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Reviews: Tarot & Cartomancy
Tarot & Cartomancy Reviews
by Bonnie Cehovet
Tarot Master
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Mystical Origins Of The Tarot -
From Ancient Roots To Modern Usage
review by Bonnie Cehovet, TM
author: Paul Huson
Destiny Books
2004
ISBN #0-89281-190-0
Several years ago, when I first began my Internet life, I had the great fortune to have my sister give me a heads up about a wonderful Tarot e-list. From following the threads on this list, I was able to learn not only about card definitions and combinations, but about the differences between decks, about Tarot symbology, and about the wonderfully rich history of Tarot. Life can be a wonderful school if you are in the right place at the right time.
It took me a long time to put names and faces together, to be able to follow a Tarot timeline, and to know where to look for more information. Help came along in the way of resources such as Mary Greer's Women Of The Golden Dawn, and Brian William's Minchiate Tarot. I devoured them, and went back to them again and again, each time learning more.
Those who have the good fortune to read Mystical Origins Of The Tarot are presented with a well researched, well written resource that allows them to follow the origins and development of Tarot, including the background of the symbols on the cards. (It should be noted here that Paul Huson's background includes studies with both the Society of Inner Light (formed by Dion Fortune) and the Order of the Golden Dawn.) I was impressed with the author's respect for and acknowledgment of his sources, as well as the fact that someone that I personally hold in high regard concerning historical Tarot matters, Mary Greer, read one of the initial drafts and had input into the project.
Paul Huson was originally contemplating a revision and update to a much earlier Tarot book that he had authored, entitled The Devil's Picturebook. Where the first book was largely speculation, enough time had gone by, and enough new resources had surfaced, that a completely new book was indicated.
Paul Huson defined three questions, or areas of question, that he felt needed to be addressed. They were:
* What was the origin of the suit card symbols, and what did they stand for?
* What was the source of the trumps, and what was their original import?
* When and why did people begin using the cards for divination - that is, as a means of acquiring spiritual guidance or discovering hidden information?
Throughout this book you will find black and white illustrations of early Tarot decks done by Paul Huson. It adds a great deal of meaning to a book when you can "see" what the author is talking about. It very much puts me in mind of Brian Williams outstanding work. Another interesting tid bit was a one page chronology of Tarot history from the 14th to the 20th centuries. Rather like a synopsis of what was to come in the following chapters!
In his introduction, Huson begins with the Mamlûk decks (15th century hand painted cards from Egypt). He goes on to talk about the court cards, and how they came about. It is interesting to note that in the Mamlûk decks the court cards show the suit sign, and a description of the title in calligraphy, sometimes with the addition of flowery prose. The reason for this? In Islam there was a prohibition again depicting the human figure! In some later decks additional court cards were added - such as a female Knight. It is also interesting to note that the titles for the court cards varied from culture to culture.
When it comes to the Tarot trumps, it seems that they were added to the deck to give some extra help in trick taking (Tarot being predominately a game at this point). Huson goes into the various artists behind the decks, as well as their patrons and the regions that various decks originated in. Changes in the style of Tarot decks is discussed here also - such as the advent of the minchiate Tarot, which differed from the prevalent tarocchi decks in changes that were made to the trumps - i.e. the Female Pope becoming the Grand Duke, the Empress becoming the Western Emperor and the Emperor becoming the Eastern Emperor.
There is an excellent discussion of the suit symbols, and their evolvement differed in France and Italy. Here we begin to look at things that we generally take for granted, and do not think about. Were the suit symbols chosen in a random manner, were they reflective of the culture that they came from, or do they have great esoteric meaning? This is really a fun section to go through, as Huson presents many different sides to the picture, and doesn't hesitate to present the opinions and arguments of others (especially those of Michael Dummet). An interesting aside in this section is reference to the cardinal virtues, and their inclusion in the Tarot.
From there we go on to the Tarot Trumps, and the history behind them. It is quite interesting to read the arguments presented here - influence from Mystery, Miracle and Morality plays, and from the work Dance of Death (Dance Macabre).
In the section on cartomancy and the Tarot, there is an interesting chronological sequence of documented occult Tarot. Here we see names that many of us are familiar with (at least to some extent): Etteilla, Éliphas Lévi, Aleister Crowley and Arthur Edward Waite - and we see how they flow in a given sequence. Huson talks about Egyptian magic and the Book of Thoth, and how the Kabbala came to be associated with Tarot. (There is an excellent chart giving the Kabbalistic attributions for the Tarot included here.) There is also mention of the Golden Dawn, and their method of assigning zodiacal decans to the minor arcana.
