What are Tarot Cards? Should Christians
use them for amusement?
The fifty six cards of the "minor arcana" and the
twenty one cards of the "major arcana" (plus "the fool") comprise the
Tarot deck, a method commonly employed by fortune-tellers of all stripes. The influence of
these cards extends into antiquity; even our modern playing cards are apparently derived
from an early form of the Tarot deck. The major manufacturer of playing cards in the U.S.,
the United States Playing Card Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, also sells the Tarot; its
standard order form offers three different varieties.
As is true for Runes and the I
Ching, Tarot cards are often
used for personal amusement. One author suggests the cards may be used to "liven
up" a party, "One way to break the ice at a party is to bring up the subject of
Tarot predictions or Tarot symbolism. Soon almost every guest will have a tale to tell or
an opinion to express, . . .and of course there will always be a doubting Thomas or two
who will try to explain very rationally why such things cannot possibly work to any truly
"scientific" person's satisfaction. Meanwhile most of the other guests will find
themselves thoroughly fascinated and amazed by an antique Tarot set."
Tarot cards have absorbed and engrossed the elite in
Hollywood, among politicians and psychologists and with noteworthy members of the fine
arts communities. For example, surrealist Salvador Dali's wife Gala was interested in the
occult, and piqued her husband's interest. One result was that he painted a new set of
Tarot cards for his wife, illustrated in the 1985 version, Salvador Dali's Tarot by
Rachael Pollack. Dali is only one of hundreds of famous individuals throughout history who
have been interested in the Tarot and similar forms of card divination. In the fourteenth
and fifteenth centuries, special sets of Tarot were hand-painted for the royal families of
France (the Gringonneur Tarot) and Italy (the Vicont-Sforza Tarot).
Occult Influence
A large variety of Tarot decks exist, many developed within
specific religious or occult traditions, e.g., Egyptian, wiccan, magical, Mayan, Gypsy,
etc. Like the I Ching and runes, Tarot cards are quite old and no one can be certain of
their exact origin. Although the earliest decks are traceable only to fourteenth century
Europe, the associations go back to antiquity. In Forbidden Images: The Secrets of the
Tarot Board, David Le Mieux theorizes, "It also appears that the Tarot was not
originally invented as a fortune-telling tool; instead, it was a masterly designed
theological and philosophical teaching device that was based on ancient Egyptian pictorial
magic."
The possibility of an Egyptian origin is lent a certain
credence by the fact that the 21 Major cards of the tarot "have a remarkable
correlation with the most important deities of the mystery religions" spreading
throughout the Mediterranean Basin around 330 B.C. For example:
-
I the Magician - Hermes
-
II the High Priestess -
Kore-Persephone
-
III the Empress - Demeter, Isis
-
IV the Emperor - Hades, Osiris
-
XIII death - Kronos
-
XV the Devil - Pan, Hades
-
XIX the Sun - Helios
-
XXI the world - Phanes and Ophion
Just as the runes were allegedly an invention of the Norse
god Odin, so one theory of the Tarot recounts its origin from the Egyptian god
Thoth,
called Hermes Trismegistus by the Greeks: "This book was claimed to have been written
by the lord of writing, justice, and magic himself, the ancient Egyptian god
Thoth; and
for that reason it was called The Book of Thoth. The Book of Thoth contained
the essence of all that was magical, mysterious, and forbidden; and it contained the
foundation of the ancient pagan religions."
Aleister Crowley referred to his own version of the Tarot
deck by the same title, The Book of Thoth. Allegedly, the Tarot evolved (in disguised
form) from the Book of Thoth, as a means to protect its occult wisdom.
No one denies the Tarot has consistently been associated
with occultism throughout history--divination, magic and numerous other occult arts--from
astrology* and Kabalism to numerology and alchemy.
Also, the fact that some individuals have an innate psychic
sensitivity to the cards also underscores their occult potential. Le Mieux observes that
"a gifted reader builds up a kind of rapport with the energies in his or her Tarot
set," and theologian Dr. John Warwick Montgomery recalls in his analysis of the
occult, "It is most interesting to observe the reactions of a sensitive person when
he first examines these cards. Instead of the indifference which accompanies contact with
ordinary playing cards (not due just to their familiarity, but to their banality), there
is generally a deep absorption and hushed interest. The cards seem to "grab"
their user.
Not surprisingly, for a Tarot deck to work, the same
respect and reverence necessary to the I Ching and runes is required. Again, we have the
sense that we are dealing with a living being, not a mere deck of cards.
In his best-seller Joy's Way
spiritist/physician W.
Brugh Joy describes his own fascination with the Tarot as well as its occult potential:
The Tarot is an excellent teacher, because as the user
advances in expanded awareness it reflects this expansion. . . .The Tarot is one of the
best tools I know both for rapid insight into personal motives, time and space
relationships. . .for reconditioning emotional responses, augmenting the intuitive
faculty, restructuring personal belief systems and beginning access to more universal
levels of awareness. . . .I have used the Tarot at the close of personal consultations,
asking it to reveal to my outer mind any dynamics, overlooked in the session, that might
be important. To my amazement, it often turns up a critical dynamic that has been totally
unseen till then.
