The Resurrection Engine: Change Your Life With Tarot (Gated Spreads of Tarot Book 3)

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THE RESURRECTION ENGINE: Gated Spread Book 3 Change Your Life with Tarot & Kabbalah

By Tali Goodwin & Marcus Katz Copyright © Tali Goodwin & Marcus Katz, 2013 Published by Forge Press, Keswick All rights reserved.

WHAT OUR STUDENTS SAY … Wow! I am REALLY going through some changes with this method. S.L. This exercise as well as the others have spoken volumes. Thank you for sharing this experience with us. R. G. Incredible knowledge so easily shared … This has been a journey in which I have learned a lot of new things and feel very satisfied. L. J. Very moving and effective. I cannot wait for the next gates! Y. I suddenly realized I have been dreaming like crazy since I started these exercises! Very intuitive stuff about my situation, and about my Tarot! L.

We have used real-life examples and authentic feedback throughout this series, anonymously, from our students in Tarot-Town. We thank them for their engagement with these experiences over the years.

About the Authors “When you’ve finished 8,000 words, I’ll show you the Sephiroth.” Katz to Goodwin, Typical Conversation. Tali Goodwin is the co-author of award-winning and #1 best-selling Tarot books, including Around the Tarot in 78 Days, Tarot Face to Face, and Learning Lenormand. She is also a leading Tarot researcher and is credited with the discovery of A. E. Waite’s second tarot deck, kept secret for a century, published as Abiding in the Sanctuary. She has also uncovered and published the Original Lenormand deck, and with co-author Derek Bain, the original Golden Dawn Tarot images in A New Dawn for Tarot. Her research into the life of Pamela Colman-Smith with new photographs will be published as The Secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot by Llewellyn Worldwide in Spring 2014. She is co-Director of Tarosophy Tarot Associations (Worldwide) and organizes the international tarot conventions, TarotCon. Marcus Katz is author of the ground-breaking Tarot book and teaching system, Tarosophy, and is the co-founder of Tarosophy Tarot Associations (Worldwide). In addition to Tarot books with Tali Goodwin, he is the author of The Magister, an 11-volume opus on the Western Esoteric Initiatory System, The Magician’s Kabbalah, and the forthcoming Path of the Seasons. He teaches students privately in the Crucible Club, available by application.

Contents WHAT OUR STUDENTS SAY … About the Authors Contents Preface What is the Tarot? What Are The Top 10 Wrong Ideas About Tarot? Tarot & Kabbalah Chapter 1:

The Schemata

Chapter 2:

Cogs

Chapter 3:

Fuel

Chapter 4:

Tea Break

Chapter 5:

Struts & Ignition

Conclusion Bibliography Websites & Resources Kindle Tarot Books & Series

Preface Just as it is inconceivable that a ship be without a captain, so too is it impossible that the world be without a ruler. Rabbi Azriel of Gerona You are about to go on a journey and experience Kabbalah. Grab a Tarot deck, and we are good to go! The purpose of Gated Spreads is to overturn the common use of Tarot cards as a means of “telling” the future, or providing a brief insight into our life and motivations – and hence our future possibilities. The teaching of Tarosophy encourages the use of Tarot as a divine language; one which connects us to the deeper world underneath the apparent one which we often take for granted. A gated spread requires you to take action in your life, from which change emerges naturally. This is not the empty promise of a feelgood self-help book, but a call to action – your action – to change your life through Tarot. Our Gated Spread experiences have been offered for several years to the public, and now for the first time we provide them in handy self-study packages on Kindle. In each of these individual books, you can experience shamanism, relationship and romance insight, creativity, alchemy, and even delve into your ancestry, all using just a tarot deck.

We have also ensured that this is not a book of fictional examples that sound too good to be true. Our books are based only on real-life testing and the actual experience of real people like you, encountering magick often for the first time. We have taught these methods and ran workshops and gated spread weeks for many years, and have hundreds of experiences which have constantly shaped what you are about to experience for yourself. This book is ideal for first time users of Tarot or the experienced reader who is looking to activate the tarot in their life. We have ensured that you are given the necessary instructions and clarifications (from our previous teaching and feedback given by students) to experience true magick in your time using this book. Before you begin, you may wish to join our free Facebook group if you have any questions about Tarot, and also download our free keyword guide to tarot cards and standard spreads from our site: www.mytarotcardmeanings.com

