I refer to THE New Tarot. But aren't there numerous new tarots? No, there are many new decks, but they are either not new in their symbolism, or they are not tarots. Some dress up the figures of the traditional pack in Egyptian or Mayan clothing without changing the symbolism. Some make use of an entirely unrelated system of symbolism and call it a tarot.
THE New Tarot makes use of the same archetypes as the old tarot, but provides a modernized symbolic form of it. For instance, one of the major arcana in the old tarot is the archetype of power. We call it the Emperor, and it shows a seated man holding a sword and a mace. Power used to be the right to cut someone's head off. In the New Tarot, we still have the archetype of power, but the Silver Dollar called the new card the Actor, and it shows a figure on a stage, holding a mask over his face. The Actor controls the machinery of mass communication, setting the agenda, and the public image of those who Act on the historical stage.
So the New Tarot is the evolved form of the old tarot, and while the archetype of each card of the major arcana is the same, the actual symbolism is very different. No other tarot can make such claims. To see the major arcana of the New Tarot, go to The New Tarot. Expect this web site to grow.
The cards of the major arcana of the New Tarot were dictated to a group of New Age seekers, who had been together for awhile, in Carmel, California in 1962-63. I was not part of that group and knew nothing about it until about 1975. The silver dollar refused to give any "plain English" interpretation of each card or to name a source for these revelations. It merely said what elements should go where, and which card in the old tarot it replaces. No "face" cards or minor arcana were dictated.
While meditating on the meaning of each number and each suit, I decided to do a mandala. It turned out to be a perfect symbol for one of the Aces. So I continued making mandalas, receiving first the Aces, then the deuces and so forth up to the tens. So when I refer to THE New Tarot, I mean a deck with the major arcana painted by a real artist according to the instructions in The Word of One, the forty numbered cards as described in Revelations of the Nameless One, and the "face" cards done more or less as Cooke created them. Such a deck has never been published, but it has been described in Revelations of the Nameless One. Perhaps someday an artist will be found to properly render the new deck and it will be published with the correct interpretations.
No other revelation contains a code of ethics, a divine commandment, here presented in the Book of the Nameless One. This is divinity taking on human form. He-she takes on many names, wandering through the Royal Maze of life, where there are no paths but those we carve for ourselves. He is the Fool or Joker, because that is the name of this card in the old tarot, where he is seen stepping off a precipice from our original divine state into the troubles and ignorance of being human. Why did we do this? Because we recognized the necessity of challenges and renewal, and human life provides obstacles and disasters aplenty.
The beginning of the journey into the Royal Maze is to walk away from the pile of bones, to walk away from destruction. Have done with holocausts and ethnic cleansing. The Nameless One tells us to cease and desist making piles of bones, whether of human bones or those of other vertebrates. We can still eat lobster and crayfish and abalone, but not fish, nor fowl, nor beef, nor mutton. Nor can we hunt or fish. A looser interpretation is just that we cannot create great piles of bones.
In the readings associated with the description of the Book of the Nameless One, the silver dollar tells us "Victory is to be portrayed." If we finally defeat war and murder, once and for all, that is indeed a victory. If we learn not to kill our fellow animals, they will become tame, and the earth will once more be a Garden of Eden.
I've referred several times to the Royal Maze. Those working to bring about a Renewal of civilization must enter the Royal Maze. They play many roles, including that of the warrior for peace. If this seems contrary to the ecological code of ethics, you have not understood it. The New Age warrior truly works to keep the world at peace, fighting only if forced to do so by evil fanaticism. Thus, he or she reduces violence. In the New Tarot, this role is called the Victorious One.
The Victorious One has unhitched his lions (which pulled the Chariot of war in the old tarot). Overhead, the warlike eagle clutching three spears in each claw still hovers, so the power is still there. However, the wolves are held at bay with nothing more than transparent gauze, held by the same bluebirds we encounter in the book of the Actor. The Victorious One triumphantly holds aloft a flower in his gauntled hand.
Do you want to bring about a New Age? There are many ways of contributing to that goal.
You could be the Speaker, whose words are lightning bolts, causing the ground of belief to crack and erupt. But only a few are charismatic enough or extroverted enough to be a Speaker, an acknowledged leader of the New Age, an acknowledged destroyer of the previous Age of the Thinker.
The Thinker is our enemy, an obstacle, sitting entranced by the reductionist worldview, his mind enchaining both men and women. He's "up a tree." His doctrines are cold and heartless. Indeed, the heart of mankind has been plucked out and hangs neglected from the tree. The Thinker was the Devil card in the old tarot. Neither are truly evil, only misguided. Indeed, contrary to the Christians and many other religions, evil has no real existence in metaphysics.
If we wish to change the world, we need the proper tools. They are spread out on a cloth of gold before the Changer of the world. This is a much less extroverted role than the Speaker, yet the Changer is on top of the world, taming governments without losing his purity. The Changer appears humble, dressed as a shepherd or a hermit, yet his power is great. His tools are the New Tarot.
