Yatima said:
Since the order of Star, Moon, Sun never has changed in any given order of the early Tarot, it seems to be having taken for granted. It was obviously found feeling (or known) right. So we might have to ask whether or not there are any other Renaissance-related documents indicating this unquestioned order.
However, there may be indications that the apocalyptic tradition, which was known and spiritually immediatly conneting with wide areas of society, may have helped to shape this order.
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So I would suggest, it was the apocalyptic order of signs of the coming end right before resurrection (trump XX!) that influened the Tarot-order of trumps XVII to XIX.
There are, of course, other ways to look at the possible Apocalyptic influence on the cards. But let's start with the hierarchy of illumination.
On one level of meaning, there seems to be good reason for thinking that the Lightning (an early name for the card we usually call the Tower), the Star, Moon, Sun, the Angel, and the World, were intended to show a hierarchy of illumination, or metaphorically, enlightenment, triumphing over the Devil. If we assume that the radiant Angel of the Last Resurrection is brighter than the Sun, and that the World card showed either New Jerusalem (from Chapter 21 of Revelation) or Christ Triumphant, this is certainly intelligible. However, it fails to provide a literal layer of meaning for the design of the cards, their other subject matter and their sequence in terms of that subject matter. Why is the lightning striking a tower? Is it just a conventional lightning rod, which could be replaced by a tree for example? Why do various Star cards seem to indicate a reference to Jesus? Was the insertion of Justice into the sequence, or the switch of the Angel and World cards, done by someone who didn't see the hierarchy of illumination?
Astrology and cosmology have been repeatedly suggested as the literal significance. However, it appears that despite many years of looking, no one can find a good cosmological or astrological basis for the Star (singular), Moon, Sun sequence, or their place in the larger Tarot trump cycle. Another possible source might be Genesis 1:16, in which the order of celestial lights is listed as sun, moon, and stars. However, the Tarot card was never known as Stars (plural), which is a crucial point commonly overlooked. (For a recent example of this problem, see O'Neill's 2004 essay on Dante, where he mistakenly states that each book of the Commedia ends in the word "Star", making a vaguely implied analogy to the Tarot card. In fact, each book ends in the word "Stars", offering no such analogy.) Astrology and cosmology are the dead-obvious first impression that anyone has when seeing these cards... but that doesn't mean that they are the correct interpretation. They have been twisted and turned for generations, and still no one has made sense of the sequence by relying on those interpretations. Maybe the cards have some other literal interpretation.
The eschatological context you mention is another valuable clue. Looking at the Star card in early decks, we see astrologers and sometimes the Magi, making it clear that the star in question is the one that signaled the birth of Jesus. In Revelation, we find that its author (again, Jesus) referred to HIMSELF as the bright Morning Star -- "I am the Star". (Rev 22:16.) The conventional TdM Star card is very peculiar, but it shows one bright star (the subject of the card) and seven smaller stars. One interpretation of this, again in the eschatological context, refers to both the author and the audience of Revelation. While Jesus' self-proclaimed title from the last page of Revelation is the Star, at the beginning of Revelation he tells St. John that the vision is addressed to the seven churches of the Roman province of Asia, and these are shown to John via seven stars, which symbolize the seven angels of the seven churches.
The question with any such oblique interpretation (and most interpretations tend toward the indirect) is WHY?! If someone wanted to indicate Jesus, why not just show Jesus? There are several possibilities for explaining unconventional design, including sloppy, incoherent design, the possibility that there was no coherent design intended, the possibility of a hodge-podge design in which elements from different iconographic traditions were assembled in a mix-n-match hierarchy (perhaps intended to point to the unity of mystical paths to God), and my own favorite, multiple layers of coherent meaning. (Feel free to add your own to the list.) One of the simplest explanations is that the original design was unconventional, and later deck makers didn't understand it and therefore substituted similar images that didn't maintain the original meaning. For example, the meaning of the Hermit card is obscure, but in most Tarot designs we find an allegory of Time, which is perfectly clear and conventional. The Hermit may have been original, but poorly understood and therefore converted into a more conventional companion for the Wheel of Fortune.
My point in all that is to suggest keeping an open mind about the "obvious" association between the Star, Moon, and Sun, and their "obvious" astrological and cosmological interpretation. Something more complex, subtle, and obscure may have been going on in the literal design, while a secondary hierarchy of illumination was overlaid on that literal design. The STANDARD for medieval exegesis was FOUR well-defined layers of meaning to Scripture, as well as religious art and literature, so looking for multiple layers of meaning is not that far fetched. In that case, it may be that there is no connection, on the literal level, between the Star on one hand, and the Moon and Sun on the other. Thinking outside the obvious constraints may provide some otherwise invisible meaning to the sequence.
As an example, let's look at a particular deck, its iconography and sequence. In the TdM design, every third card (at least in the lower ranked cards) appears to be a moral triumph of some kind. There are two commoners triumphed over by a religious figure, two monarchs triumphed over by a religious figure, two victories (in love and war) triumphed over by a virtue, two hardships (asceticism and Fortune) triumphed over by a virtue, and two examples of mortality (execution and Death) triumphed over by a virtue. If there is significance to that triptych pattern (see Tom Little's site for a detailed presentation of this "Triadic Structure") then we would expect some commonalty between the Devil and Tower, and likewise between the Moon and Sun, while the Star and Judgement are of a different kind. Given that presupposition, can we make sense of the two eschatological triptychs?
Chapter 20 of Revelation deals with the Millennium and its aftermath, the final triumphs of Christ over the Devil and Death, while Chapter 21 deals with the New World or New Jerusalem, the resurrected City of God. The Devil is the lowest-ranking card of these two tritypchs, and the Last Resurrection is the highest, suggesting the triumphs described in Chapter 20.
"When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle... But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire... The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire." Revelation 20:7-14. If the Star, in an eschatological context, refers to Christ, then the first triptych makes sense as the triumph over one of the two eschatological adversaries of man and God, while the second triptych makes sense as the the triumph over the second of the final adversaries. Why is mortal life and thereby death symbolized by the Moon and Sun? Certainly they are conventional symbols of Time, and the triumph of eternal life over death is also the triumph of Eternity over Time, but there is a more direct source for the motif. "I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband". (Rev 21:2.) "The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp." (Rev 21:23.)
So, here we have a very different interpretation of the three celestial cards. The Devil and Lightning cards represent the devil and fire from heaven of Rev. 20:7-14, and the Star is an indirect reference to Jesus "I am the Star" Christ. The Moon and Sun cards represent the moon and sun from Rev. 21:23, and the Judgement card is also an indirect reference to Jesus "I am the Resurrection" Christ, as well as showing the triumph of Eternity over Time. Another reason why these two Christ cards must have only indirect references to Christ's triumphs is that the highest card, the World, is a very direct and almost conventional illustration of Christ Triumphant, (from Rev 5:5-6 and Mt 27:27-29). The first two Christ cards represent only his eschatological triumphs, while the World card represents him and the ultimate triumph of God directly.
(How's that, Jean-Michel -- something a bit different?)
Best regards,
Michael
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