The Tarot and the Tree of Life Correspondences
written by Alice Jansing
If you’re familiar with the Golden Dawn, you’ll know that the Tarot is part of a greater esoteric system; one that beautifully weaves together astrology, tarot, and Kabbalah into a greater whole. We first see these ideas being used together in the 1800’s when Eliphas Levi published a book describing the relationship of the 22 cards of the Major Arcana with the 22 letters of the Hebrew Alphabet, and the 4 suits of the tarot corresponding to the Tetragrammaton (the 4 lettered, Hebrew name of God). This book is going to be an attempt to briefly explain the connections between Kabbalah, and specifically the Tree of Life, with the Tarot.
Last Updated
05/31/21
Chapters
4
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837
What is the Tree of Life?
Chapter 1
To put it in somewhat simple terms, the Tree of Life is a diagram that describes the universal laws of reality. Like a fractal, the Tree of Life is an eternal emanation of the divine principle: it is macrocosm and microcosm. It lives and breathes within each and every human being, and together, we all form the branches of its tree. Its echo exists both within us and without.
The sinewy pathways woven by its branches and its roots is how spirit and energy travels in order to make itself manifest as matter. If you follow its path downwards, you find the body and our unconscious, and if you follow it upwards, you find the divine source of the soul and our higher selves. It is the blueprint for creation; and it is a metaphor for the richness of our inner lives.
The entire diagram consists of 10 nodes and 22 paths that connect each of the nodes. There are many correspondences between each and every one of these nodes and paths, but we will keep our discussion of them limited to the tarot. We humbly admit that whatever attempt we make to explain and decipher the Tree of Life, a deeply complex occult subject, will always come short.
In the following chapter, we're going to be using the Arcana Iris Sacra to illustrate the relationship between the tree of life and tarot.
The sinewy pathways woven by its branches and its roots is how spirit and energy travels in order to make itself manifest as matter. If you follow its path downwards, you find the body and our unconscious, and if you follow it upwards, you find the divine source of the soul and our higher selves. It is the blueprint for creation; and it is a metaphor for the richness of our inner lives.
The entire diagram consists of 10 nodes and 22 paths that connect each of the nodes. There are many correspondences between each and every one of these nodes and paths, but we will keep our discussion of them limited to the tarot. We humbly admit that whatever attempt we make to explain and decipher the Tree of Life, a deeply complex occult subject, will always come short.
In the following chapter, we're going to be using the Arcana Iris Sacra to illustrate the relationship between the tree of life and tarot.
