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Reviews: Tarot Decks
Tarot & Cartomancy Deck Reviews
by Bonnie Cehovet
Tarot Master
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Seventy-Eight Degrees Of Wisdom:
A Book Of Tarot
Author: Rachel Pollack
Element
HarperCollins Publishers
1997
ISBN #0-7225-3572-4
Seventy-Eight Degrees Of Wisdom was one of those "from me, to me" presents this year. It has been a year of following through on many things Tarot that I have been wanting to do, and I have not been disappointed in any of them! The 1997 edition of Seventy-Eight Degrees Of Wisdom is the revised edition, with a new preface by Rachel Pollack.
The title is not remiss - this "is" a book of wisdom - the wisdom in the seventy-eight cards that comprise the Tarot as we know it. It has the potential to reach all levels of Tarot students - from beginner to advanced and beyond. What is beyond advanced? The ability to use the Tarot as a base for free thinking, for taking the basics of Tarot and expanding our own worlds - mundane and spiritual, spiritual and mundane.
It is a book written with humbleness and grace, one that honors all and talks down to none. What you take from this book is whatever resonates at the time that you read it - and this is one of those books that you will read more than once. It is part of the cycle of learning - read something, ponder it, place it in your life, learn from your experiences, then go back and read it again. There is no magic ink - nobody rewrote the book. The words are the same - our understanding of them goes to deeper levels as we work with them.
Rachel teaches by example - her book is filled with the wisdom of the oral tradition - the telling of stories that show the point. As we walk with her on her journey, we feel included in her life, and in the lives of those that she has touched. She honors the occult tradition of the Tarot, but brings it a humanistic touch (as she so graciously credits others in the field such as Mary Greer, Angeles Arrien, James Wanless and Gail Fairchild). 1
Throughout the book we find references to Kabbalah, as well as Carl Jung; to A. E. Waite and Pamela Colman Smith - with the emphasis on the journey, and on the pictures that are presented within these seventy-eight cards. Rachel begins our journey with an exercise - as this is a book to be worked with, not to be read and set aside, not something to grace a table at just the right angle. From our decks we pull four cards: the Fool, the Magician, the High Priestess and the World. Here we will look at the concepts of unity and duality, and begin to get a feel for the flow of the Tarot.
The Major Arcana are described in three sets of seven cards, with the Fool set above them all. The three rows embody our journey through: (a) consciousness, the outer concerns of life and society; (b) subconsciousness, the inward search to find out who we really are; and (c) superconscious, the development of a spiritual awareness and a release of archetypal energy.
Rachel further defines these energies as:
* consciousness: concentrating on love, social authority and education
* subconsciousness: deals with withdrawal into self-awareness, followed by a symbolic
death and rebirth
* superconsciousness: confronting the great forces of life and finding unity with them 2
Each card is presented in depth, so that it becomes "personalized" - it takes on an identity that we can understand. There are black and white graphics presented for each card - on the left hand side, the card from the Rider-Waite deck, on the right hand side a card from another deck - often one of the older decks, that lends to comparison and discussion, and shows the journey of the cards themselves, and how their identities have changed to reflect the times.
There is a very in depth presentation of the four suits, relating them to the four elements and to the Kabbalah, and discussing the energy behind the court cards and the numbers. From the book: 3
* King - social responsibility, power, success
* Queen - deep appreciation of the suit, creativity
* Knight - action, responsibility to others
* Page - exploration, study
* 10 - completion, the need to go beyond
* 9 - compromises, struggle
* 8 - movement
* 7 - victory
* 6 - communication
* 5 - loss, conflict
* 4 - structure
* 3 - full expression of the element
* 2 - union
* Ace - basic quality, root
In the section on doing readings, Rachel has presented the traditional Celtic Cross spread, with a sample reading. It is the spread after that which fascinated me. It begins with a small cross of two cards and continues with seven more cards placed in a line below it. This is also presented with a sample reading - and is well worth studying!
As a tool of personal study/growth, as a tool for group work, as a tool for understanding Kabbalah and the Tarot, and as a book to be kept at hand for reference - I highly recommend Seventy-Eight Degrees Of Wisdom.
