TAROT INTERPRETATION

LessonSeventeen

THE SECRBTOF'BALANCE

THE TABLEAU for this week is:

7 8 I

10 11 t2

13 t4 15

Arranged as a magic square,addingto 33 in every direction,it becomes:

t0 15 8

9 l1 13

t4 7 12

Rememberto lay out the Keys so as to give both combinations.Then look at them with
pencil and paperat hand,so that you rnay make immediatenote of anythingthat may be
suggestedto you. You nevercan tell when you will tune in on the thought of somebodywho
knows a greatdealmore aboutTarot than you do.

After awhile, if you persevere,you shouldfind yourself gettingthis mental radio from
membersof the Inner School. More and more often your bestknowledgeof Tarot will come
to you this way. The secretsare neverprinted in books or lessons.They are communicated
direotly to personshaving sufficientleceptivity. The simplicity of the methodswhereby one
becomesreceptivedeceivesmany and keepsthem fiom persistentpractice. Pencil and paper,
or someother adequatemeansof keepinga record,are absolutelynecessary,The impression
made by someof thesebrain-wavesis often fleeting as a dreamand passesbeyondrecall
unlessone capturesit the moment it comes.
T A R O 7 ' I N T E R P I l E T A T I ON l7

Quite as valuableas the contentof thesefragmentsof illumination which you are sureto
receive,if you make due preparationfor them, is the verificationthis practicewill give you as
to the actualexistenceof the lnner School. It won't be long beforeyou will accumulateplenty
of eviclencethat the sourceof theseflashesof enlightenmentis by no meanswithin your
personality,consciousor subconscious.
There is a differencebetweenone'sown thoughtand what is receivedtelepathically. . .
distinct as the differencebetweenthe soundof one'sown voice and that of anotherperson.
Al1er you have begunto receivethesementalradiograms,it will be evidentalso that they
come fiom diffbrent types of mentality which may easilybe distinguished,one from another.

By no meansevery readerof thesepageswill enjoy this contactwith the Inner School.

Experiencehas shown that no matterhow we insist on the importanceof fbllowing strictly the
simple directionsfor using Tarot, it is the exceptionalstudentwho doesexactlywhat he is
told.

Many studentsfail to realizethat theseinstructionsare by no tneansone man'sopinions,but

are,instead,the concentratedessenceof researchand experimentationwhich havebeen
carrieclon for centuries.A good many personsseemto feel that while theremay be
somethinginterestingand valuablein theselessons,they know betteraboutTarot and what to
do with it than we do. We seekto coerceno person'sbelief or actions,but it may do some
good to say once more that thesepagesdo not containour personalviews, particularly about
methodsand practice. We zuesimply transmittingto you sornethingwe have receivedand
which we have testedcarefully. We know that it will work if you work it.

In the first group of threeKeys to be consideredin this week'stabieau,notice first the Warrior
(7) and then the Adversary(15), with Justice(1 1) betweenthem. Observethat the Warrior is
not fighting and that the sphinxesof his car are at rest.

In explainingthe symbolismof l(ey 15, we have somewherepointed out that the chains
arounclthe necksof the two figures at the bottom of the picture would not hold them a
moment if only they knew enoughto lift the loops over their heads. And in connectionwith
tire satneKey yor-rhavebeenremindedagainand againthat nowherein the universeis there
really anything like the Devil. Thereare no problemsfor your true Self, the Warrior in the
chariot,nor is there any Adversary. The symbol of Justice,wherethe scalesareperfectly
balanced,showsthe reasonfor what we havejust said. Sincethe forcesof the universeare
always in perfectequilibrium, thereis really no antagonismanywhereexceptin appearance,
as man misjudgesappearance.Wise men seethis. Otherstry to reform the world.

In the next group of three(8, 11, 14),the meaningof Key 8 may be taken as a referenceto this
sentenceof The EmeraldTablet: "This is the strongforce of all fbrces,overcomingevery
subtle,anclpenetratingevery solid thing." That very force is now at work bringing aboutthe
realizationof your heart'sdesire. Never mind any appearance to the contrary.

