Meditations on the Tarot

the first and fundamental principle of esoterism (i.e. of the way of experience of the reality of the spirit) can be rendered by the formula:

Learn at first concentration without effort; transform work into play; make every yoke that you have accepted easy and every burden that you carry light! ~ Valentin Tomberg, Meditations on the Tarot

Here we have a definition and a principle. Esoterism is the “way of the experience of the reality of the spirit”. Hence, there can be no ultimate “esoteric interpretation” of a text if by that is meant a verbal formulation. In spiritual works, there are four levels of interpretation:

• The historical or literal
• The allegorical
• The moral
• The anagogical

They may each be true at their respective levels. Hence the idea that there is a “truer” esoteric interpretation that is opposed to the other levels is misguided. That is a common view, often used to sell books. On the contrary, the esoteric require an experience of the reality of the spirit, prior to any words and thoughts. And its proof is not a novel interpretation, but rather “silence is the sign of real contact with the spiritual world”. To prepare for that, it is necessary to be:

• One in oneself, i.e., concentrated
• One with the spiritual world, i.e., to have a zone of silence in the soul

This defies any sort of mechanical process. The exoteric believer prefers dogmas to believe, rules to follow, and commands to obey. At the exoteric level, this appears to be rational. Tomberg then makes this distinction:

Evolution seen through the eyes of a passenger, i.e. seen as something which works by itself, is nevertheless not an illusion. That is. one can indeed find and prove the existence of a “process of evolution” or a “progressive process” which, on a phenomenological level, takes place by itself. But what effort, what sacrifices, what errors and what transgressions hide behind the phenomenological façade of the “process of evolution” and “universal progress”—established and yet to be established. Here we have arrived at the heart of the “exoterism — esoterism” problem.

In other words, there is flesh and blood behind this so-called process. To continue with the text:

Exoterism lives in “processes”, esoterism in tragedies and dramas. … The ancient mysteries were tragedies and dramas— it is here where their esoteric character lies. Exoterism corresponds to the mentality and psychology of a passenger, esoterism to that of a member of the crew.

On the esoteric path, you are called to be the actor in the tragedy and drama of your own life. The exoterists instead prefer to watch their lives unfold like a movie projected on a wall.

To return to the initial point about a “secret” interpretation, which is merely a disguised form of a new exoterism.

Esoterism is therefore not a life and activity which seeks secrecy. It is based on the mentality and psychology of the crew, and its “secrets” are secrets only in so far as the mentality and psychology of the passengers is such as to refuse to participate in responsibility.

The passengers need to be guided. A fortiori, they need to be compelled. On the one hand, they may desire proofs, or a case to be made. For example, proofs of God’s existence, the soul, etc.

On the other hand, they look for a sign, or a miraculous event. Or, they expect God, the Holy Spirit, or and angel to select their life path. We have no objection to proofs or signs. Nevertheless, the esoterist chooses a different path. He makes his choice in total freedom and stands by it. Tomberg made this point in an earlier cycle of lectures published as Inner Development. First of all, with a “program” to follow, his path is plagued with uncertainties:

When we advance on the path of spiritual discipleship, we ourselves notice very little of this advance. Other people and higher beings notice it, but not we ourselves. We may be well aware of our mistakes and weaknesses, but it is not possible for us to know what we attain in the positive sense. Even the gods had to withdraw from their task and rest on the seventh day so that they could know that the world they had created was good. All the more so are human beings unable to say whether there is progress in their inner spiritual development. There is a sign, however, that does indicate this. It is the fact that one becomes inwardly ever more isolated. At first, one has many companions of the same disposition, awake to the same questions and concerns.

The esoterist then has no support from others, and especially not even visible support from above. This experience has been called the Dark Night, or facing the abyss, etc. Tomberg explains, presumably from his own experience:

Then one discovers with dismay that the circle of people interested in these questions becomes ever narrower. Finally, one finds that there are only two or three others who are still awake in this domain—the others are asleep. At some point a person makes this discovery. Then there comes a moment at which one finds oneself alone between sleeping humanity and the dark, silent heavens. During the hour of the greatest decisions, heaven is silent—that is a law. The spiritual beings do not want to impel a human being to any decision. As human beings, we must decide for ourselves, out of our freedom, everything that determines our destiny, our path. And one can say that this situation—which was experienced to a tremendous degree by Christ Jesus—must be suffered through in some form or other by everyone on the path of spiritual discipleship.