Or perhaps you wish to be a Doer. Not everyone is satisfied with words (Speaker) or with tarot magic (Changer). Many wish to be more directly involved in saving the rain forests, or saving the starving children in Third World countries. In the book of the Doer, such a person is represented by a seven year old child.
Seven is the last year of infancy, since at eight, one is old enough to assume adult responsibilities if need be. It requires a certain amount of innocence to change the world, or to think that one could. The Doer holds his new book, commanding white and black forces (horses) with complete aplomb. A figured Sun is overhead.
We are told "Desire above all things the coming of the son, the Sun." So this is the Second Coming of the divine son, or Sun. The Book of the Doer is thus a prophecy, and it raises expectations of one to come. Who has the nerve, wisdom and charisma to assume this role?
The Doer is not quite as young as the Reactor (former Moon card), who is a mere infant (holding the keys to the seven doors of the Citadel). And the Citadel is very important for those who wish to become wizards.
I call anyone a "wizard" who develops advanced Psi powers, and is not just born with them. I have shown that there are some Psi powers that can be developed by practice and others that cannot. In the latter category is the power of apportation, which will eventually take us on the Journey of Light-Years. To develop these advanced powers, we must change the chakras to function as shown in The Citadel.
The old form of the Citadel is The Lightning Struck Tower. Some say this represents the fall of Atlantis, from the misuse of Psi powers. If there was an Atlantis, it was a sea-based culture on islands in the Gulf Stream, kept warm during the last 30,000 years of the ice age, perhaps a culture similar to that of the Minoans. Its remains are covered with 600 feet of water, plus the sediment of 10,000 years. If we want to investigate the truth or falsity of Atlantis we must map the Pleistocene coastline, decide on the probable location of harbors, and then excavate underwater in those areas.
In any case, the Lightning Struck Tower is a warning. It is dangerous to mess with the chakras without knowing what one is doing. Yet the keys are held by the baby in the Book of the Moon-Reactor. We must become as an infant, trusting and innocent, in order to open the seven doors. And like the moon, the Reactor reflects the glory of the Sun, the Doer. The Reactor's work is done in what Jung called the Shadow, the dark side of our selves, our unconscious. Clearly, anyone wishing to become a Wizard must meditate on these three books: The Citadel, which shows the proper functioning of the seven chakras, while the keys to opening the seven doors are held by a baby in the book of the Moon-Reactor, which reacts or reflects the Sun, the child holding a scroll in the Doer. There are mysteries here, which will become plainer to those who actually begin the work.
This special coming is not the Way-Shower, for the Way-Shower is old and wise. The Way-Shower reveals to us a lovely vision of utopia. All we have to do is cross under the waterfall and the rainbow to the wonderful city of Oz, given every blessing pouring out of the goblet. In the old tarot, the Way-Shower is called the Star. Perhaps I am a Way-Shower, for I do present a vision of utopia. And I am old enough to have a gray beard.
The Royal Maze is called that because a maze is filled with twists and turns and blind alleys. It is Royal because this is the route for those who seek to bring order to society. Those who enter the Royal Maze hope to renew civilization and win through to the crown of five stones at the center of the Maze. In the language of symbolism, kings and crowns do not refer literally to monarchy, but to leaders and leadership. We must save the Planet before we can save ourselves.
There are no ready-made entrances or paths in the Maze. Each must find his or her own way. Those who seek to change themselves or society may run into various difficulties, such as being hung by the Hanging Man, faced with karmic challenges on the Earth Plane that must be met. They may be misled by the Actor, one who Acts on the stage of history, the current form of the archetype of power formerly held by the Emperor. The Actor wears a mask and is a master of illusion. He performs his diversions and magic on the stage of mass communication. Very little of what he shows us is real, because it casts no shadows from the footlights.
Some who enter the Royal Maze and seek a New Age have reacted so completely against the sterile rationality of the Thinker, that they are welcomed into the dark night of the Feeler. She is beautiful, alluring, and unknown. Symbols of the death and decay of civilization abound in this book, yet they can all go either way, toward the light or toward the dark. The silver dollar says "A curious retreat is observed. Tis better to advance....all retreats are time-consuming."
The Feeler rejects scientific method along with its sterile reductionism and prefers to rely on feeling and intuition. There is nothing wrong with acting on feeling. We are told "Woe to him who feels and moves not. A won't is a will, but a non-motion is a clogging that, sooner or later, must move or else the vultures swarm." The vultures may swarm around the carcass of a dead civilization, killed by apathy. Another Dark Age is a definite possibility, putting off the New Age for thousands of years. The Feeler is a book of the night.
I wait for the dawn, and the Sun in all his glory, as the Doer, with his scroll to show the world. The rules of scientific method are written on his scroll, and explanations of how to apply this method to all problems, and all realms of experience, so the trance of the Thinker may be broken. This is how to avoid the rejection of all rationality and an inevitable dark age.
