Magician Card: connection between Tarot and Sufism?

Tarot and Sufism?

I have found somewhat of a connection between certain cards and Mevlevi Sufism (an order of Sufism -- or Islamic mysticism -- that is also known as the Whirling Dervishes).

I don't know how it is in other decks (it's not this way in my Cat People deck), but in Rider-Waite, the Magician stands with his right hand raised and his left hand lowered.

This is significant in Mevlevi Sufism because, when they perform their famous turning ritual, according to The Mevlevi Order of America's Website, "They turn first with crossed arms; then, taking flight, they open their arms, holding the right hand up and the left hand down, becoming transparent vessels for bringing divine blessings to earth."

Do you think that ties into The Magician, in any way? And have any others of you found any connections between Sufism (Mevlevi or any other order) in Tarot? I figure if Qabalah -- Jewish mysticism -- plays out a lot in Tarot, Sufism might also!

Well, let's remember that the Golden Dawn, of which Waite was an important member, did a real historical sweep of magic and mysticism and tossed whatever caught their fancy into the pot. This included a great deal of ancient Egyptian mythology and magic--as much as had been found and researched at the time--as well as Judiasm, Christianity, Greek, Roman and Bablyonian mythology, Alchemy, etc.

In short, if it was from Europe or the middle-east/Egypt, it was theirs for the using. So the hand gesture very well could be from Sufism, or from a similar ancient root as Sufism.

I have read before of various presumed connections with Sufi works, which I find improbable - at best, it would be removed at least two-fold: any Islamic-based influence would not depict the human being pictorially.

With regards to Waite, as Thirteen pointed out, he was a member of the Golden Dawn. Traditional decks (such as the Marseilles) have the left-hand risen. However, if one actually works certain types of ceremonial magical rituals - or even practices the spiritual art of Eurythmy - then the right arm is more likely to be extended fully in the act of will and invocation - or in the body's intoning of the vowel sound 'eee'.

This reversal from earlier decks can thus be 'explained' by Waite's and Colman-Smith's magical involvement.

The Sufi practice is, however, very interesting and only adds to what can be discovered in the depths of Tarot's symbolism - so thankyou!

a connection through Ramón Lull?

Just stumbled on this short but fascinating discussion, looking for something else. A happy chance in this week of studying the Magician! I find the idea of a Sufi connection intriguing.

I'm sure Waite, the GD in general, and their French predecessors (quite likely) were aware of the works of Ramón Lull, the 13th-Century Catalan esotericist & writer. Lull travelled all over Spain & Provence, & studied the mystical traditions of all three monotheistic religions, attempting several works of synchretism & adding these studies to his study of alchemy (which he also learnt with the Arabs in Spain). Lull was a seminal figure in medieval thought. He had a special interest in both Kabbalah & Sufism.

Here's an interesting short biography on him, in the online Theosophy Library.

http://theosophy.org/tlodocs/teachers/RamonLull.htm

I don't know how aware Lull was of Mevlevi Sufism, which was at its early enthusiastic stages in his lifetime, but mainly in Turkey. His curiosity was such, that we can't exclude it.

Here's a general page on Sufism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism and a page on Mevlevi Sufism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mevlevi

I wonder where that hand gesture - which I don't imagine sprang spontaneously in 1273 - originated? Does it come from Persia (the country of Rumi, whose followers formed the Mevlevi Sufi group), or was it more general in the Middle East? How ancient is it in the West? Andalusia & Spain generally, seems a good candidate for such cross-overs - which is why I thought of Ramón Lull and his fascination for Sufism.

Re: pictorial representation of humans & Islam:

jmd said:

I have read before of various presumed connections with Sufi works, which I find improbable - at best, it would be removed at least two-fold: any Islamic-based influence would not depict the human being pictorially.

Click to expand...

Lull himself was a Christian, and pictorial representation of the human figure would not be taboo to him or his followers. But in fact, Sufism had a great influence on the revival or development of many art forms throughout the Muslim world, including Indo-Persian miniatures during the Moghul period - like these: http://www.mak.at/mysql/ausstellungen_show_page.php?a_id=164&lang=en

as well as Persian & Indian illumination of Sufi poetry. The human figure is very commonly represented. It would be interesting to see if any show a human using the Magician's gesture! Keep your eyes peeled in museums Almost certainly Waite & Pixie Colman would have seen Indo-Persian miniatures, which were prized & shown in England during the time of the British Empire.

Yes, yes, when you think of those wonderful Moghul miniatures which have pictorial representations of people, the ban on people in art seems to have broken down in some places.

Of course, with the Marseille, the hands are reversed, and of course, with the GDers, the breadth of their study was phenomenal and thus the Sufi dervish image could well have been relevant ... and so beautiful - It adds movement to the Magician which, for me, is an essential part of his character.

Great observations ... great thread

thanks
mythos