josefskye
The Order of the Trumps - My 2nd question
As a newbie to Tarot, I would like to see what people think about the trumps being in an order representing something like the “Evolution of the Soul”, “the Fools Journey,” etc.
In my readings, it is apparent that many folks think that the numbered order corresponds to this sequence. For example, l have a wonderful little book by Micheline Stuart, The Tarot Path to Self-Development, in which she goes into the order of the trumps in reverse! - illustrating the soul’s journey to mastery. Her analysis is based on her Gurdjieff work. Other readings attempt to show the evolution starting with The Magician as the first step, etc. etc. You are probably all familiar with these theories.
IMHO, all of these writers start to engage in quite convoluted linguistic, psychological, or spiritual gymnastics to fit the order into a scheme; the order of a few cards make sense, then it quickly breaks down. Pretty quickly the attempts veer away from what is actually depicted in the cards, into flights of fancy. (I am referring mainly to pre-RW cards, and more the original Marseille type decks.)
I rather feel the Trumps are like the letters in the alphabet, there is a set order for convenience, but there is no esoteric meaning in ‘abcdefg’……., a is not more or less evolved than ‘m’ or ‘z’. The letters (Trumps) can be combined to make many meaningful stories/words/poems, and are depictions of images/stories that were popular in Medieval times.
While I can be as mystical as any, it seems to me this more commonsense approach makes the most sense…..
What do you think?
As a newbie to Tarot, I would like to see what people think about the trumps being in an order representing something like the “Evolution of the Soul”, “the Fools Journey,” etc.
In my readings, it is apparent that many folks think that the numbered order corresponds to this sequence. For example, l have a wonderful little book by Micheline Stuart, The Tarot Path to Self-Development, in which she goes into the order of the trumps in reverse! - illustrating the soul’s journey to mastery. Her analysis is based on her Gurdjieff work. Other readings attempt to show the evolution starting with The Magician as the first step, etc. etc. You are probably all familiar with these theories.
IMHO, all of these writers start to engage in quite convoluted linguistic, psychological, or spiritual gymnastics to fit the order into a scheme; the order of a few cards make sense, then it quickly breaks down. Pretty quickly the attempts veer away from what is actually depicted in the cards, into flights of fancy. (I am referring mainly to pre-RW cards, and more the original Marseille type decks.)
I rather feel the Trumps are like the letters in the alphabet, there is a set order for convenience, but there is no esoteric meaning in ‘abcdefg’……., a is not more or less evolved than ‘m’ or ‘z’. The letters (Trumps) can be combined to make many meaningful stories/words/poems, and are depictions of images/stories that were popular in Medieval times.
While I can be as mystical as any, it seems to me this more commonsense approach makes the most sense…..
What do you think?