INTRODUCTION
The metaphor of involution and evolution is a common one among ancient civilizations. It is a common story of how the spirit enters the body, participates in the parade of life and departs the body to return to the spiritual world. One of the more informative models of the movement of spirit into the body (involution) and the departure of spirit from the body and returning to the spiritual world (evolution) can be found in the Tarot. Although this game of picture cards began with the Tarocchi family in Italy the 15th century, it does represent numerous parades in which visual symbols of the parade of life were displayed. The parade of life is structured and this structure is evidence by the major arcana of the Tarot (Waite, 1993).
Inherent in the metaphor of the parade of life is the belief in reincarnation, the claim that life continues to exist in spiritual form after death (Huson, 2004). The spirit in the Tarot is represented by the Fool card. It is a card that can be placed either at the beginning or at the end of the major arcana. It can either represent the entrance of the soul into the body (involution) or the departure of the soul from the body (evolution). In this chapter, the divinatory functions associated with the Tarot cards are not discussed. The focus will be on the parade of life and its transition between the material and spiritual worlds. Hence, the 56 cards of the minor arcana will not be discussed and only some of the 21 trump cards and the Fool card will be investigated and commented upon.
REINCARNATION
Reincarnation means to that the soul transmigrates and reenters the body (re-incarnate). This concept is common among many cultures world wide (Campbell and Roberts, 1982). The Egyptians, for example, believed in reincarnation or the transmigration of the soul. They thought the soul transmigrated from body to body and this was a reason why they embalmed the body in order to preserve it so that it could journey along with ka, an animating force that was believed to be counterpart of the body, which would accompany it in the next world or life. Ka might be considered equivalent to the term of soul. This establishes the dating of the concept of reincarnation back to the ancient Egyptian religion but many think it dates beyond antiquity.
Reincarnation is different from the concept of metamorphosis, the changing of one life form into another. The Resurrection, the idea of the body rising again after death, is a form of metamorphosis. Most Europeans have come to know about reincarnation from the Greeks. Pythagoras, fo r example, taught that the soul was immortal and merely resides in the body; therefore, it survived bodily death. His further teachings held the soul goes through a series of rebirths. Between death and rebirth the soul rests and is purified in the Underworld. After the soul has completed this series of rebirths is becomes so purified that it can leave the transmigration or reincarnation cycle. This differs substantially from the Indo-European concept of death exemplified by the catacombs of Rome in which people stay with their bodies after death and their spirits must be fed and given libations to prevent them from wreaking havoc on those above terra firma. The Romans were surprised to find out that the Druids, a priestly class of Celts, believed in the concept of an eternal soul. For the Celts, men's souls and the universe are indestructible and live forever.
In AD 533, reincarnation was declared a heresy by the Council of Constantinople. It was repudiated was because of the eschatological teachings of death and judgment which were established as orthodox Christian doctrine. The concept of the eternal cycle of becoming was modified. The cycles of life were reduced to just one, from the city of man to the city of God. This doctrine states man has just one life in which to merit his eternal reward or damnation. Such a doctrine also strengthened the Church.
The Fool or the Joker may appear either at the beginning or at the end of the deck of cards. At the beginning of the deck of cards, he represents the innocence of a child. At the end of the deck, he represents the mature traveler who has experienced life in this world. Hence, the Joker represents the Spirit that begins the Parade of Life at birth and leaves the physical world in order to return to the Spiritual World at death.
What these references to reincarnation demonstrate is that it is not a new concept. It can be found in the Jewish mysticism of the Kabbalah, in the puranas of the Bhagavad Gita, and in the writings of Buddhism. The focus of this chapter is to demonstrate one version of that beielf in the form of the Tarot, the parade of cards that represent the parade of life. In the Tarot, the soul is represented by the Fool card. It is a card that may be placed at the beginning of the deck (involution) or at the end (evolution). The distinguishing features of this card are the cliff, the Sun, and the mountaintops. The fool is walking with a bag tied to a stick; he has a walking staff, and is accompanied by his dog. He has a clown-like costume. He is the Fool (Itallian, il matto; French, le mat or le fou). Why is he the fool? It is because he is inexperienced in life. He is walking towards a cliff and he is unaware of the dangers of life. He is not one who is steeped in the material world. His only possessions can be found at the end of a stick that he carries over his shoulder. The fool is not a part of life; he is not part of the major arcana, the parade of life.