The meditation of Christian Hermeticism — whose aim is to understand and advance the work of the alchemical transformation of the spirit, the soul, and matter, from the state of primordial purity before the Fall, to the state after the Fall, and from the latter to that of the Reintegration — proceeds from the seven “days” of the creation according to Genesis to the seven stages of the Fall, then to the seven miracles of St. John’s Gospel, and then to the seven sayings of Jesus concerning himself in order to conclude with the seven “words” of Jesus Christ crucified and the seven stages of the Passion. ~ Valentin Tomberg, Meditations on the Tarot (Letter XXI The Fool)

Wouldn’t it be dreadful if some day in our own world, at home, men started going wild inside, like the animals here, and still looked like men, so that you’d never know which were which? ~ C S Lewis, Prince Caspian

In order to achieve the alchemical transformation described above, the stages of the Fall of man documented in Genesis need to be understood. Although there are four levels of interpretation of sacred texts, the historical or literal, the allegorical, and the moral levels are not our concern here.

Anagogical Interpretation

There have been many attempts, some quite clever, to interpret the story of Eden in a historical, or rather material space-time, event, in continuity with our own world. However, the Fall is by its nature discontinuous. This is not to deny that there is an historical, or pre-historical, understanding possible, but that is best left to the meditation of the seven stages of creation. The point is that there is not physical understanding, at least in the way we understand the physical.

However, besides a physical history, there is also a psychical history of the world, i.e., there is an “inside” as well as an “outside” to history. The psychical history always leaves traces in consciousness that can be recovered. This is the anagogical interpretation which transcends the material world process, and it is recovered through Hermetic meditation, almost like a deep phenomenology. This gives us access to the real inner history of mankind. Tomberg describes is this way:

One can no longer deny the fact that in the psychic domain, nothing dies and that the whole past lives present in the diverse layers of the depths of consciousness — the “unconscious” or subconsciousness—of the soul. Palaeontological and geological layers contain only the imprints and fossils of the now dead past; psychic layers, in contrast, constitute a living witness to the actual past. They are the past which continues to live. They are memory — not intellectual, but psychically substantial— of the actual past. For this reason, nothing perishes and nothing is lost in the domain of the psyche; essential history, i.e. real joy and suffering, real religions and revelations of the past, continue to live in us, and it is in us that the key to the essential history of mankind is to be found. ~ Letter VI The Lover

Seven Stages

As was pointed out previously, the world as an ordered whole, as Being, is a static world. A dynamic world, one in which there is the possibility of morality, love, and creativity, requires free beings, beings who can say “I”. Then, there must be a not-I, or hindrances, in order to make freedom actual and not merely virtual.

In the Edenic stage, Adam was conscious of his real I and was in direct contact with God. The hindrance was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which he was commanded not to eat; this was the object of temptation. There was also the tempter, the same being who tempted Jesus in the desert. The phenomenology of the temptation and subsequent fall are told in the early chapters of Genesis.

The seven stages of the Fall are summarised here, followed by an interpretation of each of them.

Stage I: The Voice of the Serpent

The formula of horizontal consciousness of the serpent would be that of realism, pure and simple: “That which is in me is as that which is outside of me, and that which is outside of me is as that which is in me.” This is horizontal consciousness (simultaneous knowledge of the subjective and the objective), which sees things not in God, but separated from him or “naked” within itself, through itself and for itself. And as the self here replaces God (horizontal consciousness being that of the opposition of subject and object), the serpent says that on the day when Adam-Eve (Adam and Eve) eat fruit from the tree which is in the middle of the garden, their eyes will open and they will be as gods, i.e. the self will replace the function previously filled by God and that they will know good and evil. ~ Letter VI The Lover

Prior to the Fall, Adam’s intelligence was vertical, oriented toward God, and were not conscious of naked things, or those separated from God.

their eyes had not yet been opened and they “they were both naked and were not ashamed.” ~ Genesis 2:25

“They saw divine ideality expressing itself through phenomenal reality”, i.e., the world was a theophany. They had knowledge of the ideal and the real, or direct perception of hylomorphism.

The temptation is for the self to replace God, so that it will know good and evil:

If before they saw things in divine light, they will see them now in their own light, i.e. the function of illumination will belong to them, just as once it belonged to God. The source of the light will be transferred from God to man.

Eve listened to the voice of the serpent to eat from the tree as clearly as the original command to avoid it. The two contrary voices are the origin of doubt, or double-mindedness. (This is clearly expressed in the German word Zweifel, or two-ness.)

Faith, on the contrary, is a single inspiration. The principle of obedience is to listen to the sole voice from above. The desire for power does not result in certainty, but instead leads to inner confusion and insecurity.

