THE SEARCH FOR SELF-KNOWLEDGE 

With the second line of the Major Arcana we move from the outerworld and its challenges to the inner self. The contradictions concealed in the Chariot's powerful image must now be faced openly.The mask of ego must die.

 Dramatic as it sounds this situation is actually very common, atleast in the need if not the fulfilment. Self-questioning and searching have long been seen as features of middle age. When people areyoung they are concerned mainly with victory over the forces oflife, finding a partner and achieving success. When success has beenfound, however, people may wonder about the value of it. Thequestion, 'Who am I beneath all my possessions, beneath all theimages I present to other people?' takes on more and more importance. Today, many younger people are not waiting for middle-ageand success to ask these things. A characteristic of our time is thedesire for life to have a sense of meaning, of inner essence. Andmore and more people are deciding that the first place to look forsuch meaning is within themselves .   

  This idea, in fact, is only a half-truth. The Magician teaches usthat, as physical beings, we find reality only in connection with theouter world; the inner truth of the High Priestess is a potentialand must be manifested through the consciousness of the Magician.But as long as our masks and habits and defences close us off from self-knowledge so that we never know why we act, then all thethings we do remain meaningless. The flow between the Magicianand the High Priestess needs to be free for life to possess value. 

Because the line basically reverses the emphasis of the first sevencards, many of the cards appear as mirror images to the ones abovethem. The sexual polarity of trumps 1 and 2 become turned aroundin Strength and the Hermit, while the principle of light and dark,outer and inner, remain in the same positions. The Wheel of Fortune turns away from the natural and mindless world of theEmpress to a vision of inner mysteries. At the end of the line Temperance shows us a new kind of victory. The Chariot's force hasbeen replaced by balance and calm. Where the charioteer's stonechariot removed him from direct contact with the earth and theriver, the angel of Temperance stands with one foot on land, one inwater, showing the personality in harmony with itself and life .  

  Another theme appears in the second line. So far the cards havepresented a series of lessons to us, things we must learn about lifeto become mature and successful in the outer world. But enlightenment is a deeply personal experience. It cannot be studied oreven pondered but only lived. The series of outer lessons culminatein the Wheel of Fortune which shows us a vision of the world andourselves which must be answered. The Hanged Man, however,shows something else entirely. Here we see, not a lesson, but theimage of enlightenment itself, the outer personality turned upsidedown by a very real and personal experience. 

In between these two cards, and at the exact centre of the wholeMajor Arcana, lies Justice, carefully balancing the scales betweeninner and outer, past and future, rationality and intuition, knowledge and experience. 

  STRENGTH 

Waite's change of the Lovers was the most obvious of his Tarotalterations; his switch of Strength with Justice remains the mostcontroversial. He himself gives no real reason for the change. 'Forreasons which satisfy myself, this card has been interchanged withthat of Justice, which is usually numbered eight. As the variationcarries nothing which will signify to the reader there is no cause forexplanation.' The reasons are certainly more than personal. PaulFoster Case placed Strength as 8 and Justice as 11. Aleister Crowleykept their original numbers, but assigned them the Hebrew lettersthat would go with switching the cards. Both probably followed theOrder of the Golden Dawn, whose secret Tarot deck also switchedthe two cards.   

  This connection to a secret order suggests the idea of initiation.Now, the Golden Dawn, of course, did not originate the practiceof initiation, though it claimed to receive its specific rituals directlyfrom spirit instructors. Initiation goes back thousands of years andis seen all over the world, from Egyptian temples to the Australiandesert. It represents a special means of psychological transformation- the very subject of the Tarot's middle line. By referring Justice and the cards around it to this ancient idea we gain a wider understanding of the Tarot as an experience. 

It is worth considering the implications of the old arrangementof trumps. The image of Justice suggests weighing your life in thebalance. The second line takes us away from the outer achievementsof the first and into the self. Thus Justice in the first position wouldmean an assessment of what your life has meant to you, followed bya decision to search inward for greater meaning. Obviously, this fitsvery nicely. But if Justice comes first then all these things occurrationally; the assessment arises as a conscious reaction to dissatisfaction. How much more powerful this assessment appears when itarises from within, forced on us by the powerful vision of theWheel of Fortune. The double-edged sword of Justice impliesaction, a response to the knowledge gained in the assessment. Theidea of response leads directly to the Hanged Man. If Justice camefirst then the Hermit would follow it. As a seeker of wisdom, theHermit would also represent a valid response to Justice. But again,if we allow that wisdom to come before Justice, then the HangedMan shows a response from deep inside. 

Now consider Strength in both places. The picture shows awoman taming a lion. Briefly, the image suggests the energy of theunconscious released and calmed, 'tamed' by the direction of conscious understanding. Such an idea would easily belong in the middle position. We would then describe the card as the central test ofthe whole line. And certainly the peacefulness and great reversal ofthe Hanged Man would follow Strength perfectly. 

But we can also see Strength as the qualities vital for beginningthe line. The search inward cannot be accomplished by the ego. Weneed to confront feelings and desires long hidden from our conscious thoughts. If we attempt to transform ourselves by a whollyrational process we create another kind of persona. Something verylike this in fact happens quite often. Many people feel a lack ofspontaneity in their lives. They look around them or read books onpsychology, and observe, with a certain jealousy, or even shame attheir own repressions, the characteristics of spontaneous people.And then, rather than follow the fearful process of releasing theirhidden fears and desires, they carefully imitate spontaneity. Theyhave extended the Chariot to a new domain. 

By making Strength number 8 we set it against the Chariot, as adifferent kind of power, not the ego's will, but the inner Strengthto confront yourself calmly and without fear. The mysteries can bebrought out because we have found the Strength to face them. Thelion signifies all the feelings, fears, desires, and confusions suppressed by the ego in its attempt to control life. The charioteerdrew upon his inner feelings as a source of energy, but was alwayscareful to direct that energy where he consciously decided it shouldgo. Strength allows the inner passions to emerge, as the first step ingoing beyond the ego .

On a very simple level we can see this emergence of suppressedfeelings in the person who allows him or herself to act 'childishly',to weep or scream; in short, to do all those things that previouslyseemed foolish or embarrassing. On a deeper level the lion symbolizes the whole force of personality, usually smoothed over by thedemands of civilized life. Strength releases this energy in order touse it as a kind of fuel, propelling us along the inner path of theHermit. This purpose can only be accomplished because the lion is'tamed' at the same time that it is released. Strength opens up thepersonality like Pandora opening her box. It does so, however, witha sense of peace, a love of life itself, and a great confidence in thefinal result. Unless we truly believe that the process of self-discovery is a joyous one we will never follow it through. 

The symbolism of the pictures and numbers reinforces the comparison of Strength and the Chariot. The Chariot shows a man andStrength shows a woman. Traditionally, of course, these representrationality and emotion, aggression and surrender. Also traditionally, the Chariot's number 7 belongs to 'male' magic, the number 8to 'female'. This symbolism arises from anatomy. The male bodycontains seven openings (counting the nose as one), the femaleeight. Also, the male body possesses seven points, the arms and legs,the head, the centre, and the penis. The female possesses eight, thebreasts replacing the penis. 

What do we mean by male and female magic? Esoteric theoryconsiders sexual energy as a manifestation of the energy principlesunderlying the entire universe; male and female being similar to thepositive and negative poles of electro-magnetism. Through manipulation of this bipolar energy, 'magic' power results. The occultist considers these principles a science, no more, and no less, mysterious than the modern scientist's manipulation of atomic energy. Wecan describe the Rider pack Lovers as a schematic energy diagram.Therefore, the Chariot and Strength belong together esoterically asthe practical manifestation of the principles symbolized in theMagician and the High Priestess. 

Psychologically they also embody two kinds of power. Our society emphasizes the 'masculine' force of control; conquest, dominating the world through reason and will. But the 'feminine' qualitiesof intuition and spontaneous emotion are far from weakness. Torelease your deepest emotions with love and faith requires greatcourage as well as strength. 

The Fool comes in here. Only by a kind of psychic leap can wemove from the conscious to the unconscious. And only a foolwould make such a jump, for why give up success, control? Thegods forced Oedipus; what inner needs will force the rest of us? 

