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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838
The 10 Nodes of the Tree of Life and Tarot
Chapter 3
The nodes of the Tree of Life represent different aspects of God, the self, or the psyche. They are known in the Kabbalah as the sephiroth, individually as the sephirah. The top of the Tree of Life is closest to God, and as one travels down the Tree of Life, we come closer and closer to manifestation. If it helps, we can imagine the sephiroth as a series of mirrors, reflecting light from the top to the bottom. The light itself is not changed, but it shines just a bit more dimly at the bottom than it does up top.
You’ll see that the numbers on each world correspond with a card in the minor arcana. Starting with the world of emanation, we travel through the cards, and go from the aces to the tens. Then, we start all over again, but in the ace of the next world. So from the 10 of wands, we move to the ace of chalices. From the 10 of chalices, we move to the ace of swords. And from the 10 of swords, we move to the ace of disks.This ends at the 10 of disks, where matter has found its home. Simultaneously, the ace of wands is closest to the divine.
You’ll see that the numbers on each world correspond with a card in the minor arcana. Starting with the world of emanation, we travel through the cards, and go from the aces to the tens. Then, we start all over again, but in the ace of the next world. So from the 10 of wands, we move to the ace of chalices. From the 10 of chalices, we move to the ace of swords. And from the 10 of swords, we move to the ace of disks.This ends at the 10 of disks, where matter has found its home. Simultaneously, the ace of wands is closest to the divine.
