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LOO in the tarot - kenney - 02-14-2019
I have been designing a couple tarot decks for the past few years. One of them incorporates the Ra materiel description of the major arcana. The book that goes along with this deck is largely about intuition and the tarot, to describe the process I used the the system set forth in book IV. The following gigantic chunk of cut and paste is an excerpt from the book, that I thought everyone here may find entertaining. And it would be nice to get some feedback from a larger group now.
The Major Arcana and The Law of One
Tarot decks in their uncut state as a single deck of cards could be observed metaphorically as “One.” The tarot depicts polarity and the act of Ones’ attempting to experience itself by being split into two main divisions, the Major and the Minor arcana. The Major arcana represents the microcosm, the inner universe. While the Minor arcana refers to the macrocosm, the outer universe.
In tarot the Minor arcana is typically constructed with various techniques including but not limited to astrology, kabbalah, alchemy, numerology, and religion. First let us approach the Major arcana even though it is a subject plied by many, from a myriad of different perspectives.
The Major arcana has managed to retain its card for card meanings regardless of the system. Some decks may switch cards, change the names, change the images, assign different correspondences, etc. and yet the Major arcana of most tarot share the same values. This would seem to me there is another more fundamental underlying structure to the meaning of these cards. If it is the images upon the cards that forges the meaning of the card then one would expect to find discrepancies between tarot decks due to the massive variations of tarot cards that exists. But instead we find that the cards for the most part reflect identical meanings. The Major Arcana in particular.
The Law of One through the eyes of the tarot
The method that follows is derived from The Law of One: Book IV The Ra Material By Ra, An Humble Messenger Of The Law of One as it best describes the Major arcana in such way as to make a study of intuition in an intuitive way. It is straightforward accurate and importantly it does not have the historical, religious, or pagan meanings the classical titles the cards have possess. It does lean a bit toward psychology and the Jungian concepts of archetypes, yet of an evolved fashion.
The Law of One approaches the tarot as a study in the structure of who we are. It corresponds the tarot’s Major arcana as a map of “us,” the human experience. This map is so complete with a little change here or there it is a perfect description of anything else that lives.
Using the Spread of One as a tool to overview the Major arcana, we will see a blueprint of a perfectly balanced person. Each card in its proper place doing its proper function with the proper energy.
Separate the major arcana from the deck. Lay them out in numerical order in three rows of seven. When you’re done you should have a row that refers to the Mind another row should refer to the Body and the last row should refer to the Soul and the Choice card will still be in your hand just set that one to the side.
Archetypes and the tarot
The titles used here, such as, “Matrix of the Mind,” are taken from “The Law of One: Book IV The Ra Material By Ra, An Humble Messenger Of The Law of One.” The titles refer to the exact functions each card as a complex of thoughts. Taken from this point of view each of the Major arcana cards represents a different thought complex (a group of thoughts that perform specific functions together) or archetype. Archetypes will refer to thought complexes that are common themes of thoughts that ALL living things share. The Major arcana has a card that is indicative of each archetype that man displays. With that understanding in mind what we see before us now is literally a map to how we think and feel in reaction to the outer world (the outer world represented by the minor arcana) and our own thoughts (represented by the four element cards and the Choice).
Each card represents a group of thoughts that function under certain conditions, in certain ways. Like an organ is itself composed of numerous cells that are close enough aligned to become one and form tissues that become organs. Only these are “thought cells,” and these thought cells bind together into thought compounds that work together in their like manner and become complexes of thought. Since it appears that all of man has these same things in common, these thought complexes have been dubbed,” archetypes.”
Mind, Body, and Spirit
The thought complexes of the first row are the mental functions that we would consider thinking. Things that take place in this row are of the Mind. Any time you are wondering what to do next, what may happen, or recalling what happened already this is the first row of the Mind functioning.
The thought complexes in the second row are instinctual, automatic, thoughts that come to mind, or are habitual in nature. Thoughts of this row are of the Body and tend to appear as urges when they are noticeable. Hunger, tiredness, habits such as smoking and drinking, awaking early, even our senses and memories used by the first row for decision making reside here in the second row.
The thought complexes of the third row are spiritual in nature. Thought complexes that are composed of emotions such as love, hate, and empathy reside in this portion of our being. Thoughts emanating from this row are of the spiritual type and are usually observed as being of an emotional nature. These second two lines are the sum of what we consider the unconscious mind.
Distortions of the one
The reality is that there is no perfectly balanced anyone or anything. Looking at this whole blue print one must understand that it is the distortions between these cards that individuates us. Everyone has all of these cards active in some manner.
