Gnostic Tarot

Dear Lexa,

Thanks for the kind-words at my blog. I have a question about the tarot: do you think there is a connection in their origin to the Cathars/Gnostics?
Best wishes for the holidays!
warm regards,
Matt Janovic

Dear Matt

I believe there are definite ties between the Cathars/Gnostics with regard to the development, study, and design of the Tarot.

We know that some of the most illustrious modern occult figures such as Dr. William Wynn Westcott and MacGregor Mathers (Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn), Aleister Crowley (Ordo Templi Orientis), Arthur Edward Waite (Fellowship of the Rosy Cross), and my favorite guide and teacher, Paul Foster Case (Builders of the Adytum/B.O.T.A.), dedicated their work and lives to connecting the dots and retracing the mystical origins of the tarot cards. These roots include ancient Hermetic, Kabbalistic (both Christian and Jewish), Rosicrucian, Masonic, and Gnostic teachings.

The closest direct connection I have found between the Tarot and the Gnostic/Cathars comes from a work entitled Occult and Mystical Freemasonry (1643 - 1943) MARTINISM History and Doctrine by Robert Ambelain. Ambelain includes a discourse on an esoteric signature used by the occultist Martinez de Pasqually which is referred to as "figure four":

"This mysterious sign figures frequently among the inscriptions discovered by O. Rohn in the grottoes of the Aude region, in the heart of the legendary region of the Albigensian see, in the grottoes of Ornolac, most notably of Lambrives. These inscriptions were attributed by all the examiners to the Cathars who took refuge in these caverns.
When the Cathars, gnostic survival in the Middle Ages apparently disappeared, the same "figure four" was then adopted by another great society of thought, which we have named the Agla. Agla was an esoteric society in the Renaissance period, grouping together apprentices, companions and masters of Guilds associated with Books, librarians, engravers, printers, stationers, and book-binders, as well as card makers who created the first playing cards and the first Tarots."

It is interesting to note that the Cathar/Gnostic mysticism and teachings were deeply rooted in France and the oldest surviving deck, the Paris Tarot, is housed in the Bibiothéque Nationale in Paris. I doubt this is a coincidence.

Thank you for your most intelligent question and may the Gods and Goddesses of Fortune and Wisdom bless you with illumination, enlightenment, and prosperity in the New Year!
In Lux
Lexa

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Asks...

Greetings WitchDoctor:

It's very easy to find a listing or websites of everyone claiming to be 'white/green/purple' magic practitioners and so forth but it's difficult to find spells and those willing to do spells that tread into 'darker'areas. Do you have any suggestions for sites/listings for those who do 'black magic' or more 'manipulative' type spells that can be used to help others into that area of magic?

- Amber Benson Fan

Dear ABF

I'm not sure how any of those types of spells can be used to "help others" but I am quite sure that the information is out there if you take the time to do the research. You claim that it is easy to find listings and websites for witches of white, purple, and green - well, here's what I came up with after googling the black ones:

Results 1 - 10 of about 2,340,000 for black magick

Looks like you have your work cut out for you. Sorry but I can't give a personal recommendation because I try to steer clear of this stuff. It literally makes me sick. What I will say is this, anyone who has undergone a full and proper initiation into Wicca, will have had training in the left handed path and a journey to the underworld. It is part of the 2nd degree initiation where the practitioner must face and safely cross the abyss. Sybil Leek, Aleister Crowley, Madame Blavatsky, Manly P. Hall, and McGregor Mathers are all respected occultists who have all delved into these matters and are considered positive and informative reads. The Lesser Key of Solomon, The Goetia, and The Necronomicon are of course, the traditional occult classics and worth the read. (Just make sure you invoke your guardians before delving too deep!) Ah, ok, any demonologists out there want to take over from here...?

Miss Virginia Asks...

