The Secret Language Of Tarot - Softcover

Ruth Ann Amberstone; Wald Amberstone

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1578634164 ISBN 13: 9781578634163

Publisher: Weiser Books, 2008

Synopsis

Secret Language of Tarot sets itself apart from other tarot books by teaching readers how to translate the pictorial symbolism from one deck to another, strengthening the reader's ability to recognize specific icons in any deck and in the world around them. The Secret Language of Tarot can be used as both a reference book and as a series of guided meditations on the individual symbols. Each of the seven chapters contain a set of symbols that share a common theme. Extensive research provides readers with the lore and mythological meanings of the symbols to help foster intuitive powers. The explanation of imagery is both insightful and eclectic. When read from beginning to end, The Secret Language of Tarot reveals a hidden current of understanding and connection between the individual cards of the deck. Each chapter ends with an Integration Lesson and a special Symbol Spread to deepen the understanding of the cards. The Secret Language of Tarot brings imagery and intuition into a course of study of the tarot. It is a musthave for any serious tarot reader that is written in accessible language for the novice as well.

About this title

About the Author

Ruth Ann &  Wald Amberstone teach, write, and publish about tarot on all levels, from divination to psychology to esotercism and magical practice. They are perpetual pioneers of new tarot techniques and remain lifelong tarot students. They are the authors of Tarot Tips: 78 Practical Techniques to Enhance Your Tarot Reading Skills and regular contributors to Llewellyn's Tarot Calendar and Tarot Reader almanacs.

Mary K. Greer is the author of five books on the Tarot, including Tarot Mirrors. A student of Tarot for 34 years, Mary is a Tarot Grandmaster and an Arch Priestess in the Fellowship of Isis. She is featured at Tarot conferences and symposia around the world, is active in Internet discussion groups, and directs Tools and Rites of Transformation (TAROT), an educational center for the study of divination, women's mysteries, and the transformative arts.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

THE SECRET LANGUAGE of TAROT

By WALD AMBERSTONE, RUTH ANN AMBERSTONE

Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC

Copyright © 2008 Wald Amberstone and Ruth Ann Amberstone
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-57863-416-3

Contents

Acknowledgments
Foreword by Mary K. Greer
About the Card Illustrations by Holly Voley
Introduction by Wald Amberstone.
How to Use this Book
CHAPTER ONE: CROWNS, PILLARS, THE ROSE AND THE LILY
CHAPTER TWO: PATHS, MOUNTAINS, CROSSES
CHAPTER THREE: MOONS, STARS, POOLS
CHAPTER FOUR: HORSES, SUNS, BANNERS
CHAPTER FIVE: ARMOR, BLINDFOLDS, FEATHERS
CHAPTER SIX: CASTLES, CLOUDS, GARDENS
CHAPTER SEVEN: RIVERS, TOWERS, ANGELS, TEMPLES
Afterword by Lon Milo DuQuette
APPENDIX: EXERCISES AND SPREADS
Index
About the Authors

CHAPTER 1

CROWNS, PILLARS, THE ROSE and THE LILY

Welcome to the Tarot School course on imagery and intuition that we'll call TheSecret Language of Tarot. In this course, we'll be exploring the meanings of thevisual imagery of tarot in considerable detail and in depth. We think that bythe time we're done, we'll have created a significant body of work that tarotstudents will find valuable for research and as important foundation materialfor the meanings of the cards.

We'll be using the Rider-Waite-Smith imagery as our benchmark, but theinformation in this course should be transferable to any deck you care to use.We think it will also give your intuition a lot of additional material to workon. The symbolism and significance of the visual imagery of tarot is partlyuniversal, partly esoteric, and partly tarot specific. All of it is historical,and all of it, we hope, will be fun to learn and useful in more ways than one.

CROWNS

We begin with the crowns of tarot. In the RWS deck there are nineteen cards thatcontain a crown, and these come in many forms, each with a meaning of its own.The nineteen cards are: The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, TheHierophant, The Chariot, Justice, Death, Temperance, The Tower, the Ace ofSwords, the 4 of Pentacles, and all the kings and queens.

We'll begin with some meanings for the crown in general, drawn from universalsymbolism. The three main aspects of the crown's symbolism are:

1. Being set on the crown (or top) of the head makes it a symbol of overridingsignificance. It shares the quality of the head (the summit) and what is abovethe head, a gift from on high. It also sets the seal of transcendence on anygreat achievement or accomplishment.

