Tableau 1

On the Fool's garments are ten wheels, each having eight spokes. The same arrangement appears at the center of the wheel on Key 10, on the stars of Key 17, and is the basis of the disposition of the sun's rays on Key 19. This arrangement of four lines so as to form eight angles of 45 degrees is an important clue to the right use of Tarot. If we imagine such a double cross as being drawn on a table, and then place eight Tarot Keys at the extremities of the lines, and a ninth Key at the center, we shall form a combination of symbols which has power to bring out meanings of the Keys which would not be so apparent if the cards were considered separately.

When we do this, we do not select our cards haphazard. There is definite mathematical principle involved, so that every arrangement of nine cards expresses a certain numerical order. The total number of such combinations is 112. At the end of this Section you will be given a table of the whole series. Until then, however, you will work with a single group of nine Keys in each lesson.

The twenty-two combinations chosen for this purpose have been selected with an eye to the underlying intention of this second Section of the Tarot Instruction. The main purpose of these twenty-four lessons is to enable you to experience that transforming changing of consciousness which will awaken you to a realization of things as they are. Hence I have selected for your study and practice those groups of Tarot Keys which are best adapted to bring about this result.

The combination with which we shall begin is this:

You will see that lines drawn through the central number, 4, from 0 to 8, 1 to 7, 2 to 6, and 3 to 5 will make the double cross to which I referred in the first paragraph of this lesson. Thus the numbers of the Keys at the ends of the lines will always add to 8, and the central Key, 4, will be the mean arithmetical term between the members of each complementary pair.

From a consideration of this little tableau, therefore, it becomes evident that the Emperor represents the agency through which the hidden force symbolized by the Fool is manifested as the control of the animal nature typified by Strength. He also stands for the means whereby the self-consciousness represented by the Magician is brought to the state of perfect mastery pictured in the Chariot. He is likewise a symbol for the function of human life whereby memory is utilized in order to establish the balance of consciousness and sub-consciousness, for this is one of the indications of 4, considered as the mean term between 2 and 6, the numbers of the High Priestess and the Lovers. Finally, we may think of the Emperor as the agency whereby the creative imagination represented by the Empress takes form as the intuitive perception of truth symbolized by the Hierophant.

These, of course, are merely the barest general indications of the relationships shown by this combination of Keys. Anything like a complete interpretation is manifestly impossible within the limits of this lesson. Your daily work with the Keys themselves will bring out many details which have a special bearing on your personal unfoldment. Thus you should always have your occult diary at hand during your practice period, so as to be able to set down whatever ideas may come to you from your own observation of the Keys.

Remember that all over the world are members of the Inner School who are so adept in the use of the Tarot that they are continually broadcasting the various aspects of truth which it symbolizes. As you look at the Keys, your mind is automatically harmonized through their influence with the ideas generated by the mental activity of these master thinkers. As you tune in with the tremendous current of their thought, your sub-consciousness is opened to receive reflections of their clear realizations of truth.

Reference to the Tarot Tableau will show you that Sight is the function typified by the Emperor. This applies to mental as well as to physical vision. It is associated with Constituting Intelligence because the Ageless Wisdom teaches us that the power which makes, frames, and composes the universe, and regulates all its activities, is a power of the One Identity analogous to vision. The Life-Power sees the universe into existence. Its vision is perfect, and when we see as it sees, we ourselves behold a perfect creation. Nor is this merely a metaphysical perception. He who, here on earth, sees eye to eye with the Creative Mind, shares that Mind’s power to control the forces of nature as they manifest themselves on the physical plane. This is the secret of the works of power which characterize the lives of the seers and sages.

