The category “Tarot” has 23 subcategories.
76.6 Questioner: Sorry we have had such a long delay between the last session and this one. It couldn’t be helped I guess. Could you please tell me the origin of the tarot?
Ra: I am Ra. The origin of this system of study and divination is twofold: firstly, there is that influence which, coming in a distorted fashion from those who were priests attempting to teach the Law of One in Egypt, gave form to the understanding, if you will pardon the misnomer, which they had received. These forms were then made a regular portion of the learn/teachings of an initiate. The second influence is that of those entities in the lands you call Ur*, Chaldea*, and Mesopotamia* who, from old, had received the, shall we say, data for which they called having to do with the heavens. Thusly we find two methods of divination being melded into one with uneven results; the, as you call it, astrology and the form being combined to suggest what you might call the correspondences which are typical of the distortions you may see as attempts to view archetypes.
76.7 Questioner: Then am I correct in assuming that the priests in Egypt, in attempting to convert knowledge that they had received initially from Ra into understandable symbology, constructed and initiated the concept of the tarot? Is this correct?
Ra: I am Ra. This is correct with the addition of the Sumerian influence.
77.11 Questioner: Thank you. I would like to go back to the plan of this Logos for Its creation and examine the philosophical basis that is the foundation for what was created in this local creation and the philosophy of the plan for experience. I am assuming that I am correct in stating that the foundation for this, as we have stated many times before, is the first distortion. After that, what was the plan in a philosophical sense?
Ra: I am Ra. We cannot reply due to a needed portion of your query which has been omitted; that is, do we speak of this particular Logos?
77.12 Questioner: That is correct. I am asking with respect to this particular Logos, our sun, in creating the experience of its planetary system and those sub-Logoi of it.
Ra: I am Ra. This query has substance. We shall begin by turning to an observation of a series of concept complexes of which you are familiar as the tarot.
The philosophy was to create a foundation, first of mind, then of body, and then of spiritual complex. Those concept complexes you call the tarot lie then in three groups of seven: the mind cycle, one through seven; the physical complex cycle, eight through fourteen; the spiritual complex cycle, fifteen through twenty-one. The last concept complex may best be termed The Choice.
Upon the foundation of transformation of each complex, with free will guided by the root concepts offered in these cycles, the Logos offered this density the basic architecture of a building and constructing and synthesizing of data culminating in The Choice.
77.13 Questioner: Then for me to condense your statement, I see it meaning that there are seven basic philosophical foundations for mental experience, seven for bodily, seven for spiritual, and that these produce the polarization that we experience some time during the third-density cycle. This may be very poorly stated on my part. Am I close to correct?
Ra: I am Ra. You are correct in that you perceive the content of our prior statement with accuracy. You are incorrect in that you have no mention of the, shall we say, location of all of these concept complexes; that is, they exist within the roots of the mind and it is from this resource that their guiding influence and leitmotifs* may be traced. You may further note that each foundation is itself not single but a complex of concepts. Furthermore, there are relationships betwixt mind, body, and spirit of the same location in octave, for instance: one, eight, fifteen, and relationships within each octave which are helpful in the pursuit of The Choice by the mind/body/spirit complex. The Logos under which these foundations stand is one of free will. Thusly the foundations may be seen to have unique facets and relationships for each mind/body/spirit complex. Only twenty-two, The Choice, is relatively fixed and single.
77.14 Questioner: I am probably having a problem with the concept of time since it appears that the Logos was aware of the polarization choice. It seems that this choice for polarization at the end of third density is an important philosophical plan for the experience past third density. Am I correct in assuming that this process is a process to create the proper or the desired experience that will take place in the creation after third density is complete?
Ra: I am Ra. These philosophical foundations are those of third density. Above this density there remains the recognition of the architecture of the Logos but without the veils* which are so integral a part of the process of making the choice in third density.
77.21 Questioner: Then did this particular Logos that we experience plan for this polarity and know all about it prior to its plan? That I suspect is what happened.
Ra: I am Ra. This is quite correct.
77.22 Questioner: In that case, you would have as a Logos, you would have the advantage of selecting the form of acceleration, I might say, of spiritual evolution by planning for what we call the major archetypical philosophical foundation and planning these as a function of the polarity that would be gained in third density. Is this correct?