Strength's position, as first in the line, links the card to the Magician, as does the infinity sign, another reference to 8, above herhead. The reversal of sex indicates a joining of aspects from boththe male and female archetypes. The Magician's active involvementwith life has been modified by the inner peace implied in the HighPriestess. 

The woman's sensual figure, her blonde hair, and the flower beltlinking her to the lion, connect the card to the Empress as well.The Empress represents natural instincts and passion; again we seethe image of emotional energy, the 'animal desires' as some Tarotcommentators call it, released and tamed. Waite describes theflower belt as a second infinity sign, with one loop around thewoman's waist, the other around the lion's neck. We can describeStrength as the Magician united with the Empress; that is, theMagician's power of consciousness and direction has mingled withthe Empress's sensuality, giving it a sense of purpose and leading tothe Hermit. Notice that for the first line 1 plus 3 equals 4, theEmperor. For the second line 1 plus 3 becomes multiplied by 2; theinner truth of the High Priestess. 

Another aspect of the trump carries this unity of 1 and 3 stillfurther. The Hebrew letter given by Case and others to Strength isTeth. Teth refers Kebbalistically to 'snake'; but the Hebrew for snake also means 'magic'. All over the world people have made thisconnection; from the snakes on Hermes's magic wand to the kundalini power of Tantric occultism in India and T ibet. And thesnake, in kundalini and elsewhere, stands for sexuality. The Tarot,as we know from the serpent twined around the Tree of Lifebehind the woman on the Lovers, considers sexuality to be a forcetowards enlightenment. If, esoterically, Strength stands for the actual practice of sexual magic, psychologically it refers again to releasing that energy bound up in our strongest feelings. When wecompare Strength with the Devil we will see that the release here isactually a partial one. The lion is controlled and directed ratherthan allowed to take the self wherever it wants to go. 

In alchemy the lion stands for gold, the sun, and sulphur. Sulphur is a lower element and gold (in alchemy) the highest. Theprocess by which sulphur becomes gold is precisely the process oftransforming the lower self. And the design of Temperance, the lastcard of the line, with its liquid poured from one cup to another,depicts the alchemical goal of blending the opposites into a newand more meaningful existence. 

Those who find life a matter of strict control, who see theunconscious as a 'moral sewer' of repressions (as Jung characterizedthe narrow Freudian view), and find the passions a torment, willsee the lion as natural forces which the rational mind must overcome. Some older Tarot decks, including the Visconti, showedHeracles killing the Nemean lion. The passions conquered by reason. But the lion also stood for Christ, the radiant power of God.Those who allow the unconscious energy within themselves toemerge, guiding it with love and a faith in life, will discover thatthe energy is not a destructive beast but the same spirit force drawndown through the lightning rod of the Magician. 

In readings the card of Strength indicates the ability to face life, andparticularly some difficult problem or time of change, with hope andeagerness. It shows a person strong from within, experiencing life passionately yet peacefully, without being controlled or carried away bythose passions. The card represents the fmding of the strength to beginor continue some difficult project, despite fear and emotional strain. 

If Strength appears in connection with the Chariot it can signifyan alternative to force and will-power, especially, of course, if the Chariot is reversed. The two cards can also symbolize complementary sides, the best configuration being Strength in the position ofthe inner self, and the Chariot in the position of the outer (the vertical and horizontal lines of a cross). Then we see a person who actspowerfully but with a sense of calm. 

Strength reversed indicates first of all weakness. The courage toface life fails and the person feels overwhelmed and pessimistic. Itsignifies also a torment from within. The bestial side of the lionbreaks away from the unity of spirit and sensuality. The passionsbecome the enemy, threatening to destroy the conscious personality and the life it has built up for itself. 

  THE HERMIT 

Like the six-pointed star within the Hermit's lantern, the idea ofthe Hermit goes in two directions; one inner, one outer. Primarily,the card means a withdrawal from the outer world for the purposeof activating the unconscious mind. We see this process symbolizedin the downward pointing 'water' triangle, as the alchemists calledit. But the Hermit also signifies a teacher who will show us how tobegin this process, and will help us find our way. The upwardpointing 'fire' triangle symbolizes this special guide, who might be  an occult teacher, a therapist, our own dreams, or even a spiritguide evoked from within the self.

  The image of the Hermit occupied a special place in themedieval imagination. Living in the woods or the desert, totallywithdrawn from all the normal concerns of humanity, the hermitpresented an alternative to the Church. The European version of ayogi ascetic, he demonstrated the possibility of approaching Godthrough personal experience. People often looked upon the hermitsas living saints, and attributed magic powers to them, in the waythat yoga disciples will tell wonderful stories about their masters. 

Though the hermit withdrew from society he or she* did not  withdraw from humanity. Among other functions, they gave shelterand sometimes blessings to travellers. Countless stories, especiallythe Grail legends, depict the hermit who acts as a giver of wisdomto the knight on a spiritual quest. Again, we see the Hermit's double image: example and guide.

  * Women often became hermits and the medieval hatred of women sometimes became aveneration of a particular woman who had supposedly conquered the evil of her sex.   

  The Hermit image has persisted long after the special practicehas died away. The transcendental philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson travelled days through remote Scodand to find the cabin ofThomas Carlyle. Emerson's friend, Henry David Thoreau, himselflived in a cabin at Walden Pond to find a sense of himself and ofnature. He then wrote about it as an example to others. Nietzsche'sDus Sprach Zarathustra enshrined the Hermit's image; the bookbegins with Zarathustra's return after achieving personal transformation. And today, countless people have given themselves toEastern gurus in the hope that these hermit-like teachers can transform their lives.    

  For those who cannot find an actual guide the psyche will oftenprovide one. Jung and his followers have described their patients'many dreams of wise old men guiding them on mysterious journeys into the psyche. In many cases dream analysis discovered thatthe dream guide actually stood for the therapist. The unconsciouscan recognize a Hermit teacher before the conscious mind can. 

The great thirteenth-century Kabbalist, Abraham Abulafia,described three levels of Kabbalah. The first was doctrine; that which can be learned from texts. The second came from the directguidance given by a personal teacher, while the third, the mostdeveloped, was the direct experience of ecstatic union with God.These three levels connect very directly to the Tarot, not only inthe three lines, but in three specific trumps which together form anisosceles triangle. The first level we see in the Hierophant; thethird, directly below the Hierophant, one level removed, appears inthe joyous child of card 19, the Sun. The second level, however,comes not in the card between them, the Hanged Man, but onthe other end of the pattern, as the second card in the second line,the Hermit. 

Doctrine and mystery both come as the end of a process;doctrine because you first must arrange your life before you canapproach the study of a special way (Kabbalists often restrictedcertain important texts to people over thirty-five), and ecstasybecause you first must pass the archetypal confrontation with darkness and mystery. A guide, however, appears at the very start of thejourney, after the traveller has found the Strength to begin. 

As an emblem of personal development, rather than a guide, theHermit signifies the idea that only by withdrawing from the outerworld can we awaken the inner self. Those who see the Tarot intwo halves, with the Wheel of Fortune as the mid-point, view theHermit as the period of contemplation before the Wheel of Lifeturns towards its second half. When we view the Tarot in lines ofseven we see that this withdrawal, and the vision of the Wheelitself, are steps towards a greater goal. 

We see the Hermit on a cold lonely peak. He has left the worldof the senses to enter the mind. This image of the mind as stark andchill conveys only a partial truth, or rather, an illusion. The mind isrich with symbols, with joy, with the light and love of the spirit.But before we can apprehend these things we must first experiencethe mind as a silent alternative to the noisy world of the senses. Forshamans the barren peak is often a direct reality. In places as farapart as Siberia and the American South-West shaman candidatesgo alone into the wilderness to seek the spirit guides who willteach them how to heal. 

The Hermit signifies a transition. Through the techniques ofmeditation, or psychic discipline, or analysis, we allow the hiddenparts of the psyche to begin to speak to us. Later we will experience a sense of rebirth, first as an angel (the eternal part of the self,beyond the ego), then later, more deeply felt, as a free child ridingforth from the garden of past experience. For now, the path belongsto the image of the wise old man, alone, supported and warmed byhis stiff grey cloak of contemplation .

