Difference between revisions of "Masonic Tarot"

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==Notes==
==Notes==


The Masonic Tarot was created by Freemasons during the French and Industrial Revolutions to help lubricate the transfer of power from Feudal elites to Capitalist elites.<ref>Mike Sosteric."A Sociology of Tarot." Canadian Journal of Sociology 39 3 (2014).</ref>
The Masonic Tarot is not a spiritual tool. It is a propoganda tool. It was created by Freemasons during the French and Industrial Revolutions to help lubricate the transfer of power from Feudal elites to Capitalist elites.<ref>Mike Sosteric."A Sociology of Tarot." Canadian Journal of Sociology 39 3 (2014).</ref>


The tarot is designed to be constitutive of personal identity. It purports to locate the individual in relation to the System and the "Cosmos." "The Tarot is a system of enlightenment, a system whose ultimate aim is assisting the individual in understanding his relationship to the Cosmos." <ref>Wang, Robert. An Introduction to the Golden Dawn Tarot. Main: Sam Weiser, 1978. p. 8. </ref> It provides "seed ideas" <ref>Wang, Robert. An Introduction to the Golden Dawn Tarot. Main: Sam Weiser, 1978. p. 13. </ref> intended to lead to a certain understanding of the human condition.
The world’s foremost tarot scholars to suggest that the Tarot has been the "...most successful propaganda campaign ever launched; not by a very long way the most important, but the most completely successful. An entire false history, and false interpretation, of the Tarot pack was concocted by occultist; and it is all but universally believed. "<ref>Decker, Ronald, Thierry Depaulis, and Michael Dummett. A Wicked Pack of Cards: The Origins of the Occult Tarot. New York: St Martin’s Press, 1996.  p. 27.</ref>
 
The tarot is designed to be constitutive of personal identity suitable to the Capitalist [[Mode of Production]]. It purports to locate the individual in relation to the System and the "Cosmos." "The Tarot is a system of enlightenment, a system whose ultimate aim is assisting the individual in understanding his relationship to the Cosmos." <ref>Wang, Robert. An Introduction to the Golden Dawn Tarot. Main: Sam Weiser, 1978. p. 8. </ref> It provides "seed ideas" <ref>Wang, Robert. An Introduction to the Golden Dawn Tarot. Main: Sam Weiser, 1978. p. 13. </ref> intended to lead to a certain understanding of the human condition.


The Masonic Tarot, in its esoteric form, is elitist. It is a "secret oral tradition." <ref>Wang, Robert. An Introduction to the Golden Dawn Tarot. Main: Sam Weiser, 1978. p. 11. </ref>  Knowledge and power given only to the worthy. "It has revealed Itself, in a measure, to the wise." <ref>Case, Paul Foster. An Introduction to the Study of the Tarot. New York: Kindle Edition, 1920.</ref>
The Masonic Tarot, in its esoteric form, is elitist. It is a "secret oral tradition." <ref>Wang, Robert. An Introduction to the Golden Dawn Tarot. Main: Sam Weiser, 1978. p. 11. </ref>  Knowledge and power given only to the worthy. "It has revealed Itself, in a measure, to the wise." <ref>Case, Paul Foster. An Introduction to the Study of the Tarot. New York: Kindle Edition, 1920.</ref>


The threat of violence is used to prevent initiates from revealing the secrets. <ref>Wang, Robert. An Introduction to the Golden Dawn Tarot. Main: Sam Weiser, 1978. p. 13. </ref>
The threat of violence is used to prevent initiates from revealing the secrets. <ref>Wang, Robert. An Introduction to the Golden Dawn Tarot. Main: Sam Weiser, 1978. p. 13. </ref>
.
 
The Masonic Tarot, in its exoteric form, exerts control over individual consciousness and inscribes a [[Fool in School]] ethic on the individual. Life is all about karma and lessons and so don't struggle or fight back, passively accept and learn your lessons.  
The Masonic Tarot, in its exoteric form, exerts control over individual consciousness and inscribes a [[Fool in School]] ethic on the individual. Life is all about karma and lessons and so don't struggle or fight back, passively accept and learn your lessons.  


