Understanding the Tarot Court Cards Part I

[AceOfWandsSeeker]

Do you offer class lessons or private perhaps?

[PaulHughesBarlow]

@AceOfWandsSeeker I do private lessons. You can send me a direct message if you are interested. Paul

[TarotMichael]

Another part of Waite's agenda, besides trying to preserve some secrets until Crowley published them in 1912, was to impose his own ideas on the Tarot. He had more mystical, rather than secret, leanings as seen in his second, albeit more unknown & out-of-print second deck w/ another artist.

[PaulHughesBarlow]

@TarotMichael There is a lot of mysticism in the Book of Thoth too, which is very interesting

[TarotMichael]

@PaulHughesBarlow Of course, that's why I use it as a staple. It never disappoints ;)

[TarotMichael]

@TarotMichael Sorry, by "mystical" I'm taking it in the Decker & Dummett sense of dispensing with ranks (e.g., 4=7, 5=6, 6=5, etc.). Crowley kept those, but Waite seemed to dispense with them. With his second deck it's hard to figure out which cards are which as he blurred the distinctions so much.

[PaulHughesBarlow]

@TarotMichael I am using mystical in the Eastern philosophical sense. The grade system impinges on this too. I hope one day to get near the bottom of what Waite is up to. In the meantime I will struggle with Thoth!

[TarotMichael]

@PaulHughesBarlow: And that's what I like about you. Thoth = enough & from what I gather later Waite is muddled anyways.

I was considering Masonry, but your talks about non-committment makes more sense. Swearing oathes isn't a light thing and you point out how it can be binding in negative ways.

[PaulHughesBarlow]

@TarotMichael Waite is deliberatly obfuscatory. He discusses rituals in his book that he knows barely a couple hundred people have ever seen, let alone understood, and pretends that his readers will understand. Crowley swore those binding oaths, but once he was no longer a member, he felt no obligation.

In this light you might consider him to be beyond OTO and AA since he discusses them openly

[7Ron4]

Hi Paul. I read Chapter VI The Wand, in the Magick Book Four, by Crowley now.

Now I understand why Knight is the father...

[PaulHughesBarlow]

@7Ron4 Hi Ron,

All of Crowley's magical and spiritual knowledge is in the Book of Thoth - it means you have to study widely to understand

Paul

[7Ron4]

So good to see you on YouTube again. I'm struggling a bit with the princes and knights. Prince is the son, but he seems older to me. Knight has a lot more energy, and acts younger.

[PaulHughesBarlow]

@7Ron4 Hi Ron, the Knights are Fire, while the Princes are Air. In a sense you are right - fire is very active, and it represents Aries, which can be immature.