'Book T' meanings of Trumps

I wonder how many tarot readers adhere to the Golden Dawn meanings as laid out in Book T. I note there is interest in the rival Golden Dawn decks that have been published, and much discussion about the symbolism. In the light of this, one would expect the meanings associated with the images to have as much appeal as the cards themselves. But that appears not to be so.

Among the Trumps there are two stand-out exceptions in Book T to modern perceptions, the first being the Fool. According to Book T:

if the Divination be regarding a material event of ordinary life, this card [the Fool] is not good, and shows folly, stupidity, eccentricity, and even mania, unless with very good cards indeed. It is too ideal and unstable to be generally good in material things.

Crowley says almost the same.

In material matters [it] may show, if badly dignified, folly, eccentricity, even mania.

Paul Foster Case, too, follows the G.D. party line.

In material matters: Folly, eccentricity, sudden action without sufficient consideration or forethought, stupidity, or even insanity.

All admit there is a spiritual dimension to the Fool, but all agree that it applies only to purely spiritual questions. But when the Trump appears in a reading concerning what Book T defines as “a material event of ordinary life”, it has, for the G.D. and its alumni, the significances stated above. ‘A material event of ordinary life’ covers all questions relating to love-affairs, one’s financial condition, illness, career prospects, and such like. For most of us, these are the only subjects we are requested to make readings about. Yet I find myself in a tiny minority in interpreting the Fool according to Book T: the generality of readers take something like

carefree enthusiasm; optimism; adventure; spontaneity; audacity; youthful energy

as the card’s meaning, often having no cognisance of the Order’s reading of the card.

The other Trump with a G.D. meaning at variance with, not only public opinion but also tradition is the Lovers. It is usually given two meanings: choice and love/the affections. Book T veers in a totally different direction:

Inspiration (passive and in some cases mediumistic …) Motive, power, and action, arising from Inspiration and Impulse.

I have been unable to find anyone who has adopted this meaning.

So I was left wondering: Does anyone use either of these Book T meanings?

pandemic said:

......So I was left wondering: Does anyone use either of these Book T meanings?

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Why should anyone use those Book T meanings if they are not using a Golden Dawn deck? The GD Fool and Lovers are entirely different from those in the Waite or Marseille traditions. See the attachment.

You may be looking in the wrong place. Try the Thoth and Golden Dawn forums.

Thank you, Richard. Alta, the moderator here suggested the same, and I have posted in the G.D. section now.

I couldn't find it originally. Didn't expect it to be under Thoth Tarot.

In many, many, many readings that I have done the Fool has come up to mean someone immature, foolish and maniac. Mental illness is another one.

Of course there are other meanings....

The Fool is ZERO. He is no-thing, nothing, the cosmic egg. Imagine being just born, but always here. Imagine just coming into your body, into the flesh, into a physical reality. Think of all the things you don't know about physical reality and think of all the cosmic things you cannot even remember. That might make anyone "immature" and prone to foolish behavior.

The Fool is going to see things in a way that the status quo does not. This can be a good thing or a bad thing. Sometimes we need to throw all caution to the wind and think about something in a different light, but other times we should follow the status quo because it works. So there is that fine line between them and the fool doesn't know the difference.

This the the Fools first incarnation on Earth and he is bound to make a lot of mistakes. Those mistakes are why he will come back through all the keys to learn more and correct his mistakes.

Look at the Fool....even his dog is yelping at him, "Hey! You're standing way, way to close to that cliff...." And yet the fool doesn't even see that. He just stands there embracing the wind, the sky with his back to the everlasting spiritual light (white sun). He is indeed on a new journey through the physical.

When reading Book T one should keep its mind its target audience. It is a document meant for circulation mainly inside the order and hence tends to use (in all its iterations) a form of shorthand to express its ideas. By the time GD members would have received it they would already have been familiar with the attributions and methods through which the meanings were devised. While the mundane meanings are mentioned their general guiding principal was that the spiritual and vulgar were the same, different degrees of influence.

So, it's an abstraction of sorts. Taking the Fool apart into its elemental and Qabalistic attributions one can see why the GD party line was what it was about the Fool. Those elements are present even in the version that has filtered down to normal use since what is being discussed here is too abstract to be firmly pinned down. With the Fool emanating out of the first point in the Tree of Life, the central idea here is of total innocence, the first movement of the universe. When translated into a more mundane outlook that truly could be quite volatile since society depends on people not acting purely through their Id. Thoughtless action, rashness and instability are all implied.

Of course, since we're talking about a collection of attributions that combine to form an abstract "energy," (path+element), Book T tries to translate it into something people can actually use. Such pure innocence as the Fool is pretty hard to come by in a less than ideal world, and so the idea of youthful exuberance and new beginnings still isn't that far, it's a different facet of the "mania."

The same process can be done, of course, with the Lovers. The main thing to remember is not to take its meanings at face value. As a kind of "internal memo" it wasn't designed for that, it isn't really a "Tarot book." They are basically meant to go together with understanding of the different elements and attributions that go into making up the card. Also, each Trump is also a level of attainment, and so has yet another dimension to it.

I'm more self-taught, so haven't read many books on tarot at all. However, the Fool has presented itself to me in combination of other cards as a bit of a 'psycho'. More recently, the Fool was a Quint card in a spread, and the Queen of Cups RX was a card in the spread. The effect of the Quint Fool on the Queen of Cups RX was literally that word -psycho- which sprang to mind for me. I have had the Fool come up as a pretender before as well, like a joker or a liar... essentially someone taking pleasure in being a phony, some kind of enigma, and wreaking some kind of nonsensical or flippant havoc.

So what I'm saying is, even though I have not been made susceptible to those writings/teachings, the Fool has appeared to me in some readings as you are describing. Typically though, he has appeared more 'oblivious' and harmless in my readings and my view of him is usually slanted more towards the positive.

Richard said:

Why should anyone use those Book T meanings if they are not using a Golden Dawn deck? The GD Fool and Lovers are entirely different from those in the Waite or Marseille traditions. See the attachment.

You may be looking in the wrong place. Try the Thoth and Golden Dawn forums.

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Sorry Richard .... this is the right wrong place for GD Book T chats, it has to go here (where all cards must be considered RW meanings even if not RW cards). You have recommended the right wrong place. and if you go there you will end up back here .

I'm not locked into any set of divinatory meanings, but I do use the Golden Dawn Qabalistic and astrological attributions (which are interdependent). This gives more than enough information for divinatory purposes, although its main value is in the implementation of the ancient dictum "Know thyself." The Giolden Dawn Tarot system provides a dynamic model of the macrocosm and the microcosm (which are isomorphic, according to the Emerald Tablet).

Today I received my copy of the Farrell-Wendrich Golden Dawn Temple Tarot. It took less that two weeks to get here from Wales. I doubt if I'll use it much for fortune telling, but time will well.

Laurelle:

Thank you for answering my question.

Yes, I understand that cards can mean different things depending on the symbols they are in association with, and so forth, especially a cards like the Fool! I'm glad people on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum know this. So many tarot readers I meet only see the Fool as a positive force, which is too narrow a view, IMO.

pandemic

Amanda:

Thank you for answering my question.

I hadn't come across a 'quint' before, so your reply has given me much food for thought.

I too have found the Fool to show that somebody's thinking is a bit psycho sometimes, but not often. The card has its better side too, of course.

pandemic