MAGICKAL TOOLS
LaForza
reviews the Tarot of the Sephiroth
I have been studying
Tarot for more than a dozen years and am always astonished when I discover a
single card or deck that peels back the veil to reveal another level of
knowing the cards. Some quality of that card or deck solidifies a host of
inarticulate and vague ideas. For me,
Tarot of the Sephiroth, created by Dan
Staroff, has become a powerful tool for mapping out the relationships
between Tarot and The Tree of Life.
This is not a deck I
use for reading. Instead the cards are laid out to form the Sephiroth and
Paths of the Tree. The 10 cards of the Minor Arcana form the Sephiroth of
the Tree. The Major Arcana are the 22 paths. The Court cards correspond to
another layer of the tree and join the Pillar of Strength with the Pillar of
Mercy in Tiphareth which then travels down to Malkuth, expressing the flow
and union of the divine energies of Chokmah and Binah coalescing in the
heart (Tiphareth) and made manifest on Earth (Malkuth).
As Above So Below.
An image of the
paths is watermarked on each major Arcana card so it can be used as a key to
assembling the map which can be laid out in layers. First the 10 Sephiroth
which have a card for each element in each sphere.
So you can lay
out the Tree as Earth, Air, Fire or Water.
A beautiful feature
of the court cards is that each card has ¼ of the Sephiroth as its
background. As you lay them out in a square the background forms the
Sephiroths of Chokma, Binah, Tiphareth and Malkuth.
When it is all laid
out the symbols on each card take on a new significance. For example
Strength is the path between Geburah and Chesed. It lies above Tipareth. In
this deck the lion sits below the woman and is the golden color of Tipharteh.
The lion is in Tiphareth and the woman channels the energies of the path
perfectly balancing severity and mercy.
Of course, each card
can be used in meditation. The symbols and imagery are powerful on their
own. But the greatest mysteries are revealed when it is laid out in its
entirety. I strongly recommend this deck to anyone who is studying the Tree
of Life
and its
relationship to Tarot.
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