Shelley's Tarot Reading Room

IS TAROT EVIL

 

Most people who have been brought up with a Judeo or Christian upbringing, when presented with a pack of Tarot Cards, immediately ascribe it to the work of the devil, or our evil inclination.

 

In fact, nothing could be further from the truth than that very idea!

 

I was one of those people, who decided to find out the truth for myself as to the validity of that belief system, and to my shock discovered a whole world of hidden understanding that I never knew about.  The following exegis on comparing the Tarot to the Torah's method of divination, is because in so many ways, Tarot and Torah have been compared, even to the Tarot having alot of its origin from the Jewish kabbalah.

 

Before you begin to read the following explanation as to how the ancient Hebrews divined the will of God, hold in your mind, the similarities of the Ouija Board, Tarot Cards and the Urim and Thummim and then ask yourself this question. At the end of the day, they all hold astounding similarities.  Some with physical movement, ie, in the spelling out of words on a table, or the spelling out of words on the High Priests Breastplate.  In fact, Tarot is similar and yet not.  It doesn’t involve the physical movement of objects, but rather you the querent allow the energy of your question to be mirrored in the cards.  So why is one way evil and one not!  Seeing as God quite clearly says in Malachi 3v6 (I am the Lord, I change not!).  Why would a system of divination be alright then and evil now.  Either God changes not, or he does.  I think it is man who changes the rules and regulations to fit a particular box of religious thought he has inserted himself into.  Now to our short study!

 

One of the first things to come up on a regular basis when one starts looking into the Tarot, is the connection of Tarot to the Torah.  The first one been, that if you spell Tarot backwards, you get Tora.  Also, the fact that like the Torah has 22 letters in its alphabet, the Tarot likewise has 22 Major Arcana cards.

 

A quick short history of the Tarot reveals that like the Kabbalah, its origins are shrouded in mystery. However, the first known pack was found in Italy in 1415 and was beautifully hand-painted for the young duke of Milan, Filippo Maria Visconti. There are 78 cards in a pack - 22 cards in the Major Arcana and 56 cards in the Minor Arcana. These archetypal figures represent what Carl Jung calls the collective unconscious. They are like the biblical characters in that they are universal and transcend space and time. Both the Bible and the Tarot can be seen as symbols of the inner laws that rule humanity. Each one illustrates the interminable conflict between good and evil and relates it to our internal struggle within the lives of every man and woman. The divinatory arts enable one to transcend space and time and to cross the threshold beyond earthly time. In the mystical world there is no such separation of time such as past, present and future, because they are crystallized into a single present moment.

 

Short history over, as there are many wonderful websites out there who do a marvelous job of expounding the history of the Tarot in greater depth and how they relate to both the Torah and the Kabbalah.  I do not wish to reinvent the wheel here, except perhaps to drawer the reader’s attention to one very simple truth.

 

When one goes back into religious history, it becomes patently obvious that the devil in whichever religion you belong to most often than not, is simply the other persons sacred God, to  whom they ascribe the origins of the universe.

 

So, it becomes quite logical then to realize that one man’s way of divination would be anathema to another, quite simply based on his religious affiliations.  When one looks at the way in which the ancient Hebrews consulted God on many occasions, as when David asked of the Lord…. one learns of an astounding fact.  In fact, most people are quite unaware as to what that simple statement in the Torah/Bible meant.  How did David consult the Lord?  By consulting the Urim and Thummim, or in some places of the bible known simply as casting lots.

Place the Urim and the Thummim into the breastplate of judgment and they shall be over Aaron's heart when he comes before G-d. (Ex. 28:30)

Other references to the Urim and Thummim or lots are to be found in Leviticus 16:8-10, Numbers 25:56 and Joshua 7:16-18, 18:6,8,10

 

This is what Rabbi Yehuda has said on this subject and I quote: “The meaning of the word "urim" has been explained as deriving from "meirim" [meaning "illuminating" - since it illuminated the letters engraved on the stones of the breastplate]. This is the mystical secret of "the lens that shines".

 

The Aramaic term for "the lens that shines" is "aspaklarya meira". The term "aspaklarya" has been translated as glass, mirror, looking-glass, speculum, telescope etc. The basic meaning is that it is the medium through which Divine Inspiration is focused and manifested. (This may be the origin of the crystal ball in Gentile nations.)

 

This "lens that shines" is formed by the letters of the holy Forty-two Letter Name lodged there in the folds of the breastplate through which the worlds were created.

 

The Thummim is the mystical secret of the letters included within "the lens that does not shine" ["aspaklarya sh'eina meira", i.e. the sefira of Malchut1] that is illuminated by the Seventy-two Letter Name engraved on it.

 

Malchut is called "the lens that does not shine", since it does not have its own illumination. Instead it receives all its illumination from Zeir Anpin. Thus the two are compared to the sun, the source of light, and the moon, which has no light of its own. Nevertheless, malchut is illuminated by the loftier Seventy-two Letter Name, which has its source in chochma, according to the principle of "the father [chochma] establishes the daughter [malchut]". (Ziv HaZohar)

 

They are the mystical secret of the Holy Name. Together they are called "Urim and Thummim".

 

Come and see: when those letters of these two names were lodged there [in the fold of the breastplate] their power illuminated the other letters that were engraved [on the stones of the breastplate] - i.e. the letters of the names of the twelve tribes (see Yoma 73b) - lighting up some and leaving others dark”.  (End quote from Rabbi Yehuda).

 

That was the complicated explanation, here is the easier one:

 

When the elders of Israel wished to address a question to Heaven, they would approach the High Priest, who would then put the Oracle upon his chest, wearing it as a ritual garment. He would then perform the necessary invocational prayer that consisted of recitations of many of the holy Names of God. After all this, the Urim and Thummim would, “come to life” by starting to make sounds, similar to the cantellations sung while reading the Torah, and to flash lights from the jewel stones sewn into it. God would thus answer the High Priest by sounds and lights emanating from the Urim and Thummim. The Priest, who was trained in the meditative usages of the Oracle would then be able to interpret the lights and sounds and provide a clear answer, which had come directly from God, Himself.

 

And thus the High Priest was able to find the answer to his question and act accordingly.

 

So then, the question remains… Why is “casting lots” in the Old Testament right in those times and now wrong.  As some would answer, because we are meant to listen to the small still voice of the Spirit in this dispensation, as if this was a method of hearing from God that Jewish people never knew about.  In fact Elijah did just that when he enquired of the Lord on the mountain.  No where does it ever indicate in the old testament, that one method was favoured over the other.  Both methods were acceptable.  God does not change.  Man does.  Man changes his belief system.  Tarot is no less evil or good based on the above premises.

 

In fact the notion that the Tarot most probably was based on the Urim and Thummin becomes more plausible in light of the above.  Like the High Priest divined from the 12 stones, which had the 22 letters of the Hebrew Alphabet assigned to certain stones with meanings, we the gentile divine God’s answers to our questions with the 22 Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana been a more in-depth and detailed view of those 22 Cards.

 

Moreover, the Tarot reader who uses intuition is actually doing what many like to call listening to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit.  That inner voice has been given many names, i.e., Holy Spirit, the Spirit, the Higher Self, or just your intuition!

So dear Reader, feel at ease….

 

Put your doubts behind you!  Like David, enquire of the Lord and may you receive the answers you are looking for!!!!!