These thought complexes communicate. Energy is always being transferred amongst them, some are in harmony with one another, others are disharmonious. The dance between these cards, these thought complexes, are not only in a continuous and unending rhythm, like the beat of a heart, it is that very uniqueness that is the core of the differences between us. We are the sum of our distortions, so to speak.
Each of the Major arcana cards represents a complex of mental functions that has a specific function it does best. When one card is doing the work of another card that is not a harmonic of it, it is a state of wrong functioning and can lead to the thoughts being further processed in the wrong way, since the initial work was handled in the wrong. Conditioning from life, habits good and bad, and environmental factors can add to and exacerbate the wrong functioning of these thought complexes also.
Any time an impulsive decision is made, is a clue of a case of wrong functioning. Impulsive decisions are usually the mind or body dealing with things from the spiritual and not being able to handle the excess energy. Things originating in the spiritual row have immense amounts of energy, and it requires a certain level of adeptness to maintain their use in the mental and body levels.
Harmonies, dis-harmonies, and overtones
Each Major card is a direct octave harmonic of the card above or below it. The cards in this view are harmonious with one another and work with and for one another. For instance, any time the 1 card is active the 8 and 15 cards are also in a state sympathetic excitement. At the discretion of an adept the energy from any of the three is available for use. Harmonious thoughts functioning like this bring about a balanced thought process.
The divination titles on the Major arcana cards reflects the harmonies of the thought complexes. As one looks down the columns of Spread of One, they will find that the Matrix, Potentiator, Catalyst, etc. cards are all aligned and in harmony with one another. In this arrangement each card can do the functioning of the other quite well, and they often do, depending on the energies involved in the thought’s construction.
There are three meanings on each card. Each represents the card’s function according to its harmonic within the Major Arcana. The titles on the card reflect the three rows of cards order of Mind, Body, and Spirit. Each major card has a meaning mentally, physically, and spiritually in addition to the overall gestalt meaning of the card.
For example, if the Matrix of the Spirit is operating as a mental mind complex this leaves a feeling of mystery and wonder. While the Matrix of the Mind operating in spiritual ways manufactures thoughts of the “oneness of all,” and the absolute being that can perceive everything.
Usually these processes take place unconsciously and there is no “adept,” getting involved steering the process for us. Things are less than harmonious and for most people, as we all know life can get rather disharmonious.
A feeling of loss about a death in the family originating in the third-row crosses to the second row in just the right was as a habitual drunkenness and then the mind grabs this and uses reason to say let’s drink for this loss. There are many things taking place in the above example not observed initially of how a card represents feelings of shame at drunkenness, another card fear of discovery leading to denial of drunkenness, etc.
It is these dis-harmonies or distortions that we are all experiencing as we interact with one another and ourselves that are the underlying currents of life. All these very separate parts of our selves can very much sound like voices to some people. Arguing and bickering or getting along and laughing, for our thoughts and the complexes of thoughts in groups are in and of themselves quite a bit intelligent.
Is less distortion better?
Upon careful observation one will discover that the lower the row the more primal the source, so to speak. Plants and animals will display most if not all of the body and some sort of spirit, while only a few animals display a card or two of the first row. If we go smaller in size of animal kingdom to the smallest animal life, we find that simple organisms and cellular life will display the yearning for light and life that is primarily of just the first two spiritual thought compounds in the third row.
As evolution takes place and the cycle goes on the spiritual is coated in the physical each time a little more complex than the last. There are specific points where a new thought complex forms, where that being is assigned a new card. That new card is given as a promissory during the existence prior to the formation of the archetype. For man this new thought complex is the Choice card. This card is not continuously activated like a true archetype. This thought complex only functions when it is constructed and kept intact with effort.
Once man has evolved to the point the Choice card is fully activated, the Choice will have become an archetype as well. Man will have a choice in ever matter of his existence and co-creation of existence with others. By the very definition of what an archetype is that means that ALL of man must take this step before any of man can take this step. We must take it together.
Less distortions will reflect less thought complexes. Less distortions will only be found in less evolved creatures. The most evolutionarily advanced animals all display certain thought complexes of the first row but are noticeably missing certain ones. The simple mammals may have just the most rudimentary first row attributes like curiosity (the first card) or basic problem solving from past experience (second card), think mouse in a maze.
Plants are of the second and third row. Plants are perfectly balanced creatures most activating all of the second and third rows. One can see well from this point of view how the mental process are new thought complexes that the animal kingdom is just learning to wrestle with.
