Nine Nine
hroughout its history, the Tarot has been used as a means of enlightened storytelling. In this capacity, it has served as both a social game and a private oracle.
When used in the context of a game that includes minimal storytelling, such as in the traditional game of Tarocchi, the symbolic meanings contained in the Triumphs generally do not come into play. At most, they perhaps assist players in appreciating the hierarchical nature of the Triumphs as they are used to trump other cards and capture tricks. This particular utility of the cards, furthering a method of competitive play in games of chance, enabled their continuous popularity and ensured their survival beyond the late medieval era.
Used in the context of divination, the symbolic meanings, intuitive gestalts, and overall vision contained within each distinctive Triumph define the reading, guidance, and wisdom of a worldview founded upon ancient yet perennial knowledge and authentic spiritual realization. That wisdom is made available by playing the Tarot, and may be freely drawn upon by every beholder of a traditional spread of Triumphs.
Combined as both a game and an oracle, the Tarot lends itself to a unique type of social play and personal edification. When integrated with interactive technology, the Image-Exemplars can become animated stories combining text with visuals, sounds with passages, education with seduction, and identity with mystery.
The present work has not been the appropriate place to explore the use of Tarot cards in the context of divinatory storytelling. However, the reader is warmly invited to explore companion projects of this book, published in both electronic and material forms, which are creatively oriented toward oracular game play.
Although written in a demeanor more suited for this book’s scholarly tone, the following may serve as an introduction to the above. This chapter, then, summarizes essential meanings and stories that may be found in the Trionfi.
| Traditional Triumph: | MAGICIAN |
| Immortal Name: | Self |
| Sufi Station: | Independent |
| Station: | 0 |
| Stages: | 1–6 |
| Pole: | Individual |
| Cosmic Level: | Corporeal Consciousness |
| Social Level: | Archaic Oneness |
| Questor Level: | Development Already |
Keys:
Eyes are all around
Inscrutably strategic
Making the trivial crucially important
Mastering deception
Seeing the course from the obstacles
Guiding professionally, thieving honestly
Showing up at all the right places
Strengths:
Manages the impossible
Knows how death rules
Always remembers the map
Flows with young and old
Is in the confidence of all
Evinces perfect timing
Multitasks without confusion
Dangers:
Minor slips can be catastrophic
All distraction must be controlled
Effortless effort may become illusory
Stressing when playing, undermining work
Manipulation disposing simple joys
True intentions questioned by honest folk
Pretension of emptiness cannot face death
| Traditional Triumph: | EMPRESS |
| Immortal Name: | Land |
| Sufi Station: | Influencer |
| Station: | 1 |
| Stages: | 1 |
| Pole: | Communal |
| Cosmic Stage: | Inertial Density |
| Social Stage: | Matriarchal Agriculture |
| Questor Stage: | Physical Settlement |
Keys:
Foundational worldview
Mothering the commons
Keeping it all simple
Even the lowest can be spiritual
Nascent prima mater
Dignified representation
Innocently playing Strengths:
Stays the course, keeps it true
Immediately feels wrongness
Material plentitude
Stable cycle of fertility
Stated goals from the start
Peaceful commencement
Universal human rights
Dangers:
Material reductionism and shortsightedness
Limited by too many pawns
Location and status drawing wrong attention
Naïvely believing in privileged rights
Getting stuck in constant obligations
Obsessing on sustenance and possession
Conflating fashion and fad with Eros
| Traditional Triumph: | POPESS |
| Immortal Name: | Home |
| Sufi Station: | Supporter |
| Station: | 2 |
| Stages: | 1 |
| Pole: | Individual |