Ra: I am Ra. This is exquisitely correct.
77.23 Questioner: In that case, it seems that a thorough knowledge of the precise nature of these philosophical foundations would be of primary importance to the study of evolution of mind, body, and spirit, and I would like to carefully go through each of the basic twenty-one, starting with the mind, if this is agreeable with Ra.
Ra: I am Ra. This is agreeable with two requests which must be made. Firstly, that an attempt be made to state the student’s grasp of each archetype. We may then comment. We cannot teach/learn to the extent of learn/teaching. Secondly, we request that it be constantly kept before the mind, as the candle before the eye, that each mind/body/spirit complex shall, and should, and indeed must perceive each archetype, if you use this convenient term, in its own way. Therefore, you may see that precision is not the goal; rather quality of general concept complex perception is the goal.
78.12 Questioner: Would you elucidate with respect to the significator you spoke of?
Ra: I am Ra. The original significators may undifferentiatedly be termed the mind, the body, and the spirit.
78.19 Questioner: So the original, the first evolution then was planned by the Logos but the first distortion was not extended to the product. At some point this first distortion was extended and the first service-to-self polarity emerged. Is this correct and if so, could you tell me the history of this process and emergence?
Ra: I am Ra. As proem* let me state that the Logoi always conceived of themselves as offering free will to the sub-Logoi in their care. The sub-Logoi had freedom to experience and experiment with consciousness, the experiences of the body, and the illumination of the spirit. That having been said, we shall speak to the point of your query.
The first Logos to instill what you now see as free will, in the full sense, in its sub-Logoi came to this creation due to contemplation in depth of the concepts or possibilities of conceptualizations of what we have called the significators. The Logos posited the possibility of the mind, the body, and the spirit as being complex. In order for the significator to be what it is not, it then must be granted the free will of the Creator. This set in motion a quite lengthy, in your terms, series of Logoi improving or distilling this seed thought. The key was the significator becoming a complex.
78.20 Questioner: Then our particular Logos, when it created Its own particular creation, was at some point far down the evolutionary spiral of the experiment with the significator becoming what it was not or in effect, creating the polarity that we strive for in third density, and, therefore was, I am assuming, primarily concerned in the design of the archetypes, in designing them in such a way so as they would create the acceleration of this polarization. Is this in any way correct?
Ra: I am Ra. We would only comment briefly. It is generally correct. You may fruitfully view each Logos and its design as the Creator experiencing Itself. The seed concept of the significator being a complex introduces two things: firstly, the Creator against Creator in one sub-Logos in what you may call dynamic tension; secondly, the concept of free will, once having been made fuller by its extension into the sub-Logoi known as mind/body/spirit complexes, creates and re-creates and continues to create as a function of its very nature.
78.30 Questioner: Are the seven archetypes for mind a function of or related to the seven densities that are to be experienced in the octave?
Ra: I am Ra. The relationship is tangential in that no congruency may be seen. However, the progress through the archetypes has some of the characteristics of the progress through the densities. These relationships may be viewed without being, shall we say, pasted one upon the other.
78.31 Questioner: How about the seven bodily energy centers? Are they related to archetypes in some way?
Ra: I am Ra. The same may be said of these. It is informative to view the relationships but stifling to insist upon the limitations of congruency. Recall at all times, if you would use this term, that the archetypes are a portion of the resources of the mind complex.
78.32 Questioner: Then is there any relationship between the archetypes and the planets of our solar system?
Ra: I am Ra. This is not a simple query. Properly, the archetypes have some relationship to the planets. However, this relationship is not one which can be expressed in your language. This, however, has not halted those among your people who have become adepts from attempting to name and describe these relationships. To most purely understand, if we may use this misnomer, the archetypes it is well to view the concepts which make up each archetype and reserve the study of planets and other correspondences for meditation.
79.24 Questioner: It was probably the design of the Logos by doing this to allow the conscious mind greater freedom under the first distortion by partitioning, you might say, the individualized portions of this from the Potentiator or unconscious which had a greater communication with the total mind, therefore allowing for, you might say, the birth of uneducated, to use a poor term, portions of consciousness. Is this correct?
Ra: I am Ra. This is roughly correct.
