concept lies at the heart of nearly every religion. It reminds the faithful that there is more to this world than what meets the untrained eye and challenges us to let go of our… Read More »

Judgement, Part I: Name that Angel

Posted C. LaVielle16 CommentsPosted in Major arcana, Tarot

The concept of Judgement is not confined to Christianity. For example, when an ancient Egyptian died he expected to journey through Duat, the kingdom of Osiris. He would undergo many tests and trials and hopefully arrive at the place of judgement where Anubis would weigh his heart against the feather of Maat, the goddess of truth and justice. If his heart was heavier or lighter than the feather his soul was thrown to Ammit, the Devourer of Souls, but if it was in balance with the feather his soul continued to paradise and eternal life. But the Judgement key is a depiction of the Christian Judgement Day. In his first letter to the Thessalonians, 5:16, the Apostle Paul describes Judgement Day: “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be… Read More »

The Sun, Part II: The Major Arcana and The Hero’s Journey

Posted C. LaVielle4 CommentsPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

Resh is the Hebrew letter that corresponds to The Sun. It means head, chief, total, and first. These are all things that we associate with The Sun. But resh also means grieved, poor, poverty, afraid, and last. These are not bright, strong sun words, What are they doing here? The quick and easy answer is that the Hebrew letters have many other uses besides tarot correspondence and we shouldn’t expect perfect matches all the time. However, resh is the only Hebrew letter that has such strong dual meanings, and I think this is a clue. The Sun is all about unifying dualities into a functional, integrated whole (see The Sun I). Like, what is between the first thing and the last thing? Everything, that’s what. Even the symbol of the Sun suggests wholeness and unity. When I was growing up, whenever my expectations were too high my mother would accuse me of “wanting the world with a fence around it.” That image always comes to… Read More »

The Sun, Part I: The Major Arcana and The Hero’s Journey

Posted C. LaVielle4 CommentsPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey, Uncategorized

After the destruction of The Tower the hero, if he perseveres, will always find The Star, the bright spot in the nighttime that gives him hope, inspiration and the courage to travel the realms of The Moon and learn her secrets. Then and only then can he understand the true nature of reality. It becomes plain as day. The Sun reveals all. Unlike The Moon key, he shows not just a profile, but his full face. He still casts shadows, but unlike moon shadows that conceal, frighten, and mystify, sun shadows add dimension and interest. Sunlight shows everything in its true form. All mysteries are revealed in its warm, nourishing light. The Sun is everything to us. We are truly solar powered beings. His dazzling rays power the earth, bringing us food, warmth, weather, and life itself. His overwhelming presence attracts us and keeps us on our cyclic path. Sunlight also nourishes our spirits. As the days grow longer and warmer our souls blossom with… Read More »

Moonshine and the Major Arcana

Posted C. LaVielle2 CommentsPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

The Moon is all about the way we interface with the unknown, or the unconscious , or the astral plane, or the spirit world, or the realms of gods, daemons, and demons, or parallel universes. These are the strange and frightening worlds every hero must travel to complete his or her quest. Since the keys of the major arcana trace the story arc of this journey, The Moon is a pivotal card, casting its eerie shadows over many of the other keys. The card most obviously connected to The Moon is The High Priestess because the planet attributed to this card is the Moon. To make absolutely sure you get the connection most depictions of this card are loaded with lunar images. The High Priestess is the guardian of the threshold between the known and the unknown, the conscious and the unconscious mind, the hero’s ordinary world and the world he must enter to complete his quest. She can either help or hinder him as… Read More »

A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Realm of the Moon

Posted C. LaVielle7 CommentsPosted in Book Review, Major arcana, Tarot

I was writing the last installment about The Moon tarot card when the library notified me that I had materials on hold. Really? I couldn’t remember putting anything on hold. I opened the e-mail. The book was Proof of Heaven, a Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife. Ah, yes. I’d placed that hold over 4 months ago. There had been 32 people ahead of me. This is the longest I’ve ever had to wait for a book; stunning testimony to the fact that there are a ton of people out there looking for, well, Proof of Heaven. Heaven is, by all accounts, a higher dimension. Which is, as you will recall from the previous posts, the realm of The Moon, the territory so carefully guarded by The High Priestess. There are literally thousands of accounts of near death experiences out there, and almost everyone knows someone who has had one. So what makes this one so special?   Dr. Eben Alexander contracted spinal meningitis caused by… Read More »