Dear Lexa,

I have some deep concerns. As a psychic, how do you feel about ethics? I grew up believing in humankind knowing that by nature we have good and bad within ourselves. Whenever people are mean to me, I put forward my zen attitude because hurting people isn't what I was taught to do. I wish that those who are calling themselves psychics and let themselves entangled into the world of Maya, realise as soon as possible that the divine is far from being a money-making business, as souls have no price...
The Creator never charged a soul at birth (or before creation), as what you are receiving is a gift. It is up to you to decide for the price you want to ask a client, but I do believe that money can have such a negative impact on people above all in the psychic world. I do know what I am talking about, it almost cost me my life, when I decided to be in contact with a psychic.

Dear Miss Virginia,

I am so sorry to hear of your negative experience. You must be very careful about the psychics you entrust with your soul. Only last month, I found myself giving a second opinion to a very distraught woman who had a negative experience just as you describe. I was working a party and there was another psychic across the room who told her that someone in her family would get cancer or have a heart attack soon. This information had come completely unsolicited. Needless to say, I was pissed as hell, at having to undo this wrong. Firstly, because I was now going to have to look into an area that this woman did not want to see to begin with. And mostly, because it had been a long night, and now I was off the clock, doing this on my own time and I wanted to rest and go home! After reluctantly laying the cards, I saw asthma or emphysema but I also saw that this was a known condition of someone she loved and was not likely to get better or worse any time soon. She confirmed that her father had emphysema, and this reading seemed to put her mind at rest.

I have a very strong feeling about ethics and I caution you to beware of those practicing psychic manipulation. A true psychic is bound by oath to be RESPONSIBLE in how s/he disseminates information. It must be useful and helpful to the questioner and MORE IMPORTANTLY, as Witches, we must ask supernal permission for the prophecies. Lest we forget the lesson of the Scottish play, Act III Scene V, (although the scene is often cut from productions!) in which the Goddess Hecate, Queen of the Witches and ruler of the divinatory arts scolds her wards, the witches three.

Thunder.
Enter the three Witches, meeting HECATE.
1Witch:
Why, how now, Hecate! you look angerly.
Hecate:
Have I not reason, beldams as you are saucy and overbold?
How did you dare to trade and traffic with M******
In riddles and affairs of death;
And I, the mistress of your charms,
The close contriver of all harms,
Was never call'd to bear my part,
Or show the glory of our art?

One must never foretell the future without asking Her permission. There are also other gods and goddesses who rule this art. Artemis, Apollo, Hermes Trismegistus, and Fortuna, just to name a few. A good psychic will also invoke the guardian angels of the questioner as well as her or his own.

Now, let's talk money. There is a a long standing tradition, that one should not charge for the teachings of Wicca. This specifically refers to the knowledge that prepares one for initiation and does not include any craftmanship of occult items or services such as psychic tarot or astrology readings. The great occultist, Aleister Crowley, had some very strong and foul words against those who charged for the magickal arts. The truth is:
a) He charged for his lectures and ceremonies and
b) He was a trust fund baby!
So you know what - I don't want to even hear about it! I personally think it is fair for a psychic or any other spiritual counselor to charge a fee. However, they must be up front about the money that is being charged with no hidden clauses. (Beware the $2 reading from the gypsy storefront that ends up costing you your life savings!)

In ancient times, tribal communities took very good care of their shamans. They provided the holy ones among them with the best of the hunt and the harvest, luxury teepees and condo caves. Monks are given monestaries and modern day Rabbis usually have a very nice house included with their salaries. Psychics, like everybody else, have to eat! They need food and they need shelter and money is no more than a form of energy which is exchanged for other kinds of energy. Through money, the psychic can pay the bills and be nurtured, and therefore be free to do his or her work without stress.

Now one last thing, Miss V, and I know this is not very Zen of me, but I just need to play the Devil's Advocate here. Who told you that souls have no price?! Honey, that is absolutely not true! Just ask Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves. And what's this business about the Creator never charged a soul at birth (or before creation)? Have you checked out the prices for AI, ART, IVF, ZIFT, AND GIFT? None of that's a gift girl, it's damn expensive! Fertility is a booming business, which reminds me, I've got a whopper of a spell for conception and it'll cost you next to nothing in comparison...