The occult nature of the Tarot is also the reason for its
power. David Le Mieux discusses this potency, including the "card's" ability to
develop psychic powers in their user. Like the I Ching and runes, Tarot cards work:
Reading with Tarot cards does indeed work. Few people with
any real experience or knowledge of the subject will deny that. . . .I have found that
Tarot readings are much more accurate and powerful than those based on astrology or other
forms of occult prediction. But one of the big questions is, How? How do Tarot symbols
help us reexamine the past and predict the future? Why do the cards seem to increase
psychic powers? . . .Many occultists have speculated on the power of the Tarot. Tarots
were created to be powerful. . .Tarots work like magic because they are, by their very
nature, magical. They are part of primitive "picture magic," or iconography.
Later, these magic pictures were raised up and placed in the sky in the form of
astrological symbols. Tarot cards also contain astrological symbolism in its perfect
ancient order--a whole realm of man's unconscious experience and memory. . . .The Tarot is
a tour de force in ancient numerology--probably the most perfect numerological system ever
devised. And still later, the Hebrew cabalists claimed that the sacred alphabet contained
the secrets of the universe.
Writing in Astral Doorways, occultist J. H. Brennan
points out that the Trumps (the 22 cards with symbolic pictures) "can have a very
stimulating effect on the intuition" by nature of their symbolism (386:44; cf.,
Intuition*). He also observes that the trumps, in connection with visualization* and
imagination, may actually be used as a method for entering the "astral" domain,
"In itself, the Tarot is a remarkable system for esoteric study. And in themselves
the cards can be used as Astral Doorways. The technique to use is even more simple than
that of the Elemental Doorways" (386:48; cf., 1496:121).
The occult nature of the Tarot is the principal reason why
the Church has consistently opposed its use, as even Tarot promoters admit:
They represent the outcome of a much more profound
doctrine--a secret and forbidden doctrine--a doctrine that was condemned from almost every
pulpit in Christian Europe of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. . . .the cards were
condemned from just about every church pulpit in the land as some sort of evil influence.
Priests dubbed the set of Tarot cards "The Devil's Picture Book" and forbade
their use for any purpose in most towns and villages.
Tarot Psychotherapy
The Tarot cards can also be used in conjunction with
psychotherapy. Occultist Alfred Douglas describes some of the card's esoteric principles
in The Tarot: The Origins, Meaning and Uses of the Cards. In his citation below, we
can observe the potential use of the cards for many schools of psychology as well as the
possible risks involved in Tarot meditation*. The potential for the Tarot deck to
incorporate spiritistic contacts can also be seen via the Tarot characters "coming
alive" in the consciousness through the personification of the "inner self"
as a guardian angel and in the ritual "dismissing" of occult powers (cf., Inner
Work*). We quote at length:
The Tarot cards display a powerful array of psychic images,
and it can be surmised that they were used not only as teaching aids but as focal points
of consciousness during individual meditation. . . .The twenty-two cards of the Tarot
major arcana have been used extensively by Western occultists during the past century as
an important part of their Qabalistic "Tree of Life" meditation system. . . .The
aim of Tarot meditation is to project oneself in the imagination into each card in turn,
exploring its imagery, getting the "feel" of its symbolism, uncovering its
meaning in terms of one's own psychic structure. . . .Step in your imagination over the
threshold of the card as if through an open door, and stand with the characters in their
own world. . . .But gradually you will find that new ideas regarding the significance of
the images appear in your mind. These may take the form of abstract thoughts which suggest
fresh lines of enquiry. . .or the characters might move and perform various actions or
even speak, in which case you should listen and try to catch what is being said. Visualise
the characters as strongly as you can. . . .It is important when you have finished your
meditation that you "close down" properly. The powers which can be invoked
during the visualisation process must be dismissed thoroughly before you return to
everyday consciousness. . . .By building up a detailed account of your progress and
discoveries over a period of weeks, months or even years you will gain a true and valuable
insight into the inner significance of the mystical quest and its relevance to meditation
not only has a harmonising and therapeutic effect, but can lead in time to what some
mystics have called the Knowledge and Companionship of the Holy Guardian Angel, which is
the living presence of the inner self.
Some writers actually view the Tarot as being a form of
"esoteric psychology," and so it is not surprising many psychologists have
turned to the cards as an alleged method to spur client self-insight. Angeles Arrien,
Assistant Professor Anthropology at the New Age oriented California Institute of Integral
Studies asserts, "Basically the tarot is an esoteric psychology, a science that
symbolically represents through visual symbols a record of known possibilities of
experience. . . .Currently, there is a resurgence of interest to use the tarot as a
therapeutic and transformative tool. An effective therapeutic model utilizing the tarot
could be devised by looking at esoteric-exoteric systems that have been developed by
Eastern cultures."
