Eleven

Waite Reads the Tarot

… if, for the purposes of the present review it were assumed that I—whose identity has been concealed for many years of occult life under the name of Grand Orient—hold any place or office in these Secret Temples, it must be obvious that I could not—supposing that I had even the wish—betray their mysteries.

A. E. Waite, writing as “Grand Orient”

Whilst being dismissive of mere fortune-telling reading, Waite offered several methods of reading the tarot, including the now commonly known and used Celtic Cross method. Whilst this method was neither Celtic nor particularly a cross, its inclusion in Key to the Tarot ensured its longevity. We have elsewhere published the very first known sketches of this spread, which was designed by a member of the Golden Dawn as a “non-secret” method.163 It was also a lot more convenient than the Opening of the Key method taught in the Inner Order, which required knowledge of the secret correspondences of astrology to tarot.

As the Celtic Cross has been covered elsewhere—and on virtually every tarot site on the Internet—we will turn our attention to two methods given by Waite based on secret teachings. These teachings he could not reveal at the time but are now easily reconstructed since the teachings on which they are based (the Golden Dawn) have been made public over the last century.

In preparing for a reading, Waite gave these guidelines, which you may like to adopt for the following methods:

1. Before any reading, have a definite question, formulate it clearly, and say it out loud.
2. Then blank your mind as much as possible whilst shuffling the cards.
3. Do not hold any preconceived ideas or expectations for the reading.
4. It is easier to divine for someone else—ideally a stranger, rather than a friend or oneself.

We may disagree with a number of those points, or practice differently, but these are the ones suggested by Waite himself. Many readers, for example, recommend you keep the question in mind when shuffling.

The Opening of the Secret Word

A forgotten method of divination from Waite,
writing as the Grand Orient

Whilst Waite was writing as the Grand Orient, he was unable to divulge certain layouts of the major cards and signification of the minors. He wrote, “It is because the whole experiment constitutes an experiment in intuition and not a counsel of adeptship that, although the cards may be arranged after several manners, I have adopted the most simple mode” and “the long sequence of lesser cards does not enter into the scheme of the present operation … because they would involve the statement of certain facts in occult divination which have never been made public.”164

The secret he was concealing appears to be that of the Golden Dawn method of reading tarot, the “Opening of the Key.” The use of the word “operation” for the method is the same term as used by the Golden Dawn, and the operation requires “several manners.” Similarly, the “long sequence” of minors requires the knowledge of their various correspondences (elemental, planetary, and zodiacal) to be counted and read, a “secret” of the Inner Order of the Golden Dawn.

He therefore presents a simple version of this method, which we call here the “Opening of the Secret Word.” We have modified Waite’s sketchy description in the light of the Opening of the Key—which Waite was not able to divulge.

1. The querent and reader (or Reader if the question is for oneself) must spend time in “recollection and silent prayer for guidance.” Waite himself says that there is no prescribed way of doing this, so we can perform this preparation in any personal manner. I might take a morning to work in the garden, or go for a walk, or listen to suitable music, for example. This preparatory time marks the reading as a divinatory ritual, rather than merely a reading.
2. The question to be offered the cards must be placed into one of three categories; human prudence, the world of conformity, and the world of attainment. We can explain these in more contemporary terms as follows:

Prudence Questions
Marriage, money, ambition, career, travel, health, emergencies, etc.

Conformity Questions
Temptation, doctrine, religion, values, ethics, morals, charity, etc.

Attainment Questions
Spiritual consciousness, higher realms, mystical experience, rebirth, inward life.

Basically, these are three planes: the material, the psychological, and spiritual. It is important to classify the question as the cards are given by Waite in different terms for each plane. We can eventually come to see that any question reflects in all three worlds; however, to begin learning this method, we should aim to categorise within one world.

