The traditional interpretation of the card is a blond woman. Her attributes, according to Etteilla, are virtue, wisdom, honesty. Mathers adds success, happiness and Read more KS Queen of Cups
KS Queen of Cups
KS Nine of Cups
The original meaning attributed to the card by Etteilla is victory, success, achievement, advantage, gain. Mathers preserved this interpretation, while Waite Read more KS Nine of Cups
KS Nine of Wands
According to Etteilla, the Nine of Wands signifies delays, distance, removal or suspension. Mathers saw the card as Read more KS Nine of Wands
KS Hermit
“The Hermit, as depicted by the medieval illustrators, is an old man leaning on a pilgrim’s staff who walks along a path lit by a lantern. He hides the light from his lantern beneath the folds of a cloak, and a serpent precedes him on the path.” (Fredric Lionel, The Magic Tarot)
The truth which we all seek is Read more KS Hermit
KS Ten of Disks
Etteilla associated the Ten of Disks with home, house, domicile and by extension with family. Mathers preserved Read more KS Ten of Disks
KS Ace of Disks
The Ace of Disks (Pentacles) is the card of the Winter Solstice.
While according to the Christian mythology the Winter Solstice has been assimilated with the birth of Jesus Christ, esoterically Read more KS Ace of Disks
The 32 paths of Wisdom in the Kárpáthy-Smith deck
The Sefer Yetzirah describes how ‘Yah, Lord of Hosts, God of Israel, the living God, King of the universe, El Shaddai, Merciful and Gracious, High and Exalted, dwelling in eternity, whose name is Holy – He is lofty and holy’ created ‘His universe with thirty-two mystical paths of Wisdom’.
These mysterious ‘thirty-two mystical paths of Wisdom’ are composed by the ‘Ten Sefirot of Nothingness and twenty-two Foundation Letters: three Mothers, seven Doubles and twelve Elementals.’
The Tree of Life’s architecture and the distribution of the twenty-two letters on the Tree differ between the Hebrew and the so-called Hermetic interpretation, respectively it further debated among scholars. The apple of discord Read more The 32 paths of Wisdom in the Kárpáthy-Smith deck
Kárpáthy-Smith Tarot First Limited Edition
The Rider-Waite Tarot deck was published 111 years ago around this time of the year.
The name of the artist who has drawn the cards, Pamela Colman-Smith, was not even mentioned. Only in recent years, scholars may add the Smith to the name of the deck, in the spirit of the newfound politically correctness.
The Karpathy-Smith deck is a reimagining of the original Rider-Waite Tarot using mixed media techniques, and Read more Kárpáthy-Smith Tarot First Limited Edition
Culture of fear
One of my patrons, commented a couple of days ago: ‘I too am finding this a difficult period, everybody I know is downbeat too. I wonder if there are astrological reasons for these troubled times?’
Well, I don’t actually. I’m not that person who checks the chart every day, not even regularly. I think it is important to be aware of the astral circumstances and external influences. Still, Read more Culture of fear
Knowledge and understanding
Someone sent me a link to an article about Alchemy, the internet is full of them. Platitudes, I would say, stereotypes, inconsistencies and half-wisdoms for housewife whiches and weekend wizards. As with all the other occult and esoteric topics, most of the available materials are rubbish fake commercial products. The commonly accessible materials are ‘exoteric’ knowledge, as opposed to ‘esoteric’ knowledge, which, by definition, is not at the reach of everyone.
Without an understanding of these matters, it is impossible to discern between fake and real knowledge.
On the other hand, as Gurdjieff noted, “Knowledge is one thing; understanding is another thing. (…) People often confuse these concepts and do not clearly grasp what is the difference between them. Knowledge by itself does not give understanding. Nor is understanding increased by an increase of knowledge alone. Understanding depends upon the relation of knowledge to being. Understanding is the resultant of knowledge and being. And knowledge and being must not diverge too far, otherwise, understanding will prove to be far removed from either. At the same time, the relation of knowledge to being does not change with a mere growth of knowledge. It changes only when the being grows simultaneously with knowledge. In other words, understanding grows only with the growth of being.”
First of all, understanding is interior, while knowledge is exterior – similar to the ‘esoteric’ and ‘exoteric’ concepts.
Secondly, understanding is… More at https://www.patreon.com/posts/44614954
