Tarot is not Kabbalah (and a brief review of The Raziel Tarot)

Many tarot decks show Hebrew letters on the Major Arcana cards. This supposedly indicates a long-standing connection between Tarot and the Jewish mystical traditions of Kabbalah. In fact, however, the tarot cards were created in Renaissance Europe, a Christian culture. It was only their continued development in the European cultural milieu that eventually led to the grafting of a faux Jewish mysticism onto the tarot.

The origins of tarot are distinct from those of Kabbalah. However, from its beginnings, Christian culture has appropriated and altered some aspects of an imagined Judaism (rather than actual Judaism). For more information about the reasons for Renaissance Europe's interest in Kabbalah, read The Rape of Jewish Mysticism by Christian Theologians by Robert Wang.

By the the mid-19th century, faux Kabbalah had become a part of Western occultism. Éliphas Lévi posited a link between the Major Arcana cards and paths on the Tree of Life. According to Donald Tyson, it was in the 1880s that Golden Dawn founder, William Wynn Westcott, attributed specific Hebrew letters to each of the Major Arcana cards of the tarot deck.

Earlier occultists had created a list of astrological correspondences to the cards. Relying on those correspondences and his own quirky translation of a 4th century, Jewish text, the Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott determined additional correspondences between those astronomical symbols and the Hebrew letters. For example, earlier tarot occultists had associated The Empress card of the Major Arcana with planet Venus, and in Westcott's translation of Sefer Yetzirah, Venus is associated with the letter dalet; so he concluded that The Empress was also connected with the letter dalet.

Jewish Kabbalah is not an intrinsic part of tarot, but today, Jewish tarot writers such as Isabel Radow-Kleigman and Rachel Pollack, are bringing authentic Jewish ideas and Jewish spirituality to the tarot. I appreciate that, and I want to explore the possibilities that connecting the two traditions might offer. So, although I am doubtful that including Hebrew letters on the cards is a meaningful exercise, I am willing to explore the idea.

The first Hebrew letter, alef (א), is often ascribed to The Fool, the first card of the Major Arcana. The last Hebrew letter, tav (ת), is ascribed to The World, the last card of the Major Arcana.

However, for nearly 100 years before Westcott compiled his Hebrew letter correspondences, tarot cards had been printed with numbers on the Major Arcana cards. (French occultist Jean-Baptiste Alliette, aka Etteilla, numbered the Major Arcana cards in his 1789 occult deck.)

To maintain the practice of numbering the cards, The World would be ḳhaf-alef (כא), 21, not tav (ת), which is the number 400. As there is no zero in the Hebrew numbering system, The Fool would be left without a Hebrew letter. However, Wescott was probably unaware of the numerical values of the Hebrew letters.

The correspondences between astrological symbols and the Major Arcana cards does seem reasonable, since astrology was a significant part of the Renaissance culture in which tarot began. However, dragging Hebrew letters into that mix is problematic. It may be a step away from the intentions of earlier tarot designers. It is certainly leagues away from the intentions of the meditation teachers who composed the Sefer Yetzirah.

Although the Sefer Yetzirah was composed during a period of intense syncretism between various Mediterranean cultures, religions, and philosophies, there is no link between that text and the much later Renaissance European culture which produced the tarot.

Rav Kohent Jill Hammer
photo from kohenet.com

Furthermore, it seems unlikely that teachers of the meditation techniques presented in the Sefer Yetzirah intended a literal connection between the letters, days, organs, planets, or other items mentioned in the text.

If literal correlation had been intended, each version of the text would link the same planets to the "double letters" (the BeGeD KeFeT letters), but in fact, different texts present different correspondences. For example, the letter dalet (ד) is linked to the Sun in one version of the text, to Mars in another, and to Venus in yet another version of the text.

Rabbi Jill Hammer teaches that the Sefer Yetzirah was intended to offer meditative practices, "not to inform." According to Rabbi Hammer, the focus of the Sefer Yetzirah is the creative power of the Hebrew language, and the goal of its meditative practices is contact with the Source of Creation.