3. Take the Fool out of the deck. Consider this card a significator of your present situation and the quest to gain clarity, freedom, resolution, and enlightenment of the situation.
4. Take the other twenty-one major cards out of the deck and place them with the Fool to create a small deck of the twenty-two majors.
5. These twenty-two major arcana are then shuffled face down with consideration of the question. When you are ready, place them (still face down) and deal them from the top by turning each card up as you place it, each to the right of the first card, making a long line of twenty-two upright cards.
6. If the Fool is at the start or end of the line, the oracle is silent at this time and you should return to ask again a following day. It may be that the situation has not yet developed enough to provide a meaningful response, or is about to conclude, so no answer is useful.
7. Otherwise, locate the Fool in the line and note the position of this card. If it is towards the beginning of the line (left) then the situation still has a longer time to resolve, if it is closer to the end (right) the situation is coming to a swifter conclusion.
8. We now read the cards to the right of the Fool in sequence, weaving their meaning into a logical or intuitive story, in the light of the question.

The meanings of the cards depend on the plane of the question: prudence, conformity, or attainment. We give here the keywords provided by Waite, followed by several readings Waite has provided.

I. World of Human Prudence

1. The Juggler—Skill in any department within the sphere of the subject; subtlety; savoir faire; on the evil side, trickery; also occult practice, apart from the wisdom of adeptship.
2. High Priestess—Mature generally and particularly also as regards her operations, including therefore the material side of generation and reproduction; fertility; change.
3. Empress—The sphere of action; the feminine side of power, rule and authority; woman’s influence; physical beauty; woman’s reign; also the joy of life, and excesses on the evil side.
4. Emperor—Logical understanding, experience, human wisdom; material power on the male side, and all involved thereby.
5. Pope, or Hierophant—Aspiration, life, power of the keys; spiritual authority developed on the external side; temporal power of official religion; on the evil side, sacerdotal tyranny and interference.
6. Lovers—Material union, affection, desire, natural love, passion, harmony of things; contains also the notions of modus vivendi, concord and so forth; equilibrium.
7. Chariot—Triumph of reason; success in natural things; the right prevailing; also predominance, conquest, and all external correspondences of these.
8. Justice—Equilibrium on the mental side rather than the sensuous, for which see No. 6; under certain circumstances, law and its decisions; also occult science.
9. Hermit—Caution, safety, protection; wisdom on the manifest side; and the isolation thereof; detachment; the way of prudence; sagacity; search after truth.
10. Wheel of Fortune—Mutation, circumstances; revolution of things, vicissitude; time and its variable development; all that is understood by the external side of fortune.
11. Fortitude, or Strength—Courage, vitality, tenacity of things, high endurance.
12. Hanged Man—The symbol of renunciation, for whatever cause and with whatever motive.
13. Death—Contains naturally the meaning implied by its name and illustrated by its pictorial symbol, but not only and not at all of necessity; transforming force, independent of human will; may signify destruction; power behind the world which alters the face of the world, but it is this power in one of its respects only.
14. Temperance—New blood, combination, admixture, with the object of amelioration; providence in desirable change.
15. Devil, or Typhon—Fatality, evil, the false spirit; can indicate also the good working through evil.
16. Ruined Tower—Destruction, confusion, judgment; also the idea of Divine Wrath.
17. Star—Light descending, hope; the symbol of immortality.
18. Moon—Half-light, mutation, intellectual uncertainty, region of illusion; false-seeming.
19. Sun—Full light, intellectual and material; the card of earthly happiness, but not attained individually.
20. The Last Judgment—Resurrection; summons to new things; a change in the face of everything.
21. The World—The glory thereof under the powers of the higher providence, the sum of manifest things; conclusion on any subject.