Now the fun starts, as Huson goes through the Trumps, Minor Arcana and court cards, discussing the meaning of the card, listing the original cartomantic interpretations from several sources ( Pratesi's Cartomancer (1750), De Mellet (1781), Lévi (1855), Christian (1870), Mathers (1888), Golden Dawn (1888-96), Grand Orient (Waite, 1889, 1909) and Waite (1910), as well as his own suggested interpretation. From the book:
The Fool
Pratesi's Cartomancer (1750): Madness.
De Mellet (1781): Madness. He has no rank.
Lévi (1855):The Hebrew letter Shin, the Fool. The sensitive principle, the flesh, eternal life.
Christian (1870): Arcanum 0. The Crocodile. Expiation. The punishment following every error. You can see here a blind man carrying a beggar's wallet, about to collide with a broken obelisk on which a crocodile waits with open jaws. The crocodile is the emblem of fate and the inevitable expiation.
Mathers (1888): The Foolish Man: Folly, expiation, wavering. Reversed: Hesitation, instability, trouble arising herefrom.
Golden Dawn (1888-96): The Spirit of the Ether. Foolish Man: Idea, spirituality, that which endeavors to rise above the material. (That is, if the subject inquired about is spiritual.) But if the divination be regarding ordinary life, the card is not good, and shows folly, stupidity, eccentricity, and even mania unless with very good cards indeed.
Grand Orient (Waite, 1889, 1909): The Fool signifies the consumation of everything, when that which began his initiation at zero attains the term of all numeration and existence. This card passes through all the numbered cards and is changed in each, as the natural man passes through worlds of lesser experience, worlds of successive attainment.
Waite (1910): The Fool: Folly, mania, extravagance, intoxication, delirium, frenzy. Reversed: Negligence, absence, apathy, nullity.
Suggested Interpretation:
Mania. Intoxication. Infantilism. Innocence. Unpredictability. Anarchy. Reversed: Stupidity. Nullity. Apathy. Sloth. Mental Illness.
At the end of the book Huson presents several different spreads, from the simple to the complex. He presents them using a significator, although he does note that this is not necessary. He has also included a section on the court cards that lists them by physical description (hair, eye and skin color) and astrological sign.
In Appendix 1 Huson lists historical decks, with short descriptions of each. In Appendix 2 he lists places worldwide (by name, address and Internet site, if there is one) where versions of older decks can be purchased. At the very end, he lists the sources for his illustrations.
I found this book to be of great benefit, with the added bonus that it reads easily and is highly enjoyable! I would recommend it to Tarot students that already have a good basic understanding of the cards - mid level to advanced students. This book certainly has a place as a reference book in my Tarot library, and I am sure will have in others also.
Tarot Decoded
review by Bonnie Cehovet, TM
author: Elizabeth Hazel
Weiser Books
2004
ISBN #1-57863-302-8
This was a book whose arrival I eagerly awaited. I was even more excited when I saw the sub-title - "understanding and using dignities and correspondences". In my opinion, working with dignities and correspondences opens up the doors so that we in the Tarot world are darn near talking to the Secret Chiefs themselves! Tarot Decoded does not fail to present this important work in a very usable manner. One thing that I would note, however, is that while numerological and elemental dignities are discussed, the weight of this book is on astrological and planetary dignities and correspondences. Thank heaven's Ms Hazel seems to have found a connection to the Astrological Secret Chiefs - the work is palatable even to me, who gets along quite well in life with only a slightly greater than minimal understanding of astrology!
In her forward, Ms Hazel talks about the added layers of enlightenment that dignities provide to the basic Tarot tools of symbolism and divinatory meanings. Ms Hazel makes a very good point when she says that there are two areas that each individual reader needs to come to terms with for themselves: the choice of attribution systems (they do not "all" have to be used at the same time!), and the techniques used to apply these systems to a reading.
Dignity is defined for the purposes of this book as being the relationship between cards in a spread. This is further defined as being either good, neutral or bad. (I like to think of them as supportive, neutral and challenging, while others view them as friendly, neutral and unfriendly. The terminology may change - but we are all talking about the same thing.) As well as determining dignities by their relationship with their neighbors, Ms Hazel also speaks of looking at the location of each card, and how well (or poorly) the location of the card reflects the cards inherent attributes.
The specific types of dignity that Ms Hazel addresses are:
* Elemental Dignity - This refers to the four elements (Fire, Water, Air and Earth), and how they are reflected in the four suits and the trumps.
* Modal Dignity - This is an attribution that can be made for any card with a zodiacal attribution, the three modes being cardinal, fixed and mutable.
* Shared Status - (From the book) "Shared status is a specialized form of dignity for court cards, the sixteen cards designated by ascending royal titles. Court cards are assigned both element and mode. Shared status applies when sets (mode) or sequences (element) of court cards appear in a reading. For example, a set is a pair of Knights in a layout, and a small sequence the King and Queen of a single suit."
