| CARD VIII Death |
Fatigued by the flashing of the Wheel of Life, I sank to earth and shut my eyes. But it seemed to me that the Wheel
kept turning before me and that the four creatures continued sitting in the clouds and reading their books.
Suddenly, on opening my eyes, I saw a gigantic rider on a white horse, dressed in black armour, with a black helmet
and black plume. A skeleton's face looked out from under the helmet. One bony hand held a large, black, slowly-waving
banner, and the other held a black bridle ornamented with skulls and bones.
And, wherever the white horse passed, night and death followed; flowers withered, leaves drooped, the earth covered
itself with a white shroud; graveyards appeared; towers, castles and cities were destroyed.
Kings in the full splendour of their fame and their power; beautiful women loved and loving; high priests invested by
power from God; innocent children-when they saw the white horse all fell on their knees before him, stretched out their
hands in terror and despair, and fell down to rise no more.
Afar, behind two towers, the sun sank.
A deadly cold enveloped me. The heavy hoofs of the horse seemed to step on my breast, and I felt the world sink into
an abyss.
But all at once something familiar, but faintly seen and heard, seemed to come from the measured step of the horse. A
moment more and I heard in his steps the movement of the Wheel of Life!
An illumination entered me, and, looking at the receding rider and the descending sun, I understood that the Path of
Life consists of the steps of the horse of Death.
The sun sinks at one point and rises at another. Each moment of its motion is a descent at one point and an ascent at
another. I understood that it rises while sinking and sinks while rising, and that life, in coming to birth, dies, and in dying,
comes to birth.
"Yes," said the voice. The sun does not think of its going down and coming up. What does it know of earth, of the going
and coming observed by men? It goes its own way, over its own orbit, round an unknown Centre. Life, death, rising and
falling-do you not know that all these things are thoughts and dreams and fears of the Fool"?
kept turning before me and that the four creatures continued sitting in the clouds and reading their books.
Suddenly, on opening my eyes, I saw a gigantic rider on a white horse, dressed in black armour, with a black helmet
and black plume. A skeleton's face looked out from under the helmet. One bony hand held a large, black, slowly-waving
banner, and the other held a black bridle ornamented with skulls and bones.
And, wherever the white horse passed, night and death followed; flowers withered, leaves drooped, the earth covered
itself with a white shroud; graveyards appeared; towers, castles and cities were destroyed.
Kings in the full splendour of their fame and their power; beautiful women loved and loving; high priests invested by
power from God; innocent children-when they saw the white horse all fell on their knees before him, stretched out their
hands in terror and despair, and fell down to rise no more.
Afar, behind two towers, the sun sank.
A deadly cold enveloped me. The heavy hoofs of the horse seemed to step on my breast, and I felt the world sink into
an abyss.
But all at once something familiar, but faintly seen and heard, seemed to come from the measured step of the horse. A
moment more and I heard in his steps the movement of the Wheel of Life!
An illumination entered me, and, looking at the receding rider and the descending sun, I understood that the Path of
Life consists of the steps of the horse of Death.
The sun sinks at one point and rises at another. Each moment of its motion is a descent at one point and an ascent at
another. I understood that it rises while sinking and sinks while rising, and that life, in coming to birth, dies, and in dying,
comes to birth.
"Yes," said the voice. The sun does not think of its going down and coming up. What does it know of earth, of the going
and coming observed by men? It goes its own way, over its own orbit, round an unknown Centre. Life, death, rising and
falling-do you not know that all these things are thoughts and dreams and fears of the Fool"?
| CARD XI Justice |
When I possessed the keys, read the book and understood the symbols, I was permitted to lift the curtain of the
Temple and enter. It's inner sanctum. And there I beheld a Woman with a crown of gold and a purple mantle. She held
a sword in one hand and scales in the other. I trembled with awe at her appearance, which was deep and mysterious,
and drew me like an abyss.
"You see Truth," said the voice. "On these scales everything i weighed. This sword is always raised to guard justice,
and nothing can escape it.
"But why do you avert your eyes from the scales and the sword? They will remove the last illusions. How could you live
on earth without these illusions?
"You wished to see Truth and now you behold it! But remember what happens to the mortal who beholds a Goddess!"
Temple and enter. It's inner sanctum. And there I beheld a Woman with a crown of gold and a purple mantle. She held
a sword in one hand and scales in the other. I trembled with awe at her appearance, which was deep and mysterious,
and drew me like an abyss.
"You see Truth," said the voice. "On these scales everything i weighed. This sword is always raised to guard justice,
and nothing can escape it.
"But why do you avert your eyes from the scales and the sword? They will remove the last illusions. How could you live
on earth without these illusions?
"You wished to see Truth and now you behold it! But remember what happens to the mortal who beholds a Goddess!"
| CARD XII The Hanged Man |
And then I saw a man in terrible suffering, hung by one leg, head downward, to a high tree. And I heard the voice:-
"Look! This is a man who saw Truth. Suffering awaits the man on earth, who finds the way to eternity and to the
understanding of the Endless.
"He is still a man, but he already knows much of what is inaccessible even to Gods. And the incommensurableness of
the small and the great in his soul constitutes his pain and his golgotha.
"In his own soul appears the gallows on which he hangs in suffering, feeling that he is indeed inverted.
"He chose this way himself.
"For this he went over a long road from trial to trial, from initiation to initiation, through failures and falls.
"And now he has found Truth and knows himself.
"He knows that it is he who stands before an altar with magic symbols, and reaches from earth to heaven; that he also
walks on a dusty road under a scorching sun to a precipice where a crocodile awaits him; that he dwells with his mate
in paradise under the shadow of a blessing genius; that he is chained to a black cube under the shadow of deceit; that
he stands as a victor for a moment in an illusionary chariot drawn by sphinxes; and that with a lantern in bright
sunshine, he seeks for Truth in a desert.
"Now he has found Her".
"Look! This is a man who saw Truth. Suffering awaits the man on earth, who finds the way to eternity and to the
understanding of the Endless.
"He is still a man, but he already knows much of what is inaccessible even to Gods. And the incommensurableness of
the small and the great in his soul constitutes his pain and his golgotha.
"In his own soul appears the gallows on which he hangs in suffering, feeling that he is indeed inverted.
"He chose this way himself.
"For this he went over a long road from trial to trial, from initiation to initiation, through failures and falls.
"And now he has found Truth and knows himself.
"He knows that it is he who stands before an altar with magic symbols, and reaches from earth to heaven; that he also
walks on a dusty road under a scorching sun to a precipice where a crocodile awaits him; that he dwells with his mate
in paradise under the shadow of a blessing genius; that he is chained to a black cube under the shadow of deceit; that
he stands as a victor for a moment in an illusionary chariot drawn by sphinxes; and that with a lantern in bright
sunshine, he seeks for Truth in a desert.
"Now he has found Her".
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Symbolism Of The Tarot: The Symbols Of The Tarot