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 TAROT INTERPRE'TATION., ]7

One reasonyou are studyingtheselessonsis that you have reachedthe point in your spiritual
developmentwhere you are aboutto be releasedfrom the hypnotic spell castby appearances.
The force at work through you is adequateto overcomethe sr-rbtlest
of your seeming
and penetratingenoughto reachyou through every apparentobstacle.
aciversaries

You are nearingthe time when you will seethat this force is being employedright now to
make preciselythosefine adiustmentswhich are requiredin order to bring you to your true
goal in lif'e. Befbre long you shouldbegin to understandthat your whole life story is really a
mental conceptionof the Author of All. Then it will be evidentthat what you have hitherto
supposedto be somethingyou wantedfor yourself is really somethingthe Life-power wants
for you and is working through you to bring into actual,tangiblemanifestation.

AgelessWisdom is explicit in declaringthe whole universeto be an expressionof Conscious

llnergy. it follows that the Orie Intelligenceseesthe whole of its manifestationand every
'Iime
detail thereof. doesnot bind it as we are bound,so lor-rgas we remain limited by the
senseof suocessionwhich is characteristicof the intellectuallevel of our self-consciousness.
As Abbe Dimnet says,in WHAT WE LIVE BY:

"Pure Spirit, God, all the time seesthe whole picture of which we seeonly fragments. The
tlniverse, eventhe endlesssuccessionof universeswhich astronomyhas sometimesinferred
fror-nthe conservationof energy,is presentto Him as our consciousness of ourselvesis
pfcsentto r-is."

Arnong the detailsof this picture which must alwaysbe prcsentto the Cosmic Intelligenceare
'l'he
inchrdedthe thoughtsand desiresof everyhumanbeing. power of that One Identity is all
the power there is and the whole of that power is alwaysrelatedto the particular
manifestationswhich constituteyour personality. Thus your personallife is an aspectof the
perpetualprocessof the Life-power'sself-adjustment.In the courseof that adjustmentthere is
a continual dissolutionof forms, a continuousseriesof structuraldisintegrations,but this
eternaltransitionfrom one form to anotherexpressesa power which itself suffersno change
in essence.No form or condition,therefore,haspower to arrestyour progressbecausethe
real YOU is essentiallyidenticalwith the One Reality. (Keys 9, 11, 13)

Manif'estationis oftenpicturedas a systemof wheels. We find this imagein Ezekiel. It is

given in the Bhagavad-Gitaand is repeatedagainand againin the texts of Buddhism.

"Wreels within wheels,"Ezekiel says,intimating an intricatecomelationof cycles like that

which is suggestedby the symbolismof I(ey 10. He alsotakescareto conveythe idea that
this systemis not mere mechanism,for he says"the wheelswere full of eyes." The Great
Rota is an intelligent expressionof life and this idea of Ezekiel'sis sharedby other seerswho
use the wheel symbol in their writings and diagrams.

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T'AROT'INTEllP]tETA7'ION. 17

In the midst of all the whirling, moreover,thereis balance.Every degreethat the wheel turns
upward on one side is compensatedby an equaldegreeof descenton the other. At the center
thereis absolutestillness. Thr-rshe who hnds within himself the CENTER, the abodeof pure
Spirit, is fi'eedfi'om all necessityfor actionwhich is broughtto an end for him, and he
becomeslike a pendulumwhich has ceasedits rnotion. Thus it is forevertme that the wise
man tlrinketh,"I am doingnothing." (Keys I0, n,12)

T'hepraoticalapplicationof Tarot is intendedto eff-ecta changein the student'sinterpretation

of the meaningof experience..Iustas astronomyhas corected our notionsof the movements
of the heavenlybodies,reversingbeliefs formerly held by all mankind,so doesAgeless
Wisdom cortect our opiniotrof the natureof our personalactivities. The uninitiatedregard
personalaction as being self-originated.The wise think of it as being simply the localized
expressionof universalfbrcesflowing into and throughthe field of personality,like the river
picturedin Key 7.

Most personslook upon the forcessurroundingthem as being alien and dangerous,like the
lion in i(ey 8. Thosewho have beenproperly taughtunderstandthat we continually exert
control over all thesefbrceswhich respondautomaticallyto our consciousattitudes. This
happenseveu when we apply that control so as to bring us painful (andthereforeeducative)
experiences.

