Min's Compleat Tarot User Manual - Chapter 2 of 9
M A G V S
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Chapter 2
Tree of Life
THE TEN-CARD ancient "tree of life" layout is
among the easiest to learn and most effective
procedure for casting a tarot reading, but is
by no means the only layout you should try to
use. I prefer the ten-card layout since it is
generally in keeping with traditional kabalah,
the ten "ineffable sephiroth" to quote Sepher
Yetzirah, an ancient scripture reported to be
based on the work of the sovereign astrologue
Abraham--which it most likely is, considering
its profound, astrologically-accurate context.
The ten positions of the cards in the tree of
life layout are clearly defined, and are also
directly associated with the ten planets, the
ten, heavenly spheres of divine consciousness
called the ten sephiroth, as previously noted.
While the planets are examined in more detail
in later chapters, this chapter will help you
to get started with laying out a tarot spread
using the tree of life as our layout template.
There are some excellent graphical depictions
of the tree of life available on the internet
and in books, but unfortunately, none of them
are entirely accurate regarding the planetary
positions. The chart below is exactly correct:
8
A
{Kether}
Uranus
STAR
/ Aeolian \
/ Infinity \
/ \
2-------------------9
B B
{Binah} {Hochma}
Mercury Neptune
MAGICIAN HERMIT
Locrian Locrian
Intellect Wisdom
| |
7-------------------6
G F
{Gevurah} {Chesed}
Saturn Jupiter
(JUDGMENT,west) (EMPEROR,north)
Mixolydian Lydian
Judgment Charity
| \ / |
| \ 3 / |
| \ C / |
| {Tipharet} |
| Venus |
| EMPRESS |
| Ionian |
| /Beauty \ |
| / \ |
| / \ |
4-------------------5
D E
{Hod} {Netzach}
Sun Mars
(SUN,east) (TOWER,south)
Dorian Phrygian
Majesty Victory
\ 1 /
\ A /
\ {Yesod} /
Moon
MOON
Aeolian
Foundation
|
10
C
{Malchut}
Pluton
FOOL
Ionian
Center
The cards are shuffled. Whether or not you want
to include inverted or "reversed" cards in your
tarot is simply a matter of personal preference.
I recommend placing all cards upright no matter
if they're initially dealt inverted or not. You
will find it easier to learn what you are doing.
Later, as you gain experience in tarot readings,
you may wish to accommodate card reversals, and
read them as you see fit. By not using them you
will find it less confusing, and easier to read,
and certainly less intimidating to your clients.
Personally, I'm not convinced that it makes any
difference if a card is dealt reversed, just as
any astrological chart has only an upright view.
Some tarot readers associate the inverted cards
with planets in retrograde, but only ten of the
seventy-eight cards in the tarot deck represent
planets in the first place and more importantly,
the ten planets refer to its sidereal positions,
but not synodic position as would-be retrograde
planets. This principle is thoroughly explained
in later chapters. For now, try casting a chart
using the above tree of life layout. You should
shuffle your cards at least once before dealing
them. Be aware that some tarot readers use only
the major arcana, while others prefer the minor
arcana, and may use an ordinary deck of playing
cards in place of the 56-card minor arcana (the
"pages" of the elements account for extra cards).
I recommend using the entire 78-card tarot deck
at all times for doing readings since each card
has a very specific astrological meaning, which
the major or minor arcana alone can not account
for. Again, this is explained in later chapters.
Also, if you're reading for someone else, it is
customary to allow your client to cut the cards
into three smaller piles then select the middle
pile of cards and set all the other cards aside
(i.e. assuming at least ten cards in the middle
pile or else you must borrow from another pile).
Once you have the cards in hand, deal ten cards
in the following order. Do not, I repeat do NOT
deviate from this order, or your reading may be
in error. How do we know this? Because the tree
of life is made by paths from one heaven to the
next, and in a very specific order. I recommend
laying out only one card at a time, and read it
according to position, then proceed to the next
(the planets shown in parentheses correspond to
the POSITION of that card, not the card itself).
