The Magical Tarot of the Golden Dawn: Divination, Meditation and High Magical Teachings - Revised Edition

by Chris Zalewski, Pat Zalewski

Overview

The last word on the Tarot of the Golden Dawn and a veritable encyclopedia which covers every aspect of the cards.

This revised edition of the classic book is a balanced combination of both historical and new material presented by the Zalewskis, that stands firmly rooted in Golden Dawn teachings and ritual practice.

The authors stress experimentation with the tarot, which is a mark of a vibrant magical system and the descriptions of each tarot card are very reliable and very complete.

Of particular interest are the alchemical associations and the authors' work on the gematria or numerology of each card. For the first time a complete alchemical system is given for the whole deck.

There is also a good deal of added astrological information and divinatory meanings and interpretations.Several excellent suggestions for studying and meditating on the cards are provided by the authors.

Fully illustrated by Golden Dawn member and professional artist, Skip Dudchous, this new 2019 edition has been completely re-edited and re-formatted for ease of reading and contains are a host of interesting new innovations in this book.

It will be an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the Tarot of the Golden Dawn.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781911597292
Publisher:	AEON BOOKS LTD
Publication date:	01/22/2019
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	506
Product dimensions:	6.60(w) x 9.50(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Pat Zalewski was born in Brisbane, Australia, in 1948 and has a Master of Philosophy in History from James Cook Universityin Cairns and is the author of 12 books on the Golden Dawn. After living in Rabaul, New Guinea, in the 1960's, Zalewski travelled throughout south-east Asia, studying tantric yoga in India and eventually settling in New Zealand in 1970.After reading and practicing the Golden Dawn for a number of years, he and Chris Zalewski went to Havelock North and met with members of the then recently closed Whare Ra temple in 1980. On a second trip he met artists Skip Dudchus and David Sledzinski and worked out the details of redrawing the Whare Ra deck for the Magical Tarot of the Golden Dawn book. In 1999 Zalewski returned to Australia to live and settle in tropical Cairns.

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Historical

The first general reference to modern European Tarot cards is in the writings of the Abbe de la Rive who made the statement that the Tarot cards originated from Spain in 1267. They were brought to Italy by Castilian princes who came to Scilly and Calabria then extended into Italy. Another early reference to the Tarot comes from the fifteenth century, chronicler Giovanni Covelluzo, who stated:

There were encamped about Viterbo paid troops of the opposing factions of Clement VII and Urban VI, who did commit depredations of all kinds and robberies in the Roman states. In this year (1379) of such great tribulations the game of cards was introduced into Viterbo, which came from the Saracens and was called Niab.

An ancient fragment of paper from the Museum of Islamic Art is said to represent an early Egyptian Court Card (see Richard Ettinghausen 'Further Comments on Mamluk Playing Cards') but to attempt to say what this fragment actually represented would be pure speculation. It does show a possible connection to the theory that the origins of the Tarot were in Egypt. In China, earlier editions of playing cards are recorded in a Chinese dictionary called the 'Ching-tse-tung' which states that card games were invented in 1120 for the Emperor and his wives. Since no evidence exists of these early packs there is, unfortunately, no way to connect the Chinese cards and the European ones, unless they were brought to the Middle East by Arab traders.

One of the greatest misconceptions about Tarot cards is their reputed Gypsy origin, which stems mainly from late nineteenth century writings, such as those of J.A. Vaillant. In fact, the available evidence indicates that the cards arrived in Europe well before the migration of the Gypsies to Europe from India.

The modern occult revival of the Tarot was apparently started by the Frenchman Alliette, or 'Etteilla' as he was publicly known, who wrote a series of books on the Tarot. These books relate the occult origin of the Tarot and expound the theories of de Gebelin, who viewed the Tarot as a book of learning and occult wisdom. In 1853 Julia Orsina wrote eight volumes called 'Le Grand Etteila, ou l'Art de Tirer les Cartes' which bridged the gap with occultism even further. In 1854 Eliphas Levi's 'Dogma and Ritual of Transcendental Magic' firmly linked the Tarot and Hebrew mysticism together by associating the twenty-two Tarot Trumps with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. This association of tarot cards and the Hebrew letters, when applied to an aspect of Hebrew mysticism called the Kabbalah, entrenched the Tarot as a very high form of occult learning. In England, in 1888, the Society for the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was founded. This immensely influential magical group concentrated its teachings on applying the Tarot to the Kabbalah and, when expanded to the Macrocosm, would also take in the various constellations themselves. The esoteric genius behind this society was Samuel Liddel Mathers who utilised the Tarot as a part of Golden Dawn ritual by having the hidden esoteric explanation of the Trumps explained at pertinent points of the ceremony.