Footnotes:
1. ibid. page XI
2. ibid. page 22
3. ibid. page 158
The Enochian Tarot
Author: Gerald & Betty Schueler
illustrated by: Sallie Ann Glassman
Llewellyn Publications
1989
ISBN #1-56718-620-3
Suits: Fire (Wands), Water (Cups), Air (Swords), Earth (Pentacles)
Court cards: King, First Senior, Second Senior, Third Senior, Fourth Senior, FIfth Senior, Sixth Senior
The Enochian Tarot is a more than slightly non-Traditional Tarot deck. It consists of 86 cards, numbered from 1 to 86. Cards number 1-30 constitute the Major Arcana, while cards number 31-86 constitute the four suits. The Enochian Tarot is based on the writings of Dr. John Dee, who is said to have received information about the Enochian Magic system from t he angelic realm, who spoke to him through his psychic partner Edmond (or Edward) Kelly.
The universe as John Dee presents it does not follow Qabalistic thought (i.e. the Tree of Life). It consists of two parts: four Great Watchtowers and thirty Aethyrs or Aires. Each of the Major Arcana cards portrays one of the Aethyrs. The Enochian Tarot system employs a system that represents the universe, which, while is differs from the Qabalistic system, is along the lines of Tarot and can justifiably be termed a Tarot deck. I do recommend buying the deck and book together because of this. If you buy them separately, as I inadvertently did, the companion book, by Gerald Schueler, is entitled Enochian Tarot, ISBN #1567186203.
The Enochian Magical system when it first came into being (during Elizabethan times) was primarily used for ritual magic. It is interesting to note that the material was given to Dr. Dee, through Edmond Kelly, in the Enochian language ( or the language of the angels). This system was expanded on by the Golden Dawn, and Aleister Crowley, to include astral travel to the region s described on Holy Tablets by the Angels to Dr. Dee.
The Schuelers represent the Enochian Tarot as a deck that can be used for divination, ritual work and pathworking within the Enochian magical universe. There are several interesting tables of correspondence in the LWB (little white book) that accompanies the deck. From the book 1:
Cosmic Planes In Enochian Magic
Enochian: Occult:
Our Earth physical plane
Watchtower of Earth etheric plane
Watchtower of Water astral plane
Watchtower of Air mental plane
Watchtower of Fire causal plane
Tablet of Union spiritual plane
On pages 8-9 there is a table that relates the correspondences between the astrological attribution, Hebrew letter, Enochian letter and the Major Arcana. On pages 10-11 there is a table that lists the correspondences between the Enochian letters and Geomantic and Lineal figures. The Watchtower correspondences are as follows 2:
Watchtower Correspondences
Watchtower: Color: Direction: Plane Element:
Earth black north etheric
Water blue west astral
Air yellow east mental
Fire red south causal
Tablet of Union white --------- spiritual
One of the interesting notes about this deck is that the authors encourage reading the cards as groups, rather than as isolated cards. From the book 3:
"No card has real meaning in and of itself, instead each card has multiple meanings. Some cards have meanings that can be good or bad, depending on the situation. The interpretation of any given card should be determined in large part by the positive or negative aspects of the cards around it. "
Following are a few of the definitions the authors have placed for the cards - the descriptions are short, and make no reference to the symbolism on the cards. 4
1 LIL The Babe
(masculine)
Purity, completeness,
satisfaction, wholeness
innocence.
Reversed: Desire, incompleteness,
impurity, immaturity,
foolishness
31 EDLPRNAA
King of Fire
First Senior of Fire
(masculine)
renewal, warmth,
change, violence,
enlightenment.
Reversed: coldness, sterility,
desolation
52 AILA
Higher Sephirothic Cross Angels
of Air.
(feminine)
Authority, harmonious
progress.
Reversed: futility, lack of authority
The suit cards (pips) are named from Higher Sephirothic Cross Angels to Demons for each of the four suits. The numbering of the Minor Arcana is from the most spiritual to the least spiritual.
The cards themselves are 3" by 5 1/2" - a little large for comfortable use for those with smaller hands. They are of high quality, glossy cardstock and will stand up to use. The backs are a burgundy color, with what I take to be a graphic of the Enochian world in the middle. The cards would not be able to be read as to upright/reversed until they were turned over.
The card face has a 1/4" white border surrounding the card graphic. At the top of the card is the number and card title, at the bottom of the card is the meaning.
The spreads presented at the end of the book are a three card Enochian Spread, defined as past-present-future; a three card Pyramid Spread; the ten card Celtic Cross Spread; a five card Pentagram Spread; an interesting spread called a Thirteen Card Layout that takes the form of three triangles, each within the other; a seven card linear spread called the Seven Card Enochian Spread and a ten card Tree of Life Spread.
There is also a chapter on pathworking including several ritual processes. For those that seriously want to work with the Tarot for spiritual, as well as personal progress, this chapter works well.
I don't recommend this deck as a general reading deck, but for spiritual readings or for personal/group magickal work, I feel that it would do well.
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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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