By the very nature of how these archetypes are operating together the more the complexity the more distortion one will incur, until a state of balance is attained that resolves the distortions. To knowingly reduce the distortions through finding balance is the task of the adept, and this is attained by the balanced activation of the Choice complex of thoughts.
Archetypes and intuition
The highest forms of Intuition that are taking place are thoughts that are so powerful they are skipping between the rows of the spirit and mental without moving through the second row at all. When some knowledge processed by our spiritual or astral selves has enough energy to plow through the signals of the body and our regular thoughts and come to the attention of the first, fourth, or seventh card we have experienced almost angelic intuition. When these thoughts get through it would have to be compared to a religious experience. The thoughts are coming from the infinite perception of the higher bodies.
The more mundane Intuitional knowledge will assemble itself in the thought centers of the second row. There is such a vast amount of information available for your unconscious to draw from, most of the more useful intuitional information originates from your senses, memories, awareness of your current physical state, additional senses such as duplicates of our physical senses by our higher and lower bodies, and other yet un discovered scientifically senses we possess. Intuition is making that smaller jump from the second row to the first row, for these messages, being in the adjacent row this transfer of information requires a less energetic state.
When the archetypes contact the first, fourth or seventh cards for the first row we call that intuition. It is obvious at these points in time since the unconscious thought is coming before our awareness and we notice. In all truth though it is the same process taking place between all of the thought complexes. Intuition literally is the flow of thoughts between thought complexes when viewed in this way.
In this way the Major arcana are a visual representation of the paths our intuition must take to inform us. They are of inestimable worth on our path to adeptness.
---------------
and that is about as far as I get into the Law of One. it is meant to be a short little book that comes with the cards not a treatise, and there is so much more i had to go over about the other cards and various spreads ..and of course intuition which the book is actually about
RE: LOO in the tarot - kenney - 02-15-2019
I was going to post up a spread of the cards to look at but they are displaying too small to be of much use.
here is a link though
it is a set i have had a lot of luck with teaching others
RE: LOO in the tarot - Foha - 02-16-2019
Hello, Kenney!
It's nice to meet you.
I want to preface this in saying that I am a novice at Tarot. I have had great difficulty finding time to learn it as well as finding a strong interest in the subject. For that reason, until more recently I've decided it may not yet be time for me to dive in.
I still see a lot of merit in studying the Tarot, so I wanted to at least read and consider your post, as well as try to help despite being so new to this domain.
As I try to dive in reading your post after a long hiatus from studying the Tarot:
In the paragraph titled "Archetypes and the Tarot", there's a sentence I noticed may be missing a word.
kenny Wrote:The titles refer to the exact functions each card as a complex of thoughts.
This was difficult for me to parse when reading. I took it to be instead: "The titles refer to the exact functions each card has as a complex of thoughts." Is this still true to what you were saying?
I am not suggesting my interpretation of what you said is right, but rather want to emphasize my ignorance in hopes to clarify things for myself, and be part of the lesson you are offering.
Continuing to read your post:
Since in a very general sense, I am struggling to understand the Tarot, I am trying to use my inexperience as leverage in helping you by highlighting the most difficult parts for me to read. So here are "more questions instead of answers" that arise in myself from reading this particular paragraph (still regarding the Archetypes and the Tarot).
I remember when I first tried studying the Tarot to follow Ra's suggestions for spiritual growth and understanding, the only thing I was confident in understanding was that the Tarot's interpretation and meaning is more up to the student. I remember Ra insisting that it should be meditated on and internal meaning can and should be arrived from the student, allowing the Tarot to be applied as a learning tool to just about any domain of knowledge/wisdom. *Note: I know I can look this up and verify, but it is a struggle to keep myself focused enough on this thread in a general sense. This is a very heavy topic for me, so thank you for baring with me.
However, I am not sure how liberal this paragraph is in describing how the Archetypes are represented by the Tarot. I could easily see your language lending to the ways the Tarot are best-suited to be used for instead of being easily open to interpretation. A great example of the language used that makes this difficult is seen here: "With that understanding in mind what we see before us now is literally a map to how we think and feel in reaction to the outer world ". In this specific example: if I take the word literally to mean what it does, then it seems you are very strong in your stance on how the tarot should be used and interpreted?
In your paragraph for "Distortions of the one", I really liked your explanation! This really ties things together and kind of made an "aha" moment for me that I wish I had first starting to study the Tarot. Thank you for this!
My mental imagery for illustrating the point you were making was holograms. The way holograms work is that they are composed of many many pieces of the whole picture, but all pieces are distorted in some way. Is this a good analogy?
As I started to read the rest of this helpful "mini-booklet", things began to fall into place more. I attribute some of this to getting more familiar with your cadence in writing/talking, but also some from just getting a more fleshed-out picture of how you make sense of the Tarot in the Law of One.