* Numeric Dignity - Here we are dealing with the metaphysical (cartomanic) meanings of the card numbers. Sets increase the influence of the vibration of a given number, while sequences a progression - either forward or backward - in the issues involved in the reading.
* Locational Dignity - Related to the astrological concept of "accidental dignity", this occurs when a card is in a position int he spread that either enhances or undermines its strength and meaning.
* Planetary and Zodiacal Dignities - These are dependent on the system of attributions being used. For the purposes of this book, Ms Hazel works with the Golden Dawn attributes. If a reader uses another system, the basic approach for interpretation would still be the same.
Court card interpretation presents somewhat of an issue for most readers. Ms Hazel does a commendable job of presenting their dual nature - that is, their elemental attribute by suit, and their elemental attribute by title. I thoroughly enjoy delving into charts and graphs - for me, they are major learning tools. Ms Hazel has used them to great advantage in this book, especially in the chapter on court cards. She also does a nice job of discussing significators (which I do not use, by choice), and of Jung's four personality types and functions. She also employs a sample reading as a teaching tool - to great advantage!
The chapter on modal dignities includes a very workable synopsis for each of the three modes (cardinal, fixed and mutable). From the book:
Cardinal Signs
Cardinal signs are feisty, charge-ahead, vigorous signs. Their keynote quality is their "capacity to conceive and give birth". This mode is represented by the Zodiacal attributions attributions to the Queens, who own the four solstice and equinox cusps.
Aries: fire conceives identity, idealism and quests.
Cancer: water conceives family growth, domestic stability and motherhood.
Libra: air conceives primary communication, codes of behavior, ethics, and formal relationship agreements between people, such as marriage and business partnerships.
Capricorn: earth conceives material foundations, hierarchies, ownership, leadership and parenting.
Cardinal signs courageously accept risks and are skilled at promoting their reputation and pet projects to others. The challenge is the potential for bullying, impatience and shocked outrage when others fail to fall into step with their latest idea. Cardinal signs tend to assess loyalty in terms of validation, confirmed when others see their achievements in a positive manner and willingly support their goals. Cardinal signs are the sprinters, the signs moving most quickly to the next opportunity. Yet they may be winded by the time the goal is in sight, or the goal may lose their interest if not quickly obtained."
Numeric dignities are also presented in a manner that is, quite frankly, great fun to work with! From the book:
"Four
The number four is the number of foundation. There are four elements, and in this number, a stage of initial stability is taking place. A square has four corners, and this is a very stable and well grounded geometric shape. The productive capacity of the three has come to a point of rest, where the identity is solidified.
Pair: Promises are kept, invitations to events.
Three: Agreements, contracts, unity of purpose.
Four: Long lasting results, immortal quality.
Five (four Fours + Emperor or Death): Formal agreements that are the foundation of long lasting structures in historic events."
The one quibble that I might have with this book is that the definitions of the positions within a spread take a very low priority to the dignities and attributions involved in the reading. My personal feeling is that spreads are birthed in a certain way, reflecting both sacred geometry and positional meanings. They are the basis for the reading, which is then layered with basic card meanings, the symbolism seen within the cards, the attributions and dignities of the cards.
Having said that, I want to point out that Ms Hazel makes best use of graphs and charts, and includes well done sample readings that take the reader right along with her through the interpretation. A good thought for the reader would be to take their favorite reading deck and lay the readings out in front of them to ponder as they follow her logic. At the end of the book we are gifted with several appendices, dealing with charts for: Golden Dawn attributions; attributions for the minor arcana:court cards; attributions for the minor arcana pip cards; pip cards by element; as well as planetary dignities; zodiacal dignities; dignities of the twelve houses and four elements; and a locational dignities diagram form.
There is much more to this book - such as tidbits about reading by location in the spread (above the horizon, below the horizon, left side and right side), and the modal qualities of the numbers. I highly recommend this book to students with an intermediate or higher level of understanding of the Tarot, and at least a minimal understanding of astrology. There is a world of learning in this book! I would not be surprised at all to see an e-group or two evolve strictly to work with the information contained between these pages. This is definitely a book to be held onto for reference purposes!
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Bonnie Cehovet ,
Tarot Master, and Reiki Master/Teacher.
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Bonnie Cehovet is a Tarot Master, professional Tarot reader and Reiki Master/Teacher.
Bonnie has been reading the Tarot professionally for over ten years. She has served in various capacities with the American Tarot Association, including Secretary and Web Assistant For Links. She is currently Certification Director and Secretary for the American Board For Tarot Certification. Bonnie is also a founding member of the World Tarot Network.
Bonnie has had her work published in the ATA newsletter, in Geraldine Amaral's "Celebrating The Tarot" print newsletter, on the World Tarot Network and other internet sites. She is editor for her own monthly newsletter "Gateway To Tarot" (Yahoo Groups).
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