EPIPHANY! A New Take on the Major Arcana

dangerdork

Thank you, for a question!
Forgive me, if my text is not correct – I do not speek English fluently...

In Isis-tarot the way of Osiris is the way of a God: The God (1) by law (4) executes his plans (7), he leads us and the Cosmos by rotatening of the Lifewheel (10) thru the Death (13) and ruin (16) to a perfect Life (19).

The way of Isis – the way of creatures: we have learnd from holy books and receive a promise, that the Gates of invisible World will be open (2); we have listened to spoken teachings (5) and we are weighd by fair/impartial judge and touchd the Truth (8); we have acquired power and skill to win the evilness or the bestial side(11); thru reincarnation we have lost a need to physical life (14); we are given itself to a God (17) and reachd the Immortality (20).

The way of Horus – the way of suffering or a spirit: A Spirit,whose intents are the highest peaks, where the Eagle flys (3), bring a human being in to condition to choose (6) a way of pilgrim (9); their loneliness become to a hopless and false picture of the world (12) and they must put up a fight against the lie and unjustice (15), against their inner chaos of cravings (18), before they will reach peace, clearness, entity, beeing one with God (21).

Those are old storys, quite religious. Dark grey ground on Osiris-way - the Light in darkness. Blue ground on Isis-way - wisdom or knowledge. Brown ground (mixd black and red) - earth and blood, the sign of a sacrifice.

These deities belong to Egiptian pantheon of gods and their "life-storys" are well discribed in many boocks on many pages. But those biographys have always at least three levels:
1. Creation of the Cosmos
2. Moral examples for evryday-life
3. Spiritual guide in secret/holy language of priests

Thank you very much, itika. You expressed your ideas very well in English, and I found the story to be fascinating. Those 3 Paths of Osiris, Isis and Horus seem to match very closely indeed to this layout of the cards, especially if you reverse Strength and Justice back to their "original" positions. I want to ask you, is this pattern of the cards and how it relates to the stories of the Egyptian Gods described in a book somewhere? Or did you just notice the correspondence when you saw the post? If it has been described already, I would very much like to read what others have had to say.

Rodney, what an ambitious spread that is! I've never had an appropriate querent, nor the time and energy to even attempt a reading from a full-deck spread. But it looks like it sure fits the system! If you ever attempt that, let me know how it turns out. And BTW, I was only half-joking when I suggested laying out the whole pattern in order and throwing the Fool at it from across the room. Haven't tried it yet, but the whole idea just tickles me to death.

I have a lot of comments percolating, and no time to write them down. I'll try to get just one more in, however. As I was doing various esoteric researches (aka web surfing), I realized that I had failed to take into consideration that the original order of the Major Arcana was significantly different that the RWS version. Here's an interesting link that shows the evolution of the Trumps order: http://www.psyche.com/psyche/tarot/RevivedTarot/tarot_seq_dev.html

The general point is, that although I am still thrilled and astonished at how well these particular sequences of cards seem to hold together, and on several levels simultaneously, the fact remains that the tarot, and especially the Trumps, contains so many powerful and generalized archetypes that maybe the TRUE secret is that these pictures can adapt themselves to any configuration whatsoever and seem to be telling a powerful story. That's how reading spreads works, too, isn't it? And remember, I was inspired to explore this by reading about two OTHER grids, their patterns, and the powerful excitement it generated in two highly distinguished authors when they discovered their OWN personal "keys to the tarot."

And isn't it interesting regarding that book, how Joseph Campbell (with his interests in history, literature and cultural anthropology) discovered an arrangement of the cards that he corresponded with Dante's description of various philosophical metaphors of human psychology, whereas Roberts, with his focus on occultism and symbolism found an esoteric explanation of the patterns he saw? And I, dangerdork, with my interests in art, literature, philosophy and mythology (with limited interest in the elemental and historical occult aspects, but none in the more esoteric Kaballism and astrology), should discover something that seems so perfectly reflective of MY personal interests?