The symbol of the lantern returns us to the Hermit as guide andteacher. He holds the light out to us, indicating his willingness tolead us and our ability to find the way if we will only use theStrength we have to follow. In some decks the Hermit conceals hislantern under his cloak, and then it symbolizes the light of theunconscious hidden under the cloak of the conscious mind. Bymaking it visible, yet within a lantern, the Rider pack indicates thatwe release the light through a definite process of self-awareness, andthat this process is available to anyone. 

We have seen the star both as a symbol of the Hermit as teacher,and also as a light of the unconscious, beckoning us to discover itssecrets. It further signifies the goal of resolving the opposites of life.The water and fire triangles traditionally represent not only twoelements usually opposed, but also male and female united in asingle form. 

The Hermit's staff suggests a wizard's staff, and therefore themagic wand of the Magician. Whereas the Fool used the wandinstinctively, the Hermit leans on it as a conscious support. It therefore symbolizes the teaching which helps open the inner awareness. 

Directly below the High Priestess the Hermit relates to herprinciple of withdrawal, indicating again that we must in somesense leave the outer world if we wish to work on ourselves. Aswith Strength the second line reverses the sexual archetype. Therole symbolism here teaches us is that a deliberate mental effort,based on specific techniques and teachings, takes us beyond thelocked up intuition of the High Priestess's closed temple. Thewaters of that temple are not fully released; the veil remains in placeuntil the lightning of the Tower, below the Hermit, tears it open.Under the influence of trump 9, however, the unconscious speaksto us from behind the veil, through symbols, dreams, and visions. 

The distinction between male-female symbolism and the realityof individual people leads us to some important realizations about archetypes. We tend to see hermits and teachers as wise old men,even in our dreams, because our five-thousand-year-old patriarchyhas so impressed this image on our minds. In earlier times, theguides were most often women, as representatives of the GreatGoddess, and even in our age such women as Madame Blavatskyhave served this ancient function. The fact that our dreams oftenchoose wise old men demonstrates the very important fact that theunconscious too draws its material from the cultural background ofthe individual dreamer. Many people view archetypes as rigid fixedimages shared by all people at all times. Rather, archetypes aretendencies for the mind to form certain kinds of images, such asthat of a guide, and the specific form an image takes will dependvery much on a person's cultural background and experience.Medieval Grail initiations and Australian desert rites follow thesame archetypal pattern; it underlies them like a grid. Yet the outerform of that pattern varies immensely. 

The divinatory meanings for the Hermit derive from both itsaspects. On the one hand it symbolizes a withdrawal from outerconcerns. The person may physically remove himself, but this is notreally necessary. What matters is the inner transfer of attention from'getting and spending' as Wordsworth called our worldly activities,to a person's inner needs. It therefore requires an emotional withdrawal from other people and from activities once thought to beall-important. The card carries within it a sense of deliberate purpose, of withdrawing to work on self-development. In connectionwith this sense of purpose and with the picture of an old man thecard symbolizes maturity, and a knowledge of what really mattersin a person's life. 

The card can also signify assistance from a definite guide, sometimes as indicated above, a psychic guide from within, but moreoften a real person who will help you in your self-discoveries.Sometimes we do not ourselves recognize that such a guide existsfor us. If the Hermit appears in a Tarot reading it may be wise tolook carefully at the people around you. If you are involved in helping others find understanding then the Hermit can symbolize youin your role as guide and teacher. 

  When we reverse the card we corrupt the idea of withdrawal. Inthe same way that the High Priestess reversed can mean a fear of life, the Hermit reversed can indicate a fear of other people. If wewithdraw from society as a retreat then the fact of withdrawalbecomes more and more dominant, leading to phobias and paranoia. As with other trumps the negative and positive aspects of theHermit depend on the context. The Hermit reversed can sometimes simply mean that at this moment the person needs to becomeinvolved with other people .

Because the card, when the right way up, suggests maturity theHermit reversed can sometimes indicate a Peter Pan attitude to life.The person hangs on to basically meaningless activities, or else imitates childlike enthusiasm (like the imitation of spontaneity) as away of avoiding the responsibilities of doing something with his orher life. I first encountered this interpretation for the Hermitreversed in a reading given by a man in New York to a friend ofmine; I have since found it useful in many situations. Interestingly,I met the man through another friend who looked on the reader asa personal guide in her spiritual development. 

             THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE 

Like certain other trump cards (most notably Death) the Wheel ofFortune derives from a medieval homily. The Church consideredpride the greatest of sins, for in pride you set yourself before Christ.One lesson against pride was the idea of a great king falling frompower. In many versions of the King Arthur legend, the kingdreams or sees before him on the eve of his final battle, a vision of a rich and powerful king seated on top of a wheel. All of a suddenthe goddess Fortuna turns the wheel and the king gets crushed atthe bottom. Sobered, Arthur realizes that no matter how muchsecular power we accrue, our fate rests always in God's hands. TheVisconti cards, on the right, above, enshrines this practical sermon.

  Now, we might consider this neat morale fable to be far removedfrom the powerful and mysterious symbols staring at us from theWaite-Smith card, on the top left, and the Oswald Wirth versionon the bottom left. But Fortuna and her shining hoop have a curious history. First of all, the medieval image derives from a muchearlier time, when Fortuna represented the Great Goddess, and thecrushed king was a real event. Every year, at mid-winter, the priestesses sacrificed the king; by imitating the death of the year theyhumbled themselves to the Goddess's power, and by choosing anew king they subtly suggested to her that she might once morecreate spring out of winter - an event by no means automatic topeople who did not believe in 'natural laws' such as gravity. Thus,the Wheel originally symbolized both the mystery of nature andthe human ability to take part in that mystery through a ritual sacrifice. Notice that the card comes directly below the Empress, theemblem of the Great Mother herself .

 By the Middle Ages the Wheel had lost its original meaning; thisdid not mean that it had lost its power to suggest the mystery of life.In Thomas Malory's version of the King Arthur story we find thesuggestion that the Wheel symbolizes the random turnings of'luck'. Why do some people get rich and others poor? Why shoulda powerful king fall, and a formerly weak one rise to power? Who,or what, controls the turning wheel of life? Malory suggests thatluck, seemingly meaningless ups and downs, is in reality fate; thatis, the destiny God has chosen for each individual, based on reasonsonly God can understand. Because we cannot understand thosereasons we say that the events of people's lives arise out of luck, butit all belongs to God's plan.

  With the Wheel, therefore, we come to the great question ofhow and why anything happens at all in the universe. What makesthe sun shine? Burning elements, yes, but what makes them burn?How did atomatic energy come into existence? Why should springfollow winter, after all? Why, and how, does gravity work? Going further, we find that fate is also an illusion, a dodge to cover up thefact that we, with our limited vision, cannot see the inner connection between all things. 'Oh well,' we say, 'it's fate', a meaninglessstatement because we cannot understand the meaning. Things donot just happen, they are made to happen. The power to shapeevents, to give life and form and purpose to the universe, belongs,Malory tells us, to the Holy Ghost, dwelling in the physical worldas a presence within the Holy Grail (the Ace of Cups) in the sameway that the Shekinah physically dwelt within the veiled sanctuaryof the temple at Jerusalem. 

We come then to the truth that both the random events of lifeand the so-called 'laws' of the physical universe are mysteries leading us to an awareness of the spirit force drawn down by theupraised arm of the Magician and manifested in the natural worldof the Empress. A great many mystics and shamans have said thattheir visions showed them how all things connect, how everythingfits together, because the spirit unites the entire universe. Possiblywe would all see and understand this grand scheme of life, if it werenot for the fact that we do not live long enough. Our short livesnarrow our vision to such a miniscule portion of the world that lifeappears meaningless .

Now, this idea of the Wheel as the mystery of fate, with itshidden meaning, fits very well the modern Waite-Smith version ofthe card, especially when we consider it as halfway to the finaltrump. If we place the Rider pack Wheel beside the World we seeimmediately the link between them. In one we have a wheel filledwith symbols; in the other we find a wreath of victory, and insideit a dancer who embodies the truth behind the symbols. Even morestriking, we find the same four animals on each card in the corners,except that the mythological beings of card 10 have been transformed into something real and alive in the World. Thus, at thehalfway point, we receive a vision of the inner meaning of life; atthe end that vision has become real, embodied in our own being. 