II. World of Conformity

1. The Juggler—The official side in religion, but containing the warrants thereof; also the arbitrary, mechanical side, and formalism.
2. The High Priestess—The Church as an organism; the growth of the man therein; Church doctrine.
3. The Empress—The sphere of Church action on the spiritual side; also desire and its wings; spiritual principle.
4. The Emperor—Executive power of religion; its work in realization upon man; active mind of the Church; the Church as a power in the world and in the life of the individual.
5. The Pope—Doctrine, and especially its admitted and orthodox side; the agreement of minds in faith; the teaching power.
6. Lovers—Love of religion, union therewith, but on the external side; marriage of the Church and the natural heart; the power which draws from natural things; also grace which makes for conversion, but is not conversion itself.
7. Chariot—Reason exalted in religion; victory of the moral faculties; apotheosis of the logical understanding in faith; first conquest of the natural man.
8. Justice—The power which makes the best of both worlds; middle path; lesser salvation; balance between good and evil; goodness, but not raised above the sphere of temptation.
9. Hermit—Asceticism, denial, detachment; the state attained by these; but also a light which enlighteneth; one who has isolated himself that in fine he may lead others; the principle which all this signifies.
10. Wheel of Fortune—The sword and the crown; another symbol of equilibrium, in this case over the mutations of fortune; the angel of true life, the spirit of religion ruling over the flux of circumstance.
11. Fortitude, or Strength—The conquest of Nature by those who can say with their heart and their will: Esto mihi turris fortitudinis; the soul overcoming.
12. Hanged Man—Crucifixion and self-crucifixion; atonement.
13. Death—Mortal sin; resurrection to the life of Grace, as an antitype—depending on the environment of the card.
14. Temperance—The principle of sacramental life; the mixture of things Divine with things human, for the transmutation of the latter; the increase which Grace gives; in fine, this card is a symbol of the Eucharist, the entrance of the Divine into the nature of man.
15. Devil, or Typhon—Rebellion; the spirit which denies; especially, false doctrine, which is the worship of Satan.
16. Ruined Tower—The Fall, and here especially the fall from Grace; also judgment on sin; the ruin of the house of life, when evil has prevailed therein; but the symbolism is that of a Divine act or consequence, and the power which destroys the Temple of God can rebuild it in three mystical days.
17. Star—Holy works—spiritual and corporal—poured upon the earth of humanity; also the gifts of the Spirit poured upon the earth of the individual; the soul manifesting by works.
18. Moon—Sufficing Grace; the soul mourning over the sadness of material life and the lapse into matter.
19. Sun—Lord of Glory; efficacious grace; spiritual joy; the life of holiness poured over the life of man.
20. The Last Judgment—Separation of good from evil; summons to ascend; examination of conscience; resurrection in the soul.
21. The World—The Law and State of Paradise; Shekinah; Divine Presence; the soul in the condition of attainment; end of religion in the individual, but this is not to be understood as Divine Union; it is more properly the state of Grace.

III. World of Attainment

1. The Juggler—That which must be overcome; the will in this connexion; the motive of this world.
2. The High Priestess—Divine intuition; the holy soul, having the book of the Mysteries opened, and reading therein; the first form of personal illumination.
3. The Empress—Higher soul of man; woman clothed with the sun; she who is born of aspiration, who comes in the signs of power and perfect rule; the soul that has attained wings.
4. The Emperor—Lord on the higher planes; the fulfilment of the Great Work of spiritual adeptship; the victory over all things.
5. Pope, or Hierophant—The life which leads to the Doctrine; the power which leads the individual into all truth; the priesthood that is within.
6. Lovers—Spiritual marriage; the union of man with his soul; the state of conversion.
7. Chariot—The triune man, having consciousness in his three worlds; the living symbol of the invisible God; he that overcometh.
8. Justice—Higher grades of the narrow path; equilibrium on the spiritual side; greater salvation; the perfect life.
9. Hermit—The secrets of the King; Divine Science; the light of the world within.
10. Wheel of Fortune—Divine rapture; triumph over the circle of necessity; in this world, the wheel has ceased to revolve.
11. Strength—The will to go forward; the world overcome; the fortitude of those who are established in God.
12. Hanged Man—The path of choice; reversion of the natural man; he who has not loved his life even to the loss thereof; conquest of the fear of those who can kill the body.
13. Death—Mystical death; the price of immortality; that which is entered with the will that there may be life evermore.
14. Temperance—Immergence of the consciousness; realization of the Divine Immanence; super-added Grace.
15. Devil, or Typhon—The last enemy; the demon of spiritual pride; the abyss opening; the spirit of Antichrist.
16. Ruined Tower—The rending of the House of Doctrine in the heart of the individual; final impenitence.
17. The Star—Life of life; descent of the Divine; waters of life freely.
18. Moon—Spiritual fantasy.
19. Sun—Plenary consciousness in God; the Spirit rules; God encompassing; Orient from on high.
20. Judgment—The state of one who says : Behold, I come quickly—that is, in answer to the call from the heights; resurrection in the complete man.
21. The World—Unveiled mystery; term of research; redeemed Nature; Divine Consciousness; the Beatific Vision.

