"Simplicity Equals Truth?"
A lot of the wisdom of the Ancients, especially Western wisdom, is rooted in the acknowledgement and use of seven celestial spheres - defined by a limited number of known Planets, the Sun and the Moon - and the idea that these celestial spheres contain and influence our Earthly, manifest existence. These celstial spheres supposedly influence our mundane lives, and... by passing through, or ascending up through these spheres of containment we are to achieve enlightenment and heavenly bliss. Astrology and Alchemy are cool, but... what would happen to this kind of wisdom if we humans were ever to pack up and move to another solar system in another galaxy far, far away? Is astrology really that universal? In the tarot journey that follows on this site, I decided to search for something that seemed more universal.
Lots of people use the Qabalah, or The Tree of Life, as a model when seeking structure in tarot. The Tree of Life has 32 "paths of wisdom" consisting of 22 Paths and 10 Sephirah. It also has and 3 Pillars. There is also 1 Sephirah that is "hidden." It is also crowned with 3 "veils" of "negative limitless light." Some also propose additional "secret" pathways between sephirah. If you add it all up, this diagram has at least 39 parts to consider before any explanation begins! Some call the Tree of Life diagram simple. I found its criss-crossing paths and sephirah to be convoluted and complex. In the tarot journey that follows on this site, I decided to search for something that seemed more simple. Something isomorphic to nature and organically ergonomic.
What I came up with consists of 4 circles and a point. That's it... that's all there is to my model of existence, upon which I base every conclusion about tarot. That's right, every conclusion I draw about the nature of existence and how it all relates to tarot can be traced back to one of those 4 circles or that point. That's it. Does that sound simple enough? I've built an entire "wisdom system" and designed several tarot decks, based solely upon those four circles and point. If you are interested in an alternative approach to tarot that is really, really simple, then you might like the ideas being offered here.
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