In India, the king also lost his life each year to the Goddess.When the patriarchal Aryans ended this practice the image of theturning wheel of the year became an even more powerful symbolof the new religion. The ever-turning Wheel of Life came tosignify the laws of karma, leading you to reincarnate in one body after another. Now, karma is in a way simply another explanationfor the mystery of fate. By the actions you take in one life, youbuild up a certain destiny for yourself in the next, so that if youcommit a great many evil deeds you create in your immortal self akind of psychic need for punishment. When the time comes foryour next incarnation you inevitably choose a low caste or diseasedbody. (This simple psychological explanation of karma is perhapsbased more on Buddhism than Hinduism.) 

Again, our limited understanding prevents us from directlyexperiencing the truth behind the wheel of Fate, or karma. WhenBuddha attained enlightenment he remembered every moment ofevery one of his past lives. Indeed, the memory was the enlightenment. By gaining full knowledge he was able to perceive that allthose lives were only forms created by his desires. When he endedhis desires he 'got off the Wheel'. We could say that enlightenmentmeans (or includes, at any rate) piercing through the outer eventsto the spirit which dwells within them, that is, finding the HolyGhost within the Wheel of Fortune. 

It is significant that King Arthur experiences the Wheel ofFortune as a vision in a dream. Because whether we see it as thehalfway point of the Major Arcana, or simply one of the steps tocompleting the second line, the wheel is indeed a vision given tous by the unconscious. The Hermit has turned away from the outerworld. As a result the unconscious shows him a vision of life as aturning wheel filled with symbols. 

The Wheel of Life does not become visible until we step awayfrom it. When we are involved in it we see only the events immediately before and behind us; the daily concerns our egos find soimportant. When we withdraw we see the whole pattern. Psychologically we can view this vision as an assessment a personmakes of where his or her life has gone and where it is going. Ona deeper level, the vision remains mysterious and symbolic. Wecan see what we have made of our particular lives, but fateremains a mystery. 

The symbols on the Wheel all possess meaning; they help us tounderstand the truth within the visions. Nevertheless, we do notexperience the full living force. The light of the unconsciousremains veiled. 

It is significant also that Malory connects the Wheel of Fortuneto the Holy Grail. For the Grail symbols, which are also thesymbols of the Minor Arcana, go back probably almost as far as theyearly regal sacrifice. When the candidate for initiation into theancient European mysteries was given his 'vision' of the innersecrets of the cult it was most likely the four symbols of the cup,the sword, the lance, and the pentacle, that were shown to himwith great mystic ceremony. And the basic tools of the ritual magic,laid on the Magician's table, are the same four symbols and also thesuits of the Minor Arcana. 

Though we do not see the four symbols directly on trump 10 wedo see two of their many analogues. The four creatures on thecorners of the card derive from the vision of Ezekiel 1:10. Theyappear also in Revelations 4:7. Originally, these four figures represented the four 'fixed' signs of Babylonian astrology: Leo, Scorpio,Aquarius and Taurus. The early Christians identified them with thefour evangelists, which is why we see them holding books. Sometimes called the 'guardians of heaven', they also came to symbolizethe four basic elements of ancient and medieval science. From theright-hand corner anti-clockwise they are fire, water, air, and earth,and these elements belong as well to Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles. As the fixed signs, the four beasts evoke the zodiac as a whole.A circular plane created by the Sun's apparent motion through theyear, the zodiac forms the Great Wheel of the visible universe. 

  The other connection with the four elements comes in the fourletter name of God on the Wheel's rim. Beginning at the upperright-hand corner, and again reading anti-clockwise, the lettersare, Yod, Heh, Vav, Heh. Because this name appears in the Torahwithout vowels (the four letters are all consonants) it is unpronounceable; therefore God's 'true' name remains a secret. For atleast two thousand years Jews and Christians have seen this name asmagical. Mystics meditate on it (Abulafia's ecstatic third level ofKabbalah was reached through working with God's name) andmagicians manipulate it. For Kabbalists the four letters are the verysymbol of the world's mysteries. The process of the universe's creation was held to have occurred in four stages, corresponding to thefour letters. And of course, the letters also connect with the fourelements, the Grail symbols, and the Minor Arcana. 

The Roman letters interspersed between the Hebrew are ananagram. Read clockwise from the top, they spell 'TARO'; readanti-clockwise they form 'TORA' (remember, the High Priestess'sscroll). We can also find the words 'ROTA', Latin for 'wheel','ORAT', Latin for 'speaks' and 'ATOR', an Egyptian goddess (alsospelled 'Hathor'). Paul Foster Case, following MacGregor Mathers,founder of the Golden Dawn, has formed the sentence 'ROTATARO ORAT TORA ATOR'. This translates as, 'The Wheel ofTaro speaks the Law of Ator'. Case calls this the 'law of letters';since A tor became best known in Egypt as a goddess of the dead, itis actually the 'law' of eternal life, concealed in the natural world.Though the body dies, the soul continues. Case also points out thatthe Hebrew number values of the letters of 'TARO' add up to 691,and that this, added to 26, the number value for the four-lettername of God (called 'Tetragrammaton') makes 697. Those digitsadd up to 22, the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet and ofthe trumps in the Major Arcana. And of course 22 returns us to 4.

 The four symbols on the spokes are alchemical. From the top,read in a clockwise direction, they are Mercury, sulphur, water, andsalt, and refer to the alchemical goal of line two, that is, transformation. Water is the symbol for dissolution, that is, dissolving theego to release the true self that has become immersed in habits,fears, and defences. We will see just what tlus means when we consider Death and Temperance. 

The idea of death and rebirth is also symbolized in the creaturesadorning the Wheel. The snake represents Set, the Egyptian god ofevil, and legendary bringer of death into the universe. It is he whokills Osiris, god of life. It is very likely that this legend, like theWheel itself, originated in the practice in pre-history of killing thegod-king, especially when we consider that Set was once a herogod, and that the snake was sacred to the Goddess who would havereceived the sacrifice. The snake follows the Wheel down; the jackal-headed man going up is Anubis, guide to the dead souls, andtherefore giver of new life. Now, according to some legends Anubis is Set's son, and so we see that only death can bring newlife, and when we fear death we are seeing only a partial truth.Psychologically, only the death of the outer self can release the lifeenergy within. 

The sphinx on top of the W heel represents Horus, Osiris's son,and god of resurrection. Life has triumphed over death. But thesphinx, as we saw in the Chariot, also signifies the mystery of life.The Chariot controlled life with a strong ego. Now the sphinx hasrisen above the wheel. If we allow the unconscious to speak we willsense some great secret to life, more important than the endlessround of apparently meaningless events. 

Set, the snake, was also called god of darkness. Again, to seedarkness as 'evil' is an illusion, and indeed, the fear of darkness, likethe fear of death, belongs to the ego. The ego loves the light just asthe unconscious loves the dark. In light everything is simple andstraightforward; the ego can occupy itself with the sense impressions from the outer world. W hen darkness comes the unconsciousbegins to stir. That is why children see monsters at night. Onereason we make the outer self so strong is so we will not facedemons every time the lights go out. 

Those, however, who wish to go beyond the Chariot must facethose terrors. Snakes and water, darkness and dissolution are allsymbols of death, that is, death of the body and death of the ego.But life exists before and after the individual personality, which, ofcourse, is only a bubble on the surface of our selves. Life is powerful, chaotic, surging with energy. Give way to it and Horus, the godof resurrection, will bring new life out of the chaos. The W heelturns up as well as down. 

The Wirth version of the W heel of Fortune proclaims this ideaeven more strongly. The W heel rests on a boat in water. Dissolution, chaos, emerge as the essential reality underlying the physicaluniverse. All the for ms of existence, the great variety of things andevents, are simply momentary creations out of that powerful energy that fills the cosmos. In Hindu myth Shiva periodically destroysthe entire universe, when the outer forms, like the ego, have grownweary and dull, by releasing the basic energy from which theuniverse originally emerged.        