The Sefer Yetzirah is a meditation manual. It does not teach anything about tarot cards, which were created ten centuries after the Sefer Yetzirah was composed.

There is no authentic connection between the Sefer Yetzirah, or other Jewish Kabbalistic traditions, and the tarot. So, if we do wish to place Hebrew letters on the Major Arcana, we might first consider the attributions already given the cards by European occultists.

Four versions of the Sefer Yetzirah, as well as the Christian influenced Golden Dawn, agree as to the association of the simple letters to the constellations, and to the association of the mother letters to the three celestial elements of air, water, and fire. (See chart below.) So, for now, let's accept Westcott's further association of the Hebrew simple letters and mother letters with the tarot cards he attributed to those letters.

However, a difficulty arises connecting the double letters with celestial bodies. There are several different sets of correspondences between the Hebrew double letters and the seven planets. Section 4.8 in the chart shows correspondences in the Gra-Ari Version of the Sefer Yetzirah, in the Short and Long Versions of the Sefer Yetzirah, and in Donald Tyson's work.

Summary of attributions for Mother Letters, Double Letters, and Simple Letters

In the next few paragraphs, I'll show you how correspondences based on different versions of Sefer Yetzirah radically alter the traditional progression of the tarot Majors. Then I'll show you how the amended Golden Dawn more closely maintains the traditional progression of the cards as well as the order of the Hebrew letters.

Gra-Ari Version: If we relied on the correspondences from the Gra-Ari version (influenced by the later Zohar) of the Sefer Yetzirah, the result would be the following series of cards:

1 Priestess (Moon - Bet)
2 Tower (Mars - Gimmel)
3 Wheel (Sun - Dalet)
10 Empress (Venus - Kaf)
16 Magician (Mercury - Peh)
19 World (Saturn - Reish)
21 Sun (Jupiter - Tav)

In 19th Century occult thought, the High Priestess card was connected with the moon. In the Gra-Ari version of the Sefer Yetzirah, the moon is mentioned in connection to the letter bet. Thus, according to Wescott's rationale, the Hebrew letter bet should be associated with the High Priestess card of the tarot deck.

It muddies the waters further to point out that Tav is really the 23rd letter of the Hebrew alphabet, since Šin and Śin are different letters that form different Hebrew root words. In other words, is the Judgment card Šin or Śin, and why aren't there 23 Major Arcana cards? (And what about ghayin, the lost letter, that fell out of use?)

Short and Long Versions: If we used the correspondences of the Short Version or the Long Version of the Sefer Yetzirah, the result order of the first few Major Arcana cards would be as follows:

1 World (Saturn - Bet)
2 Sun (Jupiter - Gimmel)
3 Tower (Mars - Dalet)
10 Wheel (Sun - Kaf)
16 Empress (Venus - Peh)
19 Magician (Mercury - Reish)
21 Priestess (Moon - Tav)

In these versions of the Sefer Yetzirah, Saturn is mentioned in connection to the letter bet. In 19th Century occult thought, Saturn is connected to the World card. Thus, according to Wescott's rationale, the Hebrew letter bet should be associated with the World card of the tarot deck.

However, if we rely on Donald Tyson's amended Golden Dawn attributions, which he carefully considered, we would maintain the order of the double letters and something close to the order of the tarot majors, switching only the traditional positions of The Priestess and The Magician (and, among the simple letters, the positions of The Chariot and Temperance).

1 Priestess (Moon - Bet)
2 Magician (Mercury - Gimmel)
3 Empress (Venus - Dalet)
10 Wheel (Sun - Kaf)
16 Tower (Mars - Peh)
19 Sun (Jupiter - Reish)
21 World (Saturn - Tav)

The Fool as the
Biblical Yosef,
a fool and a visionary.

Any connection between the Hebrew letters and the cards is tenuous, so I see no compelling reason to make any changes to the correspondences presented by Donald Tyson. The appendix of his book, Portable Magic: Tarot is the Only Tool You Need, contains his rationale for the changes he made to the Golden Dawn system.

