personal paths

lupo138

I allow myself to refer to the thread about the GD correlations and would like to express my current assumption, that the paths are somehow different for each person. For instance putting Temperance on the path between Yesod and Tiphereth makes a lot of sense to me while I am not too happy with Judgement between Malkuth and Hod, as I would rather place the Sun there, as Malkuth is connected with Netzach through the Moon.

So my question to all of you: Do you have something like personal paths and if so, how do you relate the Major Arcana to them ?

I am looking forward to a fruitful thread :)
 

jmd

For myself, I only ever place cards upon the inter-sefirotic 'paths' when working GD material or someone else's work, as I prefer to have the Major Arcana within the Sefirot, and the minors all within Malkut - as for the 22 Hebrew letters, I place these within Da'at.

Each of the cards are like photographs of places, each of which has a whole story or dimension only partially captured within the snapshot. The 'paths' are more like razor edges, delineating conjunctions of understanding between the clearings in which the cards may blossom, each as an oasis providing rich refreshment.
 

lupo138

thank you for your reply. Would you share the reasons that led you to place the Majors within the Sephiroth with me/us ?
 

jmd

Apologies if I repeat myself from other earlier posts in what follows.

Part of the reason I developed this, I suppose, quite personal way of connecting the Tree and the Tarot stems from some studies I was doing of both the Kabalah and the Tarot independently of one another. Though I had come across, and had already worked, some Golden Dawn associations, to me it was (at the time) clear that these contradicted what I still consider to be the foundational text for Kabalah: the Sefer Yetzirah - which states that the letters are placed in either a circle, a sphere, or in concentric circles (depending on the version and its translation). In each case, certainly not upon connections between sefirot.

It was also clear to me that Tarot cards which clearly depict Hebrew letter correlations (outside the quite 'obvious' similarity of outline between Alef and the Magician and Lamed and the Hanged Man) were added, and that, in many cases, the cards were actually modified ('rectified', according to its creators) to allow for presumed correlations. Again, the foundational deck(s !) remains, for me the Marseilles - whether or not it originates in Marseilles (which is another question).

Meditating and reflecting on these independently, a number of independent insights (or so I take them to be, though others may see them as either delusional or oversights) were able to later merge. On the one hand, there was the insight (mid-80s, if I recall) that the cards of the Major Arcana can be pictorially paired into significant units, using the Roman numerals as their indicator. Here, it also seemed that X/XX formed somewhat a different type of pairing. As for the ascent upon the Tree, what was of significance was that, as Living beings, we partake of the Tree of Life (we are in some ways, Adm Kadmon), and thus inevitably must taste of the Leaves of Knowledge (Da'at). Da'at is thus not part of the Tree of Life, but arises as a consequence of our individual incarnation. Further, therein (in Da'at, that is) were the leaves of the Tree of Knowledge: the Letters.

So, it seemed clear to me that the ascent upon the Tree also lead to an exact equivalent (quasi-gnostic) path as that depicted indepentently by the paired Major Arcana - even the X/XX pair, standing 'outside' the series, could easily be placed (in Da'at).

...and so my positioning - which remains just that - unless others decide that, upon reflection, it becomes meaningful for them, at which stage a shared insight emerges (rather than 'mine which others have adopted').

As to the interconnecting paths, I do also use these, but again not in the popular Kircher pattern, but rather as edges upon a 3-D version of the Tree - though this is probably the subject of another thread.
 

lupo138

thank you very much ! I admit that I had been quite sceptical but taking Daath into consideration your system could make a lot of sense. Thank you very much, I your thoughts gave me a lot to think about :) !
 

AmounrA

I like JMD also favour placing the trumps as pairs within the sephiroth themselves [& a pair in daath] when it comes to my personal use of the tree. I don't include the paths at all.

I do play about with other trees [ tarot & and not tarot related] , using all types of path linking, but if I had to choose a favourite, it would be no paths linking the sephiroth.

[I use a 3-D tree where the tree is split into tree 'flat triangles ' one above another, with malkuth on its own at the bottom. The structure is basically that of an upside down three-sided tower with a pointed roof. It has 18 linking paths]
 

Laurel

I am currently working on personal path system and a self-created version of the tree that's based on some of the older Judaic models. I might publish it on the web, but its primarily self-indulgent work-play and works heavily with incorporating in archetypal patterns that run deep in various occult arts. I'm also creating a symbolic-photographic tarot (diff deck than the one Ravenswing and I are doing) where each card relates specifically to a personal path... but the cards are being deliberately chosen to do so and are intended to present the archetypes as opposed to the Hebrew letters or traditional tarot symbolism.

Laurel
 

lupo138

I am working on a quite similar project, that was the reason for me starting this thread. Anyway I do not think that I would be going to change the tree as such - just the corrsepondences, maybe the paths as such, but not the Sephiroth.
 

Ravenswing

very personal...

hi guys--

i've been working out (and this is over the last fifteen or so years) a neo-qabalah whose foundation is an English-based extention of gematria. instead of one numerical value, each word has three values. from this is developed a geometry of words...

the tree I work with connects binah with gedulah and chockmah with geburah, and removes the pathways that connect malkuth with hod and malkuth with netzach.

the path between yesod and malkuth can be thought of as the path of manifestation, especially since it's the only path to malkuth. i place the fool and the five vowels on this path as i see both of these to deal with identity principles.

hopefully all my notes will become a coherent system soon. one of this year's projects...

happy new year
ravenswing
 

lupo138

thank you for your contribution ! most of what you say sounds very familiar to me :)
the main problem I´ve got is this: when you place the fool (or, in my case, the moon) between Malkuth and Yesod - where do you put the World then ?