I am very glad I stuck with it, as it started to really make sense. Thank you for sharing!
I would like to mention how I viewed the Tarot very differently when I first started out. I'd like to mention it similar to how a person that just woke from a dream might share the experience before it escapes them. I think sharing my different view might really help you become more efficient at delivering the message you want to deliver.
My biggest interest in philosophy and reality is the source and nature of consciousness, so I naturally tried using Ra's Tarot study to gain insights to this.
This is my own novice interpretation, but I basically began to have an amorphous understanding that:
Matrix of the Mind: The magician yearns for an experience, and has ability to bring forth experience from the High Priestess, but ultimately doesn't know what that experience will be yet.
High Priestess: The feminine aspect of infinite possibility, but ultimately gives the Magician channels or avenues for him to experience things in line with his yearning.
*Note: I only remember the first two cards off the top of my head, as I am still very ignorant and had a hard time understanding
To apply what I learned, I used a common analogy of smoking. A smoker might yearn for an experience that the buzz from smoking cigarettes does partially bring, and even though the High Priestess part of his consciousness has all possible experiences that yield this feeling (notably more healthy ones), the smoking is habitual and has more "active" pathways in the brain/mind, so it's resonated with first, yielding a higher chance of the person to get the urge to smoke instead of some other activity available to him/her that can yield a similar experience.
If any of my post didn't make sense, I hope you "pick it apart" and "pick my brain" to help me clarify as well.
I hope we learn a lot together!
RE: LOO in the tarot - kenney - 02-16-2019
there should have been an "of" before each,not a "has" afterwards. great catch!!
"The titles refer to the exact functions of each card as a complex of thoughts.
Quote:This was difficult for me to parse when reading. I took it to be instead: "The titles refer to the exact functions each card has as a complex of thoughts." Is this still true to what you were saying?
I am not suggesting my interpretation of what you said is right, but rather want to emphasize my ignorance in hopes to clarify things for myself, and be part of the lesson you are offering.
I remember when I first tried studying the Tarot to follow Ra's suggestions for spiritual growth and understanding, the only thing I was confident in understanding was that the Tarot's interpretation and meaning is more up to the student. I remember Ra insisting that it should be meditated on and internal meaning can and should be arrived from the student, allowing the Tarot to be applied as a learning tool to just about any domain of knowledge/wisdom. *Note: I know I can look this up and verify, but it is a struggle to keep myself focused enough on this thread in a general sense. This is a very heavy topic for me, so thank you for baring with me.
However, I am not sure how liberal this paragraph is in describing how the Archetypes are represented by the Tarot. I could easily see your language lending to the ways the Tarot are best-suited to be used for instead of being easily open to interpretation. A great example of the language used that makes this difficult is seen here: "With that understanding in mind what we see before us now is literally a map to how we think and feel in reaction to the outer world ". In this specific example: if I take the word literally to mean what it does, then it seems you are very strong in your stance on how the tarot should be used and interpreted?
The first point you ask for clarification really boils down to my use of "literally." I meant literally as well. If we are to approach the tarot as occult device designed to help aid with our inner search, then yes most literally the major cards represent these thought complexes. In meditation you will, may, become aware of the specific amount of energy of various thought complex (cards), but the cards themselves won't change. As Don crafted these questions he was trying to uncover the most basic common denominators man shared in his path through creation. Since tarot cards represent those "archetypes" most literally everyone has them all, or they are not human.
The titles Ra gave the cards describe these functions eloquently. changing the name will not affect the function, changing the order does not either (these are things our mind does all the time actually, these cards represent dynamic changing things). Since I am approaching this description of the tarot form the point of view of the LOO that is going to be the only way I will describe the tarot in, that will give my words the feeling of finality. I speak with confidence, not force. if were to discuss the Rider Waite deck or the Thoth my words would appear to say these are the only ways. One must teach in this way, for what would you learn if I was always steering your eyes away to some other topic?
for the sake of learning the tarot what ever system you embrace i suggest learn that system completely without a thought to any other. Master that way and then observe and learn the others. Otherwise one finds themselves wavering like a candles flame in a breeze between this system and that making no progress in either.
i digress I am apologize
Quote:Matrix of the Mind: The magician yearns for an experience, and has ability to bring forth experience from the High Priestess, but ultimately doesn't know what that experience will be yet.
High Priestess: The feminine aspect of infinite possibility, but ultimately gives the Magician channels or avenues for him to experience things in line with his yearning.
