The fool’s pilgrimage : Kabbalistic meditations on the tarot

154 Pages·2004·18.378 MB·English

by  Hoeller, Stephan A.

S A. H
tephan oeller
^ FOOL'S
P
ilgrimage
I'NDI.R WISDOM
STAN DINlj CHOKMAH
BINAH
severin MEW
GEBLRAH CHESED
BEALTS
TIPHAK1 I'H
VICTORS
SPLENDOR
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OUNDMION
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KINGDOM
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ife
of
Stephan A. Hoeller
Books
Quest
Theosophical Publishing Mouse
Wheaton, Illinois ♦ Chennai (Madras), India
The Theosophical Society acknowledges with gratitude the generous
support of the Kern Foundation for the publication of this book.
Copyright © 1975, 2004 by Stephan A. Hoeller
Second Quest Edition 2004
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner with­
out written permission except for quotations embodied in critical articles or
reviews. For additional information write to:
The Theosophical Publishing House
P. O. Box 270
Wheaton, IL 60189-0270
Cover design, book design, and typesetting by Dan Doolin
Illustrations from the Universal Waite Tarot Deck reproduced by permission of U.S.
Games Systems, Inc., Stamford, CT 06902 USA. Copyright 1990 by U.S. Games
Systems, Inc. Further reproduction prohibited. The Universal Waite Tarot Deck is a
registered trademark of U.S. Games Systems, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hoeller, Stephan A.
[Royal road]
The fool’s pilgrimage: Kabbalistic meditations on the tarot / Stephan A. Hoeller.—
2nd Quest ed.
p. cm.
Originally published: The royal road. Wheaton, 111.: Theosophical Publishing House,
cl975.
ISBN 0-8356-0839-5
1. Tarot 2. Cabala I. Title.
BF1879.T2H6 2004
133.3’2424—dc22
2003068979
5 4 3 2 1 * 04 05 06 07 08 09 10
Primed in the United States of America
To the memory oj
'T. Israel Hiegardie
C
ontents
ix

Preface to tfc Revised Edition
xiii

Preface to tfo Original Edition
xv

Note to tie Reader
xv i i
A
cknowledgments
l
I
ntroduction
i: PREPARING FOR THE JOURNEY
PART
11
Chapter One

crite Wisdom oftft Tarot
21
Chapter Two
crfie Art of Divination
2 7
Chapter Three

Meditation and tfc Tarot
PATH WORK ALONG THE ROYAL ROAD
PART 11:
35
Chapter Four
$
Map to tf>e Kabbalah and tfc Major Arcana
41
Chapter Five
aft T W S
en ay tations
47
Chapter Six
aite Twenty-two Highways
65
Chapter Seven
crfic Poors P
ilgrimage
71
Chapter Eight
Observing t(x Signposts
117
Chapter Nine
oft R G E O
oad oes ver n
129
A
ppendix
‘ :
yfstral travel TheActiveImagination

P
reface to
R E
tfo evised dition
he collection of symbolic images that composes the Tarot
T
deck has exercised a singular fascination on the minds and
hearts of innumerable people over several centuries. Many
have undoubtedly been attracted to the cards for their use in div­
ination, known in its debased form as fortune-telling. The late
“Hollywood Prophet” of television fame, Criswell, combined
platitude with truth when he said: “We are all interested in the
future, for that is where you and I will spend the rest of our lives!”
In past ages, as well as using the Tarot, enthusiasts of divination
frequently also resorted to casting the bones, divining by entrails,
and deciphering the flight of birds—along with gazing into crystals
and bowls of water. But today, it is mainly the Tarot, astrology, and
the I Ching that are most usually employed for that purpose.
In addition to its ever-popular use as an instrument of
divination, the Tarot deck also serves as a symbolic system of
self-knowledge, self-integration, self-transformation, and self­
transcendence. J. E. Cirlot, the noted authority on symbolism,
writes regarding the work of depth psychologist C. G. Jung:
Present-day psychology has confirmed ... that the Tarot
cards comprise an image (comparable to that encountered in
dreams) of the path of initiation. At the same time Jung’s
view, coinciding with the secular, intuitive approach to the
Tarot enigmas, recognized the portrayal of two different, but
complimentary struggles in the life of man: (a) the struggle
against others . . . and (b) [the struggle] against himself...
involving individuation/
* Juan-Eduardo Cirlot, Dictionary of Symbols, trans. Jack Sage (New York:
Philosophical Library, 1962), 310.
ix