Since astrology is not part of my practice, I am not at all concerned with the astrological correspondences of the cards. It would be more interesting to consider other associations from Sefer Yetzirah, such the pairs of qualities associated with Double Letters, the months and tribes associated with Simple Letters, the elements associated with the Mother Letters, as well as the meanings of the letters' names.

For example, these are meanings of the Double Letters:

• Bet - house
• Gimmel - camel
• Dalet - door
• Kaf - palm or sole
• Peh - mouth
• Reish - poverty
• Tav - sign

These are pairs of qualities associated with the Double Letters:

• Bet - Wisdom and Folly
• Gimmel - Wealth and Poverty
• Dalet - Seed and Desolation
• Kaf - Life and Death
• Peh - Dominance and Subjugation
• Reish - Peace and War
• Tav - Grace and Ugliness

The Raziel Tarot: If you are interested in obtaining a tarot deck created specifically with Jewish ideas in mind, consider obtaining the majors-only deck, The Raziel Tarot, by tarot greats, Robert Place and Rachel Pollack. (Sefer Raziel is a Jewish Kabbalistic text; some portions of it are of slightly greater antiquity than the Sefer Yetzirah.)

In the Raziel deck, Hebrew letters appear on the following Marjor Arcana cards:

• א appears on The Fool
• מ appears on The Empress
• The mother letters, אמש, appear on The Lovers and on Temperance
• the root צדק appears on Justice
• a portion of the word שָׁלוֹם appears on Strength
• the letters י and ב appear on the pillars Boaz and Yachin of The High Priestess, and the garment worn by her contains numerous letters, including some final forms

The Raziel Tarot shows only two of the mother letters: Alef (א) for air and Mem (מ) for water. Pollack and Place did not chose to include the penultimate letter, Šin/Śin (ש), which is associated with creative fire. I wonder which Major Arcana card could be linked reasonably with the third mother letter ש. What do you think?

The Empress as Miriam the Prophet, whose life
included many events associated with water.

Journey to the Temple

I am going to go to the Upperword to ask my teacher to show me the temple that I should be working in.

I'm on the balcony, looking at the branches blowing in the breeze and their shadows against the wall. I call to Hummingbird.

We're flying up into the clouds. They feel cool and dry. We're flying further than usual. There's the city. We fly towards it.

There's the great plaza of white stone and the stairways-- and Asherah is waiting for me. At the top of a flight of stairs. Hummingbird drops me off. I bow.

Hello.

She knew I was coming.

I'd like to see the temple.

She gestures and I walk next to her as we climb the stairs. More stairs. The buildings are different than on my first visit long ago. We keep walking up stairs. I look to our left and see an ocean. We climb more stairs. I see a narrow alley to our right. We climb more stairs. We just passed the door to the room where I was bathed and dressed. We climb more stairs and suddenly we're at the top of the city. There's a plaza. (No one else is there, but it doesn't feel abandoned as the area I think of as the port seems.)

There's a building with enormous, brown doors beyond a fountain in the center of the plaza. We walk toward the fountain and I expect to see a tree by it. I look for a tree but I don't see one there or anywhere else in the plaza. I hear the water splashing in a beautiful, simple fountain. There's ivy on one of the walls around the plaza. We approach the doors and they open for us.

It's dark inside. I expect a cathedral with pews, but there is a row of pillars down the center of the space. They go on and on, endlessly.

We stop by the closest pillar, the central row. There's a cup and a basin and we wash our hands. Asherah covers her eyes and seems to recite a prayer. I stand silently next to her, not knowing what to do.

We circle this pillar several times, like a bride circling the groom. I see pillars along the sides of the space, too. She gestures up the space between the central pillars and the row of pillars on our left. We approach the closest pillar on the left, she has me touch it, like I'd touch a mezuzah. Then we walk over to the closest pillar on the right and she has me touch that one, too. Then we go to a central pillar.

I wonder if these pillars represent sfirot. One's missing! I wonder if the plaza was Malchut.

We touch three more pillars, left, right, and center. I'm confused. Are we at Tiferet now? Or Da'at? But Da'at isn't real. And humans can't rise that high.