This hidden tradition of the Tarot takes the Hebrew name of God, YOD HEH VAU HEH (Jehovah) and equates each letter to an element, being Fire, Water, Air and Earth respectively. Since the Tarot Trumps relate to the four elements, as well as the seven planets and the twelve Zodiac Signs (the final Tarot Trump has a dual association of both a planet and an element) the Tarot was further equated with symbolism contained within a very early book on Hebrew cosmology called the 'Sepher Yetzirah' which purports to give the formation of the universe and of creation itself.

The Tarot is in reality not one but two different packs. The first is the Major Arcana which contains the twenty-two Trumps and the second is the Minor Arcana which consists of sixteen Court Cards and forty Pip Cards as they are sometimes called. The division of the Minor Arcana is in Four Suits of Wands, Cups, Swords and Disks and which have elemental associations analogous to the letters of YOD HEH VAU HEH, thus:

Yod = Fire = Wands Heh = Water = Cups Vau = Air = Swords Heh = Earth = Disks

Mathers maintained that the word Tarot was a metatheses of the letters TARO: TORA (Hebrew) = Law; TROA (Hebrew) = Gate; ROTA (Latin) = Wheel; ORAT (Latin) = it speaks argues or entreats; TAOR (Egyptian) = Taur, the Goddess of Darkness; ATOR (Egyptian) = Athor, the Egyptian Venus. The Tarot deck of the Golden Dawn was not revealed to the public until 1977 when a version was published by Robert Wang under the direction of Israel Regardie, a former initiate of the Stella Matutina, a name given to the Golden Dawn after 1903. Regardie was a member of the Bristol-Hermes Temple in England for a few years in the 1930s and demitted from it after he decided to publish its teachings and rituals. Regardie's original Tarot cards were stolen some years ago and Wang worked on colour photocopies of this deck that Regardie had previously given to a friend. Since some of the cards in the deck Regardie had were changed from the original Golden Dawn designs by the Stella Matutina, Wang actually altered the Bristol-Temple deck to what he believed was the correct Golden Dawn symbolism and colour scheme, which it was not.

In 1983, when Regardie came to New Zealand to visit members of the Thoth-Hermes Temple, which had descended from Whare Ra Temple established in 1912 by Dr R. Felkin, we had the opportunity of showing him the original Tarot colouring scheme. This scheme, for the main part, was used in the Thoth deck by Aleister Crowley. Further to this, I had access to part of a deck that was painted by Moina Mathers, wife of Golden Dawn founder MacGregor Mathers, which was given to Felkin by Brodie Innes, another member of that Order around 1911–12. This consisted of the Minor Arcana, about three Trumps and one Court Card. The Trumps were from the elemental rituals.

The first noticeable difference between our deck and Wang's is the colour scheme, which is based on the Four Colour scales of the Golden Dawn–The King, Queen, Prince and Princess Scales. The next main point of difference is in the Court Cards, for these are taken from copies of the deck belonging to Wynn Westcott and sent to us by Mr Bob Gilbert. Although Westcott had these cards among his possessions, we do not think he drew them. His small cramped writing style does not show in the sketches. Neither of us are experts in these matters and the point in question as to who painted the Westcott Court Cards is worth considering. For the purpose of this book we have worked on the premise that the Court Cards were Westcott's (until it is proved either one way or the other).

The original Golden Dawn Tarot papers were actually more descriptive than informative, especially of the Court Cards and we have rewritten these as the descriptions are not really necessary when the reader is able to study the card itself. The backing of the cards is also different to the Wang version and the original for this was in fact published many years ago in Crowley's periodical known as The Equinox, Vol. 1, No. 8.

All in all, the Tarot deck as it is presented here to the general public is, in fact, an entirely new deck. Due to many changes the original Golden Dawn deck underwent in the Order since its inception in 1880s to the present day and we have tried to present the deck as it was originally. It should be noted that the Court Cards involve by far the greatest changes. It should be noted Dr Wynn Westcott also in fact assisted Dr Felkin with some of the changes made to the Stella Matutina deck which were done nearly twenty years after the original deck was conceived. What we wanted to present here was the original deck, thereby avoiding possible arguments as to what actually constitutes a Golden Dawn deck, depending on which temple and what period it came from. According to Jack Taylor, Mathers created some of the Trump Cards and the Pip Cards from the Marsellies Tarot designs, while Westcott contributed the Court Cards, which Mathers altered at a later date.

To fully understand some of the differences between this deck and that of Wang's take, for example, the card 'Magician' in which the Four Talismans of Ireland are placed on the altar and not the elemental weapons (used by advanced members who belonged to the Second or Inner Order). When Wang studied Regardie's version of this card he changed it to incorporate the elemental weapons by simply following the instructions of Mrs Felkin's Stella Matutina lecture on the Trumps. Copies of Regardie's cards, which appear in 'The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic', show that they are almost identical to our own Whare Ra deck, given to us by Taylor to paint some years ago.

