Tarot (Tarot)

The Tarot is an attempt to express the archetypes of the many phases of psychic transformation in direct, visual form. The form is designed to resonate in the mind and feelings of the perceiver without the culture-bound intermediary of languages or codes associated with the linguistic and literary media of a particular period or school of thought. It does not expound any definite spiritual doctrine, but rather has the purpose of expanding the abilities of a person, particularly those associated with the mental faculties. It is, in effect, a philosophical machine which keeps the attention from wandering while preserving the initiative and liberty of the mind. As such it is a guide to creative thinking, to the development of concentrated thinking and to the direction of thoughts and feelings into certain channels, as an approach to the ultimate mystery of all-encompassing unity.

Built into the Tarot are certain ideas and conceptions of what a human being is, his functions in the cosmos, the possibilities for development open to him, and how these possibilities may be realized. It provides the possibility of exercises in the practical use of mental equations provided by theosophical operations with the visual forms, leading to stabilization of the mental processes in the individual's mind and to the evolution of relationships of the macrocosm and microcosm.

The instructional aspect is associated with a prediction technique (without which it is suggested that it would not have survived the vagaries of history). The classical Tarot embraces four sub-divisions of occultism which are expressed as alchemy, astrology, kabbalah and magic.