Calendar & notes

6th February	Introduction & Overview
20th February	I - Le Bateleur overview and sources author's summary: The Bateleur is the arcanum of intellectual geniality and cordiality, the arcanum of true spontaneity. Concentration without effort and the perception of correspondences in accordance with the law of analogy are the principal implications of this arcanum of spiritual fecundity. It is the arcanum of the pure act of intelligence. But the pure act is like fire or wind: it appears and disappears, and when exhausted it gives way to another act. The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. (John iii, 8)
6th March	Letter I - The Magician discussion
20th March	II - La Papesse overview and sources	jmd
3rd April	Letter II - The High Priestess discussion	Lynne
1st May	III - L'Impératrice overview and sources	jmd
15th May	Letter III - The Empress discussion	Lynne
5th June	IV - L'Empereur overview and sources	jmd
19th June *	Letter IV - The Emperor discussion	Lynne
17th July	V - Le Pape overview and sources	jmd
7th August	Letter V - The Pope discussion	Lynne
21st August	VI - L'Amoureux overview and sources	jmd
4th September	Letter VI - The Lover discussion	Lynne
16th October	VII - Le Chariot overview and sources	jmd
6th November	Letter VII - The Chariot discussion	Lynne
20th November	VIII - La Justice overview and sources	jmd
4th December	Letter VIII - Justice discussion	Lynne

Dates for 2011 and 2012 are yet to be arranged.

Meditations on the Tarot

Cost: $10 (Conc. $5) - per session
limit: 20 participants
          as of March 2010, there are around 15 regular participants

Began in 2010, and expected to continue until mid-2012, this course is based on the book Meditations on the Tarot. Sessions are expected to be held at the Michael Centre in Warranwood (Melbourne outer Eastern)

Meditations on the Tarot is one of those rare books that contains a vast breadth and depth of spiritual insight, referencing not only – though predominantly – the key Western Esoteric Traditions, but also aspects from Eastern sources.

The book is divided into twenty-two letters that were published post-humously, written in the latter part of the 1960s from an ‘Unknown’ Author (UA) to his readers (‘UA’ is an appellation becoming increasingly common when referring to its author, and reminiscent of the Martinist ‘Unknown Philosopher’). Such ‘letter’ style is not unusual, and is found in some classic Russian and mediaeval Christian texts – for example The Cloud of Unknowing.

The UA clearly comes from a Christian perspective, but not one which would be expected from any exoteric church – though I have been informed that the previous Pope had a copy of the German translation of the work!

Each letter is an exegesis of one of the trumps, with the final letter making implications for the rest of the deck. Though the author clearly refers to the Marseille deck in the text, he also states (p 260):

The twenty-two Cards of the Major Arcana of the Tarot being an organism, a complete whole, it is not a question of diverse and disparate origins of particular Cards, but rather of the degrees of their evolution or transformation. For the Tarot, also, is not a wheel, a closed circle, but rather a spiral, i.e. it evolves through tradition and … reincarnation

Reading the book is certainly a journey, not so much because it takes the reader along well traveled paths (which it does, being firmly grounded in tradition) – but rather because the reader is lead far and wide to a very diverse and broad range of other authors – some well known, such as Drs Steiner or Jung, others not as well, such as Dr Carton or Prof. Mebes.

The classics are also extremely well interwoven, and relevant quotes from such important esoteric, spiritual and hermetic texts as the Kore Kosmu, the Bible, the Zohar, the Vishvasara Tantra, the Hermetica (amongst others), as well as quotes from or references to Wirth, Origen, Papus, Bergson, Goethe, Kant, Eliphas Lévi, Nietzsche, d’Olivet, Péladan, Philip de Lyons, Plato, Albertus Magnus, and Sts Anthony, Teresa, John of the Cross, Augustine, Bonaventure, Francis of Assisi, Thomas Aquinas, and the Buddha (in addition to those previously mentioned, ie, Steiner et al.). Each quote or reference is carefully selected and artfully placed.

Of Tarot’s history, the UA states (ibid.):

The authors who saw in the Tarot the ‘Sacred Book of Thoth’ (Thoth = Hermes Trismegistus) were both right and wrong at the same time. They were right in so far as they traced back the history of the essence of the Tarot to antiquity, notably to ancient Egypt. And they were wrong in so far as they believed that the Tarot had been inherited from ancient Egypt, i.e. that it had been transmitted from generation to generation subject to minor iconographic changes.

This work ranks amongst the classics of mysticism, gnosis and magic – the three pathways into Hermeticism. For all serious Tarot enthusiasts, and for all aspirants walking the Occidental Spiritual paths, I would recommend it without reservation, and invite you to share with others a journey of discovery into the book’s incredible wealth.

Each session will begin with a quiet time for reflection on the card image upon which the Letter is based, followed by, alternately, either a presentation introducing some of the sources used by the author of the work, or a discussion based on the content, its insights, and, when appropriate, its consequences.

To participate in this Melbourne-based event, please download the brochure:

> download pdf brochure (280KB)

Download Pamphlet

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