A classic statement of this perspective is "The Tarot is a deck of 78 cards, each with its own imagery, symbolism and story. The 22 Major Arcana cards represent life's karmic and spiritual lessons, and the 56 Minor Arcana cards reflect the trials and tribulations that we experience on a daily basis."<ref>Biddy, Bridget. “Learn the Tarot Basics.” Biddy Tarot (blog), 2020. https://www.biddytarot.com/learn-tarot/.</ref>
A classic statement of this perspective is "The Tarot is a deck of 78 cards, each with its own imagery, symbolism and story. The 22 Major Arcana cards represent life's karmic and spiritual lessons, and the 56 Minor Arcana cards reflect the trials and tribulations that we experience on a daily basis."<ref>Biddy, Bridget. “Learn the Tarot Basics.” Biddy Tarot (blog), 2020. https://www.biddytarot.com/learn-tarot/.</ref>


The Masonic Tarot is sexist. Almost all authors who comment upon the archetypes reproduce binary and stereotypical notions of gender. "He is the objective aspect of consciousness....she is the subjective aspect..."<ref>Case, Paul Foster. An Introduction to the Study of the Tarot. New York: Kindle Edition, 1920.</ref>
Many respectable scholars and well-educated folk  take tarot to be a tool of deep spiritual, archetypal, or psychological wisdom. A "holistic tool that can help us mine our own unconscious..." <ref>Wen, Benebell. Holistic Tarot: An Integrative Approach to Using Tarot for Personal Growth. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 2015.</ref>
 
Psychologist [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Metzner Ralph Metzner] discusses the "Hero's Journey" and suggests that tarot is a reflection of that journey, a reflection of "archetypes of psychic transformation." As he says, "In these myths the inner journey to the discovery and realization of the Higher Self—the trials and obstacles to be overcome as well as the sudden breakthroughs and steps of initiation are disguised as an outer journey, a hero’s quest. And we find that there is always a common pattern to this myth of the hero “with a thousand faces”:2 whether his name is Gilgamesh, Rama, Orpheus, or Siegfried, there exists a communality which stems from the fact that all these heros are en­gaged in the same eternal quest."<ref>Metzner, Ralph. Maps of Consciousness: I Ching, Tantra, Tarot, Alchemy, Astrology, Actualism. New York: Collier Books, 1971. p. 55.</ref>
 
The Masonic Tarot is sexist. All authors who comment upon the archetypes reproduce binary and stereotypical notions of gender. "He is the objective aspect of consciousness....she is the subjective aspect..."<ref>Case, Paul Foster. An Introduction to the Study of the Tarot. New York: Kindle Edition, 1920.</ref>


Writers, like Case<ref>Case, Paul Foster. An Introduction to the Study of the Tarot. New York: Kindle Edition, 1920.</ref> and Crowley, etc. use [[EPMO]] to obscure the basic ideology. Long paragraphs of tortuous prose with complicated and largely meaningless associations obscure the basic ideological statements. See for example Case, "An Introduction to the Study of the Tarot."
Writers, like Paul Foster Case and Aleister Crowley, etc. use [[EPMO]] to obscure the basic ideology. Long paragraphs of tortuous prose with complicated and largely meaningless associations obscure the basic ideological statements. See for example Case  


The Masonic Tarot is based on an ancient [[Old Energy Creation Template]], a [[Zoroastrian Creation Template]].<ref>For details of this template, see Mike Sosteric "From Zoroaster to Star Wars, Jesus to Marx: The Science and Technology of Mass Human Behaviour".  2018. <https://www.academia.edu/34504691>.</ref>  
The Masonic Tarot is based on an ancient [[Old Energy Creation Template]], a [[Zoroastrian Creation Template]].<ref>For details of this template, see Mike Sosteric "From Zoroaster to Star Wars, Jesus to Marx: The Science and Technology of Mass Human Behaviour".  2018. <https://www.academia.edu/34504691>.</ref>  