A careful study of the Golden Dawn Trumps shows a very peculiar change in theme. The first Trumps have heavy Celtic symbology with 'The Fool' for the main part, associated with Sir Parzival of the Round Table and his upbringing in the almost enchanted forest along with the story of him and the dog on the leash. Sir Parzival was often referred to as the 'Divine Fool'. 'The High Priestess' is another aspect of the Grail legend. This Celtic tendency however seems to stop abruptly at this point and Felkin seems to have embraced more of the Marseille line of thinking, although endowing it with heavy Kabbalistic symbology. The Grail legend, as written by Wolfram Von Eschbach, was considered by many of those within the Golden Dawn to be the central point of origin of the Tarot and oral tradition has it that this was studied very carefully by Mathers and Westcott, and that Westcott, took the symbology of the Court Cards from this text.

The Golden Dawn Tarot is not an easy pack to work with because of its strong esoteric significance and therefore is not one for the beginner. When studying this book, the reader would do well to consult other various books on the Order's teachings and rituals, especially 'The Golden Dawn' by Regardie and our own work on the rituals, so that many of the esoteric terminologies are understood.

By personalising each card, that is, by painting it, one starts a very intricate internal process involving the acceptance of the card on a very deep level. This is a type of meditation that is, possibly, closely allied with states of Zen, for it not only helps the mind attune itself to the task in hand but has a number of therapeutic values too numerous to mention. It could be said that by painting this deck, using the Four Colour Scales, one goes through a very advanced state of internal reaction that, in many instances, supersedes the necessity of committing to memory various occult tabulations. It is the vital act of doing that is important here and not simply theorising. What we have tried to present here is the Golden Dawn deck as it was originally done. It would be impossible to give updated versions because these varied so much in the later years. Today, there is a great disappointment in the Wang version of the Golden Dawn deck and it is very obvious that he went his own way on a number of the cards he drew. The deck was published while the New Zealand Temple, Whare Ra, was still functioning (and which incidentally, held the copyright on the Stella Matutina version of the Golden Dawn deck) and therefore it was not very favourably received, still less so by some other Golden Dawn students. This new edition gives the student a chance to personalise one's nature into the deck by colouring it the way each student thinks will work best for him or her, yet still utilising the Golden Dawn colour allocations and leaving a great deal of room for experimentation. In our own New Zealand Temple, Thoth-Hermes, this type of colour personalisation is considered mandatory as part of one's training and I cannot overstate its value enough.

The Golden Dawn deck as we know it today, was originally conceived by Westcott, improved on by Mathers (who drew only half the Trumps) and completed by Felkin in collaboration with Westcott, in or around 1910. A number of years ago when I was studying various mandalas in India, under my teacher the late Vivandatta, he would have me paint numerous designs of certain colours to help integrate me with the work in hand. In many instances that was all we did with some startling results that were only intellectualised at a later date. This is how, I feel, one should approach painting the Golden Dawn.

CHAPTER 2

The Tarot and the Kabbalah

The Kabbalah was originally an obscure sectarian teaching from Hebrew mysticism that gradually was adopted by many of the greatest philosophers of Europe throughout the ages to the present day. It is presented as a form of thinking in ten stages, that is connected by various paths, each attributed to letters of the Hebrew alphabet. With this form of metaphysics many other philosophies of both Eastern and Western thought appendaged themselves to its core so that its boundaries grew with every coming age. One of the best descriptions of the Kabbalah that I have ever seen was given in a nineteenth century book called the 'Canon' by William Stirling: 'The Cabbalistic theology, representing the endless reasoning of countless generations of ingenious men, is the epitome of man's first efforts to grasp the problems connected with the cause and continuance of life, the inscrutable mystery which baffled the understanding of all inquiries alike. They reasoned concerning all phenomena of existence by their analogy to human creation and it was supposed that the universal creation took place after the manner of human creation and the generative attributes of a man and a woman were those of God and the universe and finally that all bodily functions of a human being and their counterpart in the Macrocosm or Greater World'.

It was not until the mid-nineteenth century that it was revealed by occultists such as Eliphas Levi in his 'Dogma and Ritual of Transcendental Magic' and also in his numerous books after that, that the Kabbalah and the Tarot were in fact related to each in form and concept.

The Kabbalah on the Tree of Life — the Minor Arcana

Kabbalistic theology informs us that light, spirit or influence actually came into being in this universe in three stages before it was sufficiently manifested enough in form. The stages were called the Three Veils of Negative Existence and were called in Hebrew, the Ain = Negatively, Ain Soph = The Limitless and Ain Soph Aur = Limitless Light. The Hebrew letters of the last name are nine in number and they constitute the unmanifested steps or spheres, which the Kabbalists called Sephiroth, so that at the number nine we cannot progress further without returning to unity.