79.25 Questioner: Could you de-roughen it, elucidate a bit on that?
Ra: I am Ra. There is intervening material before we may do so.
79.29 Questioner: Now we are getting to what I was trying to determine. Then at this point were there still only nine archetypes and the veil had just been drawn between the Matrix and Potentiator?
Ra: I am Ra. There were nine archetypes and many shadows.
79.30 Questioner: By shadows do you mean what I might refer to as the birthing of small archetypical biases?
Ra: I am Ra. Rather we would describe these shadows as the inchoate* thoughts of helpful structures not yet fully conceived.
79.31 Questioner: Then at this point, would the Choice exist at this point, the creation of the first service-to-self polarity? Is there a choice at that point or is it a non-choice?
Ra: I am Ra. Implicit in the veiling or separation of two archetypes is the concept of choice. The refinements to this concept took many experiences.
79.34 Questioner: OK. At the present time we are experiencing the effects of a more complex or greater number of archetypes and I have guessed that the ones we are experiencing now for the mind work as follows: We have the Magician and High Priestess which correspond to the Matrix and Potentiator which have the veil drawn between them which is the primary creator of the extension of the first distortion. Is that correct?
Ra: I am Ra. We are unable to answer this query without intervening material.
88.13 Questioner: Thank you. I would like to ask you as to the initial production of the tarot, where this concept was first formed and where the tarot was first recorded, where did this— the very first concept?
Ra: I am Ra. The concept of the tarot originated within the planetary influence you call Venus.
88.14 Questioner: Was the concept given to— let me ask— you say it originated there… was this concept devised for a training tool for those inhabiting Venus at that time or was it devised by those of Venus as a training tool for those of Earth?
Ra: I am Ra. The tarot was devised by the third-density population of Venus a great measure of your space/time in your past. As we have noted the third-density experience of those of Venus dealt far more deeply and harmoniously with what you would call relationships with other-selves, sexual energy transfer work, and philosophical or metaphysical research. The product of many, many generations of work upon what we conceived to be the archetypical mind produced the tarot which was used by our peoples as a training aid in developing the magical personality.
88.15 Questioner: I’ll make a guess that those of Venus third density who were the initial ones to partially penetrate the veil gleaned information as to the nature of the archetypical mind and the veiling process and from this designed the tarot as a method of teaching others. Is this correct?
Ra: I am Ra. It is so.
88.17 Questioner: I will make this statement as to my understanding of some of the archetypes and let you correct this statement. It seems to me that the Significator of Mind, Body, and Spirit are acted upon in each of these by the catalyst. This produces Experience which then leads to the Transformation and produces the Great Way. This is the same process for mind, the body, and spirit. The archetypes are just repeated but act in a different way as catalyst because of the differences of mind, body, and spirit. They produce a different type of experience for each because of the differences in the three. The Transformation is slightly different. The Great Way is somewhat different but the archetypes are all basically doing the same thing. They are just acting on three different portions of the mind/body/spirit complex so that we can condense the entire archetypical mind into a way of saying that in making the Significator a complex basically we have provided a way for Catalyst to create Transformation more efficiently. Would you correct my statement, please?
Ra: I am Ra. In your statement correctness is so plaited up with tendrils of the most fundamental misunderstanding that correction of your statement is difficult. We shall make comments and from these comments request that you allow a possible realignment of conceptualization to occur.
The archetypical mind is a great and fundamental portion of the mind complex, one of its most basic elements and one of the richest sources of information for the seeker of the One Infinite Creator. To attempt to condense the archetypes is to make an erroneous attempt. Each archetype is a significant ding an sich*, or thing in itself, with its own complex of concepts. While it is informative to survey the relationships of one archetype to another it can be said that this line of inquiry is secondary to the discovery of the purest gestalt or vision or melody which each archetype signifies to both the intellectual and intuitive mind.
The Significators of Mind, Body, and Spirit complexes are complex in and of themselves, and the archetypes of Catalyst, Experience, Transformation, and the Great Way are most fruitfully viewed as independent complexes which have their own melodies with which they may inform the mind of its nature.
