The Polysemous Tarot: A Symphony of Meanings
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Although I may regret it from the standpoint of intellectual overload (and so might my readers), I’ve just begun digesting (you don’t idly graze these things) Ronald Decker’s scholarly study of occult tarot history, The Esoteric Tarot: Ancient Sources Rediscovered in Hermeticism and Cabalah, in the introduction to which he acknowledges that he is about to present some unorthodox opinions regarding the derivation of the iconography in the trump cards. (Note that Polysemous Tarot is not a deck title, so don’t try googling it; I’m applying it as a general descriptor for all tarot decks.)
Early in the book he brings up the subject of polysemy (the presence of multiple meanings in a single image, statement or concept) by noting that Hugh of Saint Victor identified four levels of communication in sacred scripture: literal, moral, spiritual and mystical. This passing reference to “four” gave me a convenient segue into the familiar distribution of Minor Arcana symbolism into groups of four factors: four elements (Fire, Water, Air and Earth); four suits (Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles); four hierarchical ranks (Kings, Queens, Knights and Pages); four occupational brackets (Wands as manual trades and agricultural pursuits, Cups as inspirational and spiritual callings, Swords as military and legal vocations, and Pentacles as business and financial careers); four modes of expression (Pentacles are practical, Cups and Swords are psychological [divisible into emotional and intellectual sub-categories] and Wands are spiritual and aspirational); and the four related typologies of Carl Gustave Jung’s analysis of psychological functions (sensation, feeling, thinking and intuition). Not all of these are perfectly aligned but they are close enough for comparison.
I fancy the word polysemy because it puts a sophisticated face on what I’ve always thought of in the vernacular as figuratively “peeling an onion” via the art of divination to find the level of meaning that best speaks to the question or topic. I don’t consider this an undertaking the diviner can or should perform independently because it can require an excessive amount of intuitive guesswork. There is really no reason to fly solo in this regard; the seeker is usually willing and able to chime in with clarifying observations that will get right to the point (I’ve had few sitters who don’t like to talk about themselves). I can lay the groundwork and they can help fill in the details as long as they have a good grasp of where I’m trying to go with it. For this reason I prefer to turn every reading session into a dialogue (and it’s also why I don’t attempt long-distance mind-reading with the tarot); until mental telepathy evolves to be more reliable than psychism, I can only see a fraction of the story from my own angle according to the cards pulled, and there can be a lot more going on beneath the surface that warrants a first-hand accounting from the source. Who better to provide this than the one who shuffled the deck to put the cards in the proper order to tell their own story?
In “An Example of Iconography,” Decker cuts right to the chase by talking about the first trump card, the Juggler (aka “Magician”), and the last one, the World, in unique terms. He relates the Juggler to the agathodemon or Agathos Daimon (protective “Good Demon”) of ancient Greek theology and suggests that the four “magical instruments” in the scene are really divinatory lots or sortes of the kind used in predictive “sortilege,” and the daimonic figure is in the process of casting them on the table in order to foretell the destiny and narrate the life’s mission of the onlooker. The woman on the World card he identifies as Agatha Tyche, or “Good Fortune,” calling her “an appropriate companion for the Juggler;” together they bookend the accomplishments of a successful life. This stuff is metaphysical “meat-and-potatoes” for me and I’m looking forward to enjoying the repast, even though — as Decker warns — it will likely surprise and confound most of the esoterists and academics. With its promise of eventually getting to Etteilla, I’m anticipating a deep dive. More to come in future essays, I’m sure.
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on March 24, 2024.