What is the Tarot? The tarot as most commonly recognized is a family of card decks, most often 78 cards divided into four suits of 14 cards (10 numbered cards and 4 Court cards for each suit) and 22 Major cards. There are presently about 1,000 different decks in print or circulation, and many more out-of-print, rare and collectable decks. Although it can be proven that the tarot was developed in the early 15th century, a lot of books still suggest that it was used by the “ancient ...” and then provide lists of the unproven, non-factual ideas which results in a conflation of tarot and those very ideas. The earliest names for the tarot are Italian. Originally the cards were called carte da trionfi (cards of the triumphs), but around 1530 A.D. (about 100 years after the origin of the cards) the word tarocchi began to be used to distinguish the tarot cards from a new game of triumphs or trumps then being played with ordinary playing cards. You are actually seeing in the cards some direct examples of the triumphs – the procession of floats common at festivals in Italy at the time – particularly in such cards as The Chariot and the Court cards. There is even a Christian tarot in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London; the cards were used to depict virtues, the liberal arts and sciences, and other aspirational notions from their earliest development. In fact, it could be said that the cards were originally educational or self-development tools, although that could also be debatable.

There is no evidence that the tarot were used by gypsies, originated in Egypt or were used for divination prior to the 1700s, despite popular occult lore that the cards have embodied ‘ancient teaching’ from time immemorial. It was not until a pseudo-connection between the Hebrew letters and the tarot was published in 1781 – by Comte de Mellet, in Antoine Court de Gebélin’s Le Monde Primitif – that esoteric interest began to appropriate the cards to embody occult teaching. The earliest list of the 22 cards which have become known as the Major Arcana is given in a sermon against their use by a monk writing in Latin around 1450-1470 A.D. This sermon is sometimes called the Steele Sermon as it belongs to the collection of Robert Steele. [This above section which we think is so important to teach is repeated in each booklet in this series, and is an extract from Tarosophy, by Marcus Katz].

Which Tarot Deck is Best for This Gated Spread? Our students have used a range of decks for this experience, and of course the standard Waite-Smith is a favorite. However, students have used this deck with particularly good results: The Thoth Tarot

What Are The Top 10 Wrong Ideas About Tarot? There are many wrong ideas about the tarot that seem to be popular. We would like to present quickly some common myths about tarot that you may have heard already, and change your view!

1. The tarot did not originate from Egypt, the gypsies, the Templars, Atlantis or a secret order. 2. You do not need to be gifted or given your first tarot deck – you can simply buy a deck for yourself. 3. You do not have to keep your tarot in a silk bag or bag of any particular color. 4. You can let other people touch your cards if you choose. 5. There are no real ‘rules’ in tarot, but some generally agreed good ideas. 6. The keywords for cards are not set in stone; they can be modified depending on the deck, the reading and the question. However, there are basic concepts specific to each card in the deck, which form a basic language. 7. The cards are not evil – no more than any art or printed material is “evil”.

8. You do not have to be intuitive or gifted in some special way – you can learn, and develop your tarot skills in any way. 9. The ‘ancient Celtic Cross’ spread has not been used for centuries, and it is not particularly ancient and it is not Celtic. 10. There is no single right way to read tarot – we encourage every reader to discover their own unique voice.

Tarot & Kabbalah We will be primarily be teaching ways of approaching Kabbalah through Tarot, and exploring Tarot through Kabbalah. Whilst our “Gates of Valentine” experience covered relationships and the Court Cards, this gated spread covers the Major Arcana and the Tree of Life. We hope you will find this method entirely revolutionary and useful to you in your personal life as well as a method to teach your own students if relevant.

A Brief History of Kabbalah The Kabbalah (a Hebrew word meaning "handed down", or "oral tradition") is the term used to denote a general set of esoteric or mystical teachings originally held within Judaism, but later promulgated to a wider audience in the 12th century onwards through centers of learning such as Spain. It consists of a body of teachings and analysis dealing with the nature of the Universe, the aspects of divinity, and the method of creation. From this set of teachings is derived the role of man in the revealed scheme of things. The history of the Kabbalah is difficult to fix to dates and linear sequences of succession due to its nature as oral, traditional, teachings. Long before printing presses, the Kabbalistic teachings were passed from teacher to pupil as oral teachings and collections of manuscripts, which in turn may have been copies of other sets being used by other teachers. The original impulse of Kabbalah, however, emerged from a first century school of Jewish mysticism termed "Merkabah", meaning "chariot". These mystics utilized secret methods of "spiritual ascent" in order to attain mystical experience. These experiences can be recognized as those common to any modern adept following the occult initiatory system, for example; "the world changed into purity around me, and my heart felt as if I had entered a new world".

