Thinking the unthinkable - does Tarot need to be defined by the Tree of Life?
The Tarot and the Tree of Life have been inextricably intertwined for over one hundred years. All 'serious' books on the Tarot have at least one diagram of the Tree. The Tree of Life gives us the theoretical and structural background to the Tarot - where we would be without it? A lot better off - it is time to separate the two and give them both air to breathe and develop.
The Tree of Life is supposed to be a map that guides the spiritual seeker to mystical realms, but today it has become little more than a divine card index system, a database stuffed with aspects of every conceivable spiritual, divinatory, and magical system conveniently arranged in groups of ten and twenty-two. The internal representation of cosmic realms is now externalised, and the map has become the territory. We see the Tree of Life without, and not within. To rabbis and traditional kabbalists, the tarot is anathema - there should be no graven images of the Divine. Tarot enthusiasts of course need as much imagery as possible, so the Tree of Life gives the structure and credibility required.
The Tarot and Tree of Life appear to complement each other perfectly - the 'fit' is perfect too, so why change? Well, there have always been doubts as to harmonious arrangement between the two systems, but we were presented with a fait accomplis in the Victorian age. Victorian thinking permeates the tarot, stultifying development, locking us in to an arbitrary arrangement that suited a bygone era. Building upon traditions within the French esoteric systems, the pioneers in the Golden Dawn normalised and legitimised the Tarot within the Tree. They did a fantastic job. So successful were they that almost all the major tarot authors had some kind of GD connection.
So, what did the Victorians do for us? The Victorian age was a period of incredible advances in scientific knowledge. The Victorians loved to collect and classify every scientific theory, thing, idea and object into convenient categories. They even announced they were on the brink of crossing the t's and dotting the i's when discoveries were made in physics that paved the way for Einstein's relativity theory. To be fair, the fourth dimension had gripped the Victorian mind for years before, and inspired HG Wells to pen The Time Machine. At the latter stages of this cultural and scientific frenzy the founders of the Golden Dawn were studying ancient texts in the library of the British Museum.
The Tarot and the Tree of Life were put at the centre of the Golden Dawn system - they permeate the rituals. We accept this situation because it helps us to 'understand' magic. There are so many assumptions that we have to take on board. Kabbalism explains Tarot because Kabbalism predates the Tarot by millenia. Not true! Kabbalism is barely one hundred years older than the earliest mentions of the Tarot. Kabbalism originated in Spain and southern France in the 12th century with the Bahir, Sepher Yetsirah and Zohar. All these documents claim an ancient lineage, but they were all new at the time. It was centuries before we see the Tree of Life appear in many guises, while the Tarot was still developing. In fact it is possible to suggest that in their own way, the two systems developed in parallel until occultists were able to make that crucial link. So, the Kabbalah I am talking about relates principally to the version that has the Tree of Life at the centre. We make the implicit link that it has been around for thousands of years, since the Tree of Life is mentioned in Genesis, but there is no proof that it looked like the one we recognise now. Kabbalists and occultists have worked backwards to legitimise an arbitrary and vague association and make it a 'fact' when so many other 'facts' do not fit.
Critics also argue that the Tree kept on changing and metamorphosing. It is true - there are umpteen versions that did not settle until the intervention of the GD. The GD was a secret organisation whose secrets were not revealed until Israel Regardie broke his silence and published the rituals, except of course that Crowley and others had already done so in the Equinox and other publications.
So, by some kind of miraculous birth, the Tarot and Tree of Life were presented as aspects of each other. Everything in the universe has its place on the Tree, while the 78 cards by extension also relate to all things. The Tree gives us the intellectual content, while the mysterious pictures delight the senses. In truth the Tree and the Tarot are Siamese twins who should have been separated at birth when it is relatively easy, rather than wait until they reach senescence. The Tarot and the Tree are separate identities that should be seen as separate identities. If both are capable of including all other systems then it is nonsense to try to merge them. In set theory, one cannot contain the other since they both have content. If one was empty, then it could contain the other.
Drastic surgery required to separate the Tarot from the Tree is necessary, in the same way that brutal pruning is sometimes required to save a tree to allow new shoots to develop. By separating the two systems, both will grow and prosper. The development of the tarot is hampered by the intellectual prejudices found within the Tree. A new renaissance is in our grasp.