2. Its circular shape is a symbol of perfection. It is a ring, worn on the head,that marries what is above to what is below.

3. The material of which a crown is made dedicates the wearer to the form ofdivinity associated with that material. A gold crown, for example, associatesthe wearer with the alchemical properties of gold (i.e., purity, perfection, andthe attainment of the highest possible states, both inner and outer).

The word "crown" comes from the Latin "corona" and earlier from the Greek"korone" (curved) and "kornu" (horns).

A corona is the circle of radiance surrounding a source of illumination. Themain physical and symbolic example of a corona is the circle of radiance aroundthe sun. In alchemy, each planet is illustrated as receiving its specialradiance in the form of a crown given to it by the sun.

The corona around a physical or symbolic object can be shown as a concentriccircle or as emanating rays. A halo, for example, is a spiritual coronasurrounding the head of a spiritually elevated being.

A diadem is a crown in the form of a circlet around the head or around theceremonial hat on the head of a royal figure. It is a symbol of a divinelysupported secular authority.

A glory is an arc or a circle of rays around another visual symbol, suggestingdivine inspiration or protection.

Korone, the Greek word for curved, is used in this context for any form ofcircle or circlet worn on the head to signify a connection with the gods. Thisincludes the wreath, the crest, and horns, as well as the crown, diadem, andtiara.

Examples of different kinds of crowns in tarot include the:

• horns of Isis (The High Priestess)

• diadem of the zodiac (The Empress)

• domed crown (The Emperor, The Tower)

• papal tiara (The Hierophant)

• celestial diadem (The Chariot)

• toothed crown ( Justice, the 4 of Pentacles)

• glory (Temperance)

• stylized diadems (kings and queens)

The crown in all times and places has been associated with royalty, and royaltyis conferred only by the divine recognition, symbolized by the crown. The crownis also a symbol of ultimate achievement, the sign of victory and pre-eminencein any field of endeavor (e.g., a crowning achievement, a heavyweight-boxingcrown). In organisms, the crown is the top, as in the crown of the head or thecrown of a tree.

No one can become the king or the queen of a kingdom of any kind without acrown. A coronation, the ritual of establishing legitimate royal authority, isthe ritual of placing a crown on someone's head.

Each separate crown in tarot has its own symbolism. Here are three examples:

The High Priestess

The crown of The High Priestess is the crown of Isis/Hathor, two names of theEgyptian self created Great Mother Goddess who brought forth everything else.Hathor was the Queen of Heaven, and Isis was the "Oldest of the Old who existedfrom the beginning."

In both forms, as Isis and as Hathor, the goddess is said to have given birth tothe sun. Hathor was the Nile Goose who laid the golden egg of the sun, and Isiswas the womb of Horus who was the reincarnation of Osiris. The womb enclosingHorus in hieroglyphics is "Hat—Hor" or Hathor.

Isis and Hathor as a pair were sometimes known as the Bright Mother and the DarkMother. In later times, Isis was paired with her dark twin sister, Nepthys.Together they guaranteed the immortality of the pharaohs in the form of birth,death, and resurrection.

The visual emblem of these paired goddesses, as illustrated by the crown of TheHigh Priestess, was the sun disk lying between the horns of the Moon-CowGoddess. The central sun disk signifies the male spirit soon to be reborn(Horus), enclosed and protected by the horns of the goddess, one light and onedark.

In Hellenistic and Roman culture, Isis was highly revered as the Divine Mother,"eternal savior of the race of men." The image of Isis suckling Horus became themodel for images of the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus. Parts of the mythand worship of Isis were transferred to Mary early in the Christian era.

The crown of Isis combines in The High Priestess with her watery robes and thesickle moon at her feet, symbols of Mary as Stella Maris (Star of the Sea), tojoin primary Egyptian and Christian spirituality in a single Hermetic image.

Also, the lunar symbolism of The High Priestess's crown (waxing, full, andwaning phases of the moon) is revered in Neo-Paganism as the special sign of theTriple Goddess (Maiden, Mother, Crone).

All together, the crown of The High Priestess is a universal symbol of theoriginal authority of the divine feminine. In a reading, it will be useful toremember the power of all things feminine, the moon and its phases, and women'sspirituality.

