Tree of Life and Thoth Court Cards
This is a short article illustrating the relationship between the Tree of Life and Thoth Court Cards and why they reside outside of the sephira. My YouTube presentation can be seen through the link: ‘Thoth Court Cards and the Tree of Life’
In the diagram below the position of the court cards is illustrated with respect to the Tetragrammaton and the Sephira:
The Minor Arcana are found within their respective sephiroth. Aces in Kether, Twos in Chokmah, Threes in Binah and so on. The Major Arcana lie on their specific path linking two sephira together. The Thoth Court Cards lie outside of the Tree of Life but in close association with the Sephiroth as seen above.
The Princess is the sister of the Prince but also his consort. This is because the Princess is so far removed from the ‘genetic’ make up of her brother as to allow this to happen. This can also be explained by her position on the Tree of Life.
Being associated with the Hey final and Malkuth, she is so far removed from the rest of the Tree of Life that she becomes a long distant relative of her consort the Prince. Further, Malkuth is said to be like a pendulum on the Tree because it has fallen so far from the rest of the sephira, representing the material world. So the spiritual path is raising our consciousness back to Tiphareth (Christ Consciousness), where the Prince marries the Princess. Ultimately, this was the hidden meaning behind sleeping beauty. She awakens from her sleep (life in the material world) after a kiss from her Prince, who is in direct contact with Kether, or Spirit on the Tree of Life.
So in summary we have:
Why are the Thoth Court Cards only in Proximity to the Tree of Life?
I have not found this answer in any textbook but if we think about it, the 10 sephira each represent a pure force and so the minor arcana fit neatly into them, as they are representative of blind forces. So we have Aces in Kether, Twos in Chokmah and so on.
The major arcana are found on paths between the sephira and represent a stage on the spiritual journey in which the energy of the two sephira are to be mastered. Being ‘archetypal people’ (e.g. The Magus) or ‘archetypal energies’ (The Wheel of Fortune, Karma), they are much more complex than the blind energy of the minors and this reflects their position linking the sephira on the Tree of Life.
The Court Cards only have a close association with the Tree of Life because they represent PEOPLE and are a mixture of physical, emotional and intellectual energy. They don’t have the simplicity and purity of the minors or the spiritual complexity of the majors. Each Court Card is a blend of elements and in their own way are either consciously or unconsciously trying to become whole and engage in the spiritual process and hence start the spiritual Path as the Fool. In that way they are absorbed into the Tree of Life, much like spirituality absorbs the worldly life of the seeker.
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