We must be at Tiferet. The room changes. It's bright now. There are two thrones. There's a mirror behind us. I'm very confused about where I am. I want to leave, but I don't say anything.

Asherah leads me to the two thrones. They are empty. I want Alan and Bonnie to be sitting in them.

There is someone siting in them, but I don't know who. I can't see them.

Asherah, I'm afraid. I asked you to bring me here, but I'm afraid.

I don't want to be near the thrones, so I ask her to show me the rest of the room.

There are large windows. One looks out at an ocean, not in the direction I would have expected the ocean to be. Another window looks out on fire-- I'm afraid again. She takes me to the earth window, where I see fields and trees. I see a great mountain through the air window.

She takes me back to the thrones. I'm not sure who is on them. I'm afraid. I look around the room again. The water window-- the view has changed; it's underwater. It's like looking into an aquarium. I'm afraid of the fire window and try not to look at it. The earth window is beautiful. Through the air window, I see an eagle soaring near the mountain.

Asherah, I don't feel comfortable in this place. I don't belong here.

She kneels in front of the thrones and I join her. She puts her arm around me. She's praying. I begin to repeat Sh'ma. We stay like this for a very long time.

Asherah sits on the throne to my right. Who is the male figure? Why is she on the right hand throne?
Then I am sitting on the throne next to Asherah.

Shalom, shalom, shalom.

We're holding hands, like my father and I did once when my mother was in surgery. I'm on the "male" throne and Asherah is on the "female" throne. [I was wrong: the male pillar is on the right and femal on the left, when facing the Tree of Life.] Behind me, to the right, is the air. Behind us, to the left, is the water. We see fire and earth. I only look into the earth window on the right. There's a mirror where we entered. It's image is not clear. Asherah is growing tall. Bright light. I don't want to see what I'm turning into. I don't want to be a dark figure, but I think I am. I'm afraid of the fire window. I cling to Asherah's hand.

We stand. I'm looking at our reflections in the mirror. She's a great, white light. I'm small and dark.

She asks me to face her. She hold both my hands. The darkness flows out of my head towards her. Her white light flows into my hands and my heart. She's filling me with light. My darkness dissolves inside her.

I can see my heart.

Asherah, I don't understand this.

I feel empty. I feel sad.

The black and white. They are balanced in me. Her white has some silver-gray in it.

She has me lie on the floor. She crosses my hands over my chest, like a mummy. My head is pointing toward the place where we entered. I don't see the windows any more. I'm crying. Her hands are on my hands and she sits with me.

Part of me is crying and part of me is thinking about how long it will take to type up this journey.

I don't understand what is happening.  

Come, I will lead you out, she says.

She helps me rise. The thrones are gone. We walk into the darkened temple. We leave more quickly than we arrived. We're in the plaza now. I asked if I can hug her. We hold each other. Asherah holds me. Then we walk back down the stairs. The ocean is there. The light is bright. We walk down stairs. At the top of the lowest flight of stairs, Hummingbird comes and carries me [down] through the clouds. And I'm on the balcony.

Thank you.

I'm back.

[Recording 10]

The Page of Cups

Several weeks ago, I created a diagram linking the sixteen court cards to the sixteen personalities of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. I am now comparing what I know about each of the Pages to the Myers-Briggs types I've assigned to them.

The Page of Cups wears a painter's pallet hanging from her belt. She is dressed in a white tunic that is trimmed with a pattern of water lilies reminding me of eastern meditation. Like all the pages, her hair is long and luxuriant; this page wears a tiara of pearls. Her sandals are sturdy. In her right hand is a glowing, golden cup that has a silver mermaid on it. (There ought to be a word for metal-on-metal work. Perhaps there is?) A flying fish appears half out of the cup. The page's left hand is on her hip and she stands casually while watching the fish.

Sometimes this figure seems to be the same person as the figure on The Fool card of the Major Arcana.

The Page of Cups standing on a boardwalk above the ocean, and the sky behind her, according to artist Robin Wood, is upside down. "The gradient suggests the evening sky, but in reverse... it's far more ordinary for the pink to be at the bottom. So this person may stand your expectations on end."