The teachings of the Merkabah mystics became part of the "Heikhalot" school, whose name means "palace", referring to the spiritual planes through which the mystics ascended. The description of these journeys seems to bear similarities to the journey of the soul into the Underworld depicted in the Egyptian Book of Coming Forth by Day, with magical words or appropriate names of the gods to be spoken before each door is passed and each palace entered. Three classical texts formulate the basic structure of traditional Kabbalah, being ; The Sefer-ha-Zohar; Book of Splendour - First printed 1558-60 and 1559-60 The Sefer Yetzirah; Book of Formation - First printed in Mantua 1562 The Sefer-ha-Bahir; Book of Light - First printed in Amsterdam 1651 The Zohar was written around 1280-86 by Moses b. Shem Tov de Leon in Guadalajara, north-east of Madrid, Spain, where there was a lot of Kabbalistic activity at this time. Many of the later Kabbalistic schools are formed about these books, finding in them interpretation and meanings revealing the work of God and Creation. The school formed at Safed in the sixteenth century produced many of the leading thinkers of Kabbalah, particularly Rabbi Isaac Luria, called the Ari (1534-1572), and Rabbi Moshe Cordevero, the Ramak (1522-1570). The former is responsible for much of the current structure and cosmology of Kabbalah, as the "Lurianic" school of thought provided answers to many of the more complex issues of Kabbalistic thought, particularly relating to the "breaking of the vessels". The next major historical development of Kabbalah came with the formation of the Hasidic Movement in the mid 1700's, based around the Rabbi Israel, more commonly known as the Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760), which means "master of the word", a high mark of respect in Kabbalism.

The Kabbalah later passed into western esotericism through translations via German scholars to English esotericists such as S. M. Mathers and W. W. Westcott, two of the founders of the Golden Dawn. It had already been suggested that Kabbalah and Tarot were associated by Comte de Mellet writing in Antoine Court deGebelin’s “Le Monde Primitif”. It is through these and other occultists such as Eliphas Levi that Kabbalah and Tarot became entwined. We do not delve too deeply here into that history, which you can explore further through the suggested reading list at the conclusion of this present experience.

Resurrection Engine: Gate 1 The Schemata This is the first gate of our Resurrection experience, and is called the “Schemata”. The concept of gated spreads is that they are designed to a fundamental pattern – archetypal – and linked together in a series so that each spread depends on the one before it. Not only that, but each spread requires an engagement in real life in response before progressing to the next spread. In this way, a spread may not make sense unless you have accomplished the task of the previous gates – this is why the technique is called a “gated spread”. For this particular spread, we are teaching Kabbalah and Tarot, particularly the relationship of the Majors to the Paths on the Tree of Life. In doing so, we will also introduce a new concept called “calibrated spreads”, another innovation of Tarosophy. Before we begin our first gate we will perform a calibrated spread which we will examine and learn over the entire week, returning to it so that even if it makes little sense to begin with, by the end of the week, you’ll be able to perform this spread for any event or question in the future. This will be our schemata.

As the theme of our week is resurrection, We would like you to ask this question of this spread – “What aspect of my life which has died requires to be brought to life again?” This is a powerful question, so please do contemplate it before approaching this spread.

The Tree of Life The Tree of Life – the central and most well-known glyph of Kabbalah - provides a comprehensive map of processes and relationships as an idealised structure of creation. The Kabbalistic scholar, Gershom Scholem, writes that the Sephiroth, usually drawn as circles on the diagram: … constitute a well-structured form, in which every part or limb operates upon every other, and not just the higher ones on the lower. The Sefiroth are connected with one another by means of secret “channels,” tsinoroth, whereby each radiates into the other and in which the other is in turn reflected [1]. We will return to these secret channels later, but for now we will use our Tarot and the basic Tree of Life model as a means of examining and exploring the nature of what it is which we wish to resurrect in our life.

Illustration. Tree of Life with roots in heaven.

This method is also particularly useful for exploring a long-past event, one which was traumatic, crucial, life-changing or otherwise notable. It is best used to re-calibrate ones lessons and values which emerge from such events in our lives, whether we believe it to be resolved or otherwise. We would like to thank a particular intermediate group of students who allowed us to test this method with them using important and real-life experiences [2].

