- Qabalistic Tarot: A Textbook of
Mystical Philosophy by Robert Wang
Review by Michele Jackson
If you are interested in purchasing a copy of this book, click
here.
- This author’s purpose is to
explain the link between Tarot and Qabala and to prove
that Qabala can be applied to virtually any Tarot deck.
The books starts with an introduction which discusses the
development of modern esoteric Tarot thought and the
Western Mystery Tradition as taught by Aleister Crowley
and members of the Golden Dawn. The first chapter is an
introduction to the Qabala. It is a fairly decent
introduction, though it doesn’t go into a lot of
detail and seems to presuppose some background knowledge
on the part of the reader. The rest of the book discusses
the Sephira and the Paths on the Tree of life as they
relate to Tarot. Wang uses four decks to illustrate his
book, The Golden Dawn Tarot Deck, Thoth, Waite-Smith and
the Marseilles. He goes through every card in the deck,
explaining how it relates to the Qabala and explaining
the symbolism found on the four decks previously
mentioned. Wang’s book is based on the Golden Dawn
tradition and he doesn’t stray far from their
teachings. I have recently read comments on the Internet
concerning the accuracy of his work, but am not well
versed enough in the subject matter to comment myself. I
will say that this book is extremely dry and textbook
like in style. I had to force myself to finish it. There
is little here to excite the imagination. This book is
not a book about how to read the cards, although it does
provide a section in the back on divination, as practiced
by the Golden Dawn. I would recommend this book to the
intermediate to advanced student interested in the
Qabala, though I think it would be helpful if the reader
where already familiar with the basics before reading
this book. I find it more useful as a reference book than
a reading book.
If you are interested in purchasing a copy of this book, click
here.
- Qabalistic Tarot: A Textbook of
Mystical Philosophy
- Author: Robert Wang
- ISBN#: 0877286728
- Excerpt:
-
- Seven of Wands, Lord of Valor
(Mars in Leo)
- Angels of the decan: Mahashiah
and Lelahel
- This is Netzach in Atziluth, the
influence of Netzach in the world of Pure Spirit. The
position of Mars in Leo is one of courage and strength,
but with threatening overtones: a fiery clash is certain,
but victory in the fray is not.
- It will be noted that the basic
pattern was established with the Marseilles card which
uses six crossed Wands and one central one. In adapting
the design, Crowley again uses the wands of the of the
three Golden Dawn Adepts, but crosses them with a very
crude club to suggest that the battle in this card may be
a disordered and disorganized one of uncertain results.
Waite illustrates the idea of opposition and possible
victory, depending on the amount of courage exercised.
- The Qabalistic Tarot, pg. 101
This page is Copyright 1996/97 Michele
Jackson