Tarot and the Gates of Light

by Mark Horn

  All these were jobs that helped encourage an attitude of Humility, just as we see in the Humble workman at his bench in the Eight of Pentacles. The message of this card is respect for this kind of work and for people who work at humble occupations. And for your self-respect if this is what you do. There are people in retail service positions all across the country who have advanced degrees in one subject or another but can’t find work in their field. Nevertheless, they need work, and the work they’re doing is needed. And there is no shame in this; their work is worthy of respect. We all live in the world of Malchut; the Ten of Pentacles is the agora, a public marketplace, and the Sephirot are all there, shining in the air for those with eyes to see.

  In this consideration of work, we can derive some principles for the kind of work to be engaged in. I spend many years wrestling internally with my work in advertising since the industry offers much temptation for dishonesty. And the Talmud is very clear that jobs that tempt one to be dishonest or immoral are not jobs for someone on this path. The rabbis also wanted whatever work one did to give enough time and leave one with enough energy for the Torah study that is the other half of the equation in the quote above.

  As we come near the end of this forty-nine-day path, it’s essential to remember that the work we do in the world is not separate from this path. And that our work and our path must inform and enrich each other and the world.

  Questions for reflection and contemplation: Day 47

  1. (Wands) If you do divination work or counseling work, what are your practices to keep your channel open? What are your practices to cleanse and reenergize after doing this work? If you don’t do this kind of work, what are your experiences with messages or information that comes from the Divine?

  2. (Cups) Which path have you taken on your inner journey: celebrating the world as a blessing or seeing the world as a temptation to be transcended? If you have taken elements from both paths, how do you balance these beliefs? If you have chosen one path, why that one and not the other?

  3. (Swords) Were you brought up to believe that “God is on your side” in your tradition of birth? If so, what do you believe now, and why? What are your beliefs around the idea of a Deity that acts in history on behalf of particular peoples? Why?

  4. (Pentacles) How does your spiritual path inform your professional or occupational path and vice versa? Is there any way in which you feel your work conflicts with your spiritual path? If so, how? What can you do to bring them more in alignment?

  Day 48: Yesod of Malchut

  The Foundation of Nobility

  Today is the forty-eighth day of the Omer, which is six weeks and six days of the Omer.

  You shall raise up ruined foundations And you shall be called “Repairer ”

  ISAIAH 58:12

  In the image of the Tree of Life that appears in the frontispiece of The Gates of Light, a man, often identified as Rabbi Isaac the Blind, reaches out to take hold of the Tree at exactly the point of the path between Yesod and Malchut. This is the place where all the power and energy from above flows down into the world of Creation that we live in, so the ability to take hold of the Tree at this point means that one has indeed opened a clear channel to all the higher Sephirot and that one has created a strong Foundation in one’s life that enables one to Connect to all this energy without being consumed by it.

  Doing the work of all the previous days was in preparation for this penultimate day of the count. Tomorrow, in Malchut of Malchut, we will be ready to receive. But today, in Yesod of Malchut, we are still working to clear whatever complexes we can in this last Channel so that when all the energy from above flows into Malchut tomorrow, we will be in a place of peace; that is, we will have achieved Connected Sovereignty so that we can be fully Present to receive the Divine Presence as it Manifests in the world around us and within us. Doing this work is indeed restoring the Foundations laid long ago and creating an inner Tikkun, reuniting our fragmented selves and effecting a theurgic reunification, creating Tikkun Olam, healing the world by bringing together YHVH and the Shekinah, the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine.

  Let’s see how the cards instruct us in restoring the Foundation.

  Day 48: Yesod of Malchut in Atzilut

  The Nine and Ten of Wands

  _________within_________

  When I think my foot is slipping, your mercy, O LORD, supports me.

  PSALMS 94:18

  It is time to take the step out from behind the stockade of staves in the Nine of Wands. You have faced inner demons and old Intimacy woundings, and having seen them in the light of the Divine, you know they have no power over you. You can see that there is no danger on the other side and that it’s time to return to society and Relationship, so in the Ten of Wands, you gather up the staves and return, trudging a path back to the town in the distance.

  Even as we take those steps out from behind our defenses to open to new Relationship and healing, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t fear or worry. But having done the work and having touched the energy of the Sephirot above, you’ve opened the gates of the faithfulness of YHVH, so that even if your steps feel tentative or heavy at first, you know you are supported by the One.

  And you know that the Divine Presence is present in all your relationships, so that you are supported there as well. Having this support gives you a strong Foundation, so that you don’t need to hide behind a stockade of staves: you have the confidence that your Sovereignty is secure.

  Make these words from the Psalms your mantra for the day as you go about your daily affairs, so that every time you go out or from one place to another, these words are present in your mind. Allow yourself to feel the support; allow yourself to feel held lovingly by the One that holds all Creation.