ENTERING THE BODY - INVOLUTION
When the soul enters the body, it is a magical act. It is brought from the spiritual realm into the earthly realm. The newborn is brought into life as a copy of its eternal soul much in the same way that the eternal forms of Plato's ideal world are brought into the material world where they begin to undergo change and decay.
The Magician has one hand raised to receive spirit and the other hand lowered and pointed towards to earth to bring spirit into the Parade of Life. He is surrounded by red and white lillies, the traditional symbols of life and death. By holding a raised lighted candle in his right hand and pointing to the earth with his left, he bridges the gap between the two realms.
According to the story of the Taro, the Fool is traveling on his way and the first person that he encounters is a Magician. Skillful, self-confident, a powerful magus with the infinite as a halo floating above his head, the Magician mesmerizes the Fool. When asked, the Fool gives over his bundled pack and stick to the Magician. Raising his wand to heaven, pointing his finger to Earth, the Magician calls on all powers; magically, the cloth of the pack unfolds upon the table, revealing its contents. And to the Fool's eyes it is as if the Magician has created the future with a word. There are all the possibilities laid out, all the directions he can take. The cool, airy Sword of intellect and communication, the fiery Wand of spirituality and ambition, the overflowing Chalice of Love and emotions, the solid Pentacle of work, possessions and body. With these tools, the Fool can create anything, make anything of his life. But here's the question, did the Magician create the tools, or were they already in the pack? Only the Magician knows - and on this mystery, our eloquent mage refuses to say a word.
THE HIGH PRIESTESS AND THE QUEEN
Once a woman enters life, she goes through a series of changes. She begins her journey in the parade of life as a young woman who is attuned to her spiritual past. The card of the high priestess is highly symbolic. She wears the crown reminiscent of the Egyptian Goddess Hathor, a most significant personage. True Isis also wears this crown. Why? What is the connection between Hathor and Isis? Note the two horned crown with the moon in between. When our eyes gaze upon this card, one notices several striking things The two pillars flanking her the B and J pillars, obviously the biblical Jachin and Boaz of Solomon's Temple, are black and white. A duality is at play here, black and white, left and right, male and female, day and night, etc. This is the "Tora", the law of nature from our lives here on earth. In ancient Egyptian thought, as Sigried Morentz has shown, the left was the place for putting evil, the right for good. (er schicke den Boesen zur Linken und den Guten zur Rechten). The expression h'w apparently meant a real place for the ascent of the sun, the place where the sun burns evils (wo sie die B?sen verbrennt). It is a mythic poetic expression for the East in Egyptian thought mythisch-poetischen Ausdruck für den Osten (Morentz, 1957).
The High Priestess still has access to the veil of knowledge that reveals past lives. She is new to the Parade of Life. Like the Magician, she exists between realms and acts as a conduit or vessel. She connects the wisdom of what is above with what is below and holds both within herself. She is associated with the moon and with the feminine. The High Priestess is a visionary. She is the repository of hidden secrets and intuitive understanding.
Tarot High Priestess is symbolizes that woman is the tree of life, from which eternal Divine seeds are birthed and live. The pomegranates on the veil behind the High Priestess on the Tarot Card are the eternal and unending seeds of the Divine awaiting birth through the Heavenly Mother, the High Priestess. This is the Geheime Figuren der Rosenkreuzer altona 1785. As Walter Scott in his commentaries and notes on the Greek and Latin "Hermetica" notes, the Mother principle, identified symbolically as Isis (our High Priestess card) is the striving toward the good in nature. It is the "productive power in nature." It is Isis, the "living force in matter which strives towards the good." (Scott, 1926: 71-72). It is also most interesting that Isis (or Sophia) grants immortality to the King. In the Ptolemaic temple at Esna, Isis says to the King: "To you I give the four corners of the land on your support, a long kingship for many years in peace, for the duration of eternity and perpetuity" (Kloppenborg, 1982: 75). In the Bremer Rhind Papyrus, Isis is identified as the wife and sister of Osiris, who will protect him, guard him, call him forth and is called "Mistress of the Universe, who came forth from the Eye of Horus, Noble Serpent which issued from Re', and which came forth from the pupil in the eye of Atum" (Faulkner, 1935:132)
The High Priestess is the card of knowledge, instinctual, supernatural, secret knowledge. She holds scrolls of arcane information that she might, or might not reveal to you. The moon crown on her head as well as the crescent by her foot indicates her willingness to illuminate what one would not otherwise see; she can reveal the secrets that one needs to know in order to make a decision about a problem or a job, an investment, love, career, family, etc. Behind her throne, the curtain that leads to the deepest, most esoteric and secret knowledge; the pomegranates that decorate it remind one of Persephone, who was taken down into the land of the dead, ate its fruit, and became the only goddess allowed to travel to and from that strange land.
