Karmic Tarot: A Profound System for Finding and ... - myteacup

36
Karmic Tarot
This chapter explains the derivation and meaning of the seven columns of the Karmic
Spread, which are called Stages. If any of the correlations seem confusing, concentrate
only on the ones you understand best; the others can follow later. Each of the correlations
helps define the others in the long run. Part of their value is that they are different ways of
saying the same thing. Chart 3 summarizes these correlations.
The Meeting of East and West
The seven vertical columns represent the seven Stages in the evolution of our consciousness.
With this pattern of the four-fold self (Physical, Emotional, Mental, Spiritual)
moving through seven Stages of consciousness, we can see the Tarot in relation to the wide
body of thought, Eastern and Western, that addresses consciousness and the development
of mankind. This body of knowledge embraces mythology, religion, and philosophy.
Of particular significance in bringing rich meaning to the seven Stages of the spread
is the work of transpersonal psychologists like Jacquelyn Small and Ken Wilber. 1 Much of
the terminology used for discussing the seven Stages is based on Jacquelyn Small’s book,
Transformers/Personal Transformation: The Way Through. 2
Equally important in understanding these Stages are the Eastern schools of thought,
where the levels of consciousness are symbolized by the seven chakras and the kundulini.
You can observe the meshing of Western and Eastern philosophies in many fields. For
example, the importance of the number seven in man’s development has been recorded by
Western metaphysicians for centuries, and that information has also directly or indirectly
come out of the Far East, in particular the Himalayas, in the works of people like H.P.
Blavatsky and Alice Bailey. Metaphysicians feel that the schism between East and West
never materialized.
36