Matthew,Mark,Luke and John

Serendipity/serendipitous!
I was studying two particular cards the other day(The World and the Wheel of Fortune)They both have an angel,ox,lion and eagle.Which I have read in tarot stand for fire, water, air and earth.As well as the" four fixed signs of the zodiac "(The Complete Idiots Guide to Tarot and Fortune-telling).

As it happened when I went to bed I read another chapter of my latest book "The Historian" Elizabeth Kostova (about Dracula -fiction)and there on page 77 was a reference to Matthew, Mark ,Luke and John from the New Testament in the Bible.The reference was in regard to exactly what I had been studying that day and it says,that the eagle is the symbol of Saint John,Luke is the ox,Matthew is the angel and Saint Mark the winged lion!!

When these things happen to me(coincidences?) I feel like some thing is directing/orienting me.Do other members find this?
LOL the dragon lady

You may be interested to know that there's another Biblical connection, from the Old Testament- the first book of Ezekiel:

First book of Ezekiel said:

4 I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north—an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, 5 and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was that of a man, 6 but each of them had four faces and four wings. 7 Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. 8 Under their wings on their four sides they had the hands of a man. All four of them had faces and wings, 9 and their wings touched one another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved.

10 Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a man, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle. 11 Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out upward; each had two wings, one touching the wing of another creature on either side, and two wings covering its body. 12 Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went. 13 The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or like torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it. 14 The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning.

15 As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. 16 This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like chrysolite, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. 17 As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not turn about [d] as the creatures went. 18 Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around.

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When you think of the four faces, Man, Ox, Lion and Eagle- they are the same faces as on the Wheel of Fortune and The World. (Angels having Human faces in this context.) Added to that is the mention of wheels, and the fact that the Old Testament is called the Tora. (Which is anagramatically inscribed on the Wheel Of Fortune as TARO, and also features on the High Priestesses' scroll.) There's also a description of these creatures supporting a huge crystalline disc (Wheel) called the 'Merkabah' (Chariot of God) upon which is placed the throne of God. Jewish scholars seem to have interpreted the wheels in a cosmological sense, and "the old rabbis declared that if anyone knew the secrets of the Merkabah, he would know all the secrets of creation." - another tarot reference, perhaps? Is tarot the key to unlocking the sercets of the Merkabah? Almost certainly, I think.

Two of Cups said:

Jewish scholars seem to have interpreted the wheels in a cosmological sense, and "the old rabbis declared that if anyone knew the secrets of the Merkabah, he would know all the secrets of creation." - another tarot reference, perhaps? Is tarot the key to unlocking the sercets of the Merkabah? Almost certainly, I think.

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It's a romantic idea I wouldn't say Tarot is the key. It is study of Tarot that might be, however. Let's see this by analogy to the study of Torah.

The secrets of creation - symbolised by Merkavah - are said to be hidden in the study of Torah (not Tora, btw, there is a final HEH in the Hebrew word). Torah is written entirely with consonnants, all stuck together (there are no gaps between letters and no vowels). That means the 5 first books of the Bible are just ONE WORD, just as YHVH is ONE. The vision of Ezekiel - his vision of Merkavah - are a symbolic vision of that long word of Torah. Its interpretation is without end and possibilities, because just two or three consonnants together might carry a variety of meanings. There are so many ways of understanding the letters and words making up that long word - and of playing games & riddles with the letters & their various correlations. The secret of creation - Merkavah - is not contained "in" Torah, but in the study of Torah. That is, you approach Merkavah by decrypting all the different levels of Torah (the literal, the symbolic, the scholarly & the mystical/kabbalistic). Torah can only be approached in that way through a series of questions & answers that provoke more questions. There is no final answer, because the answer is not the point. It is creating that is the point. By studying Torah in that way, the student (and even more, the Kabbalist) participates in the creation. The acts of studying Torah & meditating on Torah are acts of creation - in the same way that YHVH created the World with the Word: that one long word that makes up Torah, said to be the blueprint of the world: in saying it, YHVH created the world.