This is not just a simple re-imaging of an event in the light of a Tarot reading. It is a comparison of such an event against a congruent structure or map through correspondence. In this manner, we engage with our life experience, calibrating it to a map – refining both in the process. It also honors the structure of both Tarot and Kabbalah in using specific cards for the divination and comparing them to fixed cards on the chosen map – in this case, the system of correspondences as developed and utilized by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The depth of this method and variety of outcomes and insights precludes a comprehensive overview of all potential results. Over this week, the method will be presented and a sample reading given, with a list of some of the main routes of enquiry you might like to pursue on adopting this method. DO NOT worry if this doesn’t make any immediate sense – the aim of this week is to present the method up-front and explore it over the course of the Engine Running! For today, just perform the spread itself and notice whatever you can.

The Method 1. This method uses only the Minor cards. Take the 40 Minor cards, Ace to 10 in each Suit, from your Tarot deck. Set the others to one side.

2. Consider the question “What needs resurrecting?” When you do this spread at other times, you can also ask about a past event, unresolved, or a present unfolding where you wish to explore the lessons being taught or which you need to learn. In effect, this method provides a large contextual frame in which your lifestory can be explored. 3. Shuffle the 40 cards. 4. Lay the top 10 cards out, face-up, in the pattern of the Tree of Life (illustrated below). This is your divination.

Illustration. Tree of Life Layout

The Schemata Analysis Write down next to each Sephirah the numerical difference between the card number (Aces are 1) and the number of the Sephirah. This will indicate the areas in which the event is most aligned and misaligned to the “grand cosmic plan” or “ideal template” of creation.

So if you place a 5 of Wands in the first position, 1, that’s a difference of 4, so write down “4” by that first circle on a piece of paper or copy of this diagram. If the next card was a 2 of Pentacles in position 2, that’s a difference of 0. Example: You notice that the Ace of Swords has fallen into the position of Kether, the first Sephirah, numbered 1 (a difference of none!). Whilst further down the Tree, the 3 of Cups is in the position of Malkuth, numbered 10 (a difference of 7). This would indicate that the event was aligned in its conception, source and root – it started well and powerfully, but ended very misaligned; the 3 of Cups is 7 away from the ideal 10, perhaps suggesting that the nature of companionship (an interpretation of the card) stopped you from fully realizing your ambitions in action. You may also notice whether the alignments and mis-alignments are towards the top of the Tree or the bottom, to the left or to the right. This will indicate whether the event was on rocky ground at its commencement (upper Sephiroth) or completion (lower Sephiroth), or in the aspects of its energy (right pillar) or structure (left pillar).

Example: There are several cards in your reading which are misaligned greatly; these are on the left-hand side of the Tree spread as you are looking at it. These might be the 9 of Wands in position 3, the 10 of Swords in position 5 and the 2 of Cups in position 8. The cards on the other side of the spread seem more congruent, being the 3 of Cups in position 2, the 4 of Pentacles in position 4, and the 9 of Pentacles in position 7. The left hand column has a total variance of 17, the right column a variance of 3 – quite noticeable. This would indicate a major problem in the organisation, structure, rules and regulations or expectations, being on the pillar of Form. The energy of your life is far more successful, on the Pillar of Force, it is just being wasted or mis-applied in the structure. Now look at whether any of these variations or strengths indicates which area(s) of your life require resurrection, according to the associations of the Sephiroth to life. For some I have also given planetary correspondences for those with Astrological knowledge: Kether: Aims, goals, spiritual development Chockmah: Masculinity, power, energy, wisdom Binah: Femininity, understanding, depth Chesed: Expansiveness, love, mercy, charity [Jupiter] Geburah: Rigour, Control, Discipline, Structure [Mars] Tiphareth: Harmony, balance, centeredness [Sun] Netzach: Nature, cycles, habits [Venus] Hod: Learning, knowledge [Mercury] Yesod: Dreams, imagination [Moon] Malkuth: Health & Wealth, Body, Material [Saturn]

So, one advanced student had an example with the 3 of Swords in the position of Netzach, writing: Netzach (Nature, cycles, habits) – 3 of Swords Difference - 4 Divinatory Meaning – A really bad card, in a really bad position. Well, actually, in the right position, and well dignified, I think the Three of Swords can actually be an excellent card – if you're editing a piece of work, or making a business deal the cynicism and critical sharpness of the three make it a fantastic card. Of course, in a spot as emotional as Netzach, it's not so good. Here it speaks to me of an undeveloped, but very sharp, analytical system, tearing apart of Venusian rhythms. A well nurtured Netzach sphere sets the foundations that we fall back on, and the kind of non-book knowledge that we need. The three of swords here speaks to me of imbalance by way of self doubt and destructive thought processes. The overall conclusion he reached on looking over the whole Tree and the differences was quite a revelation to him:

“Interesting, as this spread wobbles. It wobbles quite badly on the left at the top, then gets pulled right back into the middle at Tiphareth... but that in itself is an overcompensation that makes things wobble on the right in the lower part of the tree. All this wobbling and overcompensation creates a stunted product at the end where it's obvious that the whole aim of the process has been more about achieving stability than creating something.”

