The Tarot and the
Kabbalah
Adherents of the Mysteries have long held the idea that the Tarot
has its origins in the arcane system of the Kabbalah, though there
is no firm historical evidence for this. The work of the 19th
century French occultist, Eliphas Levi, was the catalyst for the
study of the esoteric link between the Tarot and the Kabbalah,
which became the main model for the development and interpretation
of the Tarot. The most influential decks of the 20th century were
founded on Kabbalistic principles, in terms of their structure,
their symbology and their explication.
Central to the Western Kabbalah is the glyph Otz Chiim or the Tree
of Life. This consists of ten spheres or sefirot connected by 22
paths, and is shown here. Though the tree may be drawn with
variations in the location of paths - particularly in pure, Judaic
Kabbalah - esoteric tradition is consistent in presenting the tree
as above, with the paths in the positions shown. The sefirot
themselves are also considered to be paths, giving a total of 32
paths in all; but in discussing the associations between the Tarot
and the Kabbalah, it is simpler to consider the Tree as 10 sefirot
and 22 paths, as these groupings correspond respectively to the
Minor Arcana and Major Arcana that make up the structure of the
Tarot.
The Major Arcana and the 22
Paths
As can be seen on the diagram above, there are 22 paths on the Tree
of Life, one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. There are also
22 cards in the Major Arcana of the Tarot, and each of these
corresponds to a Hebrew letter and a path on the Tree of Life. The
usual attributions of the Trumps to the paths is shown above, but
some occultists offer slightly different attributions. Aleister
Crowley, for example, transposes the Star and the Emperor, so that
the Emperor corresponds to the Hebrew letter tzaddi, and the Star
to heh. This is in keeping with the Thelemic teaching of Crowley's
Liber AL vel Legis (The Book of the Law), where it is written "All
these old letters of my Book are aright; but Tzaddi is not the
Star" (chapter 1:57).
Each path expresses the interaction between the pair of sefirot it
connects. As a quick, much simplified example, Trump XXI, the
World, concerns the successful completion of one phase and the
start of another, as well as ideas of synthesis and
crystallization. The interactions of sefirot nine, Yesod
(Foundation), and ten, Malkuth (Kingdom) mirror these ideas, with
the generative aspects of Yesod finding their fulfillment in
Malkuth. The process of Creation ends in Malkuth, and the return
begins through Yesod. The path and the World both correspond to the
Hebrew letter tav, and again this is highly appropriate as it is
the final letter of the alphabet and means 'cross', a symbol
associated with the manifest world.
The above example is, of course, a greatly simplified distillation.
The meanings of the paths can only be approached through much study
and meditation, and the symbolism of a suitably designed Tarot deck
can help in this process. Conversely, an understanding of the
Kabbalah facilitates a much deeper understanding of the
Tarot.
The Minor Arcana and the
Sefirot
There are ten sefirot on the Tree of Life, and ten numbered cards
in each suit of the Minor Arcana. This gives a simple and
compelling correspondence, with all the sixes belonging to the
sixth sefira (Tifereth), for example. Just as the sefirot follow a
sequence from the new beginning or creative impulse in the first
sefira (Kether) through to completion in the tenth (Malkuth), so
the numbered cards in each suit follow this pattern from the Ace
through to the Ten.
Kabbalists view the Tree as acting on or through four worlds:
Atziluth, Briah, Yetsirah and Assiah. So the system can be further
refined, as each of the suits of the Minor Arcana corresponds to
one of the four worlds. For example, Assiah is the manifest world,
corresponding to the element Earth and the Tarot suit Pentacles. So
the Six of Pentacles corresponds to Tifereth in Assiah. Tifereth is
the sefira of balance and beauty, and Assiah the manifest, material
world; hence the Six of Pentacles in the Tarot deck has meanings
associated with putting money to good use, generosity, nobility and
deserved success. The correspondences between the Kabbalistic
worlds and the Tarot suits are as follows:
Tarot
Suit.............Element.......................Kabbalistic
World
Pentacles............Earth....................Assiah
(Manifest World)
Swords............Air........................Yetsirah
(Formative World)
Cups................Water......................Briah
(Creative World)
Wands...............Fire......................Atziluth
(Archetypal World)
The court cards of the Minor Arcana are also placed at important
positions on the Tree:
Court
Card..................................Sefira
Pages..........................................Malkuth
(Kingdom)
Knights........................................Tifereth
(Beauty)
Queens........................................Binah
(Understanding)
Kings............................................Chokmah
(Wisdom)
Also, entire suits may be allocated a position, just as the four
worlds are sometimes expressed on a single Tree:
Tarot Suit.....................................
Sefira
Pentacles.....................................Malkuth
(Kingdom)
Swords.........................................Tifereth
(Beauty)
Cups..............................................Binah
(Understanding)
Wands...........................................Chokmah
(Wisdom)
That the final two tables above are nearly identical is no
surprise, as each type of court card corresponds to a particular
element, as does each suit. The discussion on the Minor Arcana goes
into this in more detail.
