Meditations on the Tarot - theosnet.net

657 Pages·2008·5.41 MB·English

by  Valentin Tomberg

C L A S S I C
MEDITATIONS
on the
TAROT
A Journey into
Christian Hermeticism
Anonymous
Shaftesbury, Dorset • Rockport, Massachusetts
Brisbane, Australia
C L A S S I C
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All texts so far gathered, as well as all future gatherings aim at exposing
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Complacency serves the old gods
.
This edition is dedicated to
Our Lady of Chartres
CONTENTS
Letter I: The Magician 3
Letter II: The High Priestess 29
Letter III: The Empress 53
Letter IV: The Emperor 77
Letter V: The Pope 99
Letter VI: The Lover 123
Letter VII: The Chariot 147
Letter VIII: Justice 173
Letter IX: The Hermit 199
Letter X: The Wheel of Fortune 233
Letter XI: Force 269
Letter XII: The Hanged Man 305
Letter XIII: Death 341
Letter XIV: Temperance 373
Letter XV: The Devil 401
Letter XVI: The Tower of Destruction 431
Letter XVII: The Star 463
Letter XVIII: The Moon 493
Letter XIX: The Sun 527
Letter XX: The Judgement 555
Letter XXI: The Fool 589
Letter XXII: The World 625
Foreword
These meditations on the Major Arcana of the Tarot are Letters addressed to
the Unknown Friend. The addressee in this instance is anyone who will read all
of them and who thereby acquires definite knowledge, through the experience
of meditative reading, about Christian Hermeticism. He will know also that the
authot of these Letters has said more about himself in these Letters than he would
have been able to in any other way. No matter what other source he might have,
he will know the author better through the Letters themselves.
These Letters are written in French because in France —since the eighteenth
century until the present time, i.e. the second half of the twentieth century-
there exists a litetature on the Tarot, a phenomenon which is found nowhere else.
On the other hand, there existed in France —and it still persists —a continuous
tradition of Hermeticism, in which is united a spirit of free research with one of
respect for the tradition. The purpose of these Letters therefore will be to "incar-
nate" into this tradition, i.e. to become an organic part of it, and in this way to
contribute support to it.
As these Letters are intended only to serve, to sustain, and to support the Her-
metic tradition — from its first appearance in the epoch of Hermes Trismegistus,
lost in the remoteness of antiquity and become legendary—they are a definite
manifestation of this millennial-old current of thought, effort, and revelation.
Their aim is not only to revive the tradition in the twentieth century but also,
and above all, to immerse the reader (or rather the Unknown Friend) in this
current —be it temporarily or for ever. For this reason the numerous citations of
ancient and modern authors which you will find in these Letters are not due to
xii MEDITATIONS ON THE TAROT
literary considerations, nor to a display of erudition. They are evocations of the
masters of the tradition, in order that they may be present with their impulses
of aspiration and their light of thought in the current of meditative thought which
these Letters on the twenty-two Major Arcana of the Tarot represent. For these
are in essence twenty-two spiritual exercises, by means of which you, dear Unknown
Friend, will immerse yourself in the current of the living tradition, and thus enter
into the community of spirits who have served it and who are still serving it.
And the citations in question only serve the aim of a "relief-setting" for this
community. For the links in the chain of the tradition are not thoughts and ef-
forts alone; they are above all living beings who were thinking these thoughts and
willing these efforts. The essence of the tradition is not a doctrine, but rather a
community of spirits from age to age.
There remains nothing more to say in this introduction to the Letter- Medita-
tions on the Tarot, because all other questions concerning them will find a response
in the Letters themselves.
Your friend greets you, dear Unknown Friend,
from beyond the grave.
MEDITATIONS ON THE TAROT

Meditation on the
First Major Arcanum of the Tarot
THE MAGICIAN
LE BATELEUR
Spiritus ubi vult spiral: et vocem
ejus audis, sed nescis unde veniat,
aut quo vadat: sic est omnis,
qui natus est ex spiritu.
(John iii, 8)
The wind blows where it wills, and
you hear the sound of it, but you do
not know whence it comes or whither
it goes; so it is with every one
who is born of the Spirit.
(John iii, 8)
Into this happy night
In secret, seen of none.
Nor saw I aught,
Without other light or guide.
Save that which in my heart did burn.
(St. John of the Cross)*