Pages represent innocence and Cups represent joyful emotions. Receiving this card may indicate that a young person (or person who is young at heart) will enter the seeker's like, and that her trusting, sunny personality will renew the seeker's love of life. The person represented by this page is very different than anyone else and offers mental or spiritual stimulation that may lead others to express themselves artistically.

Robin Wood gave this page a crown of pearls "to show her affinity with the ocean." The ocean symbolizes so much: life itself, change, turbulence and calm, emotions, obstacles, the subconscious, depths, the unknown, the power and mystery of nature, something primal that existed before creation, and the feminine divine.  

Water represents intuition. Intuition is an essential characteristic for human beings, it helps us make good decisions, protects us from danger, and if cultivated, can make us supremely expressive artists. This adolescent is listening to her heart's intuition, allowing her inner voice to develop. 

Water symbolizes emotions. Remember, pages are young inexperienced; this card can represent emotional immaturity or being too absorbed in an emotional situation, caught up in it and loosing herself. It may also represent someone who is unable to express or even understand her emotions.

In the book, Tarot Wisdom, Rachel Pollack refers to the expression "still waters run deep,' in connection with the Page of Cups, but in most decks, the page is looking into a cup, not a great depth. When this card appears in romantic readings, I sometimes remind the Seeker that there are other sharks in the sea.

Water also symbolizes the subconscious. Rachel Pollack's meaning for the reversed Page of Pentacles is "troubled by things that come from the imagination or the subconscious."

The intuitive abilities of Wand court cards may be expressed in mysticism, while the intuitive abilities of the Cup court cards, may lead them to become psychics.

This card may represent a spiritual quest or an attempt to make things right, as in the period of introspection before the High Holy Days. Robin Wood gave the page a white tunic "to show her purity." The lilies at the hem of the tunic make me think of Hindu philosophies and meditation.

When this card represents a person, it may be a spiritual person, someone with "beginner's mind." I wish I remembered who taught me the following insightful interpretation of this card: the Page of Cups is not surprised or horrified by the fish in her cup; she is open to all new experiences because she has not expectation of what ought to be. 

The suit of cups often suggests that someone is being unrealistic or, more seriously, that someone is out of touch with reality. While the Page of Cups does seem dreamy, I don't feel she's as far gone into illusion or delusion as the Queen of Cups sometimes seems to be.

Occasionally, I get the impression that the page is studying her emotions intently. In some situation and with a wise therapist or guide, analyzing emotions might sometimes be a necessary exercise. However, generally, emotions should be felt and expressed in some way. Joanna Powell Colbert writes of this card, "She needs to embrace her emotions, dreams, and imagination, and let her heart be filled."

Water and cups can represent the womb. The development of a single embryo, parallels the evolution of its species. We were once sea creatures. So perhaps this card indicates the early stages of a pregnancy, a literal or a metaphorical fertilization.

There is a spectrum of meanings in each card; Sometime her cup will be Josef's cup of vision, and at other times, it may represent alcoholism. This card indicates absorption of some kind; the fish in her cup is her entire world at this moment. The Gaian image is sunnier; the child's gentle eyes gaze into the future and in her eyes, we can almost see the wise old woman she may become. 

In my chart of MBTI and tarot court card correspondences, the Page of Cups is aligned with ENFJ. Wikipedia describes this type as "caring, enthusiastic, idealistic, organized, diplomatic, responsible" and asserts that they are "skilled communicators who value connection with people."

Could this tarot image reflect the ENFJ type? Perhaps this child could grow into a skilled communicator, but I think this correspondence is a fail.

Page of Swords

I am continuing to compare the court cards, specifically the Pages, to the Myers-Briggs types. In this post, I will consider whether the Page of Swords is truly aligned with the ISTJ personality.

Robin Wood Tarot

Pages are a link between the Major Arcana and the Minor. They are portrayed as recipients of the divine gifts represented by the ace their suit. The Page of Swords already has a firm grasp of these gifts, intellect and communication.