The Moon, Part IV: The Major Arcana and The Hero’s Journey

Posted C. LaVielleLeave a commentPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

  Continued from previous post….. The Moon in a Tarot Spread: When The Moon comes up in a reading, things become less certain, less concrete and less dependable. This is also a good time for the reader to remember that the moment she begins shuffling the cards she crosses over into the mystical, shadowy realm of The Moon, where magic shimmers in plain sight, the impossible is possible, and things are not always as they seem. Be very careful reading a spread where The Moon is present. It means that both the reader and the querent are seeing the world through moonstruck eyes. The Moon is the card of the psychic, the artist, and the visionary. When these folks work, The Moon is their mistress.  If The Lady is kind, their intuition is sound, their visions are inspiring, and they bring back amazing beauty and profound understanding from her realms. But often, like those who shop at the Goblin Market, the fruits they find there… Read More »

The Moon, Part III: The Major Arcana and the Hero’s Journey

Posted C. LaVielle4 CommentsPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

Continued from previous post… The Hebrew letter Qoph, meaning “back of the head”, corresponds to The Moon. The letter even looks like a head atop a spine. If you think back to your high school biology, you will remember that the back of the head contains the parts of the brain that control the body’s basic, automatic functions, the emotions, and reflex responses—all those things we call “the unconscious”. Resh, the letter which means head, countenance, or face—the front of the head–comes right after Qoph. The cerebrum, which is responsible for conscious thought, is located at the front of the head. Resh corresponds to The Sun, the key of spiritual unfolding through conscious effort or will. The order of these two letters is saying in no uncertain terms that the realms of the subconscious (The Moon) must be opened and explored before true spiritual unfoldment and the mastery of any magical system, or even a successful spiritual life, (The Sun) can be attained. These two… Read More »

The Moon, Part II: The Major Arcana and The Hero’s Journey

Posted C. LaVielleLeave a commentPosted in Goddess, Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

Continued from a previous post… The focal point of this card is, of course, the moon. But this isn’t just any moon. It is a full moon, crescent moon, half moon, and invisible dark moon all rolled into one. A woman’s profile on the half moon is the visual equivalent of saying “the Moon is a Goddess”. This way of drawing the Moon isn’t just Pamela Coleman Smith’s idea. Many of the earlier decks picture her this way. The artist is doing everything she can to make the viewer understand that this is the quintessential, archetypal Moon. It carries not only the brilliant power of the full moon, but also the vital, initiating force of the crescent moon, the crescendo of the waxing moon, the ebb of the waning moon, and the quiet, regenerative power of the dark moon. It reminds us that lunar energy is ever-changing, rising and falling, ebbing and flooding in a rhythm as regular and nurturing as a mother’s heart beat.… Read More »

The Moon: The Major Arcana and the Hero’s Journey

Posted C. LaVielleLeave a commentPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

  “In order to display the splendours of the sky, the Night plunges the earth into darkness, for the things above are not revealed to our sight except to the detriment of those below.”* Oswald Wirth The Stars above give us hope in our darkest nights and inspire us to achieve goals that during the bright light of day seem impossible and perhaps even nonexistent. But, unfortunately, starlight is dim and very seldom serves to illuminate the below, or physical world. If we want to see both the above and below, we need the Moon. But, as Wirth points out, we pay a price. The Moon hides all but the brightest stars and is very tricksy about the way she illuminates the Earth. Her palate is limited to silvery gray and white and deepest, darkest black. Her light is dim and confusing, often concealing or disguising dangers that would be obvious in daylight. We are handicapped in both the above and the below. The Moon… Read More »