| Cosmic Stage: | Distinct Identity |
| Social Stage: | Magical Peace |
| Questor Stage: | Grounded Sensation |
Keys:
Keeping up the gardens
Pointing seekers to the path
Dwelling in seclusion
Holding matriarchal authority
Consorting with questors
Assisting to find the keys
Introducing real opportunity
Strengths:
Paradisiacal vision
Communal heart
Source of potency
Attraction of pure pleasantry
Commonsensical preparation
Helps champions along the way
Heals and bestows another chance
Dangers:
Banal simulacrum confused with real thing
Facile process of representation
Possession displacing growth
Fear of advancing beyond safety
Reducing paths to relative sameness
Becoming lost in sensual pleasure
Blocking access beyond the familiar
| Traditional Triumph: | EMPEROR |
| Immortal Name: | Trade |
| Sufi Station: | Knower |
| Station: | 3 |
| Stages: | 2 |
| Pole: | Communal |
| Cosmic Stage: | Polar Division |
| Social Stage: | Patriarchal Civilization |
| Questor Stage: | Sexual Extension |
Keys:
Militant righteousness
Serving politics
Sexual motivation
Contracting obligations
Establishing alchemy
Measuring and weighing
Producing fertile grounds
Strengths:
Political balance
Incisive clarity
Civilized governance
Mythic leadership
Industrial efficiency
Willfully enables courage
Forms corporate structure
Dangers:
Pathological warfare
Emotional instability
Arrogant justification of violence
Sexual addiction
Intensification of uncontrolled reaction
Ignoring rationale beyond the politics
Reducing values to structure
| Traditional Triumph: | POPE |
| Immortal Name: | Travel |
| Sufi Station: | Victorious |
| Station: | 4 |
| Stages: | 2 |
| Pole: | Individual |
| Cosmic Stage: | Organic Symmetry |
| Social Stage: | Mythical Ritual |
| Questor Stage: | Dramatic Emotion |
Keys:
Moral arbitration
Survival of the fittest
Enabling meaningful rituals
Maintaining patriarchal authority
Formalizing ideals
Perpetuating traditions
Bonding realms together
Strengths:
Legendary path-making
Governs fairly and equally
Promotes strong structure
Balances strategies
Upholds honor
Informs the masses
Champions natural relationship
Dangers:
Controlling through bondage
Believing in male superiority
Disregarding danger to others
Dualistic conviction projecting evil
Moralistic restriction of common liberty
Dramatic tragedy
Provincial obligations serving little purpose
| Traditional Triumph: | TEMPERANCE |
| Immortal Name: | Education |
| Sufi Station: | Light |
| Station: | 5 |
| Stages: | 3 |
| Pole: | Communal |
| Cosmic Stage: | Field Integrity |
| Social Stage: | Appropriate Technology |
| Questor Stage: | Intentional Responsibility |
Keys:
Moving with the flow
Cycling energy
Adopting a mature attitude
Drawing up, washing down
Managing opposites
Establishing proper limits
Rhythmic patterning
Strengths:
Responsible relationship
Intelligent diplomacy
Harmonious engagement
Healthy growth
Humane civility
Cooperative exchanges
Integration of opposition
Dangers:
Indecisive flexibility
Diluting focus
Overextending boundaries
Indiscriminately blending distinctions
Excusing behavior of avoidance
Tolerating corruption beyond repair
Attempting to appease evil
| Traditional Triumph: | LOVE |
| Immortal Name: | Communion |
| Sufi Station: | Form Giver |
| Station: | 6 |
| Stages: | 3 |
| Pole: | Individual |
| Cosmic Stage: | Harmonic Resonance |
| Social Stage: | Rational Belief |
| Questor Stage: | Intimate Reason |
Keys:
To go high, first go low
Erotic tolerance
Communally procreative
Three becoming the myriad
Envisioning together
Building cooperative community
Positively projecting
Strengths:
Motivational growth
Stable alchemy
Logical optimism
Respectful communication
Holistic wellness
Common intelligence
Serves neighbor as self
Dangers:
Excessive liberality
Uncontrollably caught in the stream
Falling for desire
Blindly being swept away
Hiding under a partner’s skirt
Revealing too much
Bleeding heart through sympathy
| Traditional Triumph: | CHARIOT |
| Immortal Name: | Mission |