Waite Reads Tarot

Whilst obviously decrying simple fortune-telling, Waite does provide several examples (within his oaths of secrecy) that demonstrate how he read the cards in this regard. We can now reveal his method, which he had to keep secret at the time, although we have to first put his partial instructions back together with the original secret method—the Opening of the Key.

In a reading for a young man who “inquires what light he can obtain as to his future course in this world,” Waite provides the cards as follows; 3, 4, 1, 17, 9, 14, 12, 15, 16, 8, 13, 10, 11, 19, 2, 5, 6, 7, 21, 20, 18. He notes that the cards 11 and 18 are upside-down, showing he used reversals.

He takes an overview of the cards, noting first any interesting patterns or triplets (sets of three cards together). In this case, he sees the dominance of a woman’s influence (3: Empress) at the opening of the reading, and the triplicity of 21: The World, 20: Judgement, and 18: The Moon concluding it. Of this he says that the “whole subject” (the World) has change in its face, likely referring to the Moon. However, the original instructions appear either incorrect, partial, or a deliberate blind. We can now reconstruct the method Waite was using, as we know the Golden Dawn Opening of the Key method, of which this example is a cut-down version.

Waite simply read every triplet, taking the centre card in the light of the two cards either side of it, along the line of the spread. This provides a reading of seven triplets, or seven main cards with a pair of cards supporting the meaning of each of those seven cards. If a card was reversed, it weakened the meaning of that card. This is again a cut-down version of the Golden Dawn system of “dignities,” where a card’s elemental or planetary correspondence gave extra weight one way or another to the cards it touched upon.

Waite gives another detail in this example, where he says, “His hope (17) has all of his tact (1) on the left hand and the safety of caution (9) on the right.” Here he is using his own keywords to generate a triplet meaning, which he then interprets as “to attain his end, subtlety and savoir-faire must be checked by prudence.” As we have seen, Waite saw the Hermit (9) as prudence, one of the cardinal virtues.

Reading tip: We can then see by this method that if we were to want to know about a person’s empowerment, we would locate the Emperor card, and read the cards either side of it. If we were to want to know about relationship, we would look to the Lovers and the two cards either side of that card; for money matters, we would look at the Devil card. In this way we can read the single line for many different aspects of the person’s life.

Waite concludes his reading of this particular example by suggesting that as the cards either side of the Emperor are weak, and the card that precedes the final triplet is the Lovers (7), the man will be served best by marriage. This is further borne out by having his religion card (5: Hierophant) bordered by two “marriage” cards, the High Priestess and the Lovers.

How Did Waite See the Spiritual Path in Tarot?