We ask that you consider that the archetypical mind informs those thoughts which then may have bearing upon the mind, the body, or the spirit. The archetypes do not have a direct linkage to body or spirit. All must be drawn up through the higher levels of the subconscious mind to the conscious mind and thence they may flee whither they have been bidden to go. When used in a controlled way they are most helpful. Rather than continue beyond the boundaries of your prior statement we would appreciate the opportunity for your re-questioning at this time so that we may answer you more precisely.
88.18 Questioner: I will ask the following questions to clear up possibly only the method of teaching these concepts which may give me important clues to understanding the concepts themselves. Did Ra use cards similar to the tarot cards for the training purpose in third density?
Ra: I am Ra. No.
88.19 Questioner: What did Ra use in third density?
Ra: I am Ra. You are aware in your attempts at magical visualization of the mental configuration of sometimes rather complex visualizations. These are mental and drawn with the mind. Another example well-known in your culture is the visualization, in your mass, of the distortion of the love of the One Infinite Creator called Christianity, wherein a small portion of your foodstuffs is seen to be a mentally configured but entirely real man, the man known to you as Jehoshua or, as you call this entity now, Jesus. It was by this method of sustained visualization over a period of training that we worked with these concepts.
These concepts were occasionally drawn. However, the concept of one visualization per card was not thought of by us.
88.20 Questioner: Well, how did the teacher relay information to the student with respect to visualization?
Ra: I am Ra. The process was cabalistic; that is, of the oral tradition of mouth to ear.
88.21 Questioner: Then when Ra attempted to teach the Egyptians the concept of the tarot, was the same process used, or a different one?
Ra: I am Ra. The same process was used. However, those which were teach/learners after us first drew these images to the best of their ability within the place of initiation and later began the use of what you call cards bearing these visualizations’ representations.
88.22 Questioner: Were the Court Arcana and the Minor Arcana a portion of Ra’s teachings or was this something that came along later?
Ra: I am Ra. Those cards of which you speak were the product of the influence of those of Chaldea and Sumer*.
88.24 Questioner: Ra must have had a, shall we say, lesson plan or course of training for the twenty-two archetypes to be given either to those of third density of Ra or, later on, to those in Egypt. Would you describe this scenario for the training course?
Ra: I am Ra. This shall be the last full query of this working.
We find it more nearly appropriate to discuss our plans in acquainting initiates upon your own planet with this particular version of the archetypes of the archetypical mind. Our first stage was the presentation of the images, one after the other, in the following order: one, eight, fifteen; two, nine, sixteen; three, ten, seventeen; four, eleven, eighteen; five, twelve, nineteen; six, thirteen, twenty; seven, fourteen, twenty-one; twenty-two. In this way the fundamental relationships between mind, body, and spirit could begin to be discovered, for as one sees, for instance, the Matrix of the Mind in comparison to the Matrices of Body and Spirit one may draw certain tentative conclusions.
When, at length, the student had mastered these visualizations and had considered each of the seven classifications of archetype, looking at the relationships between mind, body, and spirit, we then suggested consideration of archetypes in pairs: one and two; three and four; five; six and seven. You may continue in this form for the body and spirit archetypes. You will note that the consideration of the Significator was left unpaired, for the Significator shall be paired with Archetype Twenty-Two.
At the end of this line of inquiry the student was beginning to grasp more and more deeply the qualities and resonances of each archetype. At this point, using various other aids to spiritual evolution, we encouraged the initiate to learn to become each archetype and, most importantly, to know as best as possible within your illusion when the adoption of the archetype’s persona would be spiritually or metaphysically helpful.
As you can see, much work was done creatively by each initiate. We have no dogma to offer. Each perceives that which is needful and helpful to the self.
May we ask if there are any brief queries before we leave this working?
89.14 Questioner: I have here a deck of twenty-two tarot cards which have been copied, according to information we have, from the walls of, I would suspect, the large pyramid at Giza. If necessary we can duplicate these cards in the book that we are preparing. I would ask Ra if these cards represent an exact replica of that which is in the Great Pyramid?
Ra: I am Ra. The resemblance is substantial.
89.15 Questioner: In other words, you might say that these were better than, say, 95% correct as far as representing what is on the walls of the Great Pyramid?
Ra: I am Ra. Yes.