Perfect mental vision is perfect reason. And the brain of man is an instrument perfected by the Life-Power for the expression of that vision. Thus the sign Aries, which is said to govern the head of man, is associated with the Emperor. It is through the clear vision formulated in the brain that the hidden force typified by the Fool is transferred to the region occultly termed the heart, ruled by the sign Leo, corresponding to Key 8. What the eye of the mind sees is impressed upon the inner life. If the vision be true, then the functions of the entire animal nature are harmonized and brought under the controlling influence of that vision. If the vision be distorted and false, then the distortion is reflected into the subconscious region, and manifests itself as discord and disease. To the degree that order and right measurement, (4) are established, to that degree will the limitless energy of the Life-Power (0) be expressed in the perfect rhythms of all subconscious activities of the personal life, and when such rhythms are established, the result is mastery (8).

Right watchfulness, or concentration, is pictured by Key 1, and this is indispensable to personal exercise of true vision. The follies of the Scholastic era demonstrate how barren reason can be unless it be fed by actual experience. To see, we must look. No clear vision of the mind can be arrived at by those who content themselves with superficial observation. The characters which are inscribed upon the Book of Nature are plain enough, but we must learn to read them, if we hope to understand their message. Thus when we consider the Emperor as the connecting link between the Magician and the Chariot, we are reminded that vivid awareness of what is actually going on, moment by moment, is a prime characteristic of all masters of life. That is one reason why their speech and writing is filled with vivid imagery. They see the perfect law at work in the most familiar things. They see it here and now. Thus they always teach by means of parables, for they know that the meaning of existence is to be found in the events of every day, that the great secrets are hidden in plain sight, that they are exemplified continually in the lives of men. When we see this as they see it, when we share the Divine Reason as they share it, we perceive that this moment is the moment of peace and victory pictured by the Chariot. We see that in very truth NOW is the acceptable time. And it will begin to be evident to us that the words of the Pattern are true when it says, 'Mine IS the victorious life.'

Memory, too, enters into the Divine Vision. The Life-Power's record of past experience is total and perfect. Nothing escapes it, and through the Uniting Intelligence symbolized by Key 2, every personal center of the Life-Power is indissolubly linked to the Mind which never forgets. Our personal memories are but words and sentences of the cosmic memory-record. Yet since they are also part of that record, they are related to and associated with the whole story that is written on the scroll of the High Priestess. As we persist in right watchfulness, so that we attend to the infinitely rich and varied experience that comes to us moment by moment, our personal memory record becomes clear, and subconscious processes of association link it up with the cosmic records. Thus we begin to see things in their correct relationships. We estimate every experience at its proper value. And it is not long before this results in the harmonization and co-ordination of our sub-consciousness with our conscious awareness. Thus, by mental vision of the meaning of past experience, we come to understand the true relationship of the selfconsciousness to sub-consciousness, and the relationship of both to super-consciousness, as pictured in Key 6.

Then we begin to experience the beneficent results of creative imagination, pictured by the Empress. For when we reason correctly, sub-consciousness is impregnated with our right to estimates of the meaning of experience. Our day-to-day experiences thus become the seeds of intuition and revelation. Intuition seems to come to us from a source outside ourselves, and so it does, in a way. But until we have learned to set our mental house in order, we cannot put ourselves in the proper position to hear what the Hierophant has to tell us. Today’s intuitions are the fruit of yesterday’s clear vision. The Inner Voice is really the voice of the Emperor, who assumes the office of the Hierophant when occasion arises. Emperor and Hierophant are not two, but one. The Emperor is the Divine Reason, taking the measure of the world of relativity, the outer world of time and space. The Hierophant is that same Divine Reason, conveying to us the eternal significance behind these outer appearances. Psychologically, intuition is the subconscious process of deduction, applied to the elaboration of the meaning of our conscious estimates of experience. Thus true intuition is the consequence of right reasoning, and those who are too careless to watch and too lazy to reason, never hear the Inner Voice.