Many respectable scholars take tarot to be a tool of deep spiritual, archetypal, or psychological wisdom.A "holistic tool that can help us mine our own unconscious..." <ref>Wen, Benebell. Holistic Tarot: An Integrative Approach to Using Tarot for Personal Growth. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 2015.</ref>


This analysis focuses primarily on the major arcana. The minor arcana are considered less important, even (in personified form) a perversion of occult principle."  <ref>Wang, Robert. An Introduction to the Golden Dawn Tarot. Main: Sam Weiser, 1978. p. 21. </ref>
This analysis focuses primarily on the major arcana. The minor arcana are considered less important, even (in personified form) a perversion of occult principle."  <ref>Wang, Robert. An Introduction to the Golden Dawn Tarot. Main: Sam Weiser, 1978. p. 21. </ref>

Revision as of 14:17, 14 July 2020

The Masonic Tarot is the common Rider-Waite Tarot created by Freemasons during the industrial revolution as an ideological tool to help them spread Capitalism.[1] The Masonic Tarot contains Old Energy Archetypes that, taken together, inscribe Old Energy Archetype Constellations and by so doing create an Old Energy Creation Template which helps support the The System.

List of Old Energy Masonic Archetypes as implemented in the Masonic Tarot

Masonic Tarot archetypes> Chariot, Death (archetype), Duality, Hermit, Hierophant, High Priestess, Judgement, Justice, Star, Strength, Sun (archetype), Temperance, The Devil, The Emperor, The Empress, The Fool, The Hanged Man, The Lovers, The Magician, The Moon, The Tower, The Wheel of Fortune, The World (old energy)

List of Old Energy Archetypal Constellations

The Masonic Tarot helps inscribe into Collective Consciousness the following Old Energy Archetype Constellations

Old Energy Archetype Constellations > Binary Gender, Chosen One, Compliance and Submission, Excuse and Justification, Fool in School, Good versus Evil, Isolated Individuality, Judge and Punish/Reward, Only the Chosen, Secrets

Related Terms

Masonic Tarot > Big Questions

Notes

The Masonic Tarot is not a spiritual tool. It is a propoganda tool. It was created by Freemasons during the French and Industrial Revolutions to help lubricate the transfer of power from Feudal elites to Capitalist elites.[2]

The world’s foremost tarot scholars to suggest that the Tarot has been the "...most successful propaganda campaign ever launched; not by a very long way the most important, but the most completely successful. An entire false history, and false interpretation, of the Tarot pack was concocted by occultist; and it is all but universally believed. "[3]

The tarot is designed to be constitutive of personal identity suitable to the Capitalist Mode of Production. It purports to locate the individual in relation to the System and the "Cosmos." "The Tarot is a system of enlightenment, a system whose ultimate aim is assisting the individual in understanding his relationship to the Cosmos." [4] It provides "seed ideas" [5] intended to lead to a certain understanding of the human condition.

The Masonic Tarot, in its esoteric form, is elitist. It is a "secret oral tradition." [6] Knowledge and power given only to the worthy. "It has revealed Itself, in a measure, to the wise." [7]

The threat of violence is used to prevent initiates from revealing the secrets. [8]

The Masonic Tarot, in its exoteric form, exerts control over individual consciousness and inscribes a Fool in School ethic on the individual. Life is all about karma and lessons and so don't struggle or fight back, passively accept and learn your lessons.

A classic statement of this perspective is "The Tarot is a deck of 78 cards, each with its own imagery, symbolism and story. The 22 Major Arcana cards represent life's karmic and spiritual lessons, and the 56 Minor Arcana cards reflect the trials and tribulations that we experience on a daily basis."[9]

Many respectable scholars and well-educated folk take tarot to be a tool of deep spiritual, archetypal, or psychological wisdom. A "holistic tool that can help us mine our own unconscious..." [10]

Psychologist Ralph Metzner discusses the "Hero's Journey" and suggests that tarot is a reflection of that journey, a reflection of "archetypes of psychic transformation." As he says, "In these myths the inner journey to the discovery and realization of the Higher Self—the trials and obstacles to be overcome as well as the sudden breakthroughs and steps of initiation are disguised as an outer journey, a hero’s quest. And we find that there is always a common pattern to this myth of the hero “with a thousand faces”:2 whether his name is Gilgamesh, Rama, Orpheus, or Siegfried, there exists a communality which stems from the fact that all these heros are en­gaged in the same eternal quest."[11]

