Buddhism and Tarot

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 22 Jun 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

BRAM	22 Jun 2002
Hi...is there any of you out there that is interested in the Tarot in relation to buddhism? I would like to find any connection between buddhism and the meaning of the Tarot cards... Could the devil for instance represent Mara? Or would that be the Wheel of Fortune? Or would the wheel of fortune represent Bardo? Or the wheel of life? The elements and the major arcana have a lot in commen with hinduism! with Major Arcana representing ether! Would the fool be our true potential and the world our true nature? What if we regarded the major Arcana as a path to enlightenment! I am not VERY experienced both with the Tarot OR Buddhism...so any information you might have is highly appreciated! THANKS! Bram (new member from the Netherlands) This might change my view on the Tarot immensly! Are there no books/websites about this?

Diana	23 Jun 2002
edited

napaea	23 Jun 2002
Hi Bram - welcome! I don't know enough about Buddhism, which is something I've been wanting to check out for a while. Get to know the tarot better, you might just be able to create your own Buddhist Deck!! Because I can see what you're saying about the Wheel of Fortune being like the bardo state, but the judgment card might be that as well. One deck you might want to look at is the Feng Shui deck. It isn't going to have any information about Buddhism, and I've only looked at it once, but from what I remember the take on the cards is very much in the Eastern view, particular to Feng Shui and energy movement. It might give you some idea how the tarot can be implicated into any belief system or lifestyle. I'm sure there are other decks that would help with this too, if I can think of any I'll let you know. Welcome aboard! Please share your enlightenment with us as it comes to you! napaea :THP

Strange2	23 Jun 2002
Robert M. Place is developing a new Buddhist-oriented deck called "The Tarot of the Buddha". You can see samples and order art prints of some of the cards from the following link: http://thealchemicalegg.com/PrintBuddha.html Robert M. Place has created some other excellent decks, including The Alchemical Tarot, Tarot of the Saints, and the Angels Tarot. These can be viewed at Mr. Place's web site, "The Alchemical Egg", at: http://thealchemicalegg.com/Main.html A brand new Buddhist-oriented deck is the "Roots of Asia" Tarot. Here's a link to this deck right here on Aeclectic: http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/roots-of-asia/index.html Here's a link to this deck on the Tarot Garden site: http://www.tarotgarden.com/boutique/onlinecatalog.php?view_title=roots+of+asia

Phoenix	23 Jun 2002
Another deck that might interest you would be the Osho-Zen Tarot. I believe it is a Buddhist deck.

The Buddhism and Tarot thread was originally posted on 22 Jun 2002 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.