The use of the Tarot in psychotherapy is also illustrated
by Dr. Genie Z. Laborde, an authority on "Neuro Linguistic Programming" in
charge of John Grinder's "Executive Excellence" program and an educator who
received her Ph.D. in the controversial "confluent education" program from the
University of California at Santa Barbara (See New Age Education*). She points out how
easily "Psychological processes can be taught and illustrated using the images of the
Tarot deck. The Tarot is used to elicit and dramatize the psychological process of
projection, as evidence of a long tradition of archetypes and symbols which can evoke
affect, and as visual examples of potential images available from the "undiscovered
self," Carl Jung's phrase denoting the unconscious of the human psyche."
For example, she proceeds to incorporate insights from the
Aleister Crowley Tarot deck, Freud's super-ego theory, Jung's archetypes, Fritz Perls'
introjects and occultist Roberto Assagiolo's system of psychosynthesis.
Dr. Laborde has taught this Tarot "therapy" to
numerous groups of individuals, including corporation presidents, school and university
teachers, psychologists, stock brokers, editors and housewives--all of whom personally
benefited from the sessions. She observes, "The more I worked with the Tarot the more
convinced I became of its rich potential for evoking responses in my own unconscious and
in the unconscious of my students."
In conclusion, when people freely dabble in Tarot magic and
divination, or in other forms of the occult, they are only asking for the problems
characteristically associated with these methods (See 278). Introducing unsuspecting
clients to the occult in the form of Tarot psychotherapy only complicates matters.
Unfortunately, fringe psychotherapy today is utilizing the methods of dozens of occult
traditions, many with their own brands of esoteric occult psychology.
Regardless, the cards are obviously not something to be
played with at parties or utilized in divination or for so-called
"self-actualization", "Because the cards are so potent symbolically, they
are also most dangerous when misused or perverted. Attempts to use them to predict the
future are definitely to be discouraged. Tarot symbolism strikes to the recesses of the
unconscious, where the archetypes reside. To try to harness this energy for
prognostication and the control of one's destiny is simply to ask for trouble"
(295:131-32).
Tarot Progeny: Cartouche and Phoenix Cards
The popularity of Tarot cards has produced a number of
related systems, among them Cartouche and the Phoenix cards.
In The Way of Cartouche: An Oracle of Ancient Egyptian
Magic (St. Martins) author Murray Hope describes their history and function. The cards
are similar to the Tarot in arrangement spread and are used for a broad variety of occult
activity--in meditation*, psychic healing*, magic, as talismans, etc. The cover jacket
describes the cards as a "system of self understanding and awareness that taps into
the wisdom of the ancient Egyptians." Thus it is supposedly "an exciting new
system of divination because it encapsulates the archetypal and powerful energies known
and understood by the ancients and embodies them in identities recognizable in today's
world." Characteristically, the cards are said to "provide startlingly accurate
answers to dreams, family or emotional problems, financial or business matters,
protection, spiritual seeking, or any of life's enigmas" and the user is told
"try the Cartouche--you will be astounded by their accuracy."
The Phoenix cards also stress divination and self-insight,
but concentrate on personal growth through greater understanding of alleged "past
lives" (See Hypnosis*). The following promotional description of a standard text, The
Phoenix Cards (Destiny, 1990), by astrologer and psychic Susan Sheppard reveals the
occult focus of this particular method. (Sheppard, incidentally is a descendent of the
Swedenborgian mystic John Chapman, better known as "Johnny Appleseed."):
This book and deck of 28 Phoenix cards provide the first
divination tool especially created for delving into past lives to better understand our
experiences in the here and now. Each of the 28 images is a symbolic, visual
representation of a particular world culture that will help you recall and bring into
sharp focus the times and places of your previous incarnations.
The author explains how our present personalities are
psychically programmed to remember who we were in previous existences, where we have been,
and what cultures we have played a part in the shaping. The symbols of the Phoenix Deck
are at once specific and universal, triggering these unconscious memories to help you
discover your latent talents, identify the lessons you most need to learn, and come to
terms with unexplained fears, attractions, and other perplexing emotions and impulses.
Several configurations are given for laying out the cards
to determine which past lifetimes are the primary keys to your present personality and
life experience. This knowledge eliminates confusion about present circumstances, enables
you to see yourself more clearly--your habits, values and goals--and facilitates your
ability to develop in the directions you choose. With practice, you can also learn to read
the Phoenix cards easily and effectively for others.
In conclusion, the various forms of divination, such as
runes, I Ching, Tarot, Cartouche and Phoenix, are collectively utilized today by millions
of people throughout the world. Those who seek out such implements do so for a variety of
reasons, rarely suspecting the ultimately spiritistic nature underlying the powers
inherent in these systems. But these methods are hardly unique. Adding palmistry
(divination by the marks of the hand), numerology (divination by numbers), geomancy
(divination by dots) and dream work* (divination by dreams) hardly scratches the surface.
For more information and bibliographic
references, please call the Ankerberg Theological Research Institute at (423) 892-7722 for
our Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs, available for a gift of $35 plus $5 for
shipping and handling.
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