Illustration: Tree of Life Numbers and Names of Sephiroth

Calibrated Spreads

A calibrated spread is a way of reading the cards against a set template or pattern, an idealized pattern in which the cards are already structured. This is not just a “spread” as it is designed to be read as a measurement against an ideal layout of the cards. The difference between the cards as they are placed and what they “should be” is the indication of how you “measure up” to the perfect situation. There are many ways of doing calibrated spreads and these are more fully explored in Tarosophy, the book. The week ahead will be challenging, intriguing, totally original and magical. We hope that it provides your relationship new insight, development and change - and gives you a whole new way of looking at Tarot.

Resurrection Engine: Gate 2 Cogs This is the second gate of our Resurrection experience, and is simply called “Cogs”. We have the whole of today and tomorrow to look over these loose cogs before we stick them together into our Engine.

The Cogs of the Engine Take a look at these Tarot Cards from your deck: The World The Chariot The Hermit The Emperor If you were to get these together in a reading, what would you think? How would you interpret them? What keywords do you associate with them? Take some time to consider your answer. Now consider them as response to our first gate – “What is it in life I need to resurrect?” How would you interpret these in your own case?

Finally, consider these as four pieces of a single machine. What role do they have in the machine, and if you put something into the machine at the World end of the machinery, how would it come out at the Emperor end? What would each of these cogs do to a piece of light passing through it, or an innocent person such as the Fool? One way of doing this is to suggest lessons for each of the cards mentioned above to teach to the Fool as they encounter the cards on a journey, so for example, the “World” might teach the Fool, “Everything has a purpose”. Then this would indicate that the cog of the Engine represented by the World is “Purpose”. You might also like to consider these “secret” keywords which are from the Tarosophy book, modeled on the responses of almost 50 Tarot readers: World

- Beginning

Chariot – Momentum Hermit – Solitude Emperor – Endurance When you have looked at these four cards as individual cogs and as a sequence, we can now see what we can build from them. See if you can move these cogs around and engage them with each other in different ways, like a jigsaw. This can be done by putting them together and coming up with new concepts, descriptions, lessons, interpretation, divination or keywords to summarize their combinations. You can use these keywords or your own concepts of each card. So for example, put the words for the World and the Chariot together and see what word comes to mind:

Beginning + Momentum = ? (Sprouting, Charging, Spurting?) Then try Hermit and Emperor: Solitude + Endurance = ? (persistence, retreat, resolve?) And when you have done two pairs, put the results of the pairs together, engaging all of the cogs, so for the example above you might end up with: Sprouting + Persistence = A Bulb coming to flower in the Spring. Try this in various combinations.

Conclusion We have chosen these cards for a particular reason which will be explained later. For now we can see how we can work with the Majors as individual cards, in sequence or in combination. These are essential skills for all divination.

Resurrection Engine: Gate 4 Fuel This is the fourth gate of our Resurrection experience, and is where we “fuel” our Engine. This is the first actual proper gate in the sense we use them, as it is an engagement in real life in response to a reading. Which means that you have to do the response before the next spread can be given, otherwise it won’t make any sense! We have the whole of today and tomorrow to look over our previous machining and perform the action required to pass through this gate.

The Fuelling of the Engine Perform a simple three card reading using your entire deck. The question is very simple. What is the first step I can take tomorrow to trigger this resurrection? You then have 1-2 days at most to take this step IN REAL ACTIVITY before the Engine can be completed. Without the fuel of real life, this engine is meaningless.

Further Work (Optional)

If you would like to use your schemata in more detail, you can refer to the MAJOR cards which correspond to the paths connecting to your areas of greatest difference. These will indicate the “lessons” you need to learn to balance this energetic difference or imbalance. So for example if you had a major difference in Chockmah, position 2, the cards connected to that are the FOOL, EMPRESS, EMPEROR and HIEROPHANT. You would then consider what lessons these reflect in that imbalance with regard to your question. A diagram follows below on the Tree of Life and the Major cards.

Illustration. The Tarot on the Tree of Life.

.

Resurrection Engine: Gate 5 Tea Break This is the fifth gate of our Resurrection experience, and is an opportunity for us to continue to fuel our engine, whilst making sense of what we have already accomplished, and preparing for the last few pieces to fall into place. We Resurrectionists call for a Tea Break! We will get back to work tomorrow, but for now let’s take a look at what all of this has been about! We will then complete our engine over the next few days!