The Masonic Tarot is sexist. All authors who comment upon the archetypes reproduce binary and stereotypical notions of gender. "He is the objective aspect of consciousness....she is the subjective aspect..."[12]

Writers, like Paul Foster Case and Aleister Crowley, etc. use EPMO to obscure the basic ideology. Long paragraphs of tortuous prose with complicated and largely meaningless associations obscure the basic ideological statements. See for example Case

The Masonic Tarot is based on an ancient Old Energy Creation Template, a Zoroastrian Creation Template.[13]


This analysis focuses primarily on the major arcana. The minor arcana are considered less important, even (in personified form) a perversion of occult principle." [14]

Recovery

Many tarot aficionados and writers attempt to re-write the esoteric and exoteric tarot, trying to find alternative, sometimes more progressive, "less disturbing" more "life-affirming" messaging. [15]

Virtue exposed her process: For example, "...symbolism was very carefully reviewed. When something distressing was removed from an image, we were diligent about replacing it with something peaceful that signified the same thing. Card names were changed when necessary to more accurately convey the loving message embedded in even the most challenging cards."[16]

Virtue also makes effort to remove "mystery" and "secrets." However, she still duplicates the a-political, blame-the-individual tropes of the masonic tarot. We are still here to learn our lessons, and we should "give thanks" for that.[17] She just presents the tropes and the masonic perspectives in a more "loving" and inviting manner.

Note, various attempts to recover or insert authenticity are documented in the Recovery section of the individual tarot entries.

Footnotes

  1. Mike Sosteric."A Sociology of Tarot." Canadian Journal of Sociology 39 3 (2014).
  2. Mike Sosteric."A Sociology of Tarot." Canadian Journal of Sociology 39 3 (2014).
  3. Decker, Ronald, Thierry Depaulis, and Michael Dummett. A Wicked Pack of Cards: The Origins of the Occult Tarot. New York: St Martin’s Press, 1996. p. 27.
  4. Wang, Robert. An Introduction to the Golden Dawn Tarot. Main: Sam Weiser, 1978. p. 8.
  5. Wang, Robert. An Introduction to the Golden Dawn Tarot. Main: Sam Weiser, 1978. p. 13.
  6. Wang, Robert. An Introduction to the Golden Dawn Tarot. Main: Sam Weiser, 1978. p. 11.
  7. Case, Paul Foster. An Introduction to the Study of the Tarot. New York: Kindle Edition, 1920.
  8. Wang, Robert. An Introduction to the Golden Dawn Tarot. Main: Sam Weiser, 1978. p. 13.
  9. Biddy, Bridget. “Learn the Tarot Basics.” Biddy Tarot (blog), 2020. https://www.biddytarot.com/learn-tarot/.
  10. Wen, Benebell. Holistic Tarot: An Integrative Approach to Using Tarot for Personal Growth. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 2015.
  11. Metzner, Ralph. Maps of Consciousness: I Ching, Tantra, Tarot, Alchemy, Astrology, Actualism. New York: Collier Books, 1971. p. 55.
  12. Case, Paul Foster. An Introduction to the Study of the Tarot. New York: Kindle Edition, 1920.
  13. For details of this template, see Mike Sosteric "From Zoroaster to Star Wars, Jesus to Marx: The Science and Technology of Mass Human Behaviour". 2018. <https://www.academia.edu/34504691>.
  14. Wang, Robert. An Introduction to the Golden Dawn Tarot. Main: Sam Weiser, 1978. p. 21.
  15. Virtue, Doreen. The Big Book of Angel Tarot: The Essential Guide. New York: Hay House, 2014.
  16. Virtue, Doreen. The Big Book of Angel Tarot: The Essential Guide. New York: Hay House, 2014.
  17. Virtue, Doreen. The Big Book of Angel Tarot: The Essential Guide. New York: Hay House, 2014.