89.23 Questioner: Then could you tell me what information you gave to the Egyptian priest, or Egyptian, who first was contacted or taught with respect to the first archetype? Is that possible for you to do within the limits of the first distortion?
Ra: I am Ra. It is possible. Our first step, as we have said, was to present the descriptions in verbal form of three images: one, eight, fifteen; then the questions were asked: “What do you feel that a bird might represent?” “What do you feel that a wand might represent?” “What do you feel that the male represents?” and so forth until those studying were working upon a system whereby the images used became evocative of a system of concepts. This is slow work when done for the first time.
We may note, with sympathy, that you undoubtedly feel choked by the opposite difficulty, that of a great mass of observation upon this system, all of which has some merit as each student will experience the archetypical mind and its structure in an unique way useful to that student. We suggest that one or more of this group do that which we have suggested in order that we may, without infringement, offer observations on this interesting subject which may be of further aid to those inquiring in this area.
We would note at this time that the instrument is having almost continuous pain flares. Therefore, we ask that each of the support group be especially aware of any misinformation in order that we may correct any distortions of information the soonest possible.
89.24 Questioner: Now as I understand it, what you suggest as far as the tarot goes is to study the writings that we have available and from those formulate questions. Is this correct?
Ra: I am Ra. No.
89.25 Questioner: Sorry, I didn’t understand exactly what you meant with respect to that. Would it be appropriate then for me to answer the questions with respect to what I think is the meaning of the three items that you spoke of for Card One and then Card Eight, etc.? Is this what you meant?
Ra: I am Ra. This is very close to our meaning. It was our intention to suggest that one or more of you go through the plan of study which we have suggested. The queries having to do with the archetypes as found in the tarot after this point may take the form of observing what seem to be the characteristics of each archetype; relationships between mind, body, and spiritual archetypes of the same ranking such as Matrix; or archetypes as seen in relationship to polarity, especially when observed in the pairings.
Any observations made by a student which has fulfilled these considerations will receive our comments in return. Our great avoidance of interpreting, for the first time, for the learn/teacher various elements of a picture upon a piece of pasteboard is involved both with the Law of Confusion and with the difficulties of the distortions of the pictures upon the pasteboard. Therefore, we may suggest a conscientious review of that which we have already given concerning this subject as opposed to the major reliance being either upon any rendition of the archetype pictures or any system which has been arranged as a means of studying these pictures.
92.7 Questioner: In the last session we discussed the first tarot card of the Egyptian type. Are there any distortions in the cards that we have (which we will publish in the book if possible) that Ra did not originally intend, with the exception of the star, which we know is a distortion, or any additions that Ra did intend in this particular tarot?
Ra: I am Ra. The distortions remaining after the removal of astrological material are those having to do with the mythos of the culture to which Ra offered this teach/learning tool. This is why we have suggested approaching the images looking for the heart of the image rather than being involved overmuch by the costumes and creatures of a culture not familiar to your present incarnation. We have no wish to add to an already distorted group of images, feeling that although distortion is inevitable there is the least amount which can be procured in the present arrangement.
92.8 Questioner: Then you are saying that the cards that we have here are the best available cards in our present illusion at this date?
Ra: I am Ra. Your statement is correct in that we consider the so-called Egyptian tarot the most undistorted version of the images which Ra offered. This is not to intimate that other systems may not, in their own way, form an helpful architecture for the adept’s consideration of the archetypical mind.
92.11 Questioner: Then, this occurs because the Potentiator of the Mind is directly connected, through the roots of the tree of mind, to the archetypical mind and to the Logos which created it and because the veil between the Matrix and Potentiator of the Mind allows for the development of the will. Would Ra comment?
Ra: I am Ra. Some untangling may be needed. As the mind/body/spirit complex which has not yet reached the point of the conscious awareness of the process of evolution prepares for incarnation it has programmed for it a less than complete, that is to say a partially randomized, system of learnings. The amount of randomness of potential catalyst is proportional to the newness of the mind/body/spirit complex to third density. This, then, becomes a portion of that which you may call a potential for incarnational experience. This is indeed carried within that portion of the mind which is of the deep mind, the architecture of which may be envisioned as being represented by that concept complex known as the Potentiator.