The Tree of Life Firstly, of course, we have been learning all about the Tree of Life in Kabbalah with particular respect to how it is used in the Western esoteric system. This is as a map of experience and creation itself. The diagram of Sephiroth (numerical emanations 1-10) and Paths (connections 11-22, corresponding to the Hebrew letters) provides a wonderful framework on which to hang other systems, including Tarot. To further explain, here are some titles, other than those generally given, of the Sephiroth. You may wish to take tea, and now look at these in connection with your Schemata, to see if these explain more about your original calibrated reading.

We have given the English transliteration of the Hebrew letters for each of the Sephirah. You will soon see why this is so important, and discover you have already learnt something quite profound you can do to use your Tarot to understand Kabbalah! The usually given titles are marked in bold, the other descriptions are alternative meanings of the word itself, for example, Kether is usually referred to as the “crown” but it also means “to encompass”. Sephirah

Hebrew

Translations

1. Kether

KThR

Crown, diadem, to surround, beseige, wait, encompass

2. Chockmah

ChKMH

Wisdom, experience, knowledge, intelligence, insight, judgement, science, midwife

3. Binah

BYNH

Understanding, insight, prudence, reason, discernment

Da'ath

DA'aTh

Knowledge, insight, wisdom, understanding

4. Chesed

ChSD

Mercy, grace, piety, beauty, good-will, favour, benefit, love, kindness, charity, righteousness, benevolence, to do good

5. Geburah

GBVRH

Strength, power, force, valour, courage, victory, might, God, hero

6. Tiphareth

ThPhARTh

Beauty, splendour, magnificance, ornament, honour, glory, boast

7. Netzach

NTzCh

Victory, splendour, glory, truth, power, firmness, confidence, eminence. Duration, perpetuity, eternity, lasting, enduring. To excel, be superior, strength, blood, to be chief. Music-master, precentor, to sparkle, shine, win.

8. Hod

HVD

Glory, splendour, majesty, renown, ornament, beauty

9. Yesod

YSVD

Foundation, base, ground, principle, compilation

10. Malkuth

MLKVTh

Kingdom, dominion, realm, reign

Correspondences

Now we can reveal two things you have already learnt: the secret of correspondence and the Kabbalistic technique of the way of permutation, or Tzeruf. These are both powerful techniques and rarely taught or published, so we hope you enjoy your discovery of them both! Firstly, the core of Western esotericism is correspondence – that one thing corresponds to another. Thus, we can correspond the Hebrew letter Mem to the Tarot Card of the Hanged Man and the element of Water. Let us leave aside how this works, why and which system to use, for the moment! So we can see that the Hebrew letters and the Tarot cards correspond: Letter

Path on Tree

Connecting Sephiroth

Tarot Correspondence

Astrological Correspondence

Aleph (A) Beth (B) Gimel (G) Daleth (D) Heh (H) Vau (V) Zain (Z) Cheth (Ch) Teth (T) Yod (Y) Kaph (K) Lamed (L) Mem (M) Nun (N) Samekh (S) Ayin (A’a) Peh (P) Tzaddi (Tz) Qoph (Q) Resh (R)

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

1-2 1-3 1-6 2-3 2-6 2-4 3-6 3-5 4-5 4-6 4-7 5-6 5-8 6-7 6-9 6-8 7-8 7-9 7-10 8-9

0 : FOOL I : MAGICIAN II : PRIESTESS III : EMPRESS IV : EMPORER V : HIEROPHANT VI : LOVERS VII : CHARIOT VIII : STRENGTH IX : HERMIT X : WHEEL XI : JUSTICE XII : HANGED MAN XIII : DEATH XIV : TEMPERANCE XV : DEVIL XVI : TOWER XVII : STAR XVIII : MOON XIX : SUN

Air Mercury Moon Venus Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer Leo Virgo Jupiter Libra Water Scorpio Sagittarius Capricorn Mars Aquarius Pisces Sun

Shin (Sh) Tau (Th)

31 32

8-10 9-10

XX : LAST JUDGEMENT XXI : UNIVERSE

Fire Saturn/Earth

Now because Hebrew is taken in Kabbalah as the divine language, reflecting the construction of the Universe, all words have hidden meaning. So if you take a word, such as resurrection, spelt in the Hebrew word for it, ThChYH (Tau-Cheth-Yod-Heh), you can discover the hidden nature of the concept by analysing the letters – and we can do that through correspondence with our existing (or growing!) knowledge of Tarot! So in our system we look at the corresponding Tarot cards: Tau: Cheth:

Universe/World Chariot

Yod:

Hermit

Heh:

Emperor

And we can then discern more about the nature of resurrection from those images and all that we know about them. You may recognize these cards … Yes, they are the COGS in our resurrection engine! You can now start to rapidly unlock Kabbalah with your Tarot knowledge. Here’s one way to start, by analyzing the Hebrew names of the Sephiroth! Students of mine will recognize this technique and may have applied it already, but for others, you can take each Sephiroth spelling as given in the previous table, find the Tarot correspondences for it from the other table, and explore the meanings of each Sephiroth!