Now, look at your combination of Keys again. This time you will notice that in addition to the four pairs of cards which are related to the central Key, there are also two other groups, 0, 1, 2 and 6, 7, 8, which have the peculiarity that the middle card is the mean arithmetical term between the outer two. Thus our little group of nine Keys gives six significant groups of three, viz., 0, 1, 2: 0, 4, 8; 1, 4, 7; 2, 4, 6; 3, 4, 5; and 6, 7, 8. During the next six days, conclude your morning practice by reading the meditation given for that day’s combination of three Keys, and during the entire day keep in mind the statement printed in capitals at the end of the meditation.

Your morning practice from now on will consist of looking at the week’s group of nine cards for five minutes. Then recite the Pattern. After this, write whatever suggests itself for your occult diary. Then finish the practice period by reading aloud the meditation for the day. Copy the capitalized sentence, and repeat it frequently throughout the day.

Meditations

FIRST DAY: 0, 1, 2. The boundless energy of the Life-Power fills my whole being. I concentrate its life-giving power by close attention to this day’s experiences. Thus I engrave a clear, sharp record of this day upon the tablets of my memory. THE LIFE-BREATH WORKS FREELY THROUGH ME TO INVIGORATE AND PERFECT MY WHOLE FIELD OF PERSONAL EXPRESSION.

SECOND DAY: 0, 4, 8. The vision of my heart’s desire is a gift of the Spirit, a true perception of what now is really mine. The perfect Order which rules all things is even now adapting suitable conditions for the perfect manifestation of this vision. All the mighty forces of my subconscious life are being coordinated for this manifestation. LIFE LIMITLESS SHOWS ME MY GOAL, SETS MY

AFFAIRS IN ORDER, FILLS ME WITH ABUNDANT STRENGTH.

THIRD DAY: 1, 4, 7. All my senses are alert to catch every intimation of the perfect order behind the veil of appearances. The Divine Reason enlightens my mind. For my personality is even now the vehicle of the One Power that rules all things. I AM A LIVING WITNESS OF THE PERFECT ORDER WHICH ESTABLISHES PEACE AND VICTORY THROUGHOUT CREATION.

FOURTH DAY: 2, 4, 6. All that I remember is a record of the working of the perfect law. Every event of my life has its proper place in the perfect order of the Life-Power's self-expression. The healing presence of the One Reality harmonizes my personal activities, subconscious and conscious, and established balance between them. LINKED SUBCONSCIOUSLY WITH EVERY PHASE OF THE ONE BEING, I AM TRULY ONE WITH THE POWER THAT ESTABLISHES ALL THINGS, AND SHARE ITS KNOWLEDGE OF RIGHT RELATIONS.

FIFTH DAY: 3, 4, 5. Today I reap the harvest of yesterday's clear vision, and plant the seeds of tomorrow's realization. Today I see eye to eye with God. Today I listen to the Inner Voice, and give heed to its instruction. FILLED WITH UNDERSTANDING OF ITS PERFECT LAW, I AM GUIDED MOMENT BY MOMENT ALONG THE PATH OF LIBERATION.

SIXTH DAY: 6, 7, 8. Consciously and subconsciously, I realize the overshadowing presence of the One Identity. My personal existence is the field of the Life-Power’s perfect manifestation. The secret force that pervades the universe is my unfailing source of power. HARMONY, PEACE, AND POWER ARE MINE THIS DAY.

Faithful adherence to this work will infallibly change your consciousness. Remember, you are receiving this instruction because you are ready for it. Remember, too, that since every detail of your personal life-expression is also a part of the working out of the cosmic order, even the inner impulses which led you to take up this work are part of that order, too. As you progress in it, as your realization becomes clearer and clearer, you will come to understand that you have truly been called to this work – the work of mental and physical transmutation which Hermes termed the Operation of the Sun. They who persist in it arrive at the goal of illumination, and experience the liberation that comes with enlightenment.

Note: These two vertical groups, 0, 3, 6 and 2, 5, 8 are intentionally omitted from these exercises, as only six meditations are required for a week’s work. Try writing a meditation of your own for each of them, and put it in your occult diary.