The Empress is embedded in the world of living. She is pregnant and laden with earthly goods. She has become materialistic. Hence, she embraces sensuality and the abundance of the Earth. Unlike the High Priestess, she no longer needs to keep her power a secret. Others are now aware that her power lies in femininity. She is the benevolent mother.
The high priestess soon becomes full of life. She is shown wearing a gown decorated with pomegranates, a crown of stars, a rod, a heart-shaped shield with the symbol for Venus, a field of ripe wheat. According to one version of the parade of life, the high priestess becomes the empress. In another version, these are two women that the fool encounters in his own personal parade of life. Thus, according to the second version, he has decided what shape his future will take and he strides forward into life. He is impatient. This is when he comes upon the Empress. Hair gold as wheat, a crown of stars, a white gown dotted with pomegranates. She rests back on her throne surrounded by an abundance of grain and a lush garden. It is possible that she is pregnant. Kneeling, the Fool relates to her his story. And she, in turn, smiles a motherly smile and gently gives him this advice: "Like newly planted grain or a child in the womb, a new life, a new love, a new creation is fragile. It requires fertile soil, patience and nurturing, it needs love and attention. Only this will bring it to fruition." Understanding at last that his future will take time to build and create, the Fool thanks the Empress and continues on his way.
The Empress is a creator, be it creation of life, of romance, of art or business. While the Magician is the primal spark, the idea made real, and the High Priestess is the one who gives the idea a form, the Empress is the womb where it gestates and grows till it is ready to be born. This is why her symbol is Venus, goddess of beautiful things as well as love. Even so, the Empress is more Demeter, goddess of abundance, then sensual Venus. She is the giver of Earthly gifts, yet at the same time, she can, in anger withhold, as Demeter did when her daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped. In fury and grief, she kept the Earth barren till her child was returned to her.
THE CHARIOTEER AND THE EMPEROR
There is a parallel between the high priestess and the empress and the charioteer and the emperor. One finds in the chariot card a young armored warrior who guides his horses without reigns. His control is spiritual and not physical. His symbols are symbolic opposites. The sun is opposed by the moon (male and female) and the lingam (the rod or staff, male) is countered by the yoni (an encircled rod on the winged shield, female). The white sphinx horse is opposed by a black one (good and evil). There is a canopy of stars and sometimes a throne inside the car. In one version of the tarot, the charioteer is the spiritual male symbol before he is immersed into the full material aspects of life.
The Charioteer is the male equivalent of the High Priestess. He is in touch with his spiritual side. He does not use the reins to control the horses but uses mind control instead. He exemplifies the use of will. He has achieved mastery over his passions. It is by his will and his understanding of their riddles, he has mastered the sphinxes. They oppose each other and want to tear the chariot apart.
If the story is told from the perspective of the soul and its journey through life, the meaning of this card changes. One can argue, for example, that the Fool is close to completing what he set out to create long ago, back when the Magician revealed those tools to him. But enemies are now standing in his way, devious human enemies, bad circumstances, even confusion in his own mind. There's no more forward momentum; he feels he is fighting just to stay where he is. Walking along the shore, watching the waves come in, he puzzles over how to defeat these enemies and get things moving forward once again. It is here that he comes across a charioteer, standing in his gold and silver chariot, his black and white steeds at rest. "You seem a victorious warrior," the Fool remarks. "Tell me, what is the best way to defeat an enemy?" The only way to win without sapping all your energy is to swim parallel to shore, and come in slowly, diagonally. So, too, when fighting in a chariot. You win by coming up alongside that which you wish to defeat." The warrior nods to his beasts. "Your steeds keep the wheels turning, but it is your control and direction that brings victory. Dark and light, they must be made to draw in harmony, under your guidance." The Fool realizes that now knows how to win his own war. He knows that no victory can be won unless he has unwavering confidence in his cause. And remember this above all, victory is not the end, it is the beginning."