  The number 10 suggests 0. The Fool is nothing and has nopersonality. But the Fool, like the number 0, is also everything,because he feels directly that energy of life, that sea surgingbeneath the boat. On the Rider pack W heel of Fortune the centre of the W heel bears no symbol. W hen we come to the still centre of existence, without ego or fear, all the outer forms vanish. We can understand this intuitively, but to really experience itwe must allow ourselves to descend into that dark sea, to let thepersonality die, dissolve, and give way to the new life emergingout of darkness .

In divinatory readings the Wheel of Fortune signifies somechange in the circumstances of a person's life. The person wouldlikely not understand what has caused this change; there might beno direct reason that anyone can see, and in fact the person is likely not to be responsible in any normal sense of the word. A largecorporation buys the company a man works for, and he becomesredundant. A love affair ends, not because the people have madeany 'mistakes' in their treatment of each other, but simply becauselife continues. The Wheel turns. 

The important thing about change is the reaction. Do we acceptthe new situation and adapt to it? Do we use it as an opportunityand find some meaning and value in it? If the wheel appears theright way up it signifies adaptation. In its strongest sense it can indicate the ability to pierce through the mystery of events to find agreater understanding of life. The end of a love affair, despite itspain, can give greater self-knowledge. 

Reversed, the card signifies a struggle against events, usuallydoomed because the change has happened and life will always winagainst the personality that tries to oppose it. If the person concerned, however, has always reacted passively to whatever life hasdone to him or her, then the wheel reversed can signify a moreimportant change than simply a new set of circumstances. It canopen the way to a new awareness of responsibility for your own life. 

  JUSTICE 

The image of this trump derives from the Greek Titaness Thernis,who appears, with her blindfold and scales, on court house frescoesthroughout the Western world. The legal Justitia, to give her herLatin name, was blindfolded to demonstrate that the law does notdiscriminate and applies to weak and powerful alike. The principleof social justice, however, properly belongs to the Emperor, directlyabove Justice. Card 11 indicates that the psychic laws of Justice, bywhich we advance according to our ability to understand the past,depends on seeing the truth about ourselves and about life. TheTarot Justitia, therefore, wears no blindfold.   

  So far, we have spoken of the second line as a process ofwithdrawal from outer concerns to awaken the inner vision of ourselves and of life. But a vision of the underlying nature of things ismeaningless if it does not produce an active response. We must alwaysact (the Magician principle) on the wisdom received from the innerself (the High Priestess principle). Not just the perfectly balancedscales but all the images on the card point to an equilibrium betweenunderstanding and action. The figure, a woman, appears androgynous; though she sits firmly on her stone bench she looks poised to stand; one foot points outward from her robe, the other remains hidden. The sword, an emblem of action, points straight upward, indicating both resolve and the idea that wisdom is like a sword piercingthrough the illusion of events to find the inner meaning. Two-edged,the sword signifies choice. Life requires us to make decisions; at thesame time each decision, once made, cannot be revoked. It becomespart of us. We are formed by the actions we have taken in the past;we form our future selves by the actions we take now. 

The scales also represent the perfect balance of past and future.Past and future balanced, not in time, but in the clear sight ofJustice staring out at you from the exact centre of the Major Arcana. 

Throughout the first half of the Major Arcana, when a personinvolves himself in the outer world, he suffers from the illusionthat he is living life on the active principle. This is because weconfuse doing things with action. As we turn inwards we assumewe turn away from action; and indeed the process of line twocannot be accomplished without a pause in our outer lives, or atleast a shift in attention. But real action, as opposed to pointlessmovement, always brings meaning and value to our lives; suchaction comes out of understanding. Otherwise, we remain trulypassive, machines being pushed from one event to the next withno understanding of what causes us to do the things we do. Thetrue purpose of line two is not to abandon the active principle butto awaken it.   

  The imagery of trump 11 combines the Magician and the HighPriestess more completely than ever before. First of all, the digitsof number 11 add up to 2, but the number also signifies a higherversion of 1 (as well as a lesser version of 21). The woman seatedbefore two pillars with a veil between them suggests the HighPriestess, but her red robe, and her posture, one arm up, onearm down, implies the Magician. True action arises from selfknowledge; wisdom arises out of action. In life, as in the picture,the Magician and the High Priestess are inextricably combined,like a male and female snake twined around each other (symbol ofthe kundalini as well as the caduceus of Hermes), or the doublehelix of DNA. The colour of the veil is purple, emblem of innerwisdom; background, crown, hair, and scales are all yellow, signifying mental force. Wisdom does not arise spontaneously. We must think about our lives if we wish to understand them. But all ourthinking goes nowhere unless it develops out of a clear vision ofthe truth. 

On the microcosmic level of personal psychology the Wheel ofFortune represented a vision of a person's life; the events, who youare, what you've made of yourself. Justice indicates an understanding of that vision. The way to understanding lies in responsibility.As long as we believe that our past lives just happen, that we do notbring our own selves into existence through every thing we do,then the past remains a mystery, and the future an endlessly turningwheel, empty of meaning. But when we accept that every event inour lives has helped to form our characters, and that in the futurewe will continue to create ourselves through our actions, then thesword of wisdom cuts through the mystery. 

Further, by accepting responsibility for ourselves we paradoxically free ourselves from the past. Like Buddha remembering all hislives, we can only get loose from the past by becoming consciousof it. Otherwise we constantly repeat past behaviour. This is whyJustice belongs in the centre of our lives. The ego may be only apersona, a kind of mask, but that mask can control us as long as wewill not admit having forged it ourselves. 

The idea of responsibility for our own life does not imply anysort of invisible control over the outer world. It does not mean,for instance, that if an earthquake destroys your house you havesomehow willed this to happen, for whatever hidden reasons ofyour own. Understanding includes accepting the limitations of yourphysical existence. The universe is vast and strange, and no individual can control what happens in it. 

Nor does responsibility imply anything moral. It simply meansthat, like it or not, whatever you do, whatever you experience,contributes to the development of your personality. Life demandsthat you respond to every event. Not a moral requirement, just afact of existence. 

And yet all our instincts, psychology, and religion, as well as thetestimony of mystics, tells us that life contains something more, aninner core independent of that outer self thrown from one experience to another. The second line shows the outer personality dyingand the inner core, the angel of Temperance, being allowed to emerge. Before such a release can happen we must accept the'justice' of our lives; what we are we have made ourselves. 

Our age sees this process of awareness as primarily psychological,best exemplified in the difficult process of psychoanalysis. Otherages have externalized the process of transformation in the dramatic rituals of initiation. There are two kinds of initiations. In manytribal societies all members were taken to special ceremonies at theonset of puberty. In pre-Christian Greece and Rome, people choseto submit themselves for initiation into the 'Mysteries' of particulargods or goddesses. These mystery initiations followed a specialpattern. Having gathered his or her courage to become a neophytethe candidate first receives instruction in the teaching of the cult ormystery; during this time steps are taken, through meditation, ritual and drugs, to open the channels to the unconscious and make theperson receptive. These first stages are symbolized in Strength andthe Hermit. Then, in a great atmosphere of mystery and drama, thecandidate is shown a vision of the cult's secret mysteries. (They arekept secret partly to protect them from unbelievers, but even moreto make them effective when revealed.) In the Grail cults this visionwas a dramatic procession of the Grail and its attendant symbols,carried by women weeping for a wounded king. We see an analogue of this vision in the Wheel of Fortune. 

And now comes the crucial moment. The candidate must makea response. If he or she simply stands there passively waiting for thenext events, then the initiation cannot continue. In the Grail cultsthe necessary response was most likely a question, either 'What isthe meaning of these things?' or more subtly, 'Whom does the Grailserve?' By asking this question the candidate gives the cult a chanceto answer, that is, to continue the initiation through the ritual deathand rebirth. More important, he or she shows a recognition ofbeing part of the process, responsible for its proper outcome. Thisis more difficult than it sounds. The ritual symbolizes the life,death, and rebirth of nature, as well as the body dying to release theeternal soul. To speak at such an awesome event (and rememberthat the initiate believed in his or her gods and goddesses in a wayimpossible for most of us today) required a courage at least as greatas that needed to accept the truths revealed through psychologicalanalysis and awakening. 