___________
{ }
| 1st |
| |
| (Uranus) |
| |
___________ | | ___________
{ } | | { }
| 3rd | | | | 2nd |
| | | | | |
| (Mercury) | | | | (Neptune) |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | {___________} | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
{___________} {___________}
___________ ___________
{ } { }
| 4th | | 7th |
| | | |
| (Saturn) | | (Jupiter) |
| | | |
| | | |
| | ___________ | |
| | { } | |
| | | 6th | | |
| | | | | |
| | | (Venus) | | |
| | | | | |
{___________} | | {___________}
___________ | | ___________
{ } | | { }
| 5th | | | | 8th |
| | | | | |
| (Sun) | | | | (Mars) |
| | | | | |
| | {___________} | |
| | ___________ | |
| | { } | |
| | | 9th | | |
| | | | | |
| | | (Moon) | | |
| | | | | |
{___________} | | {___________}
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
{___________}
___________
{ }
| 10th |
| |
| (Pluto) |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
{___________}
Now we come to the fun part, actually READING
the cards! One by one as you deal them out in
the above "tree of life" layout, you'll learn
the basic meanings from reading the following
chapters on the planets and signs, the houses
and horoscopes, since that's exactly what the
tarot represents. As in the above layout, the
first planet is Uranus who is associated with
"new beginnings", and the card that conjuncts
Uranus indicates a planet, or caelestial sign,
or a house of the horoscope, or other meaning
depending on the card that you've placed here.
For example, you may have placed the "Empress"
in this first position, meaning Venus, sphere
of hope, beauty, justice and equilibrium, she
is adding hope & beauty to this new beginning
for Uranus, playing her major Ionian modality
to Uranus' natural minor Aeolian. Try playing
these modes on a piano or other keyboard, and
you can immediately hear how these complement
each other by switching between minor & major.
Much, much more can be said of Venus conjunct
Uranus, but I'll say this very simply for now.
You'll have to read my later chapters--if you
want to learn to read each card in any layout.
That's what this book is for...to teach tarot!
If I hit you with all the technicalities (and
there're plenty of those to go around) before
introducing the tarot by using a basic layout,
odds are you'd never even get this far. Okay?
By beginning with the basics, you'll learn to
read the tarot much faster, and more usefully.
The smartest way to learn is by playing music,
even if modes or scales is all you ever learn.
You may want to print out the following chart
for convenient reference to a common keyboard,
since this lists their precise correspondence
using classic tarot nomenclature in chromatic
tones & diatonic modes of the sidereal orbits
about the Sun (solars) and the synodic phases
of the same planets to Earth (lunaires). Just
remember that the seven, fixed diatonic modes
can be transposed across the twelve chromatic
tones in each octave, thereby producing these
eighty-four unique key signatures of the Gods
(see "key signatures" chart in later chapter):
_ _
| | _ _ _ _ __ _(_)_ _ ___ ___
| |_| || | ' \/ _` | | '_/ -_|_-<
|____\_,_|_||_\__,_|_|_| \___/__/
__ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ____ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ __
} { } | { } { } | { } { } { } | {
F | W | T | H | D | H | L | C | S | P | J | D | F | W | T | H | D | H
O | O | E | A | E | I | O | H | T | R | U | E | O | O | E | A | E | I
R | R | M | N | V | E | V | A | R | I | S | A | R | R | M | N | V | E
T | L | P | G | I | R | E | R | E | E | T | T | T | L | P | G | I | R
U | D | E | E | L | O | R | I | N | S | I | H | U | D | E | E | L | O