| Sufi Station: | Reckoner |
| Station: | 7 |
| Stages: | 4 |
| Pole: | Communal |
| Cosmic Stage: | Hierarchical Phasing |
| Social Stage: | Interactive Media |
| Questor Stage: | Spiritual Charge |
Keys:
Skills in action
Family fidelity
Spiritual conduction
Sharing psychic awareness
Driving one’s own fate
Actualizing success
Adhering to authenticity
Strengths:
Growth through innovation
Transpersonal interaction
Wards community
Seductively educates
Sustains productivity
Deals with the challenges
Leads the way forward
Dangers:
Zealous evangelization
Provincial conceit
Addictive rushes
Caste supremacy
Domineering control
Abandoning responsibility
Taking charge of too much
| Traditional Triumph: | FORTITUDE |
| Immortal Name: | Allegiance |
| Sufi Station: | Guardian |
| Station: | 8 |
| Stages: | 4 |
| Pole: | Individual |
| Cosmic Stage: | Progressive Emergence |
| Social Stage: | Psychological Confidence |
| Questor Stage: | Fantastic Intuition |
Keys:
Spinal energy
Necessary restraint
Leonine leadership
Confidential alignment
Strengthening psychic ability
Regulating intensity
Enduring the struggle
Strengths:
Magnetic attraction
Charismatic direction
Therapeutically heals
Sublimates alchemy
Guards real value
Generates incredible potential
Administers coherent order
Dangers:
Dissipative friction through blockage
Stressing limits too far
Reinforcing militancy
Restricting liberty
Holding back too much
Inflating egotism
Commitments that keep arresting flow
| Traditional Triumph: | WHEEL |
| Immortal Name: | Karma |
| Sufi Station: | Curtailer |
| Station: | 9 |
| Stages: | 5 |
| Pole: | Communal |
| Cosmic Stage: | Synchronic Interdependence |
| Social Stage: | Native Design |
| Questor Stage: | Ancestral Memory |
Keys:
Indiscriminate fortune
Emptiness beyond the zero point
Coincidence of integral quadrants
Gestating wholes
Subtle beyond control
Cycling patterns of nature
Apparently randomizing outcomes
Strengths:
Unquestioning devotion
Great traditional spirituality
Inexplicable luck
Flows with synchronicity
Learns from history
Lets it all be
Handles the lows with the highs
Dangers:
Banal conceits
Delusions of grandeur
Schizophrenic psychosis
Pervasive illusion
Losing centeredness while transiting
Believing in dualistic extremes
Conflating subtle ego with transcendence
| Traditional Triumph: | HERMIT |
| Immortal Name: | Gnosis |
| Sufi Station: | Living |
| Station: | 10 |
| Stages: | 5 |
| Pole: | Individual |
| Cosmic Stage: | Spontaneous Contingency |
| Social Stage: | Subtle Awareness |
| Questor Stage: | Sublimated Virtue |
Keys:
Synchronic spontaneity
Extreme sublimation
Sudden awakening
Intimate communion
Arch-protector of essence
Opening doors of perception
Upholding the staff of life
Strengths:
Peaceful equanimity
Wisdom of insecurity
Third-eye radiance
Authenticating spiritual initiation
Tasting enlightenment
Discerning the ineffable
Sharing the gift of grace
Dangers:
Occult secrecy
Cynical conceit
Total pretension
Nihilistic angst
Ascetic withdrawal into avoidance
Projecting meaning into randomness
Losing commonsense ground
| Traditional Triumph: | HANGED MAN |
| Immortal Name: | Conversion |
| Sufi Station: | Quickener |
| Station: | 11 |
| Stages: | 6 |
| Pole: | Communal |
| Cosmic Stage: | Holistic Source |
| Social Stage: | Alchemical Biosphere |
| Questor Stage: | Mindful Insight |
Keys:
Invisible implicate order
Environmental wholeness
Greatly returning
Converting self-identity
Watching the moment
Witnessing the process
Transcending sexual impulse
Strengths:
Channel of nectar
Whole brain consciousness
Alchemical touchstone
Utter heartfullness
Integrates body-mind-soul
Sees beyond subtle phantasm
Keeps aware
Dangers:
Involuntary induction
Incoherent distraction
Endemic stupidity
Mind awash in excessive detail
Abandonment of social responsibility
Systemic freeze-up and meltdown
Being pulled under by the flow
| Traditional Triumph: | DEATH |
| Immortal Name: | Mortality |
| Sufi Station: | Slayer |
| Station: | 12 |
