The Waite deck is the 'original' Tarot in terms of its use as a divinatory system and as a system of initiation. There are plenty of claims of ancient origins of Tarot, including in the Ra Material, but none of these have been substantiated historically or archeologically. The Waite deck is related to the initiation process of the Golden Dawn and was the first version to be crafted as such (historically). All of the symbols of that deck as such are specific to that system.
When it comes to Crowley you have to look a lot at his anti-Christian attitude and through that you can see how many of the symbols of Thelema took shape. It was also likely something of a slap in the face to the Golden Dawn since he knowingly inverted and twisted the meanings of numerous symbols they used.
If you want to learn the system of the Waite deck it is still well kept by the Builders of the Adytum. I believe the Builders of the Adytum offer correspondance learning.
Tarot and Qabalah or Kabbalah are tools and like any system can be used to different ends. There have been many, many opinions on both of these things so in the end you have to feel for what seems right for you.
I sometimes wish that the group had chosen to learn about the Tree of Life because I've always been curious what Ra's tree would look like, but alas, c'est la vie.
Even if you keep the same 22 Archetypes, what then of the ten Sephiroth? Would they have used the same words such as Matrix, Potentiator, Catalyst, etc? Who knows.
Personally, I think the less you try to focus on 'correlation' and trying to match up systems with eachother the more you will learn. I don't think there is much sense, as an example, in trying to correlate the Tarot Archetypes of Ra with the Tree of Life of Hermetic Qabalah or the chakras of Theosophy with the dantien of Taoism or the Archetypes of Jung with the Deities of Hinduism. I think they are all just paints for the canvas but each is its own palette of colours. However, that means mixing can sometimes have unexpected results. Instead, I look at it more as relating the systems to eachother rather than trying to fit them all in to eachother. I think that all systems of philosophy are part of a cognitive mental web or matrix of which we are all a part and that to understand it isn't necessary to put them against eachother but rather to see how each fills its own particular space within the collective consciousness. Each part is purposeful, even if the purpose isn't always understood. Maybe it's never really understood.
Don't get me wrong, it's not that I think these things are referring to separate realities per se but rather than the vehicle of understanding these things are just the vehicle of contemplation. I think there is something in the unique way that each mind contemplates and formulates the universe within.
When it comes to Crowley you have to look a lot at his anti-Christian attitude and through that you can see how many of the symbols of Thelema took shape. It was also likely something of a slap in the face to the Golden Dawn since he knowingly inverted and twisted the meanings of numerous symbols they used.
If you want to learn the system of the Waite deck it is still well kept by the Builders of the Adytum. I believe the Builders of the Adytum offer correspondance learning.
Tarot and Qabalah or Kabbalah are tools and like any system can be used to different ends. There have been many, many opinions on both of these things so in the end you have to feel for what seems right for you.
Quote:76.9 Questioner: Is there, in Ra’s opinion, any present-day value for the reuse of the tarot as an aid in the evolutionary process?
Ra: I am Ra. We shall repeat information. It is appropriate to study one form of constructed and organized distortion of the archetypical mind in depth in order to arrive at the position of being able to become and to experience archetypes at will. You have three basic choices. You may choose astrology, the twelve signs, as you call these portions of your planet’s energy web, and what has been called the ten planets. You may choose the tarot with its twenty-two so-called Major Arcana. You may choose the study of the so-called Tree of Life with its ten Sephiroth and the twenty-two relationships between the stations.
It is well to investigate each discipline, not as a dilettante, but as one who seeks the touchstone, one who wishes to feel the pull of the magnet. One of these studies will be more attractive to the seeker. Let the seeker then investigate the archetypical mind using, basically, one of these three disciplines. After a period of study, the discipline mastered sufficiently, the seeker may then complete the more important step: that is, the moving beyond the written in order to express in an unique fashion its understanding, if you may again pardon the noun, of the archetypical mind.
I sometimes wish that the group had chosen to learn about the Tree of Life because I've always been curious what Ra's tree would look like, but alas, c'est la vie.
Even if you keep the same 22 Archetypes, what then of the ten Sephiroth? Would they have used the same words such as Matrix, Potentiator, Catalyst, etc? Who knows.
Personally, I think the less you try to focus on 'correlation' and trying to match up systems with eachother the more you will learn. I don't think there is much sense, as an example, in trying to correlate the Tarot Archetypes of Ra with the Tree of Life of Hermetic Qabalah or the chakras of Theosophy with the dantien of Taoism or the Archetypes of Jung with the Deities of Hinduism. I think they are all just paints for the canvas but each is its own palette of colours. However, that means mixing can sometimes have unexpected results. Instead, I look at it more as relating the systems to eachother rather than trying to fit them all in to eachother. I think that all systems of philosophy are part of a cognitive mental web or matrix of which we are all a part and that to understand it isn't necessary to put them against eachother but rather to see how each fills its own particular space within the collective consciousness. Each part is purposeful, even if the purpose isn't always understood. Maybe it's never really understood.
Don't get me wrong, it's not that I think these things are referring to separate realities per se but rather than the vehicle of understanding these things are just the vehicle of contemplation. I think there is something in the unique way that each mind contemplates and formulates the universe within.
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