I remember thinking when I first came across this, that maybe the TRUE secret is that if you lay the Majors out in any configuration whatsoever, that you will see patterns and correspondences that seem so intentionally baked into the tarot that they can't be ascribed to coincidence. I even think I've seen it suggested in a thread here on AT somewhere. But it's a great exercise for LEARNING and re-familiarizing yourself with the tarot and the various layers and depths of meanings of the cards. I have been in that place where I was so passionate about doing READINGS for myself or friends (mostly for myself), in order to practice and learn more, that I felt I was beginning to dilute whatever the cards may be trying to convey - you can't read for yourself 6 times a day. It just won't work. But THIS? Laying down the cards in little groups IN ORDER is like asking the tarot to tell you about ITSELF... How DOES the Magician relate to the HP? etc. It's just a good meditation and learning experience for the less experienced reader.

But here's a brainstorm: I'm NOT going to suggest that you lay out grids of 5x4 + 2 or whatever - oh no, too obvious.

Grab your favorite book or folder or other collection of Tarot SPREADS. Take your deck, IN ORDER, and lay out the cards in your favorite spread. I haven't tried it yet, but as a mental exercise I plugged the frist ten Majors into a Celtic Cross and it sure seemed to tell a coherent story to me. Starting with either the Fool OR the Magician. And then why not create ANOTHER CC starting with the Wheel? Just for fun. To see what happens. Maybe it will give you insight into the efficacy of spreads you haven't tried. Again, as you're learning or meditating on the cards, this exercise allows you to observe their relationships to one another, interpret each individual card in its own right and the context of those around it -- without the psychological context of providing divination or counseling. You can purely focus on the archetypes and subtleties of meaning and not worry about any possible consequences of misinterpretation. The tarot is talking to you about the tarot.

That's all the time I have for today, more on the Seven Stations soon.

dd
 

rwcarter

dangerdork said:
Rodney, what an ambitious spread that is! I've never had an appropriate querent, nor the time and energy to even attempt a reading from a full-deck spread. But it looks like it sure fits the system! If you ever attempt that, let me know how it turns out. And BTW, I was only half-joking when I suggested laying out the whole pattern in order and throwing the Fool at it from across the room. Haven't tried it yet, but the whole idea just tickles me to death.
Yes, that would definitely be an ambitious spread to throw. And, no, I don't intend to throw that one anytime in the foreseeable future! :laugh:

dangerdork said:
I remember thinking when I first came across this, that maybe the TRUE secret is that if you lay the Majors out in any configuration whatsoever, that you will see patterns and correspondences that seem so intentionally baked into the tarot that they can't be ascribed to coincidence.
Well, that hearkens back to a question I asked back in the beginning of this thread - what about decks that have reordered the Majors and/or have additional Major and/or Minor cards.

Since the weekend is fast approaching, I'll lay out my Navigators Tarot of the Mystic SEA in the Seven Stations Major Arcana Layout and report back what I discover. I may even pull out some decks with extra majors a nd I might even be so ambitious as to pull out either the 97 card deck or the 100 card deck and see how either of them fit.

dangerdork said:
Grab your favorite book or folder or other collection of Tarot SPREADS. Take your deck, IN ORDER, and lay out the cards in your favorite spread. I haven't tried it yet, but as a mental exercise I plugged the frist ten Majors into a Celtic Cross and it sure seemed to tell a coherent story to me. Starting with either the Fool OR the Magician. And then why not create ANOTHER CC starting with the Wheel? Just for fun. To see what happens. Maybe it will give you insight into the efficacy of spreads you haven't tried. Again, as you're learning or meditating on the cards, this exercise allows you to observe their relationships to one another, interpret each individual card in its own right and the context of those around it -- without the psychological context of providing divination or counseling. You can purely focus on the archetypes and subtleties of meaning and not worry about any possible consequences of misinterpretation. The tarot is talking to you about the tarot.
Another interesting idea from the brain of dangerdork. I think I know how/why you picked your username now! :laugh:

Rodney
 

dangerdork

rwcarter said:
I think I know how/why you picked your username now! :laugh:
Actually, the handle has nothing to do with tarot.

I adopted the moniker as the result of a series of misadventures, the penultimate of which was when, as a middle-aged, out-of-shape, web geek gringo, I went out on a 3-hour hike with a group of local kids half my age, up a boulder-strewn riverbed into the remote jungles of Central America. I ultimately wound up a half-mile deep in a cave, with a squadron of vampire bats orbiting merrily around my failing lantern. I am not making this up.