As an example, Kether, the Crown, is spelt KThR, corresponding to the Wheel of Fortune, World and Sun. This will tell you a lot about the nature of this most divine Sephirah, and unlock a lot of mysteries to you. When you next read a book on Kabbalah and it talks about Kether, you will already understand a lot about it!

Permutation Another Kabbalistic technique is Tzeruf, meaning permutation. This is a way of re-arranging Hebrew words, particularly names of God, in meditation, to discover hidden mysteries. We of course have been doing this when we performed a Tzeruf on the Hebrew word for resurrection, via illustrations, i.e. Tarot cards! Cool, huh? You may again like to try this with the names of the Sephiroth. That’s a good month’s work for you when you want! Then get a Hebrew dictionary and try more words!

Resurrection Engine: Gate 6 Struts & Ignition This is the sixth and final gate of our Resurrection experience, and combines struts to support our engine, cogged and fuelled, and the ignition key to follow! A summary will complete our work, entitled “Care and Maintenance of a Running Resurrection Engine”.

The Struts The struts which will support our Resurrection Engine are to be found in the Schemata which we received to commence our engineering work! Take a look at the bottom of the Tree of Life and the corresponding Hebrew letters on the paths and Tarot cards:

Illustration: Struts on the Tree of Life. We see here that the three Hebrew letters on the bottom paths leading into Malkuth, the “kingdom” (or World of Action) are Qoph, Shin and Tau, QShTh. This spells the Hebrew word for “rainbow”. Remember a story about a rainbow being set above the earth as a sign?! The Golden Dawn magical order also hinted that this formula was an important magical secret – although they never wrote why! We can further correspondences:

look

at

the

paths

and

see

these

Qoph – Moon – Cycles, Change, Facing the Fear Shin – Last Judgement RESURRECTING

–

Decisions,

Doing,

Acting,

Tau – World – Synthesis, Completion, Wholeness, Finalizing And we can now complete our Engine with three struts by filling in the following – and most importantly in this last gate, ACTING upon them: Qoph: What fear have I faced/will face and did/do it anyway … Shin: What do I DO which makes resurrection happen … Tau: How have I come to finish this event (learning) …

For each strut you can also look at the cards in your schemata reading to see what type and levels of energy (Minor cards) impact upon these being able to support you. So for Qoph, your ability to face fear, look at the two cards you got in Netzach (7) and Malkuth (10) which are connected by Qoph, the Moon. To look at your ability to act, look at the two cards you got in Hod (8) and Malkuth (10), connected by Shin, the Last Judgement. And for your final summary, look at the two cards you placed in Yesod (9) and Malkuth (10), connected by Tau, corresponding to the World card. We would recommend that you complete these sections to ensure satisfactory running of the engine you have built – even if the building was partial, the putting away of it must be complete, otherwise you may trip up over pieces left lying about! You will also see that at least one strut requires that you DO something, perhaps similar to what was implied by the cogs, perhaps something that came out of the schemata.

The Ignition Key The card you select will call you to recognize one key element of your life that has arisen during the week. These are selected from the Major cards of the Tarot – simply pick ONE number below to view your card on YouTube, selected by the Seer of Tarosophy Towers. 1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 This card is for your contemplation and consideration, and acts as an “ignition” in which your experience for the week may be seen.

Conclusion We trust during this week-long taster experience you have been given a new angle on your Tarot, and look forward to welcoming you on our other Gated Spreads in the future. You can share your experiences in our social site, Tarot-Town, and ask questions. The site is free with membership of your national Tarot Association, with many other member benefits. We also provide a self-study course in Kabbalah which is only $1/month for 12 months at www.kabbalahcourse.com. Each unit of the course is designed to be studied over a month, with a total of twelve units taking a year to study in total. Each unit comprises a Reading Paper, a Revision Sheet, Exercises, and a Booklist. Selected units contain supplementary material including tables, illustrations, diagrams and further revision material. Available now for only $12.00 for an entire year’s course in Kabbalah! Includes 50 PDF modules, delivered by email monthly.