N | | R | D | | P | S | O | G | T | C | | N | | R | D | | P
E | | A | | | H | | T | T | E | E | | E | | A | | | H
| | N | M | | A | | | H | S | | | | | N | M | | A
| | C | A | | N | | | | S | | | | | C | A | | N
| | E | N | | T | | | | | | | | | E | N | | T
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Ab | |Bb | | |Db | |Eb | | |Gb | |Ab | |Bb | | |Db
G# | |A# | | |C# | |D# | | |F# | |G# | |A# | | |C#
__} {___} | {___} {___} | {___} {___} {___} | {__
| | | | | | | | | | |
| S | H | F | S | T | E | J | M | M | E |
| T | E | O | U | O | M | U | O | A | M |
| A | R | O | N | W | P | D | O | G | P |
| R | M | L | | E | E | G | N | I | R |
| | I | | | R | R | M | | C | E |
| | T | | | | O | E | | I | S |
| | | | | | R | N | | A | S |
| | | | | | | T | | N | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | A | B | C |
|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | |<----------Mixolydian(G-G)--/
| | | | | |<--------------Lydian(F-F)--------/
| | | | |<-------------Phrygian(E-E)-------------/
| | | |<--------------Dorian(D-D)--------------------/
| | |<---------------Ionian(C-C)-------------------->|
| |<---------------Locrian(B-B)------------------->|
|<---------------Aeolian(A-A)------------------->|
___ _ _
/ __|___| |__ _(_)_ _ ___ ___
\__ Y _ \ / _` | | '_/ -_|_-<
|___|___/_\__,_|_|_| \___/__/
_______________________________________________________
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
_ _
| | _ _ _ _ __ _(_)_ _ ___ ___
| |_| || | ' \/ _` | | '_/ -_|_-<
|____\_,_|_||_\__,_|_|_| \___/__/
__ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ____ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ __
} { } | { } { } | { } { } { } | {
S | C | A | P | A | T | G | C | L | V | L | S | S | C | A | P | A | T
A | A | Q | I | R | A | E | A | E | I | I | C | A | A | Q | I | R | A
G | P | U | S | I | U | M | N | O | R | B | O | G | P | U | S | I | U
I | R | A | C | E | R | I | C | | G | R | R | I | R | A | C | E | R
T | I | R | E | S | U | N | E | | O | A | P | T | I | R | E | S | U
T | C | I | S | | S | I | R | | | | I | T | C | I | S | | S
A | O | U | | | | | | | | | O | A | O | U | | |
R | R | S | | | | | | | | | | R | R | S | | |
I | N | | | | | | | | | | | I | N | | | |
U | | | | | | | | | | | | U | | | | |
S | | | | | | | | | | | | S | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Ab | |Bb | | |Db | |Eb | | |Gb | |Ab | |Bb | | |Db
G# | |A# | | |C# | |D# | | |F# | |G# | |A# | | |C#
__} {___} | {___} {___} | {___} {___} {___} | {__
| | | | | | | | | | |
| U | N | P | S | M | J | S | M | M | V |
| R | E | L | U | A | U | A | O | E | E |
| A | P | U | N | R | P | T | O | R | N |
| N | T | T | | S | I | U | N | C | U |
| U | U | O | | | T | R | | U | S |
| S | N | | | | E | N | | R | |
| | E | | | | R | | | Y | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | A | B | C |
|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | |<----------Mixolydian(G-G)--/
| | | | | |<--------------Lydian(F-F)--------/
| | | | |<-------------Phrygian(E-E)-------------/
| | | |<--------------Dorian(D-D)--------------------/
| | |<---------------Ionian(C-C)-------------------->|
| |<---------------Locrian(B-B)------------------->|
|<---------------Aeolian(A-A)------------------->|
___ _ _
/ __|___| |__ _(_)_ _ ___ ___
\__ Y _ \ / _` | | '_/ -_|_-<
|___|___/_\__,_|_|_| \___/__/
____________________________________________________
End Chapter 2. See Chapter 3 for continuation...
Daniel Joseph Min
*Min's Compleat Tarot Pak:
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=9IBCQ0PN375...@Gilgamesh-frog.org
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