Tarot of the Sephiroth

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 23 Oct 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

faunabay	23 Oct 2002
I just got this deck in a trade. (thanks Lee :D ) I really like the artwork (kind of strange, but fun). I pretty much got this deck because I wanted to learn more about how the qaballah and tarot work together. So I've been reading the book, which is helpful in describing how they interact. BUT I'm finding that this deck has very different interpretations for the cards!! For example: 10 of Wands - Momentum. The cleansing and purifying fire of energy. 9 of Wands - Cooperative effort. Now from the meanings I've learned and experienced from all other decks these meanings are almost exactly opposite ??? Anybody else have this deck? And can you help explain this difference? Is it a aspect of the qaballic influence or just this authors viewpoint????

Lee	23 Oct 2002
My guess would be that the authors are interpreting the traditional Golden Dawn astrological associations for each minor card in their own way. -- Lee

faunabay	23 Oct 2002
I've looked up these two cards in the Golden Dawn Ritual deck as well. In this deck the 10 of Wands has more of a "normal" meaning. It talks about oppression. But the 9 of Wands is "great strength". It's not like it's any huge deal!! :) I mean I have decks that use completely different meanings. But for some reason I assumed (yeah, I know LOL) that any Golden Dawn/tree of life based deck would be closer to the "normal" meanings as that's where most of the rider-waite and thoth type decks originated.

MystiqueMoonlight	23 Oct 2002
By the sounds of it, I'm not too familiar with this deck, the cards are more focused on the actual Tree of Life. Have you done any study of it? You may be familiar with the concept that the first 10 majors are reflected in the 10 Sephiroth of the Tree of Life and the minors are the "branches" so to speak. So having said that it's not really an atrological stance of the Tarot, but an interaction of the Qabalah and the Tree of life into the Tarot (not the other way around). That could be why you are reading those types of interpretations.

Laurel	24 Oct 2002
I don't have this deck personally. My guess is that MystiqueMoonlight is right and the author is attempting to place the emphasis on the Tree of Life, but their interpretations make still be personalized. One good way to use this deck might be to take all four 10s, 9s, 8s, etc. and lay them out together so that you use the four 10s to look at the aspects of Malkuth (the 10th sephiroth) and then the four 9s to look at the aspects of Yesod (the 9th sephiroth). Then you can compare the meanings of the 10s and 9s to look at the patterns and slowly work your way up the Tree from there. Laurel

Zhritza	24 Oct 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Laurel One good way to use this deck might be to take all four 10s, 9s, 8s, etc. and lay them out together so that you use the four 10s to look at the aspects of Malkuth (the 10th sephiroth) and then the four 9s to look at the aspects of Yesod (the 9th sephiroth). Then you can compare the meanings of the 10s and 9s to look at the patterns and slowly work your way up the Tree from there. This is not connected to this particular deck :| but if anyone wants more study material in this vein, "Tarot and the Tree of Life: Finding Everyday Wisdom in the Minor Arcana" by Isabel Radow Kliegman (isbn=083560747X) is a great tool for getting a better grip on the minors using the ten sephirot. She explains the qualities of each sephirah and connects those qualities to each card of that number. Her writing style is casual and engaging but still very smart, and she is good at sharing personal experiences without self-aggrandizing. The only complaint I have is that she feels kind of icky about the Swords, but at least she admits this and works around it.

faunabay	24 Oct 2002
Qolus, I keep looking at that book, but haven't gotten it yet. I guess someone's trying to tell me something huh? LOL Maybe it'll help me understand better. thanks!! :*

faunabay	24 Oct 2002
And Laurel, I'm going to try that. Great suggestion!!

Zhritza	29 Oct 2002
Hey, does anyone know whether this is actually out of print? I was going to order it from my job, but it looks suspiciously hard to get...

MystiqueMoonlight	29 Oct 2002
As far as I am aware it is still in print

Lee	29 Oct 2002
This is a fairly recent USGames deck, so, as MM says, it should be easily obtainable, both as a deck and as a deck/book set. -- Lee :)

faunabay	29 Oct 2002
I'm really enjoying it. The artwork is nice and the book is pretty understandable for people (like me :) ) who know next to nothing about the qaballah and tree of life. At the same time I got the sephiroth I also got the Golden Dawn Ritual set. It's much harder to understand -- goes into too much detail for me right now. But I think once I can get through all the ritual stuff (which I dont' like) I'll like this one too!

HOLMES	03 Nov 2002
quote/"You may be familiar with the concept that the first 10 majors are reflected in the 10 Sephiroth of the Tree of Life and the minors are the "branches" so to speak."/quote in all the books i seen the minors numbers are the spheres 1-10 and the majors are the paths, the branches if you will. (which isnt' many boosk jsut the tarot and tree of life book, tarot of old path book, and qabalistic tarot book ) fuana how are the court cards interprated? princess(pages) are the ones of manifestation .. or the kings are ?( like in the tarot and tree of life book according to her own interpation)

mystic	04 Nov 2002
Again, the tree of life snakes its way into the meaning of all.......including the tarot......more on this tomorrow.....

The Tarot of the Sephiroth thread was originally posted on 23 Oct 2002 in the Tarot Decks board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Decks, or read more archived threads.