The Hierophant

The crown of The Hierophant is a three-tiered, toothed golden crown—three golddiadems signifying divinely sanctioned rule over three kingdoms. The segmented,or toothed, top of a crown is a symbol of rays of the sun's light.

The papal tiara is a triple diadem over a simple cap called a camelaucum fromthe Byzantine court of the seventh and eighth centuries, where it was a sign ofhigh social status. The diadems were added one at a time over several hundredyears and probably are more ornamental than symbolic. Still, the papal tiarasignifies both a spiritual and a secular authority—rule over the Catholic Churchand over the territory of the Vatican.

Simultaneously, it is a Masonic reference hidden in a Christian one. The threetiers of the crown refer to the three degrees of Masonry, the three levels ofinitiation, and the three levels of attainable human consciousness. It is thesymbol of the Teacher.

The lowest level is the first degree of Entered Apprentice, whose field ofendeavor is his physical body and his social existence. The Entered Apprenticestrives to perfect his physical habits, his work ethic, and his social behavior.

The second level corresponds to the second degree of Fellowcraft, or Masonicjourneyman, whose field of endeavor is his mind and his psyche. This involvesself-examination and psychological healing and wholeness, as well as academicstudy and intellectual refinement.

The third level is that of a Master Mason, whose work is spiritual. His concernis the heart and the soul, both his own and others'. As compassion, this concerntakes the form of teaching and moral and symbolic leadership.

The gold color of the crown is an alchemical reference to purity and theperfection of the self in the Great Work.

The three vertical lines at the top of the crown are a Qabalistic reference tothe Hebrew letter associated with The Hierophant, which is Vav. It means "hook"and refers to the manner in which The Hierophant, as the great teacher of tarot,binds together the highest of teachings with the physicality of his disciples.

In a reading, The Hierophant's crown should remind you of spiritual leadership,moral, psychological and spiritual effort, and the learning process in general.

The Chariot

The crown of The Chariot is a Masonic symbol, a composite of sun, moon, andstars and glory. This is one form of the Masonic Rule of Three, which generallystates that every visible thing is paired, made of an active and a passive, anexuberant and a severe, a bright and a pale, a stable and a changeable aspect,and that an invisible divine moderating principal binds the opposites together.

The sun is the symbol of everything active, exuberant, bright, and stable. Themoon and stars are the symbol of what is passive, severe, pale, and changeable.The glory is the symbol of the divine perspective, which sees itself in everymanifested form and resolves all dualities. In this card, the crown is a visualsymbol of the consciousness that seeks to rule itself by bringing all forms ofinner opposition into harmony. The sun, moon, and stars and glory represent allinner forms and forces harnessed to a single will and a central wisdom.

The crown is also a Qabalistic reference to the card's esoteric title, The Houseof Influence, which brings all good things from above to below and from below toabove. It is a spiritualized astrology of sun, moon, and stars and a ruling,organizing, encompassing glory, the invisible whole that is hidden in itsvisible parts.

In a reading, the crown of The Chariot reminds you of balance, harmony, self-control,and the wisdom to pull opposing forces together. It can also be areminder of the blessings that flow from such harmony.

PILLARS

The people who created the system of imagery in the Rider-Waite-Smith deck werepretty serious people. Not much of a sense of humor, very much in their heads,not much heart, we think. But their thinking and their pictures are actuallyvery interesting in themselves.

We're at the beginning of a course on the meaning of tarot imagery, and youmight have a question that ought to be answered. That question is, "What doesthis information do for me?" It is esotericism, art history, symbolism ingeneral—maybe it's interesting, maybe not, but is it connected to you in someway? How might it be personal?

Well, here's how. The whole deck is a special construction of symbols, and theyhave only two purposes here:

1. They show you a path to your own highest nature, what is best and purest in you.They point to the path of return for anyone who wants to travel it. This may ormay not be important to you now, but at some time in your life, you may findyourself very happy to have those pointers.

2. They bring divine energy down to the level of the everyday world, where theytalk about everyday things in a powerful and useful way and teach you how to dothe same.

In both directions they remind you of tarot's version of how the world is madeand how a human being is made, so you can use tarot to help yourself and others.It's hard to be a doctor if you don't know anatomy, and meaningful images arethe anatomy of tarot.

Symbols act something like electrical transformers. When electricity isgenerated at the power plant, it's measured in thousands and tens of thousandsof volts. When you use electrical current to power your home appliances, you canuse only 110 volts at a time. Between the source and its ultimate uses stands awhole series of what are called step-down transformers, which make somethingoverwhelming into something convenient and useful. In tarot, the visual imageryserves this function.

