Meditation: 8 ways to Divide and Combine the Twenty-Two Trumps

The Tarot’s story is your story. Savor it. When you are finished reading it — you will be someone else.

By: Lon Milo Duquette

A very popular meditative technique is to divide and combine the 22 Trumps.

This article will look at 8 meditations with the Major Arcana. The general idea is to use the following information as a spring board for further experimentation. The meditations are about discovering, or rediscovering, patterns — relationships between the cards that have significance. The pattern might hint at some aspect of life that has not been considered, or, it may point to an aspect of consciousness that illuminates something specific for you.

Each of these meditations involves some level of preparation; all involve dividing the 22 cards into groups. The meditation itself is about finding ways to combine them again. This is done through the discovery of patterns. These patterns help to deepen our connection to Tarot.

Some of the following 8 meditations are well known, others not so. Before we begin, let’s look at two very general ways of interpreting, and meditating on the Major Arcana.

Check out Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack, to read more about these two general methods.

1. First general method

One way of interpreting the Major Arcana is to consider each card as representing something meaningful to the individual. For instance, the Emperor represents mastery of self, the Fool represents uncorrupted innocence, the Temperance card represents the alchemical process of turning the base metal (personality) into gold etc.

The really interesting thing about this approach is that it doesn’t really depend upon the sequence of the Trumps. For instance, the number 1 belongs to the Magician, not because the sequence of the Trumps is significant, but because the number 1 represents certain ideas that belong to the Magician — the Will, First Cause, Being, Unity (Jung classified a whole series of what he called ‘unifying’ symbols.)

2. Second general method

This approach is almost the opposite of the first. In this approach, the sequence of the Trumps is important. The High Priestess is numbered two because that is where she belongs. She can only exist in between the Magician and the Empress. In this method of classifying the Major Arcana, the sequence of the Trumps is critical. Each card belongs to one specific point within the whole 22 card sequence.

Overall, these two general approaches to meditating on the Major Arcana are not to be thought of as distinct and separate. Rather, it’s when we combine both these approaches into one meditation that things start to get interesting. The following examples build upon this idea.

3. Use the Wheel of Fortune

A very popular method involves splitting the Major Arcana into two groups. Every card from the Fool to the Hermit belongs to one group and every card from Lust (or Justice) to the Universe belongs to another. These two groups are divided by one card; the Wheel of Fortune.

Part of the reason for this method’s popularity is its simplicity. It divides the 22 Trump cards into two groups and it uses the Wheel of Fortune (a very potent and symbolic choice) as the divider. Ask yourself, what does the Wheel of Fortune divide, in life, and within consciousness?

In many ways its simplicity is deceptive. I’ve found my relationship with the 22 Trumps deepen as a direct result of this meditation.

Excercise

1. Deal the cards out into two lines. Make sure you start the second line after the Wheel of Fortune.
2. Look for patterns.
3. Ask yourself what these patterns mean.
4. Pair the cards together. Pick a card from the top column and pair that with the card directly beneath it on the bottom column. What does this pairing communicate to you?
5. Meditate on the concept of two groups. What does group one have in common? What does group two have in common? What does the number two suggest?

4. Three groups of seven

Another slightly more complex approach is to split the 22 Major Arcana into three groups.

1. Take the Fool card and place it to one side.
2. We now have 21 Cards that can be divided into three groups of seven.
3. The first column is the Magician to the Chariot.
4. The second column is the Justice card to Temperance.
5. The third column is the Devil to the Universe card.

Like all these meditations, the idea is to look for patterns within the division of the Trumps. Meditation on these patterns can reveal things about Nature, the Universe and Consciousness.

For instance, by placing the Fool to one side, what significance does it have? Does it say something about the role of the Fool — that it can go anywhere and doing anything? That it can exist anywhere within the sequence of the Trumps … and nowhere? Or does it say something about our attitudes to the Fool — we are, after all, banishing him to the corner! Are Fools things that we reject, cast aside and avoid? If so, what does that say about us?

In my humble opinion, simply meditating on how this meditation excludes the Fool can profoundly shape how we see the relationships between the Trumps.

Excercise

1. Do the three columns represent something specific about the Major Arcana? Does every card in the second column (or every card in the first or third column for that matter) share something in common? If so, what might that be?
2. Again, look for patterns between the columns? Does the Chariot, Temperance and Universe cards have something in common?
3. Find different patterns and ask yourself what these patterns mean.
4. Use Elemental Dignities to determine the relationships between the cards. Pick a card from the top column and combine that with the cards directly beneath it to produce a three card reading. What does this reading communicate to you?
5. Meditate on the concept of three groups. What does group one have in common? What does group two have in common? What does group three have in common? Meditate on the number three.

5. Card count the sequence

Deal the 22 cards out in a single line. If you know how to card count you can begin to notice patterns between the Trumps which are often illuminating.

I used to do this a lot when I was first learning the Tarot, and still find it a really useful meditation. Start by selecting a Trump card to count from. Once you have made your choice count from it and see where it takes you. Do this for all the 22 Trump cards and see what kinds of relationships you can observe. Are there cards that are continuously being counted on? Is there a card that is never counted upon? If there is such a card, what hidden potential could that reveal?

Example

As an example, I’ve picked the Fool.

Here is the order of the Count, with a brief description of the meditation I did:

1. The Fool: The root of consciousness.
2. The Priestess: The formation of consciousness
3. Fortune: Human being born
4. Moon: First experience of life. Initial observations. Time exists — with day/night, light/dark.
5. Chariot: Human engaging with life. The development of identity.
6. Moon: Attempts to control life fails. The irrational always looms. The hidden causes fear.