Occult philosophers have proceeded with Tarot in the same way & consider that the four level study - literal, symbolic, scholarly & mystical - is what will "give us the key" to the secrets of Merkavah. But as we have seen with the study of Torah - by way of questions & answers & more questions, going ever deeper - it is the act of studying Tarot that would constitute an act of co-creation, and therefore a way actively of knowing - of living - the secrets of Merkavah.

I am far from sure that the study of our 78 cards, wonderful as they are, can be compared to the study of Torah - but certainly the occultists, by conscious reference to Merkavah and the vision of Ezekiel, thought so.

Helvetica said:

The secrets of creation - symbolised by Merkavah - are said to be hidden in the study of Torah (not Tora, btw, there is a final HEH in the Hebrew word).

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You're quite right- I should have said Torah! I was using the 'Tora' spelling to highlight the connections with the TARO inscription on the Wheel Of Fortune and the High Priestesses' scroll for the benefit of those relatively new to the tarot- and I also should have said 'study of tarot' as well; I was in a rush to type out what I was trying to get across, and got my syntaxes in a shuffle! (It kind of dates back to when I was at school: my handwriting was atrocious because I was so full of ideas, and I couldn't get them on to the paper quickly enough! ) Sorry for any confusion!

During my trip to Ireland I sang at St. Fin Barre's Church, which has a wonderful rose window surrounded by those four figures. Things being things, is was 'easy' to accept them as the gospels and not a Wheel of Fortune card, although I did laugh about it ... until I found a statue of St John holding a chalace with a dragon emerging from it (7 of Cups)! According to our tour guide there are 12 windows in the ceiling but the designer did not put the apostles up there: he put zodical symbols! Obviously, the designer could have been a member of a secret society, possibly even the Golden Dawn. Tell me all about the religious aspects, but that Rose window design is no accident.

Coincidences?

dragon -- there are very few coincidences. When you have something like this happen, IMHO, your higher self is trying to help you or communicate with you. As an astrologer, I have often seen "coincidental" events coincide with conjunctions with elements in ones chart. Coincidences always seem to occur at focal points in our lives where we have asked a question and we get an answer, or when we need to make a decision and get some help on doing just that. Dave

I think these things happen to deepen your understanding of symbolism. I find that it's true for myself.

tarotbear said:

During my trip to Ireland I sang at St. Fin Barre's Church, which has a wonderful rose window surrounded by those four figures. Things being things, is was 'easy' to accept them as the gospels and not a Wheel of Fortune card, although I did laugh about it ... until I found a statue of St John holding a chalace with a dragon emerging from it (7 of Cups)! According to our tour guide there are 12 windows in the ceiling but the designer did not put the apostles up there: he put zodical symbols! Obviously, the designer could have been a member of a secret society, possibly even the Golden Dawn. Tell me all about the religious aspects, but that Rose window design is no accident.

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tarotbear, here's a link that may interest you: http://cathedral.cork.anglican.org/history/history.html- it's the history of that church, together with some details on the architect, William Burges. Apparently, he was inspired by neo-gothic ideas, and he died in 1881- a few years before the Golden Dawn was founded in 1888. Hope this helps!

Two of Cups said:

it's the history of that church, together with some details on the architect, William Burges. Apparently, he was inspired by neo-gothic ideas, and he died in 1881- a few years before the Golden Dawn was founded in 1888. Hope this helps!

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But he might have "bathed" in the same intellectual lake. After all, the Golden Dawn were inspired by Madame Blavatsky & the Theosophists, who were very influential in their day - including on the Anglican Church.

Though as a reminder - signs of the zodiac were common in the Middle Ages & Renaissance - and not at all underground.

The fascade

All the pics in the link were not working, but I did visit in person! This is a shot of the window with the figures.