| Stages: | 6 |
| Pole: | Individual |
| Cosmic Stage: | Integral Causality |
| Social Stage: | Soulful Witnessing |
| Questor Stage: | Historical Sacrifice |
Keys:
Alpha and omega
Only a fleeting moment
Evolving organismic nature
Coming and going but never staying
Constantly changing
Evolving out of phases
Releasing karma and rebinding soul
Strengths:
Self-realization of wisdom
Awakens all at once
Cuts the root of delusion
Moves with the wind
Feels to the bones’ marrow
Masters nature
Communes beyond ancestors
Dangers:
Abject denial
Peace-breaking nihilism
Effort leading only to tragedy
Chasing the chase itself
Spiraling into self-destruction
Believing in apocalyptic finality
Swiftly riding to nowhere
| Traditional Triumph: | DEVIL |
| Immortal Name: | Afterlife |
| Sufi Station: | Degrader |
| Station: | 13 |
| Stages: | 7 |
| Pole: | Communal |
| Cosmic Stage: | Transformative Genesis |
| Social Stage: | Impossible Complexity |
| Questor Stage: | Masterful Initiation |
Keys:
Earthbound triune
First, last, and only
Guarding the gates of divinity
Entering the underworld
Generating soul in the world
Wandering immortal realms
Changing beyond belief
Strengths:
Creative destruction
Utterly exposes illusion
Accesses eros regardless of challenge
Cuts through spiritual materialism
Makes the unreachable attainable
Breaks the barriers to enlightenment
Empowers beyond thresholds of fear
Dangers:
Megalomania
Endemic corruption
Nested deceit, deception, and denial
Spreading self-destruction
Taking from many, contracting to one
Losing innocence and simplicity
Arresting the whole process
| Traditional Triumph: | TOWER |
| Immortal Name: | Rebirth |
| Sufi Station: | Preciously Valued |
| Station: | 14 |
| Stages: | 7 |
| Pole: | Individual |
| Cosmic Stage: | Regenerative Chaos |
| Social Stage: | Catastrophic Awakening |
| Questor Stage: | Catalytic Ecstasy |
Keys:
Lightening strikes
Arrow of the sun
Contained fusion reaction
Legendary treasure
Sacrificing beyond death
Regenerating spinal fire
Channeling the great daimon
Strengths:
Cauldron of immortal alchemy
Cultivation of ancient mystery
Transcendental access
Extreme potency
Mindful transformation
Supranatural assistance
Awakens kundalini
Dangers:
Unstoppable disruption
Grandiose delusion
Morass of information
Addiction to pleasure
Interminable exhaustion
Prolonging detrimental avoidance
Damning to hellfire
| Traditional Triumph: | STAR |
| Immortal Name: | Grace |
| Sufi Station: | Nourisher |
| Station: | 15 |
| Stages: | 8 |
| Pole: | Communal |
| Cosmic Stage: | Dimensional Portal |
| Social Stage: | Manifested Past |
| Questor Stage: | Pervasive Consideration |
Keys:
Souls of light
Guidance of celestial beings
Realizing utopian ideals
Being purely original
Channeling cosmic influence
Knowing the ineffable
Inspiring concentration of freedom
Strengths:
Vow of bright poverty
Spiritual mana
Indisputable gnosis
Sustainable ecstasy
Rectification of integrity
Innocently chaste at heart
Blessings beyond purification
Dangers:
Denial of reality
Naïve abandonment
Out-of-body disintegration
Naked feminization
Impotence through sexual exhaustion
Ignoring all taboos
Trying intimacy of anything goes
| Traditional Triumph: | MOON |
| Immortal Name: | Eros |
| Sufi Station: | Powerful |
| Station: | 16 |
| Stages: | 8 |
| Pole: | Individual |
| Cosmic Stage: | Convoluted Space |
| Social Stage: | Myriad Divinities |
| Questor Stage: | Reflective Emptiness |
Keys:
Transcendental intervention
Radiant consorting
Mightily unifying third-eye
Translucent veiling of mystery
Insuring creative outcome
Upholding great spirit
Becoming what has always been
Strengths:
Sublime refuge
Magnified beauty
Garden of ambrosia
Diversity in unity
Goddess wisdom
Compassion for all
Great mirror practice of adepts
Dangers:
Banal seduction of evil
Narcissistic entrancement
Psychosis in the wilderness
Never-ending stag chase
Revenge of a she-demon
Being turned into stone
Cloning life without soul
| Traditional Triumph: | SUN |