Don’t feel you need to restrict your counting to any one card, you can pick any card you like. Why not begin with your birthday card, the Trump represented by your astrological sun sign?

6. Meditate on the elements

For this mediation, start by counting how many Fire cards there are. How many Water cards, how many Air cards and how many Earth cards there are. What patterns does this suggest? Does this tell us anything about Consciousness, Nature or the Universe?

The key to this meditation is observation. Take some time to get a sense of what the Elemental distribution indicates. Notice how the Elements divide the Major Arcana and spend some time looking at patterns that combine them. This is a very passive meditation that, over time, changes the way you think about the Trumps.

7. Kabbalah

The Hebrew alphabet is central to the Kabbalah, and for people who use Occult decks, the Tarot.

The idea is this: the 22 letters were involved in the creation of the Universe. There are 22 letters and 22 Trumps and at some point in history, the connection between the two was made. Most occult decks now display a Hebrew letter for each of the 22 Trumps.

This meditation involves exploring how the Hebrew Alphabet divides the 22 Major Arcana into groups.

Essentially, you have the 3 Mother letters, the 7 Single letters and the 12 Double letters. Applied to the Tarot, these are the three elemental (Fool, Hanged Man and Aeon) cards, seven planetary and twelve zodiacal cards.

Although there are different ways to attribute the Hebrew letters to the Trump cards, I’ve learned via the Thoth Tarot and have stuck with that ever since.

The standard sequence of most modern day Tarot cards conforms to the Tarot de Marseilles sequence. The Thoth Tarot also follows the Golden Dawn’s scheme of attributing certain Hebrew letters and their corresponding elemental, planetary and zodiacal attributions — with one exception. Crowley restructured the sequence of the Thoth deck for reasons I don’t fully understand. I’m not sure many people do. However, if you consider the sequence of the Trumps as important, then figuring out the reasons why he did it could be a valuable meditation.

Excercise

This meditation grows in effectiveness the more time is spent considering the role of the Hebrew Alphabet within the 22 cards. Meditate on each of the Hebrew letters and their attribution to the Major arcana. What relationships do they have? How does this deepen our understanding?

8. Gender

I learned this meditation from Lon Milo Duquette’s, Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot. In his book, Lon Milo Duquette attempts to explain a passage from the Book of Thoth … the end result is this meditation.

There are eight Trumps — the Fool, the Magus, the High Priestess, the Empress, the Emperor, the Hierophant, the Hermit and the Star. According to Crowley, these Trumps are to be seen as representing something “to be observed.” Lon Milo Duquette calls them, First Class Trumps.

These first class Trumps are divided, by Gender, into three categories.

1. The Fool and the Magus are hermaphrodite.
2. The High Priestess, the Empress and the Star show the Feminine Symbol (Yin) in three forms corresponding to a Triune Goddess.
3. The Emperor, the Hierophant, and the Hermit show the Masculine symbol in three forms — the Fathers. They are the compliment to the High Priestess, the Empress and the Star.

Lon Milo Duquette describes the remaining fourteen Trumps as second class Trumps.

The second class Trumps, according to Lon, represents one or more of the first class Trumps. Lon describes how this can occur in three ways.

1. As an expression of the character and behavior of the first class Trump when it is combined with one or more of its seven fellows.
2. As an expression of how the first class Trump functions.
3. As an expression of how the first class Trump manifests.

Essentially, the idea behind this meditation is to figure out what second class Trumps are an outward expression of the first class Trumps.

Below is the mysterious passage from the Book of Thoth that forms the foundations to this meditation:

It is especially to be observed that the three consecutive letters, Gimel, Daleth, He (Atu 11, 111, XV11) show the Feminine Symbol (Yin) in three forms corresponding to the Triune Goddess. This Trinity is immediately followed by the three corresponding and complementary Fathers, Vau, Tzaddi, Yod (Atu 1V, V, 1X). The Trumps 0 and 1 are hermaphrodite. The remaining fourteen Trumps represent these Primordial Quintessences of Being in conjunction, function, or manifestation.

Example

The way I approach this meditation is to begin by removing the first-class Trumps. Place the hermaphrodites on one line, the Triune Goddesses on another and the Fathers on the third. Take the remaining 14 second class Trumps and shuffle them. Whenever you feel ready, deal out a second class Trump and meditate on which of the first class Trumps would manifest it.

As an example, I dealt out the Hanged Man. On meditating on this card, I felt the High Priestess and the Hermit would be expressed through the character of the Hanged Man. I also felt that the Hanged Man showed how the High Priestess functions and how the Hermit manifests.

Another example would be the Moon card. On meditating upon this second class Trump, I felt the Hierophant and the Fool would be expressed through the character of the Moon. I also felt that the Moon showed how the Fool functions and how the Hierophant manifests.

Summary

…the trumps are a universal alphabet of images and, no matter how we throw them together, they are bound to spell something.

By: Lon Milo Duquette

The 8 meditations that I’ve listed above are only a tiny fraction of the number of ways that someone could divide and combine the Major Arcana. What about dividing them according to astrology, alchemy or even colour? The possibilities are endless. I’d love to hear what you all think about these meditations. Is there anyone who finds meditation of this sort a waste of time? Or, if anyone meditates on the 22 Major Arcana using a different method, and wants to share it, I’d love to hear about it.

Image by and credit to: Deepak Gupta

(Theoretically) Related Posts:

• Tarot Card Confusion
• Conjurer or Adept? The Humble Origins of the Tarot Magician
• Why Reading Tarot Cards Like A Book Doesn’t Work
• Stop Reading About It and Do It
• An Introduction To The Elemental Dignities Compendium

Tagged as: Elements, The Hierophant, The Magician