In our time the emphasis on individualism leads us to think onlyof personal death and rebirth. The great initiations, on the otherhand, served not only to transform the particular person, but alsolinked him or her to the wider mysteries of the universe. Followingthis lead we can see another reason why Justice belongs in the centre of the Major Arcana. We have spoken of the world as a greatinterplay of opposites, a constantly turning wheel of light and dark,life and death. We have also said that at the centre of the wheel isthe stationary point around which the opposites endlessly revolve.The balanced scales of Justice again suggest that stationary point.When we find the centre of our lives everything comes into balance. When all the opposites, including past and future, come intobalance we are able to be free within ourselves. 

Many people wonder what the Tarot, or the I Ching, or astrology tell us about free will. If the cards can predict what we will do,does that mean free will does not really exist? The question arisesfrom a misunderstanding of free will itself; we think of it as something simple and independent of the past. At any moment, wethink, we are free to do whatever we want. But our supposedly freechoices are governed by our past actions. If we do not understandourselves, how can we expect to make a free choice? Only by seeing and accepting the past can we free ourselves from it. 

A person may ask the cards about some situation. The cardsvery directly outline the consequences of some decision, say,whether or not to go ahead with a love affair, or to start some newproject. Let us say that the cards indicate disaster, and that the person really can see the likelihood of what the cards predict. Nowthe person might say, 'Well, this is likely, but my free will allowsme to change the situation.' So he or she goes ahead and the situation turns out exactly as the cards predicted. The person has notreally used free will at all; rather the idea of free will has served asan excuse for ignoring what he or she recognized as a valid projection. This is not a hypothetical situation; it happens again andagain with Tarot readings. It is not enough just to foresee a likelyoutcome for us to change or prevent that event. We must understand why it is coming, and we must work on the causes withinourselves for the things we do and the ways we react. Free willcertainly exists. We just do not know how to use it. The most important thing we can learn from Tarot readings is just how littlewe exercise our freedom. 

In Tarot readings one should always pay very careful attention tothe card of Justice. Its appearance indicates first of all that eventshave worked out in the way they were 'meant' to work out; that is,what is happening to you comes from situations and decisions inthe past. You have what you deserve. Secondly it indicates a needand a possibility for seeing the truth of this outcome. The card signifies absolute honesty. At the same time it shows the possibilitythat your actions in the future can be changed by a lesson learnedin the present situation. 

We cannot become honest with ourselves without extending thathonesty to our dealings with other people. In this sense the cardcarries the obvious meanings of Justice; honesty, fairness, correctactions, and of course, in legal and other matters, a just decision -though not necessarily the decision a person might prefer. 

Reversed, the card indicates dishonesty with yourself and others.It shows an unwillingness to see the meaning of events and showsespecially that you are missing some opportunity for a greaterunderstanding of yourself and your life. On the outer level itindicates dishonesty and unfair actions or decisions. Sometimes it isothers who are unfair to us. The reversed meaning can refer also tounjust legal decisions or to bad treatment from someone. 

On the other hand we must not allow the suggestion of unfairness to act as an excuse for denying our own responsibility for whathappens to us. Justice reversed sometimes reflects the attitude, 'It isunfair. Look how everybody treats me'. And on and on. Whetherthe right way up or reversed the clear eyes of Justice send us anoverwhelming message. In the words of Emerson, 'Nothing cansave you but yourself' . 

  THE HANGED MAN 

After the crisis of seeing what you have made of your life comes thepeace of acceptance; after Justice, the Hanged Man. Artists, writers,and psychologists have all felt drawn to this card, with its hints ofgreat truths in a simple design. We have already referred to theoccult tradition behind the upside down posture and crossed legs.In discussing Strength we said that occultists seek to release theenergy of the desires and transform it into spiritual energy. Manyoccultists, following the ideas of traditional yoga, have believed thatone very direct way to do this is literally to stand on your head, sothat gravity will pull down the energy from the genitals to thebrain. Of course, only most na:ive and optimistic occultist wouldhave expected such a thing to literally happen. They may havebelieved that trace elements found in genital fluid will seep downand affect the brain; more to the point, the reversal of physical posture serves as a very direct symbol of the reversal of attitude andexperience that comes through spiritual awakening. Where everyone else is frenzied, you will know peace. Where other peoplebelieve themselves to be free, but are actually pushed from one thing to another by forces they do not understand, you will achievetrue freedom by understanding and embracing those forces. 

The Hanged Man hangs on a tree shaped like the letter T. Now,this is the bottom half of an ankh, Egyptian symbol of life and issometimes called a Tau cross. According to Case the ankh in Egyptstood for the Hebrew letter Tau, which is the letter belonging to theWorld. Thus, the Hanged Man lies halfway to the World. We seethis as well in the fact that 12 is 21 backwards, and if you turn theHanged Man upside down (making the man himself right side up)you will have almost the same figure as the World Dancer. When weask, therefore, what card serves as the halfway point for the MajorArcana, the answer is not one but three - the Wheel, Justice, andthe Hanged Man, symbolizing a process rather than a moment. 

Notice that while the Dancer extends her arms with their magicwands the Hanged Man keeps his arms crossed behind his back.Remember also that he is upside down. At this stage a deep spiritual awareness can only be maintained by withdrawing fromsociety. In the World we see that same awareness maintained amidstall the outer activities of life. 

He hangs on an ankh, which makes his tree the Tree of Life.Recalling Odin sacrificing himself of Y ggdrasil we can also call thegallows the World Tree. This tree begins in the underworld (theunconscious) and reaches up through the physical world (the conscious) to heaven (the super-conscious) . The ideas first representedby the diagram of the Lovers have begun to actually happen. Whatwe saw previously as concepts now becomes, after Justice, a genuine experience. The Hanged Man's number, 12, is 2 times 6, thatis, the High Priestess raising the Lovers to a higher level. 

Beyond all its symbolism the Hanged Man affects us because itshows a direct image of peace and understanding. The calm showsso strongly in the card because the Hanged Man has surrendered tothe rhythms of life. In the old initiations surrender involved joiningthe rituals instead of just watching them. For many modern peopleit involves releasing the emotions they have locked up for years.Notice that both these things are acts; surrender to the World Treeis an actual step we take, not a passive waiting. 

T. S. Eliot's poem The Wasteland links the idea of an individualsurrender to emotions with both the barrenness of European life after World War I and the ancient Grail mysteries. The woundedFisher King can be healed by a 'moment's surrender which an ageof prudence can never retract'. Earlier in the poem the hero istold 'Fear death by drowning'. The ego sees surrender as death -dissolution in the sea of life. The person who gives this warning isa Tarot reader. Eliot's poem helped to popularize Tarot cards in the1920s. Speciftcally, it made famous the Hanged Man. Actually, theHanged Man does not appear in the poem but is important becauseof his absence. 

Eliot claimed to know nothing of the Tarot, but only to usesome images from it. If so, he understood intuitively that theHanged Man bears a connection to water. Most Tarot Kabbalistsassign the letter Mem to trump 12. Mem stood for 'seas' and thusthe element of Water. Madame Sosotris warns her ego-blind client,'Fear death by drowning.' She tells him 'I do not find the HangedMan' but then she points to another card (not a standard title), 'TheDrowned Phoenician Sailor', and says 'This is your card.' 

The crossed legs represent the number 4 upside down. 4 symbolizes the earth with its four directions. By reversing his own senseof values the Hanged Man has turned the world on its head. Thearms and head together form a downward pointing water triangle.The way to the super-conscious is through the unconscious. TheGolden Dawn card on the right of the Rider version shows theHanged Man suspended over water. 

We therefore see 4, the world, consciousness, and 3, hererepresenting water, or the unconscious, in the Hanged Man'sbody. These numbers multiplied form 12. In multiplication theoriginal numbers become dissolved and form something greaterthan their sum. 