Stage II: The Delight to the Eyes

The woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and fair to the eyes, and delightful to behold” ~Genesis 3:6

Apart from God’s illumination, the tree looked delightful. Tomberg expands on this idea:

She looked at it in a new way — no longer as formerly, when the sole voice from above vibrated in her being, when she experienced not the least attraction for the tree, but rather now with the word of the serpent vibrating in her being — with a questioning, comparing, doubting look, i.e. ready to have experience. Because when one is in doubt, one is induced to have the experience in order to dispel it —if one does not surmount it by raising oneself to a higher plane.

The desire for experience is the beginning of greed.

Stage III: The Temptation of Experience

She took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave to her husband who did eat.”  ~ Genesis 3:6

The act follows the idea. So the idea of personal power and the delightfulness of the tree induce in Eve the desire to have the actual experience. In today’s world, the desire for experiences is quite strong. Drugs, sex, loud music, and so on, are all temptations that induce the desire to experience them. The negative results are numerous, etc., addiction, death, disease, heartbreak, etc. These occlude the presence of God.

This quest for experiences is the opposite of emptiness, or spiritual mind fasting. To put it another way, emptiness is spiritual chastity, which forgoes harmful or sinful experiences. The attempt, then, to assuage doubt through experiences is spiritual immodesty.

It would be contrary to the holy vow of chastity to put forward a hand and to take from the tree of knowledge. The spiritual world does not in any way tolerate those who seek experiences. One seeks, one asks, one knocks at its door. But one does not open it by force. One waits for it to be opened.

That is, one relies on Grace, not on force.

Stage IV: Cain’s Fratricide

And Cain said to Abel his brother: Let us go forth abroad. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and slew him. ~ Genesis 4:8

The next three stages are the logical development of the original sin, which are realised. We let Tomberg’s description speak for itself.

For Cain’s fratricide is the primordial phenomenon containing the seed of all subsequent wars, revolutions and revolts in the history of the human race.

The root of the fratricide is the revolt of the “lower self against the “true self of the fallen “likeness” against the intact “image”.

to wander is the inevitable lot of the revolt of the “lower self against the “higher Self

Cain was exiled because the rebel against his “higher Self will no longer live under the law of the vertical but. rather under that of the horizontal, i.e. he will be “a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth”. (Genesis 4:12) That is, he will no longer be rooted.

Stage V: The Generation of Giants

Now giants were upon the earth in those days. For after the sons of God went in to the daughters of men, and they brought forth children, these are the mighty men of old, men of renown. ~ Genesis 6:4

The generation of giants is the primordial phenomenon which is the proto-historical seed of all subsequent pretensions in the history of the human race for individuals, groups and peoples to play a domineering role as divine sovereigns, and thus all pretensions of being “supermen”.

At the root of the generation of giants is the marriage of the “lower self with entities of the fallen hierarchies—instead of with the “true Self”.

To be drowned is the lot entailed by the pretension to be a “superman”. He who unites himself with an entity of the fallen hierarchies, instead of with his “higher Self, to the point of being possessed, will be drowned, i.e. he will fall prey to madness.

Marriage with lower hierarchies or pre-Adamic beings (see, e.g., Mouravieff, Gnosis) indicates that these lower hierarchies become intertwined with the lower parts of the human psyche.

The followers of Lucifer are beautiful, so they affect the emotional level of the soul, or astral body, bypassing the intellect. That attraction is the beginning of self-deception and hence lying.

Then the etheric body is likewise infected, which is the centre of the will. The will becomes weak, seeking the satisfaction of bodily urges instead of the Will of God. Satan is the ape of God, so this distorted will mocks and ridicules anything higher. These beings are called Ahrimanic, the name of the devil opposed to the God in Zoroastrianism.

Stage VI: The Tower of Babel

And therefore the name thereof was called Babel, because there the language of the whole earth was confounded: and from thence the Lord scattered them abroad upon the face of all countries. ~ Genesis 11:9

This temptation involves lower selves acting collectively in order to replace the Higher Self. Tomberg explains the meaning of the building of the Tower of Babel.

the building of the tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9) is the primordial phenomenon containing in seed form all subsequent tendencies in the history of the human race towards the conquest of heaven by means of forces acquired and developed on the earth.

At the root of the building of the tower of Babel is the collective will of “lower selves” to achieve the replacing of the “true Self of the celestial hierarchies and God with a superstructure of universal significance fabricated through this will.”

For the tower blasted by lightning suffices to reveal to serious meditation the comprehensive arcanum of the relationship between the will and destiny — between what one wants and what happens.

To be blasted by a thunderbolt is the fate of building, collectively or individually, it does not matter, a tower of Babel.