In his Manual of Cartomancy, Waite could not help but elevate the simple fortune-telling games he was providing by also offering profound intimations of the mystical path held secret in the cards. Within three examples of card-reading, in the third he lays out the mystical path using the tarot. He lists the cards in the order 11, 19, 18, 15, 3, 5, 17, 13, 9, 8, 16, 10, 7, 6, 2, 20, 4, 21, 14, 1, 12. Only one card, 20, is reversed. We offer below our version of Waite’s own reading for these cards.165

When we seek to overcome our attachment to the world and our fight with the daily trials and tribulations (11: Strength), we gain the strength to move beyond this state of illusionary conflict and duality. This will ultimately turn us upside-down in a new state of awareness (12: Hanged Man) at the end of our journey–the final initiation. Our search for divine consciousness (21: The World) leads us to adepthood on one side (4: Emperor) through awareness of the divine immanence (14: Temperance). That divine dawn (19: Sun) is already present the moment we start on our path, ruling over spiritual fantasy (18: Moon) and overcoming our false relationship with the universe (11: Strength).

Spiritual pride (15: Devil) is a strong enemy; it is present at the start of our path, and may only be redeemed by the spiritual soul (3: Empress)—otherwise it will encourage our spiritual fantasy (18: Moon).

The life of living according to this doctrine (5: Hierophant) reveals a secret, for it is between the ascent of the soul (3: Empress) and the descent of the divine light (17: Star). It is by the soul striving to arise from its station that the light is drawn down upon it—from nature comes grace. In fact, divine grace (17: Star) and divine science (9: Hermit) bear up the mystical Death experience (13: Death).

Another card of warning, the fall from the right path (16: Tower) can be avoided if one holds perfect balance (8: Justice) and maintains aspirations to the divine, come what may (10: Wheel).

In our three-fold nature; physical, spiritual, and divine (7: Chariot) we drive forwards from that aspiration (10: Wheel) towards the mystical marriage (6: Lovers). The negative judgement of our soul (20: Last Judgement [reversed]) can be undone by following the path, cleaving to the divine (2: High Priestess) and attaining victory over all temptation (4: Emperor). All that must be overcome (1: Magician) is revealed by sacrificing one’s old life (12: Hanged Man) in the light of Grace (14: Temperance).

We can see in this interpretation that Waite is alluding to meanings that may not be apparent in his other works; the Devil is certainly here the antichrist, the Sun is the “dawning of the orient from on high” (143)—a quote from Luke 1:78, referring to Christ the Messiah. The female soul of humanity (and the divine) is the Shekinah, seen as the Empress. These cards are being seen in the light of Waite’s mystical Christianity.

We can also here see Waite’s earliest comparisons and connections between such cards as the Star and Temperance (the light of the divine descending and the light of grace on the ascent), and his use of the tarot as a language to express mystical dictums. As he says, “I say therefore that the sequence of cards has indeed set forth the kind of life which not only leads to the Doctrine but to the whole term of spiritual knowledge” (144).

The card of Strength goes deeper than many interpretations as representing the conquest of the attachments of the world. Furthermore, the Star card here is not merely “hope,” but the light of the divine descending upon the striving soul—a mystical secret embodied by these cards.

This profound description of the mystical path concludes Waite’s chapter on “the secret word” in his Manual of Cartomancy, and is followed immediately by a chapter on “How to Find Lucky Numbers with Dice.” We really do go from the sublime to the almost ridiculous. When we understand Waite’s early writings in the light of retrospect and revelations from his later writing and unpublished material, we can see how these secrets can now be revealed, hidden in plain sight. Waite hid them for those who had eyes to see, and ears to hear.

Exercise: Hearing the Secret Word

Using this simplified version of the Opening of the Key and following Waite’s example, shuffle and lay out the twenty-one major arcana cards (minus the Fool) whilst considering the question, “What life leads to the secret knowledge?” Use Waite’s version of the card meanings for the world of Attainment to construct your own personal version of the secret path tarot reveals for you at this time.

The Seven Packs Method

Waite also offers a second method of reading in Pictorial Key useful for general situations. It has two stages, and again is a fusion of the Opening of the Key method with traditional cartomantic methods from Etteilla and elsewhere. As a result, it uses a more complex method of shuffling and laying out the cards than most contemporary readings (which use straight spreads.)

