kabbalah and the tarot

[Rose]

Here are some recommendations for people who want a basic understanding of Kabbalah and specifically how it relates to Tarot. All of these books are good for beginners. All of them are pretty much free of jargon and complex language. All of them relate Kabbalah directly to Tarot. The more of them you read the better your understanding will be.

The New Golden Dawn Ritual Tarot: Keys to the Rituals, Symbolism, Magic, and Divination by Chic Cicero, Sandra Tabatha Cicero, 235 pages, Llewellyn, ISBN 0875421393
Although this book was written to accompany a deck it provides a basic, understandable introduction to the Qabalah and a card-by-card analysis of how the golden dawn applied these principles (along with other stuff) to each card. The information in this book can be applied to other tarot decks. IMHO the book is more worthwhile than the deck that goes with it. The deck is now sold as a mini-kit with one of those mini-books. The book I'm talking about is out of print but readily available used, without the deck, for less than ten dollars. This book sat on my shelf unread until I read a review by Wicce (Gina Pace).

Tarot and the Tree of Life, Isabel Radow Kliegman, 219 pages, Quest Books, ISBN 083560747X
This book relates the Kabbalah to the 52 Minor Arcana cards. Her take on each card is highly personal (which isn't necessarily bad). She does a good job connecting the Minor Arcana and the Kabbalah. $11-$14

The Kabbalah Tree, Rachel Pollack, 159 pages, Llewellyn, ISBN 0738705071
The focus of this book is a painting of the Tree of Life by Herman Haindl (poster is enclosed with the book). I like all of Rachel Pollack's books for her knowledge and her clear way of expressing herself. This book gives some really good insights on Kabbalah and the Tarot.
$11-$14

Rose

 

[jmd]

I presume the three books Rose mentions each begins from the correlations which the Golden Dawn makes - though I would stand corrected if not the case, as I do not have all three.

For a basic understanding of Kabalah, I would recommend one which does not mention Tarot (except perhaps as a side comment), but rather outlines and explains Kabalah - and that without reference to what especially the Golden Dawn has sought to correlate in one particular from many possible ways.

With this in mind, I would first recommend actually reading, with the respective commentaries, Aryeh Kaplan's Sefer Yetzirah and his Bahir. Following this, I would then read some of the wonderfully written historical materials by G. Scholem, and then again return to 'fuller' Kabalisitc materials in Moshe Idel's work.

Then, if one wants to begin a correlative analysis, I would begin with Mark Filipas's Alphabetic Masquerade.

From this basis, the predominant Golden Dawn view is more likely to be seen for what it is: Wescott's personal preferred attributions, which differ from, for example, those of the Kabbalistic Order of the Rose Cross, or those as presented by other Orders or their representative (such as William Gray or, again differently, Falconnier).

Of course, if the Golden Dawn or its derivatives is what one wishes to work with, then the works of Case or Wang may also be useful.

...but to begin the journey, I would recommend Aryeh Kaplan.