| Immortal Name: | Brilliance |
| Sufi Station: | Minute Observer |
| Station: | 17 |
| Stages: | 9 |
| Pole: | Communal |
| Cosmic Stage: | Radiant Light |
| Social Stage: | Realized Present |
| Questor Stage: | Complete Dominion |
Keys:
Omniscience
Living eternity
Deity known to all
Infinite moment
Transcendental pervasiveness
Once-returning consciousness
Synchronizing the cosmos
Strengths:
Ideal harmony
Indelible knowledge
Complete enlightenment
Unqualified forgiveness
Immortal realization
Unbeatable goodness
Genius outshining all
Dangers:
Sole survival
Cancerous growth
Governance through spying
Blinding power
Catalyzing the furies
Mutating irradiation
Scorching indifference
| Traditional Triumph: | ANGEL |
| Immortal Name: | Perfection |
| Sufi Station: | Gatherer |
| Station: | 18 |
| Stages: | 9 |
| Pole: | Individual |
| Cosmic Stage: | Irreversible Time |
| Social Stage: | Perennial Paradise |
| Questor Stage: | Eternal Resurrection |
Keys:
Justly indifferent
Kosmic evolution
Permanent awakening
Vibrating spheres of oneness
Blast of the furies
Perfect timing
Raising the dead
Strengths:
Divine congregation
Glorious transcendence
Nirvana
Untouched by decay
Translation into light
Happiness in this lifetime
Eternal relationship
Dangers:
Nuclear holocaust
Non-reclaimable extinction
Entombed in a simulacrum of time
Awakening an army of demons
Aspiring to a chance in hell
Exceeding boundaries regardless
Mind wiping out body
| Traditional Triumph: | JUSTICE |
| Immortal Name: | Law |
| Sufi Station: | Elevator |
| Station: | 19 |
| Stages: | 10 |
| Pole: | Communal |
| Cosmic Stage: | Unitive Principles |
| Social Stage: | Divine Future |
| Questor Stage: | Universal Destiny |
Keys:
Throne of glory
Supreme way of the goddess
Triune of tantra
Asymmetry of just one
Pulverizing suffering
Determining truth
Ruling the heart
Strengths:
Avataric selflessness
Diamond body immortality
No-return enlightenment
Merciful way of nature
Faultless weights and measures
Blindingly swift retribution
What just is will just be
Dangers:
No tradition, only guru
Inevitable tragedy
Madness beyond measure
Separating divinity from nature
Dogmatic belief held as divine revelation
Judging world to be evil
Extinction of humanity
| Traditional Triumph: | WORLD |
| Immortal Name: | Kosmos |
| Sufi Station: | Surrounder |
| Station: | 20 |
| Stages: | 10 |
| Pole: | Individual |
| Cosmic Level: | Absolute Truth |
| Social Level: | One Heart |
| Questor Level: | Infinite Pleroma |
Keys:
Original unity
Purpose of kosmos
Tao
Principles realizing spacetime
All is one, one is all
Creating first cause
Liberating bliss
Strengths:
Simply essential lawfulness
Sustained reality on all levels
Includes infinity
Perfection of heart consciousness
Destined kingdom at hand
Encompasses all that is known
Beyond beyond, before before
Dangers:
Fascistic totalitarianism
Alien takeover
Annihilation of spirit
Myriad of three denying unity of one
Reducing spacetime to cosmic singularity
Abrogating rightful rule
Bio-engineering a thousand-year domain
| Traditional Triumph: | FOOL |
| Immortal Name: | Quest |
| Sufi Station: | Large Recompensor |
| Station: | ∞ |
| Stages: | 7–10 |
| Pole: | Communal |
| Cosmic Level: | Creative Origination |
| Social Level: | Primal Ecstasy |
| Questor Level: | Prior Success |
Keys:
Wandering between realms
On the edge of existence
Sharing spontaneously
Coming out of the blue
Strangely happy, even when tragic
Never at a loss
Divinely accidental
Strengths:
Death is of no consequence
Walks right past the devils
Is at ease amongst the deathless
Elicits no fear from the powerful
Apparently isn’t affected by karma
Holds to sexually liberated innocence
Abundant spirit is never cut down
Dangers:
Too easily taken advantage of
May be blamed for the message
Transcendent intelligence ignored as a joke
Shameless honesty leading to arrested alchemy
Attracting unhealthy attention
Inviting trouble through sympathy with fringe
Appearing as if confusion reigns