It is not in the archetypical mind of an entity that the potential for incarnational experience resides but in the mind/body/spirit complex’s insertion, shall we say, into the energy web of the physical vehicle and the chosen planetary environment. However, to more deeply articulate this portion of the mind/body/spirit complex’s beingness, this archetype, the Potentiator of the Mind, may be evoked with profit to the student of its own evolution.
92.20 Questioner: The Matrix of the Mind is depicted seemingly as male on the card and the Potentiator as female. Could Ra state why this is and how this affects these two archetypes?
Ra: I am Ra. Firstly, as we have said, the Matrix of the Mind is attracted to the biological male and the Potentiator of the Mind to the biological female. Thusly in energy transfer the female is able to potentiate that which may be within the conscious mind of the male so that it may feel enspirited.
In a more general sense, that which reaches may be seen as a male principle. That which awaits the reaching may be seen as a female principle. The richness of the male and female system of polarity is interesting and we would not comment further but suggest consideration by the student.
93.16 Questioner: Are there any other uses at all of value of these images or tarot cards than the one I just stated?
Ra: I am Ra. To the student, the tarot images offer a resource for learn/teaching the processes of evolution. To any other entity these images are pictures and no more.
93.17 Questioner: I was specifically thinking of the fact that Ra, in an earlier session, spoke of the tarot as a system of divination. Could you tell me what you meant by that?
Ra: I am Ra. Due to the influence of the Chaldees, the system of archetypical images was incorporated by the priests of that period into a system of astrologically based study, learning, and divination. This was not a purpose for which Ra developed the tarot.
93.21 Questioner: I’m at a loss to know the significance of the serpents that adorn the head of the entity on this drawing. Are they of Ra and, if so, what do they signify?
Ra: I am Ra. They are cultural in nature. In the culture to which these images were given the serpent was the symbol of wisdom. Indeed, to the general user of these images perhaps the most accurate connotation of this portion of the concept complexes might be the realization that the serpent is that which is powerful magically. In the positive sense this means that the serpent will appear at the indigo-ray site upon the body of the image figures. When a negative connotation is intended one may find the serpent at the solar plexus center.
96.15 Questioner: I planned to re-draw the tarot cards eliminating extraneous additions by those who came after Ra’s initial giving and I would like quickly to go through those things that I intend to eliminate from each card we’ve gone over and ask Ra if there is anything else that should be eliminated to make the cards as they were when they were originally drawn, before the astrological and other appendages were added.
I would eliminate all of the letters around the edge of the card with the possible exception of the number of the card— one, two, three, etc. That would be the case for all of the cards, I think— the exterior lettering and numbering.
In Card Number One I would eliminate the star at the upper right hand corner; eliminate the wand in the Magician’s hand. I understand that the sphere remains but I am not really sure where it should be. Would Ra comment on that please?
Ra: I am Ra. Firstly, the elimination of letters is acceptable. Secondly, the elimination of stars is acceptable in all cases. Thirdly, the elimination of the wand is appropriate. Fourthly, the sphere may be seen to be held by the thumb and index and second finger.
Fifthly, we would note that it is not possible to offer what you may call a pure deck, if you would use this term, of tarot due to the fact that when these images were first drawn there was already distortion in various and sundry ways, mostly cultural.
Sixthly, although it is good to view the images without the astrological additions, it is to be noted that the more general positions, phases, and characteristics of each concept complex are those which are significant. The removal of all distortion is unlikely and, to a great extent, unimportant.
99.6 Questioner: We now have an additional set of tarot images. We will refer to them as the Royal Road images, since that’s the name of the book they came from. They are similar to, but in some instances different from the C.C. Zain* images. Which of these two sets are closer to Ra’s original intention? And if they are mixed, let me know that.
Ra: I am Ra. The principle which moves in accordance with the dynamics of teach/learning with most efficiency is constancy. We could explore the archetypical mind using that set of images produced by the one known as Fathman* or we could use those which have been used.
In point of fact, those which are being used have some subtleties which enrich the questioning. As we have said, this set of images is not that which we gave. This is not material. We could use any of a multitude of devised tarot sets. Although this must be at the discretion of the questioner, we suggest the maintaining of one and only one set of distorted images to be used for the querying and note that the images you now use are good.
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