*Note: I only remember the first two cards off the top of my head, as I am still very ignorant and had a hard time understanding
To apply what I learned, I used a common analogy of smoking. A smoker might yearn for an experience that the buzz from smoking cigarettes does partially bring, and even though the High Priestess part of his consciousness has all possible experiences that yield this feeling (notably more healthy ones), the smoking is habitual and has more "active" pathways in the brain/mind, so it's resonated with first, yielding a higher chance of the person to get the urge to smoke instead of some other activity available to him/her that can yield a similar experience.
If any of my post didn't make sense, I hope you "pick it apart" and "pick my brain" to help me clarify as well.
I hope we learn a lot together!
what you have said here is rather close to the mark, and I would like to delve into it, for it is a wonderful example of harmonics.
you may think you want to quit smoking (first card) but experience and reason (second card) reminds you you will probably fail to quit. Notice the things taking place in the first row are mental, there is no actual urge to be smoking it is ideas of smoking in the past and the future combined to create images of a different future than that which is already in store (the second card knows what you have coming from it's access to knowledge.
the active pathways that are the "addiction of smoking" (the eight card Matrix of the Body) is trying to give the next card (the 9nth or Potentiator of the Body)what it is is demanding. Cigarette is smoked the next card Catalyst of the Mind is activated but since the act of smoking has not the adequate harmonic energy (it is not a new event carrying anything of value for catalyst) rather than creating the change represented by the Catalyst of the Body, this thought process is sent right back to card eight. Just about all addictions are a loop between these two cards eight and nine as a persons battle with addiction it is natural to attempt to activate the Matrix of the Mind and the Matrix of the spirit to do the work for the matrix of the body and stop the addiction.
The reason one would confuse the functioning of these cards as you did, is that they function the same at different levels. We CAN stop smoking by just thinking about it, because our Matrix of the mind can take over for the Matrix of the Body at the moment the urge is sent to the Matrix of the Body from the Potentiator of the Body and say "no i don't want a cigartte!" As well at the moment the Potentiator of the Body desires a smoke the Potentiator of the Mind is sympathetic and recalls withdrawal and other memories of not having cigarettes.
I will get back into this book , I haven't opened it in a few months. I will address the myriad of typos thank you for being so patient and reading that mess.
RE: LOO in the tarot - kenney - 02-16-2019
Quote:How does tarot and intuition work together?
Almost everything that we think springs from our unconscious mind and takes form as consciousness. But this process appears to happen automatically we have almost no control over which thoughts come to mind unless we concentrate very hard to take control of our thoughts. When thoughts arrive in our conscious mind in this manner it is often referred to as intuition.
In meditation after concentrating for a time we forget what we are doing then our mind goes back to its regular rhythms, this being of course the great difficulty in meditating in general. Conditions in the environment around us and the progressed aspects to our birth chart provide the energy to spark certain thoughts from our unconscious to our conscious. This intuitive process is how we know what to think about.
Upon closer examination of one’s thoughts it becomes apparent that there are multitudes of thoughts taking place in our unconscious mind. Each thought is at its own varying level of consciousness depending upon it’s, “thought power,” or energy. Intuition is the faculty of reception, selection, and transmission of thoughts from the unconscious to the conscious self. Without our conscious effort intuition will select the thoughts that have gained the most energy and those are sent to the conscious mind to be pondered and used to build more complex thought structures consciously.
When we shuffle the tarot cards asking a question and we are trying to hijack this process and force intuition to attend to our concerns and send us a reply. Once the shuffling process becomes a habitual mechanical repetition that is controlled by the subconscious, the position of all the cards in a deck are under the jurisdiction of the unconscious mind.
Intuition is what is driving these connections between the thought of the question, the answer, and the sorting of the deck to bring the proper cards to the top of the deck. Every time we deal a spread, we are forging an intuitive channel from our unconscious to our conscious by thinking the question and having the answer being delivered through the muscular systems.
here is another chunk of that same book, this passage elucidates that process we were speaking of but in the manner of how the mind chooses the proper tarot cards for divination.
the matrix of the mind forms the question as usual, but in divination it is requesting information from the Potentiator of the body or the Potentiator of the soul. The actual shuffling of the cards properly requires at the barest minimum that Matrix of the body through Experience of the body are activated (this shuffles the card into the proper order). The message sent back to the catalyst of the mind to becomes a part of a new thought. This second part of the process we have taken control of for the message is in the tarot cards, it takes place during the reading rather than just popping into the mind like a typical intuitional thought.
RE: LOO in the tarot - kenney - 07-07-2019
I have re-written this with images for my blog. Feel free to give it a read
LOO and the tarot