Timothy Leary Tarot/The Game Of Life

[TheJourney]

Have any of you read 'the game of life' by Timothy Leary? And are familiar with his 8-circuit model, and how he applies the Tarot to it? 'The game of life' deals most primarily as an interpretation of the tarot. Basically, to very briefly sum up as I'm hoping there are some on here familiar with the work, he divides consciousness into 8 'mini-brains,' each of which have 3 functions(reception, storage/integration/analysis, and transmission), and divides the tarot in the same way. Now this is 8 x 3 = 24, so he posits there must be 2 additional spots, which he says belong in the 8th circuit. It's also somewhat divided into 2, with the 2nd half sort of being a 'higher' version of the 1st half.

Also, in his array the empress and the priestess are switched from what I believe is most common. So we have...
(Keep in mind the pattern...reception, integration, transmission)

Oral-bio-survival:
The Fool
The Magus
The Empress

Muscular-emotional-territorial:
The Priestess
The Emperor
The Heirophant

Symbolic-conceptual:
The Lovers
The Chariot
Strength

Social-sexual-moral:
The Hermit
Fortune
Judgment

...

Neuro-somatic:
The Hanging Man
Death
Art/Temperance

Neuro-electric/archetypal:
The Devil
The Tower
The Star

Neuro-genetic/meta-programming:
The Moon
The Sun
The Aeon

Non-local/quantum:
Slot X
The Universe
Slot Y

I went into it more than I originally intended lol, hoping some would be familiar. So, anyone familiar with all of this? What do you think?

 

[ravenest]

Yes I am into Exo-Psychology and have referred to it in posts here occasionally. I think it is a very worthwhile system and one of the valid maps which outline a current conceptual paradigm... that will probably remain current for some time (as long as we have computers ).

Not familiar at all with The Game of Life though. From first glance (via the above post) I dont get the associations though. I suppose I would have to read the book to get his take on how the cards relate and what he thinks those cards mean and relate to.

I am a fan of his however ... many people do not realise he did some great and groundbreaking work ... and had some success with his systems of treating 'incurable' criminals when he was allowed (with others ... was it Lily then ? ) to impliment his psychological reprogramming techniques in jails.

 

[SuperSirius]

It has been a while since I have read anything regarding Leary's 8-circuit model, but those associations certainly seem to make sense. It might make a good way to remember some of the various attributes of the trumps cards for sure. I may have to find a copy now, because I did not know that Leary even had a book regarding tarot.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[ravenest]

Ha! I am seeing the cards needing to be moved all over the circuits ... not just IMO, I am taking the Leary / R.A. Wilson slant as well ... surely from that perspective (one example) the Magician HAS to be in the master control circuit (neuro-electric) ???

Oh goody! A whole new set of correspondences to argue about ... OTHER THAN Hebrew or astrology

 

[TheJourney]

Cool to see some others familiar with the work of people like Leary on here. Having studied both Leary's system as well as Crowley's Qabalah, much of my mental energy has gone towards trying to see how the systems can be harmonized. I've gotten to mostly making sense of it, although of course trying to add depth to my understanding. Actually, my difficulties in harmonizing the systems in part led to my significantly easing up on my studying of the stuff.

The most obvious, and drastic, paradox is the fact that Crowley's Tree of life, with its Tarot attributions, has the first cards as being the highest and most elevated, with each successive card heading towards the mundane. After all, the highest sefirah is kether, the lowest is malkuth, and the major arcana of the tarot are supposed to be the paths downwards. In Leary's system, the arcana are evolutionary. Leary's general observation that the second half of the tarot, starting with the hanging man, are 'post-terrestrial' seems to be obvious and sensible enough. And yet it seems to be the reverse of the qabalistic system. This seemed insoluble to me, and led to me considering that perhaps all of the paths on the tree of life should be reversed. Yet this is a difficult position to take, as it is in opposition to nearly all thought on the topic. Though I did manage to find a couple qabalistic-tarot-philosophers who wrote books on the topic of these needing to be reversed.

Time to ponder has shed some light on some of the apparent disharmony. Just at a first glance, I can see how the example given above, the Magus, could seem to perhaps obviously belong higher, perhaps in the 6th circuit as suggested. This has actually been the main card I've been trying to see how it makes sense the last couple of days. If we take Leary to be correct, the interpretation would be something like this. The magus represents actively engaging in or finding things/places/situations which provide immediate gratification and satisfaction.

 

[ravenest]

Yep ... exactly why I dont see the Magician sitting there. That would be a strange interpretation for the Magus IMO ... it reads more like a newby attacking the Thoth deck and making a link between 'perceived Crowley -ism' and card interpretation ... hey , it happens , but surely NOT from Leary ?

The connections you made make sense , Leary and a lot of his early cronies (and others in that set and time) were into Crowley's writings ... and many into the Thoth deck as well.

Just a technical point about working with the ToL (and to an extent it is reflected in perceived progressions of the Major Arcana), it can 'flow' (or 'you' can 'go') both ways . bottom up or top down. So the number sequence on the majors, to an extent, is immaterial (sequences in the majors actually relate to other arrangements and really one can take the numbers off them with little effect - except that which effects the lineally constructed minds of many westerners - some old decks, I think, were unumbered on the trumps ) - my objections dont relate to the numbers anyway but to energetic groupings.

The two parts of the majors are relevant, a few people see that. And the two hemispheres in the brain are obvious ... most are familiar with left and right brain functions nowadays (even though much of it is misunderstood, there is still familiarity with the concept) .

To understand where he is actually coming from I would have to study it of course, then it might make more sense ... but I got A LOT stacked on the 'in tray' at the moment .