Stage VII: Sodom and Gomorrah

Sodom and Gomorrah could have been saved by ten righteous men among them, that is, by spiritual selection. Opposed to that, is the idea of natural selection, that the world evolves by totally natural processes. Tomberg says we are given two choices:

Those for whom evolution is an organically determined process in which descent and ascent are only two successive phases of a single cosmic vibration? Or those who see in evolution a cosmic tragedy and drama whose essence and leitmotiv correspond to the parable of the prodigal son?

The natural approach denies the ideas of the Fall, perdition, redemption, and salvation. Its symbol is the Ouroboros, a closed circle. It is the denial of freedom in the world.

The serpent took his tail in his mouth and thus formed a closed circle. He turned himself with great force and thus created in the world the great swirl which caught hold of Adam and Eve. And the other beings followed them.

This is the situation of all naturalistic, mechanistic, and historistic theories of the world: things will happen automatically apart from the human will. Opposed to the idea of a closed circle is the idea of a spiral, the state before the Fall, which allows for true growth, development, and creativity.

The Sage sees things very differently from the average man; neither ordinary experiences nor pains and sorrows, whether touching himself or others, pierce to the inner hold. To allow them any such passage would be a weakness in our soul. ~ Plotinus, Enneads

In the Letter on the High Priestess, Valentin Tomberg recommends the study of Platonism as a preparation for understanding the encounter of Jesus with Nicodemus. He wrote:

This is the Platonic conception of consciousness, the thorough study of which can serve by way of introduction to the nocturnal conversation of the Master with Nicodemus on the reintegration of consciousness or the aim of Christian yoga.

He points to a specific passage from Plotinus in the Enneads to illustrate his point:

This is what Plotinus says concerning the duality underlying all forms and every level of consciousness, namely the active principle and its mirror.

The reference is to Plotinus, Ennead I, Tractate IV, Section 10. To aid in understanding, I include two versions, slightly different from the A H Armstrong translation. The first is translated directly from the French text. This is the part that Tomberg wants to emphasize.

The second is from the Stephen Mackenna translation; this includes the surrounding text to put it in context.

Tomberg’s Version

But if the mirror is absent or is not as it needs to be, the image is not produced although the action exists: Thus when the soul is in a state of calm, it reflects the images of the thought and intellect; but when it is disturbed by the disorder produced in the harmony of the body, the thought and the intellect think without the image, and the act of intelligence takes place without being reflected.

Mackenna’s Translation

Perhaps the reason this continuous activity [i.e., the activity of the Intellectual-Principle] remains unperceived is that it has no touch whatever with things of sense. No doubt action upon material things, or action dictated by them, must proceed through the sensitive faculty which exists for that use: but why should there not be an immediate activity of the Intellectual-Principle and of the soul that attends it, the soul that antedates sensation or any perception? For, if Intellection and Authentic-Existence are identical, this “Earlier-than-perception” must be a thing having Act.

Let us explain the conditions under which we become conscious of this Intellective-Act.

When the Intellect is in upward orientation that [lower part of it] which contains [or, corresponds to] the life of the Soul, is, so to speak, flung down again and becomes like the reflection resting on the smooth and shining surface of a mirror; in this illustration, when the mirror is in place the image appears but, if the mirror is absent or out of gear, all that which would have acted and produced an image still exists; so in the case of the Soul; when there is peace in that within us which is capable of reflecting the images of the Rational and Intellectual-Principles these images appear. Then, side by side with the primal knowledge of the activity of the Rational and the Intellectual-Principles, we have also as it were a sense-perception of their operation.

When, on the contrary, the mirror within is shattered through some disturbance of the harmony of the body, Reason and the Intellectual-Principle act unpictured: Intellection is unattended by imagination.

In sum we may safely gather that while the Intellective-Act may be attended by the Imaging Principle, it is not to be confounded with it.

Comment

Although there is a duality, they are intimately related: the undisturbed mirror reflects the Intellect, although they are not the same. That is because the Intellect is active, even when the mirror does not reflect it exactly. Although the Intellect is the source of Wisdom, it is not necessary to be conscious of its activity. Plotinus explains:

A man unconscious of his health may be, none the less, healthy: a man may not be aware of his personal attraction, but he remains handsome none the less: if he has no sense of his wisdom, shall he be any the less wise? ~ Section 9

In an analogous way to sense impressions which produce an image in the mind, the Intellect also produces an image. We can say, also, that the Intellect is the “Superconscious” because it is unconscious without the mirror. Moreover, it is the Self, since our physical life is not the source of the Self.

We have here a parallel to what happens in the activity of the physical or vegetative life in us which is not made known by the sensitive faculty to the rest of the man: if our physical life really constituted the “I”, its Act would be my Act: but, in the fact, this physical life is not the “I”; the “I” is the activity of the Intellectual-Principle so that when the Intellective is in Act, the “I” is in Act.