In the previous section we talked about the crown. What is important to rememberabout a crown is that if you are ever entitled to wear one, it makes you unique.In any kingdom there is only one true crown, and it is the symbol of what isbest, highest, and most responsible in the wearer.

At its best, the crown marries the wearer to his or her highest self. At itsworst, it gives authority to someone who hasn't earned it, creating a tyrant.

And now we come to the pillar.

What you most need to know and remember about the pillar in general is itsmasculinity. It rises vertically from the horizontal plane of the earth. It isintended to be an absolute contrast to things as they normally are. It is asymbol of intentional difference. Of course, there are times when the pillarbecomes feminine, but we'll get to that later.

Pillars serve four main purposes:

1. to support

2. to define

3. to identify

4. to separate

In its function as support, a pillar keeps what is raised up from coming down.This is true in a building, where structural pillars hold up roofs and upperstories. To damage or remove such a pillar threatens the entire structure. Thisis also true in social and symbolic structures. Certain traditions, rites, andindividuals are considered pillars whose presence supports the whole structure.Even heaven is supposed to be supported by pillars.

The function of support implies will, endurance, purpose, and the ability tosurrender individuality to the common good. The pillar here is a humble servant.

The second function of a pillar is definition. In this form, strength is not theissue and a single pillar is not enough. It must be one of many, whose purposeis to create a line or circle on one side of which is the ordinary everydayworld and on the other is a special, even a consecrated space. Here, too, theindividuality implied in the phallic vertical shaft is subordinated to thehigher purpose of the group.

The third function is to serve as a proud marker for the existence of a god or ahero. When such a pillar is erected, it is a statement: "Here dwells the spiritof ..., whose name is sacred or glorious." In this form only, a pillar standsalone, supporting nothing but an important memory or serving as a livingreminder of some potent personality.

None of these three functions can be found in the RWS tarot. So why mentionthem? Just for the fun of it, or in case you come across pillars serving thesefunctions in other decks.

The fourth function of a pillar is to separate one condition from another. Thisfunction uses pillars in pairs, as a gateway or entrance to sacred space and themysteries of a higher condition or consciousness. This is how the pillar appearsin tarot, on just three cards: The High Priestess, The Hierophant, and Justice.

Let me remind you here that tarot is nothing but a concoction whipped up out ofsymbols. The RWS deck in particular is a world of symbols with a lineage. Andthis lineage has three levels:

1. The ritual universe of the Order of the Golden Dawn. Many of its symbols weredrawn into tarot, and tarot itself is used in its rituals. It is a universallanguage that can translate one kind of magical jargon into another. In tarot,alchemy easily becomes Qabalah, which becomes astrology and numerology, and soon.

2. The Golden Dawn, in turn, drew heavily on the symbolism and ritual ofFreemasonry, which has no dealings with tarot at all. The Waite deck gets itssymbolism from Freemasonry more than any other source.

3. Masonic symbolism emerges from a mix of biblical, Greek, and Egyptian philosophyand religion, each of which tried in its own way to explain God, man, and theworld. Freemasonry turned these explanations into galleries of images andpictures that it mixed and merged in its own way to make its own explanation ofthe nature of things.

So this brings us back to pillars and tarot. There are, as we said, just threecards in our deck that have pillars on them, The High Priestess, The Hierophant,and Justice. If you understand the pillars of The High Priestess, you understandthe essence of the others. And here the pillars become feminine.

The High Priestess

There are three visual aspects of the pillars of The High Priestess thatespecially stand out:

First, the pillars of The High Priestess are a pair—so you know you're lookingat a symbol of initiation. On one side of the gateway they create is the personwho is looking at them—mainly you, out in the world, ignorant, but knowing thatimportant knowledge awaits when you pass between them. The pillars areconsidered to be the labia that mark the vaginal entrance to the Holy of Holies,the location of the feminine mysteries.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from THE SECRET LANGUAGE of TAROT by WALD AMBERSTONE, RUTH ANN AMBERSTONE. Copyright © 2008 Wald Amberstone and Ruth Ann Amberstone. Excerpted by permission of Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Edition details

• Publisher: Weiser Books
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1578634164
• ISBN 13: 9781578634163
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304