In the Robin Wood deck, the Page of Swords runs into the wind, moving forward gracefully, almost soaring over the ground. Her shadow falls behind her, indicating that she is looking into the sun. She holds her sword aloft in both hands, as if to deliver it rather than wield it. Her long hair, loosely bound with yellow ribbons and white feathers, flows behind her. Her tunic is like that of the goddess Artemis, short enough not to impede her movements. The tunic is light blue with white clouds near the hem and yellow strip above the elbows. She wears blue slippers that reach to her ankles; their white cuffs suggest the wings of the god Mercury. Wind bends the grass beneath her, a slight smile dimples her cheek, and a telescope hangs from her white belt.

Traditionally, pages represent messengers. The wings of Mercury at her ankles and the way she carries the sword, as if delivering it to someone, reflect that interpretation. This page may also represent a spy; scouting out the land with her telescope.

The telescope hanging from her white belt may also indicate her vision, the ability to see great distances, into the future, or into the truth of a matter. Since, at the moment she is running into the sun her vision is hampered. Of all the pages, she seems most in need of a mentor. The right guide will recognize her gift of vision and help her develop it for positive ends.

Swords symbolize communication. Quite often the Page of Swords indicates someone who uses words to wound. Words can be a tool for good and they can be a weapon in a just cause, but this young Fool may enjoy using words to hurt others; his or her intellect is engaged in observing which words cut most deeply and where people are most vulnerable. The Page of Swords, as a spy, may also engage in spreading disinformation.

There may be unacknowledged anger in this figure. The Page of Swords does not have the emotional awareness of Cups or the grounding of Pentacles. A mentor could be an example to her that truly intelligent people are kind; their hearts and minds work together.

In this case, the communication aspect of the suit may suggest that this Page is "full of hot air." This adolescent is posing, trying on a persona. Despite the movement so clearly depicted in the image, I have the impressions that this figure is posing and I wonder how long she can maintain that pose.

In addition to intellect and communication, Swords can also represent idealism and justice. Will this page grow into the knight in shining armor represented by the Knight of Swords? This very bright page needs a guide and mentor to help her consider her thoughts and beliefs and to develop her potential into intellectual honesty and clarity.

Swords also symbolize clarity of thought. Robin Wood writes, “The sky all around is full of clouds, except for the area around the sword. This shows that the knowledge gained is clearing up the clouds of confusion, misdirection, and uncertainty… all the secrets are being revealed.”

The day is blustery, with clouds scudding across the sky and the dry grasses bending in the wind. This card may indicate a rush of mental activity without concrete achievement. The Page of Swords is reckless and impatient. Robin Wood’s title for this card has always stuck in my head: “Don’t run with scissors!” So this card may advise caution. Don't rush into action without learning more about the situation.

Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot

Although movement is vividly depicted in this card, I often find myself asking the figure, “How long can you hold this pose?” Pages are immature; they are an archetype of adolescence. Teenagers often try on different personas. This figure seems competent and full of confidence, but does this reflect reality? Real confidence comes from experience and, as yet, this young person has none. She doesn't have enough training or experience to use the sword responsibly, she hasn’t considered what causes are worth fighting for, she isn't aware of how much more she has to learn. She has chosen a persona before she knows who she is. She needs the intuition of the Wands and the self-reflection of the Cups. This page has selected a persona without first understanding who she really is.

I find it helpful to keep certain images from the Rider-Waite-Smith deck in mind when I read. In that deck, the image of the Page of Swords shows someone whose fears have grown into unnatural proportions and who is constantly looking over his shoulder. This card often appears for people who suffer from PTSD or other anxiety disorders.

In my chart of MBTI and tarot court card correspondences, the Page of Swords is aligned with ISTJ. Wikipedia describes this type as "responsible, sincere, analytical, reserved, realistic, systematic" and asserts that they are "hardworking and trustworthy with sound practical judgment."

Unfortunately, I have to call this correspondence a fail. The Page of Swords represents an adolescent who needs some qualities of the other three elements before she can use her intellect to good purpose and be trustworthy or practical.