Stage One

1. Shuffle the deck, reversing some cards also, and cut once.
2. Deal out seven cards into a pile, face upwards.
3. Deal out another seven cards, placing them to the left of the first pile, and repeat until you have seven piles, which you have laid right to left.
4. Take the first pile (on the right) and lay the cards out, still face up, in a new row of seven cards, right to left again.
5. Take the second pile and lay the seven cards down one at a time on top of each pile in the new row. Repeat this for all seven original piles to create a new row of seven piles.
6. Take the top card from each pile, shuffle all seven and lay them in a new line from right to left.
7. Take the next two cards from each of the seven piles, shuffle and lay them in two new lines below the first just laid.
8. Take the remaining cards up (seven piles of three cards), shuffle, and lay them out in three new lines below those laid previously, again, right to left.
9. You should now have 7 cards in 6 lines, 42 cards in total.
10. If the Magician (for a male querent) or High Priestess (for a female querent) are not in the 42 cards laid out, locate it from the discarded pile and place it face up a little to the right of the first row.

If the card is already laid out, remove it and place it likewise. In this case, take any card from the discarded pile and place it in the layout to occupy the position from where you have moved the Magician or High Priestess.

11. The cards are now read in rows from right to left, starting at the top row.

Waite tells us that he highly values the process of intuition and clairvoyant faculties, above “concentration, intellectual observation and deduction” (PKT, 310), which should only be used in the absence of the more intuitive appreciation.

He does however provide some clues to reading that we have developed
into the following approach, which we call “Placing Hands.”

Exercise: Placing Hands Method

1. Create a layout in the method given by Waite.
2. Look over the matrix of forty-two cards. Gather your first impressions.
3. Look at every major card in the matrix and discern any patterns of meaning. As an example, if you saw the Justice card, Judgement, and Death, these three all hold something of a reckoning, perhaps a final one, in the situation. This gives you the bones of the interpretation.
4. Take your hand and with a clear mind, sweep it gently back and forwards over the cards. Notice any card which feels significant, as if you should not cover it with your hand. Make a note of these cards, likely one to four in total.
5. Place your hand on one of these cards and allow impressions to arise.
6. Repeat this process for the other significant cards individually.
7. Compare these impressions to the bones of the interpretation from the major cards. This will give you a general framework for the “storyline.”
8. Now read the meanings of each card in the first row from right to left as if you were reading a storyboard for a movie—only the movie has the storyline that you have already worked out.
9. Read each row as a new storyboard, then link them together as one story or a series over time.

Reading tip: Waite suggests that it may take time to distinguish between “mere guessing” and an intuitive “impression arising from the mind which is sub-conscious.” If you start to notice what it feels like in your life when you make a wild guess, and when you “just know” something is the case, you can compare these two experiences. Make a note of how they are different—often it is physical, like a gut feeling. Some people feel something on the back of their neck. When you perform a reading, become sensitive to this area and allow it to guide you.

Stage Two

If you wish further detail from the reading undertaken above, you can now utilise the remaining stack of thirty-five cards, which was previously discarded.

1. Take the thirty-five cards, shuffle, and cut once.
2. Deal the cards out into six piles from right to left, face up. Place seven cards in the first pile; the next six cards in the second pile; the next five in the third pile; the next four in the fourth pile; the next two in the fifth pile; and the final eleven cards in the sixth pile.
3. Take each pile and deal them face up, left to right, in six lines, resulting in a triangle with a longer line at its base.
4. The lines are now read as follows, reading from right to left as before:

Top Line 1 (seven cards): The immediate situation (house) and environment

Line 2 (six cards): The state of the Querent

Line 3 (five cards): External events and actions outside the querent’s influence

Line 4 (four cards): Shows what may surprise or be unexpected (for good or bad)

Line 5 (two cards): Advice or “consolation,” something positive about the above

Line 6 (eleven cards): A check-line whose reading may assist interpretation of all above

Steps to the Crown:
Mystical Meditation with the Waite-Smith Tarot

We have selected out from Waite’s aphorisms in Steps to the Crown particularly relevant quotes for contemplation and meditation of the major arcana. To perform a meditation on the tarot, take a card from the majors which calls to you or confuses you, but at least provokes some reaction.