The number 1 2, like 21, suggests both 1 and 2. The card reflectsthe Magician in the sense that the power drawn down by the wandhas now entered the Hanged Man; we see it as the circle of lightabout his head. The experience of really feeling the spirit forcewithin life is one of great power and excitement in the midst ofcomplete calm. The number 2 suggests the High Priestess; so doesthe image of water. Both cards indicate a withdrawal, but wheretrump 2 indicated the archetype of receptivity, trump 12 shows anexperience of it .

1 plus 2 equals 3. The Empress directly felt life through emotional involvement, the Hanged Man feels it through inner awareness.In readings the Hanged Man bears the message of independence.Like the Fool, which signified doing what you sensed was best,even if other people thought it foolish, the Hanged Man indicatesbeing who you are, even if others think you have everything backwards. It symbolizes the feeling of being deeply connected to lifeand can mean a peace that comes after some difficult trial. 

The trump reversed indicates an inability to get free of socialpressure. Rather than listen to our inner selves we do what othersexpect or demand of us. Our awareness of life always remainssecond-hand, never a direct experience but only a series of stereotypes, like the person who models his or her behaviour on theorders of parents and the actions of movie stars. 

The card reversed also means fighting your inner self in someway. It can mean the person who tries to deny some basic part ofhimself or simply the person who cannot accept reality and who insome way or other is constantly battling life. By putting his or herego against the world this person too never fully experiences life.None of us can know the full meaning of being alive until, likeOdin, we hang ourselves on the World Tree, its roots deep beyondknowledge in the sea of experience, its branches lost among theendless stars. 

  DEATH 

As much as the Lovers (directly above Death) Arthur Waite's designfor trump 13 departs from standard Tarot imagery. The picture onthe right, opposite, comes from the esoteric Golden Dawn Tarot,but, even so, illustrates the older, essentially social message ofDeath. Death strikes everyone, kings and commoners alike. Thisbasic democracy of death was a favourite theme of medieval sermons. As an idea it goes back at least as far as the Jewish practice ofburying everyone in the same style, a white shroud and a plain pinebox, so that in death rich become level with the poor.   

  As we might guess, the great power of death leads us beyonddemocracy to both philosophical and psychological meanings. Death,like life, is eternal and always present. Individual forms are alwaysdying while others come into existence. Without death to clear awaythe old, nothing new could find a place in the world. Many sciencefiction novels have shown the tyrannical society that would result ifthe world's leaders did not die. The liberation of Spain after the deathof Franco aptly demonstrated death's importance. 

When we die our flesh decays, leaving only the skeleton. Thattoo will eventually pass but it lasts long enough to at least hint ateternity. Therefore, the skeleton in the Golden Dawn card impliesthat eternity triumphs over the transitory. Now, the skeleton has anoccult meaning as well. All over the world the training for shamansincludes methods of seeing one's own skeleton, using drugs, meditation, even scraping the skin off the face. By freeing the bone fromthe flesh shamans connect themselves to eternity .

Because people fear death they seek reason and value in it. TheChristian religion teaches us that death liberates our souls from thesinful flesh so that we may join God in a greater life to come. CarlJung has written of the value of believing in an afterlife. Withoutit, death may seem too monstrous to accept. 

Other people have pointed out that death joins us to nature. Theconsciousness that isolates us from the world will be obliterated;though the body will decay, that only means that it is feeding othercreatures. Each death brings new life. Many people find the notionof themselves being eaten horrible to contemplate. The modernpractice of embalming and painting corpses so that they look alive, and then of burying them in sealed metal caskets derives fromthe desire to maintain the body's separateness from nature even indeath .

The fact is, since we will not know what happens to our bodiesonce the spirit has left them, what we really fear is the destructionof the personality. It is the ego that sees itself as separate from life;because it is only a mask the ego does not wish to die. It wishes tomake itself superior to the universe. 

If we can accept death we will be able to live more fully. The egonever wants to release energy; it tries to hoard it against the fear ofdeath. As a result new energy cannot get in. We see this very graphically in people's breathing when they panic. They try to gulp air inwithout letting any out and as a result become short of breath. 

In sex too the ego hoards energy. It fights climax and surrenderbecause at that moment the ego partly dissolves. In ElizabethanEngland sexual intercourse was often called 'dying'. And Death inthe Tarot comes below the Lovers. 

  Because the ego resists the very idea of death and therefore keepsus from enjoying life we must sometimes take extreme steps to getpast it. The initiation rites always led up to a simulated death andrebirth. The initiate is led to believe that he or she is actually aboutto die. Everything is done to make this death as real as possible sothat the ego will be tricked and in fact experience that dreaded dissolution. Then, when the initiate is 'reborn' he or she experiencesa new maturity and a new freedom of energy. In recent years manypeople have experienced something very like these rites throughusing psychedelic drugs. They believe they are dying and they feelthemselves reborn. However, without the preparation symbolizedin the Hanged Man the experience can often be deeply disturbing. 

  Contrary to what many people believe the card of Death doesnot actually refer to transformation. Rather, it shows us the precisemoment at which we give up the old masks and allow the transformation to take place. Perhaps we can understand this better if weconsider the Tarot's parallel in psychotherapy. By force of will(Strength) the person, with the help of the therapist-guide (theHermit) , allows knowledge to emerge of who he or she really is,and what habits or fears he or she wishes to shed (Wheel and Justice). This knowledge brings calm and a desire to change (the Hanged Man) . But then a fear sets in. 'If I give up my behaviour',the person thinks, 'maybe there will be nothing left. I will die.' Welive under the ego's control for so many years we come to believethat nothing else exists . The mask is all we know. Often people willstay stuck in therapy for years because they fear release. The nothingness of the Fool terrifies them. The fact is, they are right. The'I' created out of these lifelong behaviours will indeed die. Thatperson will cease to exist. But something else will emerge.

  The Waite image for trump 13 increases the psychologicalmeaning of the card. The four people demonstrate differentapproaches to change. The king, struck down, shows the rigid ego.If life comes at us with enough power the ego may collapse; insanity can result from an inability to adjust to extreme change. Thepriest stands and faces Death directly; he can do so because his stiffrobes and hat protect him and support him. We see here the valueof a code of belief to help us past our fears of death. The Maidensymbolizes partial innocence. The ego is not rigid, yet still aware ofitself, unwilling to surrender. Therefore she kneels but turns away.Only the child, representing complete innocence, faces Death witha simple offering of flowers. 

Death wears black armour. We have already seen how blacknessand darkness symbolize the source of life as well as its end. Blackabsorbs all colour; death absorbs all individual lives. The skeletonrides a white horse. White repels all colours and therefore symbolizes purity, but also nothingness. The white rose stands for thedesires purified, for when the ego dies selfish and repressive needsdie with it. 

At the back of the card we see a sun rising between two pillars.The ego belongs to the outer world of duality, separating and categorizing experience. Through Death we feel the radiant power ofLife, which knows only itself. The landscape before the pillarsreminds us of the 'land of the Dead' described in all mythologies.We fear the death of our old selves because we do not know whatto expect afterwards. One main function of those shamans who seetheir skeletons is to go ahead through the Land of the Dead andthus be able to guide the souls of others. 

A river flows through the middle of the card. Rivers, as we sawwith the Empress, indicate the unity of change and eternity. Thefact that they lead to the sea reminds us of the formlessness andoneness of the universe. The boat, reminiscent of the Pharaohs'burial boats, symbolizes the true self carried through Death to anew life. 

No matter the picture, all Tarot cards bear the number 13.Though most people consider 13 unlucky they do not know why.In our culture 13 refers to Judas, since he was the thirteenth man atthe Last Supper, and therefore the number indicates Christ's (and allpeople's) death. Friday the thirteenth is especially unlucky becauseChrist died on a Friday. But we can also describe Christ as the thirteenth man. Death leads to resurrection. 

In a more symbolic sense 13 is unlucky because it takes usbeyond 12. 12 is something of a 'perfect' number. It combines thearchetypes of 1 and 2, it symbolizes the zodiac and therefore theuniverse, it can be divided by 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6, more digits than anyother number. 13 destroys this elegance. It can be divided by nothing but 1 and itself. Again, we can go beyond the negative aspectsof the symbolism. Precisely because it ruins the perfection of 12, 13signifies a new creation; death breaks up old forms and makes wayfor the new. 