The book of the Mother represents something we have not known in the Age of the World-Machine, and that is a divine meaning to life. She holds a bolt of lightning in one hand and a flower in the other. Her heart is the spark of inspiration. Her crown is the crescent moon. To reveal the Mother, one must enter the watery depths of oceanic consciousness. Her robes are held open by fisher-birds.
Some of the books represent states of being, usually desirable states of being. One of these is Unity, which used to be the Lovers. Unity, or should we say Community, is necessary to bring war to an end forever. The book of the Donor used to be called Justice, and still has that meaning, and justice is also a necessary part of the New Age. The Reverser still has the meaning of Temperance.
In the old tarot, Judgment is a card which represents the Christian idea of the last trumpet, and the end of time, when the graves open and a bodily resurrection occurs. In the New Tarot, this is the Book of the Knower, who represents the ever-renewing end stage of our development. In other words, he also represents death and resurrection, of worlds, not of bodies. He holds the Cosmic Egg, from which a green shoot comes forth. Thus, the End is always the Beginning, which is also the lesson of the Renewer.
Like the god of the underworld in Egyptian mythology (Osiris), the flesh of the Renewer is blue. Blue is the color of renewal, because it is the color of human flesh at birth (at the moment of crowning), and at the cyanotic moment of death, when the heart ceases to pump. These are two sides of the same door.
The Book of the Renewer is quite complicated and well worth considerable study. There are five courses of stones on the well of life, and three handles to the chalice to drink from the well. The tree in the garden of the Renewer bears ten fruit, but no leaves or flowers, perhaps representing the ten forms of Samadhi.
The man kneels within a large crown and kisses the skull offered by the Renewer, while the woman remains outside the crown, burying her face in the cloak of the Renewer. In the New Tarot, men and women represent Yang and Yin, not actual sexuality. The bold willingly kiss the skull of death, while some withdraw from it, and hide their faces in the cloak. Kissing the skull does not mean suicide. It is the defeat of the fear of death.
The World is a Virgin according to the silver dollar. We do not know the World at all. It is Virginal. And what shall we do to learn? We must become the Seeker. In the Book of the Seeker, he is pictured as a lean old man, blindfolded but still able to sense the heat from the distant volcano that is his goal. His clothes and possessions have dropped off. On one path a beautiful woman carries the world's riches towards a glittering city in the distance. But the Seeker rejects that. The Way of the Seeker is not for everyone. Possessions have become a burden to the Seeker. He leaves them behind not out of any cult of asceticism, but to simplify his life. The right handed path to the city is the Way of the World.
But the Seeker has become weary of the world and seeks higher ground. His way is long and hard and winding, but his joy and freedom are unbounded. And that is all twenty-two of the major arcana of the New Tarot. I studied them for seven years. This is only an introduction to the subject. I have not gone into the meaning of all the details.
I want to end this discussion with some direct quotes from the Word of One, the book which contains all of Ouija sessions. It was published by Tarnhelm Press of Lakemont, Georgia. It is long out of print. If I can get permission, I will scan it into the computer and republish it on the web.
"ONE is all....Deny not ONE while you live. The world is full of those who say they seek ONE. How is it that seekers always blind themselves first to their surroundings? Until they remove the film, they seek in vain. Do you wish a word of comfort? There is none. Do you wish a better road? There is none. Do you wish a Savior? There is none. For you, there is only ONE. You will make that do." p. 385.
"There is a stirring felt in sleeping regions. Great must be the full awaking. Neither din nor force shall accomplish this. The awakened One arises. The sleeping one sleeps. There is an arouser but he wakes not up."--p. 170.
"Over all lies a mantle of fog through which the sun is coming--the son is coming....The breath of life is in your hands, the spark of death, also. Quicken the new birth and fan the spark that the passing past is laid at rest. Desire above all things the Sun."
"The Rosetta stone is rolled away. A burden is lifted. A free soul flies onward. Yellow eyes, unblinking, number the years." --p. 171.
"The siren bell has rung. Its penetration has entered but not emerged. Therefore its vibration continues its wonders to perform...The market place is a-thrive. Strange beads and salt are vended. Buyers there are none. A pitcher of water reflects the sun. The thirst is mighty but the sun is reflected undisturbed. Maggots will grow if the pitcher is not emptied."
"Children parentless seek the Mother. She is busy begetting the Sun. He is now with the world. His cord is severed. He will soon speak. He will speak of the Mother."
"Fairy frost at the windows betoken good fortune. Magic are the times now, Magickal are the happenings. The Doer has been activated."
"The juice of memory rises. When it spills will be the time of reversal. It is coming. Be ye prepared. Mighty shall be the roar, violent the rending, ,joyous the release." p. 164
"Great will be the transformation now while nothing visible appears to happen--yet the New Man will stand naked in glory. Tis a promise seen dimly now." p. 112
"LEGION: Is the Great Event Imminent? WE: Yes. GAYLA: How imminent? At this point a sudden wind whipped open the heavy door beside the group and night air rushed into the room.
WE: Take a breath. It has taken place...." p. 413.
Copyright © Dr.H 2001
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