Write down in your own handwriting (in a journal or on note paper) the relevant contemplation here in the following list. Consider it often, over the course of several days, and you may also choose to have the card image available to you. Some students have a locket in which they can place a small image of the card; others set it as their computer or portable device/tablet screensaver or background.

Once you have practiced with one card, try two, then three at the same time. Allow them to flow together in your mind and their combined message to open new insight.

0. Fool

Folly hears out many arguments to the end; common sense breaks away in the middle; wisdom seldom listens. Even at the beginning.

How many paths seem to lead to nowhere; to end in cul-de-sac; to be lost suddenly amidst rank vegetation, and come to a startling stop at the brink of a precipice! And we follow them all our days! Yet there is some consolation in the ruling of the common judgement against these and the other appearances: that which seems to lead nowhere may end in the infinite; the wall of the cul-de-sac may have a postern which gives upon fairyland: and on the steep sides of precipice there may be rough and adventurous steps, going down to a great sea, where ships can be hired for crossing.

1. The Magician

The Wise Men did not come from the East as indicated by the compass. They performed a philosophical journey from an land which is close at hand, even at our doors, and yet is very far away from most of us.

2. The High Priestess

The true word of any mystery is never conveyed or communicated, but is left secret and implied, to be realised and known in the heart.

3. The Empress

Life is an experiment with unknown quantities in the laboratory of the universe; and there are many rash experiments, so there are many fatal consequences.

4. The Emperor

The idea of kinghood goes up into the height of creation, and thus the saint and the mystic are always constitutionalists. The pity of it is that earthly kings are not invariably on the side of the angels.

5. The Hierophant

All great books are sacraments, but all readers do not communicate worthily. It follows that literature is not only a priesthood but a revelation, and that such books are part of the divine institutes and ministry.

6. The Lovers

Love has brought us into life, and it is love also that withdraws us into the wider lives which are beyond it.

7. The Chariot

To yield and to die, such is the average lot of humanity; to die rather than yield, such is the election of heroes; neither to yield nor die, such is the victory of the soul.

8. Strength

That which we do with our might will teach us how also to do that which is better.

9. The Hermit

There are two things which no tongue can express fully—the solitude in which intellectual recollection is found, and the void which is social life.

10. Wheel of Fortune

Birth takes place into bondage and death into emancipation.

11. Justice

Even necessity itself is subject to the law, however much it may disown it.

12. The Hanged Man

Let us relinquish the material affectations, the foolish likings and the attractions, of this world, to those who believe that they are certain to perish with the world.

13. Death

REINTEGRATION, and not individuality, is the end of all separate existence.

14. Temperance

Sorrow is the spade which breaks up the hard earth and fits it to receive the seed of life.

15. The Devil

Vice is its own victim, which it immolates continually, until the term of is expiation is attained.

16. The Tower

It is said that most things are not appreciated till they are lost; the world is the great exception; it is always well lost, as we do not fitly appreciate its emptiness until we have given it up.

17. The Star

There is light in the height, for the star is over the height, and there is hope in the depth, for the star is also in the sea.

18. The Moon

The soul seeks earth for its refuge, and it finds asylum for a period, but the great terror is still without.

19. The Sun

The light shines in the darkness, and there is no darkness so deep that the light cannot be enkindled therein.

20. Judgement

Punishment and reward are not after the manner of visitations, nor are they laws working from without; they are simply sowing and reaping. Bit in the last resource there are great offices of charity.

21. The World

This notwithstanding, her reticence, her secrecy, her essential love of mystery and recurring hint of the unknown, are the real fascinations of Nature. Her scientific study is part of the curse of our unrest. She is properly speaking, the material of divination. Geomancy is more profitable than geography, and astrology is superior to astronomy. But this is said by way of paradox, and carries with it a second meaning.

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