Divination Station

In the previous post, we learned that Tarot is represented by 78 cards. They are split into 22 Major Arcana Cards and 56 Minor Arcana Cards. The word “arcana” derives from the word “arcane”, or “secret.”  There is indeed a secret or esoteric meaning behind Tarot. The 22 Major Arcana are associated with the 22 letters of the Hebrew Alphabet (ref. Fig. 1). And the 56 Minor Arcana are associated with the 4 Spirit Worlds associated in the Kabbalistic Tree of Life (ref. Fig. 2) that we discussed in the first post. Today, we are going to be focusing on the Minor Arcana and specifically the 4 suites associated with it. I advise you to download and print out these pictures to use as future reference.

The 22 Letters of the Hebrew Alphabet (fig. 1)

Kabbalah Tree of Life (fig. 2)

Kabbalah + The Four Spirit Worlds

Kabbalah is”the ancient Jewish tradition of mystical interpretation of the Bible, first transmitted orally and using esoteric methods.” This tradition is built on their sacred text called the Torah. The Torah is said to be the law of God as revealed to Moses and recorded in the first five books of the Hebrew scriptures. Most know it as the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Although the Torah is a very complex book of laws, it can always be reduced down to the number four. The four-letter name of God in Kabbalah, the four worlds, the four elements and the four levels of Torah. Previously we discussed that the four letter name of the Jewish God is represented by 4 Hebrew Letters, “Yod” “He” “Vav” He”. (Other names include Jehovah, Yahweh or YHVH) When placed vertically, they represent the four spirit worlds. In Tarot, they represent the four elements--fire, water, air and earth--which in turn are represented by the four suits.

The name of Jewish God and representation of the body (fig. 3)

The Four Spirit Worlds encompass our Being. Even if you look at the four letters for the name of God stacked on top of each other, they are representative of a human body. “Yod” being the head, “He” being the arms, “Vav” being the core and the last “He” being the legs/feet. I will not go too deep into this, but in essence, speaking the name of God is seen as calling upon the most inner power of self. As God lives within, around and through you. You see this stated in the Bible many times. 

"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" - 1 Corinthians 3:16

In the Tree of Life (ref. Fig. 2), you will see that, it is split into 4 sections--the four spirit worlds--Atziluth (the World of Emanation), Beri’ah (The World of Creation), Yetzirah (The World of Formation), and Asiyah (The World of Action). In Kabbalah, each of the four spirit worlds, correlate with the four suites of the Minor Arcana.

Tarot + The Four Spirit Worlds

In Kabbalah, each of the four elements corresponds to one of the four spirit worlds. The four suites of the Minor Arcana cards embody this association. In the suits of the Minor Arcana, these four spiritual worlds are expressed through ancient archetypes of the four elements, as follows:

The staff--fire 

The cup--water

The sword--air

The coin--earth

The first spirit word, Atziluth, is the world of fire. This is the world where the Divine lives. It is the fire of life that n,ever dies. Fire indicates the future, as the light illuminates what is before us. Fire is the spark that brings energy into existence. This allows the wheels to start turning to create our world. In tarot, the Staff is the symbol of fire.

Beri’ah is the world of emotions, associated with the element of water. This is the world where we move from the essence of a soul to the first creations. This is where manifestation exists, in the waters. The nature of liquid is to spread unless it is constrained. Emotions tend to overflow their vessel or, when damned up, become a considerable force. The Cup represents this element in tarot. 

Yetzirah, the world of thought, is represented by the element of air, the invisible, the astral. Thinking is the closest we come to conscious spiritual experience. This space sits right above the world of the earth realm because of this we are able to move between this realm and the air realm very easily. We see this through the ability of dreams, thoughts and our connection to Spirit. Thinking is indeed the closest we come to a conscious spiritual experience. Like the air our thoughts cannot be seen and possess little physical weight but they are definitely there. The Sword, because it cuts through the air, is a symbol of the invisible and represents air in Tarot.

Asiyah, The world of action, is symbolized by the coin, or Pentacle. It takes a lot of soul/fire, emotions/water, thoughts/air, to forge the coin. Similarly it takes all our capacity to make our mark in the physical world. The value of the coin represents the value of our souls' energy manifesting into creation. The ability to manifest very much so takes our souls energy, our emotions of crying out and the thought of our needs/wants. 

Each element is a metaphor. Fire reaches up but it must be rooted to the physical in order to exist. Water reaches down and finds its way to the sea. Air is calm, ethereal, and easily disturbed, and earth is strong and immutable. By understanding the characteristics and nature of the four elements and their innate connections to the four spirit worlds, we can begin to decipher the secrets hidden within Tarot.