13 is also considered unlucky because it suggests the frighteninghalf-light of the Moon. A year contains roughly 13 lunations (theMoon goes around the Earth in 29.5 days). As well as being associated with darkness and mystery, the Moon goes through its own deathand rebirth every month. Christ's three days of death undergroundsuggests a borrowing from earlier lunar figures, for the Moon disappears for three days between the final sliver of waning and the firstreturn in the waxing crescent. Because of the link between the menstrual cycle and the Moon, worship of the Moon in the ancientworld belonged primarily to women. Many people believe that themedieval witches were really an underground survival of PaganMoon worship. This is another reason why our Christian (and patriarchal) cultures consider 13 unlucky. It signifies witchcraft, and subversive women following the Moon in secret rituals. 

The number 13 adds up to 4, the Emperor. Through Death weovercome our outer 'social' selves. Since 13 is a higher form of 3the card also recalls the Empress, and reminds us again that innature life and death are inseparable. 

In divinatory readings Death signifies a time of change. Often, itindicates a fear of change. In its most positive aspect it shows aclearing away of old habits and rigidness to allow a new life toemerge. In its most negative aspect it indicates a crippling fear ofphysical death. This fear goes deeper than many people realize, andoften a reading with many positive indications will end badlybecause of Death in the position of fears.The trump reversed indicates being stuck in old habits. Waitetalks of, 'inertia, sleep, lethargy' in life. This sense of a sluggish,boring life masks the sometimes desperate battle of the ego to avoidchange. The card always indicates that Death, with its subsequentrebirth, is not only a possibility, but also in a sense, a necessity. Themoment has come to die. By drowning us in lethargy, the ego prevents awareness of this fact from corning to consciousness. Inertia,boredom and depression often conceal inner terrors. 

        TEMPERANCE 

The Chariot symbolized the successful construction of an ego ableto deal victoriously with life. As time goes by this ego becomesrigid; slowly behaviour becomes less a response to reality and moreand more a string of habits. The purpose of the second line of theMajor Arcana is to free us from this artificial personality, and at thesame time give us a glimpse of the greater truths within the universe. Temperance, appearing below the Chariot, shows a personwhose behaviour is once again connected to the real world but in away more meaningful than ever before. For if the child relatesdirectly to life it does so without consciousness, and as consciousness grows so does the ego. Temperance indicates the ability tocombine spontaneity with knowledge.

  The term 'temperance' means moderation. For most people thismeans self control. The Tarot Temperance, however, does not go toextremes simply because extremes are not necessary. Not an artificial inhibition according to a moral code, but exactly the opposite;a true and proper response to all situations as they arise. 

The word 'temperance' derives from the Latin 'temperare'which means 'to mix' or 'to combine properly'. The person who has released his or her inner self is characterized not only by moderation but by an ability to combine the different sides oflife. Manypeople can only deal with life by parcelling it off into sections.They create one personality for business and another for their private lives; both are false. They consider certain moments and situations to be 'serious' and others to be 'fun' and are careful never tosmile at a serious subject. The people they love are often not thepeople whom they find sexually attractive. All these separationsderive from the inability to take life as it comes, moment bymoment. Temperance combines the elements of life. In reality itcombines the elements of the personality, so that the person and theouter world will flow together naturally .

  The trump displays the signs of combination all through thepicture. When we look at the Waite-Smith image on the left we seefirst of all the water being poured from one cup to another; theelements of life flowing together. Notice that the lower cup is notdirectly below the upper, so that the picture shows a physicalimpossibility. To other people the Temperate person's ability tohandle all life's problems with joy appears magical.

  The Rider pact Temperance presents both cups as magical. Inthe Wirth picture on the right the upper one is silver, indicating aflow from the Moon, that is, the unconscious, to the Sun, consciousness. The second line began with a withdrawal from theworld to find the inner self; the time has now come to return tothe normal activities of life. 

  The road especially signifies return. We have gone down into theself and now we are making our way back to involvement with theouter world, enriched. Notice that the two pillars of the earliercards have become two mountains. Abstract ideas are becomingreality; Temperance is a card of behaviour, not concepts.

  The angel stands with one foot on land, one foot in water. Asthe water represents the unconscious so the land symbolizes the'real world' of events and the other people. The Temperate personality, acting from an inner sense of life, links the two realms. Thewater also indicates potentiality, that is, the possibilities of life, whilethe land symbolizes manifestation or actuality. The Temperate person, through his or her actions, brings into reality the wonderssensed by the Hanged Man. 

The BOTA Temperance (see Fig. 15b) shows water beingpoured on a lion, and a torch dripping flames on an eagle. Leosymbolizes fire (the Magician), while the eagle, the 'higher' formof Scorpio, stands for water (the High Priestess). The angel is mixing the basic duality, inseparably combining the different sides oflife that previously appeared hopelessly alien to each other. Now,the eagle stands for the higher Scorpio because Scorpio representsthe energy of the unconscious. As the lower form, the scorpion,this energy shows itself primarily as sexuality, the 'animal desires' ofthe undeveloped personality. When the energy has been transformed by channelling it through awareness it becomes the eagle ofspirituality. Strength showed this energy brought out in the form ofthe lion; in the BOTA Temperance we see the process completed,the eagle and the lion combined. 

The angel resembles the Greek goddess Iris, whose sign was therainbow; a rainbow appears on the BOTA card and iris flowers onthe Rider pack version. Rainbows appear as a sign of peace after astorm, which reminds us that Temperance shows the personalityreleased by the fearful experience of Death. The rainbow comesfrom water yet shines as light across the sky, an emblem of the innerself, which once seemed dark, chaotic, fearful, brought out and joyously transformed into the promise of new life. In Jewish andChristian tradition the rainbow is a sign of renewal after the Flood.The Flood, like Shiva's destruction of the universe, stands psychologically for the death of old patterns, which do not reflect thetruth and joy of life and which lead people into 'evil' - behaviourdestructive to themselves and to others. 

As Zeus's messenger Iris travelled to the underworld to fill hergolden cup with water from the River Styx. The Greeks believedthat dead souls travelled across the Styx to the land of the dead.Only a descent into the underworld of the self can renew life. 

Religiously the angel symbolizes the immortal soul liberated bydeath. If you look closely below the collar you will see God's nameworked into the fabric of the gown. In Christian tradition the soulwill become joined with God after the resurrection. The trianglewithin the square indicates that the Spirit rises from within thematerial body. 

Psychologically the angel indicates the energy of life whichemerges after the ego's Death. The triangle now shows that thisenergy works within the square of ordinary activities. We do notneed to perform miracles to sense our connection with the immortal universe. We need only be ourselves. 

Remember that the Tetragrammaton appeared on the Wheel asa mystery of fate. Here the name has become part of us. Webecome 'masters' of our fate when we learn to deal with life as itcomes and not according to routines of habits and defences. 

The divinatory meanings, like the card's ideas, begin with moderation, balance in all things and taking the middle path. The cardmeans right action, doing the correct thing in whatever situationarises. Very often this means doing nothing. The intemperate person always needs to be doing something, but very often a situation requires a person to simply wait. The card will sometimesappear as an antidote to cards of recklessness and hysteria. 

Temperance signifies mixing disparate elements together, blending activities and feelings to produce a sense of harmony and peace.Because it means balancing and combining the different sides of lifeTemperance carries a special significance for the Minor Arcana. If areading shows a person split between say, Wands and Cups, activityand passivity, or Cups and Pentacles, fantasy and reality, then Temperance, moderation and acting from an inner sense of life, can givea clue to bringing these things together. 

Like the Fool reversed Temperance upside down indicates awildness, going to extremes. In Temperance this is because the person lacks the inner awareness to know what is appropriate to asituation. The trump reversed can act as a warning that you haveallowed your life to become fragmented and that you are slidingfrom one extreme to another. It can in fact indicate failure in thegreat task of letting old habits and fears die away into the past. Ona simple level the reversed Temperance tells us to calm down andavoid extremes; in its deepest sense it sends us back to Strength tobegin that long, sometimes painful, sometimes frightening, butalways essentially joyous process of death and rebirth.