Archive for October, 2010

The Major Arcana Card nr. 12 is the Hanged Man. Metaphysically, this card represents the Path in the Tree of Life connecting two Sephirot – Gevurah and Hod. Gevurah corresponds to the level of severity, while Hod means splendor. Earlier we have considered some aspects of the link between the Major Arcana Cards and Kabbalah. These very different attributes of the two Sephirot already indicate the internal conflict present in this Tarot card.

This Arcana depicts a male figure hanging upside down from a wooden frame resembling gallows. The figure – without any visible signs of suffering – is hanging by his right foot while his left leg forms a cross with respect to the other leg he is suspended by. The gallows is made out of living wood, which is indicated by the leaves on it. The person can even be seen as having an expression of delight on his face.

The significance of this card was not so clear, even to the greatest experts of Tarot. This is what Arthur Waite said in his must read reference book, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot:

“It has been called falsely a card of martyrdom, a card a of prudence, a card of the Great Work, a card of duty; but we may exhaust all published interpretations and find only vanity. I will say very simply on my own part that it expresses the relation, in one of its aspects, between the Divine and the Universe.”

(The web version of the above book is available for free here, or if you prefer the paper issue, you can find it at Amazon.com here
.)

Some spiritual meanings of Major Arcana nr. 12

Some of the other meanings this card can be the following:

• When we push things to their extreme, often the result is reversal, a movement in the opposite direction.
• The person has tackled his/her own shadow. This shadow is no longer his/her object of identification.
• The need to allow the deeper forces of our nature to take control. Entering the subconscious means taking chance. The law of the inner worlds are not like the outer laws.

The Major Arcana number 12 is related to the ultimate fate of the seeker. The seeker has to pass the test of courage and faith: (i) courage to sacrify the things dear to his conscious self, while at the same time controlling the instinctive desires of his shadow, and (ii) faith in the existence of Higher Self that transcends his conscious cognition. By descending into our own subconscious the conscious self is put into a seemingly dangerous position – it appears it has to negate its own existence. The seeker hangs suspended on the treads of his own faith. The torture has been transformed into ecstasy, freedom from desires. In order to succeed one should subject oneself to the law of God, not to the human laws. It takes courage and faith in God. At the end, the reward is peace of heart and mind.

The Hanged Man Tarot Card in Prognosis

In readings this card can represent sacrifice, punishment, loss, defeat, individual failure. It can also represent the forces of individual belief which are opposing the general view. Even though some situation is turned upside down, it is stable and secure. Note the light of knowledge around the head of the hanged man. The tree is alive – it is a symbol of growth and development in life.

The key of this Tarot card can be formulated like this: the individual freedom of mind and action never comes from conflict and fight, but from stability and harmony.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Major Arcana Card number 12 carries a strong symbolism of resurrection after previously renunicating the instinctive nature of the shadowy part of our nature. The person in the card does nothing, but being patient and gathering inner power. The ability to transcend the pain and struggle into realization of the ecstatic nature of the inner Higher Self is a strong message of this Tarot Card.

Temperance – Major Arcana Card number 14

When trying to understand the meaning of Tarot, it is of help to keep in mind that we are dealing with symbols, and when we do that, we find ourselves in the region of the subconscious. Therefore, a tarot card adorned with certain symbols can have certain meaning for you, and completely different meaning for another person. Things get highly subjective in this area. The Major Arcana Card number 14 is Temperance.

This is the card that corresponds to the astrological sign of Sagittarius. It represents unity of opposites, and depicts a winged angels pouring water from one cup into another. Water here should be understood as a universal solvent.

This tarot card connects Tiferet and Yesod – two Sephirot on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. The link, that is, the relationship between Tarot and Kabbalah has been presented here. Tiferet means beauty, while Yesod is our foundation. Hence, the Major Arcana number 14 tells us that in order to reach beauty (inner beauty) from our formerly established foundation we have to have temperance.

Some of the meanings of the Temperance Tarot Card can be summarized as follows:

• ignoring the imperatives of life
• acting while having an accurate calculation
• liberation from conscious and unconscious desires
• making a balance
• closing the gap between the outer and inner world
• success is possible only through control

Temperance Tarot Card demands sacrificing the ego in order to restore our natural connection to the life forces. In a different light, this card can mean searching for the lost aspects of ourselves, even if it means descending to the underground world (our subconscious).

This tarot card will teach us that inside us we should hold dear our Guardian Angel — a beloved presence that will teach us the art of the 4 elements of tarot. In the Arcana nr 14, as seen within the Rider Waite Tarot Deck, the Angel touches the earth element with his/her right foot. He/She never looses from sight the importance of the other element as well. The key message is to weigh every single object or situation well, no matter whether we will use it as a weapon or as a tool. Use it with care, use it without disturbing others.

The other symbols of Temperance

The Angel touches the earth as well as the heaven (see the photo – credits to http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/). It connects the spiritual levels of existence with the material ones.

On his chest, we see a triangle placed within a square – a symbol of the Tarot book. The square represents the more materials worlds within a person. There are 4 corners, representing the physical, etheric, astral, and mental body. The triangle represents the Divine side of man. Here we have the 3 aspects of the Higher Self – Manas, Buddhi, and Atma.

On his forehead we see a circle – a symbol of eternity. It reminds us that death is a beginning of a new life. All manifestations come back to the same point where they originated.

In some interpretations the Angel is an Angel of Time. One of the cups, thus represents the past, and the other stands for the future. The water streaming in between them both is consequently the present time. The water goes both ways. Similarly, from the present we can go two ways – to the future or to the past.

Temperance Tarot Card in Reading

In its positive meaning, this car can imply:

• using all the elements at our disposal to accomplish something worth accomplishing,
• combining skills,
• reaching new levels of consciousness,
• reaching new more harmonious relationships,
• need to have patience,
• need to be moderate.

In its reversed meaning, this card can imply:

• lack of moderation,
• lack of balance,
• unmanaged impulses,
• loss of control,
• discrepancy between the wishes of the heart and the ambitions of the mind,
• infidelity,
• unrestrained impulses and desires

It takes great care and understanding to read the Tarot Cards. We have seen how a seemingly “clear” card, such is the Temperance Tarot Card, can have deep and profound symbolism and spiritual significance. Therefore, it must be realized that working with tarot requires constant self improving, meditation, and metaphysical practice.