Most peoplelook on the goal of attainmentas being somethingafbr off, in the futrue. and
bound up with environmentalconditions. The instructedfew seethat the true goal is a clear
rcalizationof the One Idcntity which, evennow, is closerat hand than anythingelse. This is
all that anyoneever hopesto be, has all that anyoneeverhopesto have,and does all that
anyoneeverhopesto do. (Keys7,8,9)

Included in the completereversalof interpretationwhich resultsfrom esoterictraining is

freedomliom the fear of death. This training also fi'eesus from our repugnanceto physical
dissolution. We come to understandthe necessityand cosmicwisdom for thesechangesof
forms whicl-ris really all they are. The studentgainsa higher vantagepoint from which he
clearly seesthat his personalitywill survivethe deathof his physicalbody. Yes, eventhat his
persor-rality
is independentof his physicalbody right now!

fhis is real knowledgegainedby experimentand subjectedto testsas searchingas those

appliedto any other type of scientificinvestigation.In the courseof the experimentsmany
clifficult problemsaremet and solved,one by one. Consequentlythe conviction grows in the
mind of the studentthat wheneverthe forcesof the universepresenthim a forbidding and
adverseappearance,it is becausehe hasnot yet learnedthe true meaningof that appearance;
not becausethere is anywherein the universea power inherentlyinimical to hirnself and his
welfare.(I(eys 13, 14, 15)
 TAROT 1N7'ERPR[:TATION: ] 7

Tarot, let us say again,was inventedby wise men to make otherswise as themselves.These
I(eys are a symbolic summaryof the understandingof ThoseWho Know. By looking daily at
thcsepicturesyou impressyour subconsciousness with a condensedstatementof the attitude
toward lifb and its problemswhich enablesadeptsto perform their mighty works.

An adeptis not a personwho has acquiredunusualpower. He is a personwho has achieved

an unusualpoint-of-view. The massesacceptthe universeat its face value. An adeptdiscems
what is really the true stateof things.

[-lseTarot as theselessonsare teachingyou how to useit, and you will saturateyour

subconsciousness with tlie wisdom of the Inner Circle of ThoseWho Know. Your
subconsciousness will respondautomaticallyto this treatment. First it will make you see
things diff'erentlyand producea changein your interpretationsand in your emotional
attitudes. Ultimately it will build you a new kind of organismthroughwhich the forces of the
universemay be expressedin worhs of power.

MEDITATIONS

FIRST DAY: Keys 7, 11, 15. My real Self hasno problems.My faith is steadfast in this
conviction. The rnaskof the Adversaryhidesthe face of my Beloved. I have nothing to fight,
firr perf'ectadiustmentevenlto\v overcomesevervseen-ring
eviJ.

SECOND DAY: I(eys 8, 11, 74. The strongforce of all forcesis at worh in me. It cuts every
knot of difficulty. It is the free power of my true Self. I am filled with power, adequateto my
every need,and I facethis day as an opportunityto prove the truth on which my faith is
founded.

TFIIRD DAY: I(eys 9, 11, 13. Pure Spirit, my true Self, seeseverythingas it is. It remains
poisedin the midst of action. It dissolvesevery limitation which might retardmy eternal
progress.My life is in the Hand of the Eternaland its perfectJusticeloosesall my bonds.

FOURTI-IDAY: I(eys 10, 11,12. The Centerof the cosmicwhirlingsis alsothe Centerof
my personalexistence.That Centeris in perfectequilibrium. I am at rest as I rest in it. The
wheel of manifestationhas stillnessat its centerand that stillnessis in my heart of hearts.

F'll'-TI{DAY: I(eys 7, 8, 9. AgelessWisdom correctsall my falsenotionsaboutthe rneaning

of my lif'e. I live by the power of the whole universe. My goal is knowledgeof the One
Identity. My true Self mastersall the forcesof naturenow, and standsaloneand unmoved in
tl-remidst of all appearances of struggleand effort.

S I X T H D A Y : I ( e y s1 3 , 1 4 , I 5 . D e a t h i s t h e n a m e g i v e n b y i g n o r a n c e t o c h a n g e i r - r fIb r m .
am in the midst of an experimentwhich releasesme from that ignorance.The problemsI face
are bnt veils for the one beautiful Tmth. I passon from stageto stageof the Great Work
which dissolvesevery appearance of evil and restriction.

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