The Thursday Night Tarot: Weekly Talks on the Wisdom of the Major Arcana

364 Pages·1989·13.15 MB·English

by  Jason C. Lotterhand

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1950, Jason Lotterhand shares what
@ he has learned as a student and practitioner of
Ageless Wisdom during his 78 years.
Mr. Lotterhand began his training in Tarot in 1933 and
was later Director of the Builders of the Adytum, the mys-
tery school of the Sacred Tarot and Holy Qabalah
founded by Dr. Paul Foster Case. Mr. Lotterhand is now
one of two Directors Emeritus of that organization.
In his quiet and eloquent way, Mr. Lotterhand has intro-
duced thousands of seekers to the Path of Return.
This book contains the essence of his weekly messages,
lovingly compiled and edited by his fiend and student,
Arisa Victor.
"His combination of humor and deep insight is irresistible."
GARY ROSS Tarot Network News
New Page Books ISBN 0-87877-
A division of
Career Press
1-800-227-3371
newpagebooks.com
THE THURSDAY NIGHT TAROT
Jason C. Lotterhand
THE THURSDAY N I G H T TAROT
Weekly Talks on the Wisdom of the Major Arcana
by
JASON C. LOTTERHAND
Edited by Arisa Victor
NEWCASTLE PUBLISHING CO., INC.
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA
1989
Copyright O 1989 by Arisa Victor
All Rights Reserved
ISBN 0-87877-147-6
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without the express writ-
ten consent of the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief pas-
sages in connection with a review.
Spoken Text by Jason C. Lotterhand
Edited by Arisa Victor
Additional Editing by Ed Buryn and Douglas Menville
Cover/Book Design by Riley K. Smith
Grateful acknowledgment is made to Builders of the Adytum, Ltd., 5101-05
North Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, California 90042, for permission to use the
following:
The twenty-two Major Arcana Tarot Keys
The Pattern on the Trestleboard
The Tarot Tableau
Sound and Color Attributions from Highlights of Tarot by Dr. Pau'l Foster
Case
The permission granted for the use of its materials by Builders of the .Ady-
tum, Ltd. in no way endorses anyone's interpretation thereof.
FIRST EDITION
A NEWCASTLE BOOK
First printing, October 1989
1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
Printed in the United States of America
To the memory of
Dr. Paul Foster Case
with deep love and respect.
A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S
Heartfelt appreciation for the help of these friends:
David Victor Burrill
Michael Bonnifield
Judith Early
Della Ruth Farmer
Mary K. Greer
Carl Hunt
David Miller
Ann Mine
Bruce Nevin
Don Nicodemus
Silma Smith
Mort Tolson
Linda Verdugo
Special thanks to
Fritzi Armstrong and Mickey Goodspeed
of the Metaphysical Townhall Bookstore,
where Thursday Night Tarot began in 1950.
C O N T E N T S
Introduction by Arisa Victor xi
Author's Preface xv
Editor's Preface xvii
The Pattern on the Trestleboard xix
The Tarot Tableau
The Tree of Life xxi
Sound and Color Attributions xxiii
Key Concepts, Intelligences, and Astrological Attributions xxv
Chapter 0: The Fool 1
Chapter 1: The Magician 17
Chapter 2: The High Priestess 3 5
Chapter 3: The Empress 5 3
Chapter 4: The Emperor 7 1
Chapter 5: The Hierophant 87
Chapter 6: The Lovers 103
Chapter 7: The Chariot 119
Chapter 8: Strength 133
Chapter 9: The Hermit 149
Chapter 10: The Wheel of Fortune 165
Chapter 11: Justice 181
Chapter 12: The Hanged Man 197
Chapter 13: Death 2 13
Chapter 14: Temperance 229
Chapter 15: The Devil 24 5
Chapter 16: The Tower 263
Chapter 17: The Star 279
Chapter 18: The Moon 293
Chapter 19: The Sun 307
Chapter 20: Judgement 32 1
Chapter 21: The World 335
The Taroteers' Picnic 351
Glossary 353
I N T R O D U C T I O N
Born to tread the occult Path of Return. . . no doubt many readers
feel this is their destiny. But how many of us have been on that Path al-
most eighty years? Jason Lotterhand is an inspiring example of someone
who has devoted a lifetime to the study and practice of the AGELESWS IS-
DOM.* He became interested in hypnotism at age twelve and his ensuing
explorations into occultism awakened his soul to the Way of Liberation
when he was fifteen. Today, Jason is a healthy, happy seventy-eight-
year-old, sharing the wisdom and understanding of a fulfilled maturity.
True to his belief that one's inner spiritual life is independent of
outer activities, Jason worked professionally as a consultant in the textile
business. Now retired, he lives in Mill Valley, California, with his wife of
more than fifty years. The Lotterhands are great-grandparents.
On Thursday evenings Jason becomes the beloved teacher of a
loosely knit group that studies Tarot and CABALaAt the Fort Mason Cul-
tural Center in San Francisco. The purpose of our meetings is to explore
and to express the SELFI. t has been my privilege to attend these classes
for the past sixteen years. I've never ceased to be amazed at our men-
tor's grace and modesty-and good humor-while discussing profound
I concepts in simple terms. Accurate teachings about spiritual Selfhood
are as beautiful as they are rare.
Jason Christopher Lotterhand was born on New Year's Day in 1911
(l/l/ll) to a Roman Catholic family in New York City. His father was a
1
successful inventor. His mother, employed by the Hammersteins, sang
in the vaudeville Keith Circuit. Jason recounts how, as a boy of six, he
was taken out of the city to spend a summer by the seashore. With this
I
sudden, totally delightful introduction to wildness, Jason began a love af-
I
fair with Nature that is still going strong.
I
His introduction to the Tarot was a somewhat similar experience. In
1933, at the urging of a fellow student from Columbia University, he was
dragged off unsuspectingly to a class about The Fool Key in a Green-
I
'Words explained in the Glossary are emphasized by small capitals on their first refer-
ence. (A few words are emphasized several times.)