Behind the slightest detail of the Tarot de Marseille are messages of inner elevation. Nothing is free, nothing innocent. Everything is revealed in the crucible of the inner gold for who seeks in truth.
This is why this great work is so precious to the seeker of truth. Whoever wants to practice the divinatory tarot or initiatory Tarot must first be curious, observant, accurate, not to neglect any impression and to meditate all his finds. He must scrutinize the images, graphics, colors. The possible faults of anatomy or perspectives are so many subtle indications, because no one can say where nestles the revelation that will touch you. Even the dots between words can serve as a penetrating analysis.
Before detailing the arcane way of life by arcane in the following pages, I wanted to introduce you to the heart of the said major mysteries. There are 22 of them, with two exceptions: Arcana XIII, which has no name; and the arcana Mat, (English The Fool) which has no number.
But the true message of the Tarot is neither in the image nor in its name. This is not art, it is pure knowledge, transmitted with the help of a game of gambling, a game of money that made the good days of many cut throats.
Flornoy transmitted me from within the philosophy of each arcane, its unique vibration, so as to recognize it in the living, according to the meetings. This is how it is advisable to meditate on these mysteries. By incorporating them. Flornoy stared squarely at his heart. “This is where it is played, the arcane must enter your heart, he will never forget it, he will always recognize it”.
There are many other things to see and understand about these magic cards. Learn to manipulate them, to feed you images. Each detail concerns you, each singularity contains clues to help you understand. To understand you. The initiatory tarot is one of the best ways to access clairvoyance. As well as the fastest and most effective way to get to know yourself.
Through the major arcana of the Tarot, it is a real pedagogy of seeing that has been bequeathed to us by great enlightened, anxious to transmit to posterity the great secrets of the incarnated soul. It is our human adventure, in its perfect way, through the 22 stages that describe the 22 major arcana.
From the arcana I – The Magician, the moment of incarnation, when the little being awakens to life before him, to the last stage of the arcana XXI – The World, when the warrior of light knows that the world in which he lives is only an illusion, when he is aware of his strength and knows how to keep the sweetness of the Woman (source), when he / she meets in his person triple the male ferments and females of the perfect androgynous in its celestial mandorl.
There are two main cycles in the 22 major arcana. These two cycles describe two stages of human life, terrestrial chivalry, then celestial chivalry. The first cycle, terrestrial chivalry, starts at the Magician and continues chugging up to the arcana XI – Strength. At this point, many people stop in their progress, convinced that there is nothing after. What a mistake !
Right after Strength arrives the great upheaval of the arcana XII – The Hanged Man. Note that the life of this brave Pendu is not in danger: all he risks is that the blood rises to his head, because he is hanged by the feet. This position makes him see the world upside down.
That’s what happens to you at this stage. Everything on which you built your life suddenly becomes obsolete. What was up – making money, securing material issues, looking after your career, shining in public – is at the bottom. You realize then that a shroud has no pocket, that money is not a goal, but a means, that the life you have lived so far was nothing but a trap galore.
Welcome to celestial chivalry. You will now work on what does not die with the material body. You will prepare for our adventures, a sequel hidden by the great unknown, death. You will understand that it is necessary to die to oneself, to kill the old Adam, to resurrect the third day.
Jung liked to say that we spend the first half of our life forging a strong ego, and the second to reduce it to crumbs. The ego is only another name of the mind: it is the only thing in us that can not know enlightenment. On the path of celestial chivalry, enlightenment is a golden step. It corresponds to the arcana XVI – La Maison-Dieu, English: The Tower.
It is often said that a driver’s license is not proof that you know how to drive, but the license to learn. It’s the same for awakening: we start by being an stupid Buddha, then we learn to avoid traps.
Castaneda indicates the four traps that mark the path of the warrior of light. The first is fear. When one has conquered this first enemy comes the trap of clarity. It can be dazzling, enough to mislead us and cut us off from our fellow humans. Then it’s the trap of the powers. At this moment the ego comes back very strong, even more strongly than with clarity. We must cultivate humility, understand that these gifts do not come from us, they are lent to us to serve a just cause. And then, alas, comes the last trap against which one can not do much: the trap of old age.
Then start a race against the clock. Will we come to the ultimate stage, the purpose of our inner quest, the deeper meaning of our bodily life, the innumerable arcana, The Fool? It represents the true state of Buddha, free from the constraints of earthly life, free from the yoke of reincarnations – for those who believe in it.
In Western tradition – I was going to write in the philosophy of Rama, son of the West, raised in Hyperborea – the Fool has no more head, he has no more reason, he has lost the common sense that guide other humans. His rule is Crazy Thought, his logic is no longer of this world, he has gone to the other side. The French word mat comes from mad, to make it clear.
“So, will you tell me, we spend all our life chasing madness? A beautiful ideal, indeed!” Yes indeed. Beautiful ideal. It is always difficult to understand an inner state that has not (yet) lived. When Flornoy explained the Tarot to any captivated audience, he had noticed that everyone was getting off his presentation as soon as he had gone beyond his present arcana. The future is a total mystery. It starts at this very moment. Good road to all inner travelers.
The cathedrals were built with a measure-stick: no other calculation!
There are not four elements, but five. The first is called ether. But we forgot…
Yes, totally lost. But don’t worry about it, the replacement is on.
The I Ching or Yiking was incomplete. I completed the hexagram Chen.