One of these days I'm going to get the full story written down.
 

Itika

dangerdork said:
Those 3 Paths of Osiris, Isis and Horus seem to match very closely indeed to this layout of the cards, especially if you reverse Strength and Justice back to their "original" positions. I want to ask you, is this pattern of the cards and how it relates to the stories of the Egyptian Gods described in a book somewhere? Or did you just notice the correspondence when you saw the post? If it has been described already, I would very much like to read what others have had to say.


I have read a book in estonian "Egiptyan tarot" (originally "Egiptuse taro", compiler and author V. Maya). I repeated here several times, that you can finde grey-blue-brown code of colors on cards of Isis-tarot. Error! This is Ibis Tarot von Josef Machynka! This deck of cards is represented in mantioned book. And 3 Paths too. V. Maya's book gives a description of cards, meaning of symbols, a story of a person/god on each card.

Mythology is my old hobby and I work as an editor. I'm used to examine side by side different texts from different cultures and patterns, and when I read your post - click-click! That is it! The lifestory of Osiris is human pickture of a Creators relationship with created cosmos (Major Createring-story comprises whole "tribe of deities", gran-gran parents, etc). It is the Time from the Future; energy-stream from future to past. Isis, the Great Mother of Nature gives life to countless hordes. I see it as a Time from the Past, energy-stream from past to future. Horus, the son of Osiris and Isis brings together the eternity and the present. This is the power, what gives to Time-streams a possibility to flow in a closed perfect Ring or break through as an endless double-spiral. These where my own thoughts.

In everyday-tarot the Path of Osiris gives advices, how to react to influence of Future. The Path of Isis - how to deal with Past. The Path of Horus - how I can take an action in the present, whithout confrontation with Eternity.
 

dangerdork

Itika said:
The lifestory of Osiris is human pickture of a Creators relationship with created cosmos (Major Createring-story comprises whole "tribe of deities", gran-gran parents, etc). It is the Time from the Future; energy-stream from future to past. Isis, the Great Mother of Nature gives life to countless hordes. I see it as a Time from the Past, energy-stream from past to future. Horus, the son of Osiris and Isis brings together the eternity and the present. This is the power, what gives to Time-streams a possibility to flow in a closed perfect Ring or break through as an endless double-spiral. These where my own thoughts.

In everyday-tarot the Path of Osiris gives advices, how to react to influence of Future. The Path of Isis - how to deal with Past. The Path of Horus - how I can take an action in the present, whithout confrontation with Eternity.

You inspired me to make this. Is it a good match to your idea?
 

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Itika

dangerdork said:
You inspired me to make this. Is it a good match to your idea?

Yessssssss!!!!
 

dangerdork

Anyone still reading?

Well, of course you are. They views continue to increase at a lively pace. This is an excellent point to ask for feedback. I think there's a lot of life left in this topic, but some questions, comments, critiques, and concerns, as well as jeers, smears and leers would be highly appreciated.

One thing I'm going to try to accomplish this weekend is to go back through the thread and tidy up some loose ends. For instance, we REALLY needed a chart of the Majors as a visual aid. So, OK. here it is.
 

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dangerdork

Ibis

And here's the Seven stations gird, with the Ibis tarot and as described by Itika
 

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dangerdork

Bueller? Bueller?

I appeal to all you lurkers, just answer this:

HAS anyone actually laid the Majors out in this grid and taken a look for themselves, based on reading this thread? No comments, no insights, just - have you tried it?
 

rwcarter

hey dangerdork,

Did you change up the paths on me again without warning me? I see now that the Path of Transformation leads through the three paths to Transfomration on both the Ibis and RWS diagrams you provided....

And although I'm far from a lurker, yes, I have laid the Robin Wood majors out in the Seven Stations Layout to help me with looking at the elemental associations of the cards. I haven't had time yet (hopefully this weekend, cause I don't plan on doing too much of anything) to actually see how the cards flow. But after I do that, then I'll see how the Navigators Majors stack up since they're in a different order.

Rodney