The First of the Sephirah is called Kether, the Crown and shows the first manifested form which many have associated with the Hebrew name of God as shown in the letters AHIH (or Eheieh). It is the incomprehensible deity and Kether is often referred to the Godhead as the primal source of manifestation. The very ancient Kabbalistic Book, the 'Sepher Yetzirah' states that Kether is called 'The Admirable, or Hidden Intelligence' for it shows the Light giving the power of comprehension to the first principle which has no beginning or end. Aligned with the Tarot we have the initial card of the four suits of the Minor Arcana linked here. The Ace of Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles. Each of these cards shows the manifested state of something just born through their respective framework of the Four Elements. They exist but are still extremely pliable in nature and are very much the essential nature of the Aces.

The second Sephirah is called Chokmah, Wisdom and it shows the establishment of polarity in a balanced and harmonious disposition. Its Yetziratic title is 'Illuminating Intelligence' and refers to implanting of intelligence and wisdom. The ability to discern things has now come about and to a certain extent it shows the result of exaltation or spirit in matter through intelligence, the prime aspect that separates man from the animals. It is also very much the concept of reflected glory of Kether as well. The Tarot association here are the four Twos of the four suits, all of which are extremely positive in outlook.

The third Sephirah is Binah, Understanding and it shows the establishment of the Triad. It is the next step after Wisdom for while Wisdom gives us the ability to discern things, Understanding shows us the way to do it. The name Binah, in fact, comes from the Hebrew BYNH, Ben-a Son and YH from Chokmah, showing the Son of Chokmah. The Yetziratic title of this Sephirah is 'Sanctifying Intelligence' and signifies being the first order of development of Intelligence (sometimes called Primordial Intelligence), since the establishment of polarity in Chokmah, though it is ever mindful of its roots in Kether. The Tarot association here relates to the four Threes and shows the realisation of action.

(Continues…)

---

Excerpted from "The Magical Tarot of the Golden Dawn"
by .
Copyright © 2019 Pat Zalewski and Chris Zalewski.
Excerpted by permission of Aeon Books Ltd.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---

Table of Contents

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION

Historical
The Tarot and the Kabbalah
The Kabbalah on the Tree of Life—the Minor Arcana
The Kabbalah and the Macroprosopus—Court Cards
The Four Worlds and the Four Suits
The Sepher Yetzirah and the Four Suits
Gematria and the Tarot
The Four Colour Scales of the Golden Dawn as applied to the Tarot
Colouring of the Minor Arcana
The Four Colour Scales
The Meaning of Colour

The Tarot Major Arcana
The Fool
Key 1—The Magician
Key 2—High Priestess
Key 3—The Empress
Key 4—The Emperor
Key 5—The Hierophant
Key 6—The Lovers
Key 7—The Chariot
Key 8—Strength
Key 9—The Hermit
Key 10—Wheel of Fortune
Key 11—Justice
Key 12—Hanged Man
Key 13—Death
Key 14—Temperance
Key 15—The Devil
Key 16—Blasted Tower
Key 17—The Star
Key 18—The Moon
Key 19—The Sun
Key 20—Judgement
Key 21—The Universe

The Court Cards
Knight of Wands
Queen of Wands
King of Wands
Princess of Wands
Knight of Cups
Queen of Cups
King of Cups
Princess of Cups
Knight of Swords
Queen of Swords
King of Swords
Princess of Swords
Knight of Disks
Queen of Disks
King of Disks
Princess of Disks

The Minor Arcana
Ace of Wands
Two of Wands
Three of Wands
Four of Wands
Five of Wands
Six of Wands
Seven of Wands
Eight of Wands
Nine of Wands
Ten of Wands
Ace of Cups
Two of Cups
Three of Cups
Four of Cups
Five of Cups
Six of Cups
Seven of Cups
Eight of Cups
Nine of Cups
Ten of Cups
Ace of Swords
Two of Swords
Three of Swords
Four of Swords
Five of Swords
Six of Swords
Seven of Swords
Eight of Swords
Nine of Swords
Ten of Swords
Ace of Disks
Two of Disks
Three of Disks
Four of Disks
Five of Disks
Six of Disks
Seven of Disks
Eight of Disks
Nine of Disks
Ten of Disks

Divination and the Tarot
An Alternative Method of Divination Ritual
Tarot and Meditation
Scrying, Travelling in the Spirit Vision, Ritual and the Tarot
Introduction to the Celestial Tarot
Tarot Star Maps

Editorial Reviews

The last word on the Tarot of the Golden Dawn and a veritable encyclopedia which covers every aspect of the cards.

From the Publisher