Notes [1] Gershom Scholem, On the Mystical Shape of the Godhead (New York: Schocken Books, 1991), p. 43 [2] Brett Bradford, Liz Manison, Linda Hoyland, Lucy Manera & Tali Goodwin, 2009.

Bibliography Tarot Katz, M. Tarosophy. Chang Mai: Salamander & Sons, 2012. Katz, M. & Goodwin, T. Around the Tarot in 78 Days. Woodbury: Llewellyn, 2012. Katz, M. & Goodwin, T. Tarot Flip. Forge Press, 2012. Waite, A. E. Pictorial Key to the Tarot. London: Rider, 1974.

Kabbalah Kabbalah Decoder, Janet introduction, accessible]

Berenson-Perkins

[good

general

Meditation and Kabbalah, Aryeh Kaplan [For in-depth meditations and methods] The Essential Kabbalah, Daniel C. Matt [Extracts from central texts] A Garden of Pomegranates, Israel Regardie [Western esoteric version] The Mystical Qabalah, Dion Fortune [As above] Entrance to the Magical Qabalah, Melita Denning & Osbourne Phillips [As above] The Sefirot, Y. David Shulman [Good descriptions of each Sephirah] Essential Core Texts: The Zohar (ed. Daniel C. Matt), The Bahir (ed. Aryeh Kaplan) & the Sepher Yetzirah (ed. Aryeh Kaplan or earlier version by W. W. Westcott)

Any of the works of Moshe Idel and Gershom Scholem for advanced studies.

Websites & Resources If you enjoy new learning, and want many more ways to use your Tarot deck, we encourage you to explore our websites. You are also welcome to join us in your national Tarosophy Tarot Association, where as a member you will instantly receive thousands of pages of materials, and tarot video courses for every level. We look forward to seeing you soon on your Tarot journey!

Tarosophy Tarot Associations http://www.tarotassociation.net Tarot Professionals Facebook Group http://www.facebook.com/groups/tarotprofessionals Free Tarot Card Meanings & Spreads http://www.mytarotcardmeanings.com Hekademia Tarot Course http://www.tarosophyuniversity.com Tarot Town Social Network http://www.tarot-town.com Tarosophy by Marcus Katz http://www.tarosophy.com The Tarot Speakeasy Blog http://www.tarotspeakeasy.com Tarot Book Club

http://www.tarotbookclub.com The Tarot Review http://www.thetarotreview.com TarotCon International Tarot Conventions http://www.tarotconvention.com Fortune-Telling Laws http://www.fortunetellinglaws.com The Original Lenormand Deck http://www.originallenormand.com Learning Lenormand http://www.learninglenormand.com

Kindle Tarot Books & Series Check out all our other books and series for original and exciting ways in which you can use a deck of tarot cards to change your life.

Gated Spreads Series Set 1 Book 1: The Tarot Shaman (Contact Your Animal Spirit) Book 2: Gates of Valentine (Love & Relationships) Book 3: The Resurrection Engine (Change Your Life) Set 2 Book 4: Palace of the Phoenix (Alchemy) Book 5: Garden of Creation (Creativity & Inspiration) Book 6: Ghost Train (Explore Your Past) Set 3 Coming Soon – Enter the Temple of the Gods.

Tarosophy KickStart Series Volume I. Book I: Tarot Flip - Reading Tarot Straight from the Box Book II: Tarot Twist – 78 New Spreads and Methods [paperback] Book III: Tarot Inspire – Tarot for a Spiritual Life

Tarot Life Series Tarot Life: A revolutionary method to change your life in 12 Kindle pamphlets.

1. Discover Your Destiny 2. Remove The Blocks 3. Make Decisions Better 4. Enter the Flow 5. Ride the Lion 6. Connect to Service 7. Find Equality 8. Die To Your Self 9. Entering Unity 10. Becoming the Real 11. Your Keys to Freedom 12. The Depth of Divinity

Also in Print and Kindle Tarosophy: A ground-breaking book packed with original ideas.

Around the Tarot in 78 Days: The ideal beginner book, a three-month course through every card. An award-winning book, recognized by the COVR New Age Industry Award for Best Divination Book 2013.

Tarot Face to Face: Take your tarot out of the box and into life!

The Secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot: Learn the real meanings of the world’s most popular tarot deck. [available Spring 2014]

Tarot Turn Vol. 1 - 3: A massive crowd-sourced reference guide to all 12,200 possible combinations of reversed Tarot card pairs.