  Day 48: Yesod of Malchut in B’riah

  The Nine and Ten of Cups

  _________within_________

  Last week, looking at the Nine of Cups, I suggested a new way of seeing the man seated in front of the table—as the tenth man, waiting for the other nine to come to a minyan, a prayer service. And in particular, I suggested we see him as Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai, the master teacher in the Zohar, waiting for his companions before they begin preparations for the revelation of Shavuot by studying the Torah together. The custom of studying the Torah from midnight to dawn is referred to as “adorning the bride”; that is, preparing the Shekinah for Her joining with her Divine Lover YHVH in the hieros gamos at dawn.

  One of those adornments is the rainbow, which is said to become visible to meditators practicing the Ma’aseh Merkavah, the Chariot meditations, when they have a vision of the Shekinah. And in both the Nine and Ten of Cups, we have images of the bow.

  In the Nine of Cups, the table lined with cups is a visual echo of the rainbow in the sky in the next card, a hint that the majesty of the earthly rainbow is but a pale reflection of the glory of the rainbow of the Shekinah.

  In the Ten of Cups, we see the rainbow in the sky, with a Divine vision of the ten Sephirot sending their flow of energy into the world of Malchut. It is the rainbow following the Divine union that births the world. And it is reflected in the union of the married couple figured in the card and their children playing at their feet.

  The world is filled with blessings that are here for us to enjoy—from good food and drink with companionship on the spiritual quest to joining together of the flesh to continue the flow of blessings in the world.

  Thinking about this pair brings to mind my first love: Bill and I fell in love because we were reading the same book, and when we started talking about it together it was as though we were opening to each other’s souls. So the description of reading the Torah with others as both spiritual and erotic makes perfect sense to me.

  Here in this pair, the sexuality of Yesod is Connected to, and sublimated in, Torah study. As I’ve noted before, traditionally, sexuality is acted on in sacred ritual and within sacred boundaries with one’s partner as part of the commandment to continue the work of crea
tion. Of course, I define this sacred Generativity not only as heterosexual couples bringing children into the world but also as anyone bringing new ideas, creativity, and new things into the world to better the lives of all. We receive blessings, and we are expected to keep the flow going. I hope in writing this book I am doing my part.

  Day 48: Yesod of Malchut in Yetzirah

  The Nine and Ten of Swords

  _________within_________

  Seen mythologically, the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE is understood by the Jewish mystics as a rupture between the Divine Masculine and the Divine Feminine, a divorce between YHVH and his Shekinah. And in this myth, the Shekinah goes into exile with the People Israel. The Jewish liturgical calendar recognizes this with the observance of Tisha B’Av, the day when it is said the Temple was destroyed—both the first time in 586 BCE by the Babylonians and then later by the Romans. And the Kabbalists were attuned to the cycles of mourning as well as the times of celebration.

  Certainly, when the Temple went up in flames, during centuries of pogroms, and then when eight million vanished into smoke over Europe, Jews have asked: Where has God gone? Why has he abandoned us? The last words of one famous rabbi speak for so many of us in our spiritual bereavement: “Eli, Eli lema sabachthani?” (My God, my God, why have you Forsaken me?).8

  Tony Kushner evokes a similar bereavement, speaking for all Creation in his play Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, where even the angels are grieving and overcome with desolation because God has abandoned them and heaven to go they know not where.9

  Where has God gone? The question as most people pose it does not concern me, since it starts from the assumption there is a deity with a personality who intervenes in history, and I don’t believe in such a deity. But I do believe that there is the urge of consciousness to know itself and that this is the ultimate hidden level in the implicate order, the Ein Sof, if you will. That which cannot be described but can be touched with our minds and felt within our bodies. And sometimes even those who have had an experience of reaching this place can feel like they can’t find their way back there again. And thus, they feel abandoned, cut off, and in deep grief over this lost Connection.

  This is how I see the Nine of Swords on this, the penultimate day of the count. The severed Connection to the Divine that leaves us feeling profoundly alone, bereft, and bereaved. Sometimes this is a response to external events, like the very human yet inhumane actions that have led to genocides, mass shootings, and other tragedies that shock us out of the slumber of daily consciousness and lead us to ask questions that cannot be answered.

  Sometimes this grief is an inner response to a change in the perception of reality. I remember a man who volunteered to help at meditation retreats constantly; he did this because his experience of meditation took him to places of deep bliss that he mistook for the ultimate goal and because he wanted to help others. His teachers warned him that his experience was simply one more example of phenomena that are subject to change, and this was so. Because the day came when the blissful states disappeared, and he then found himself facing pain, boredom, anger, lust, and a whole host of other emotions in his sitting. But the emotion he experienced most strongly was the feeling expressed in the Nine of Swords. He felt cut off from the Divine and in deep grief. He had become attached to the blissful states that were merely mutable phenomena. He had told himself a story that these states were a reward for how good a person he was. So when they disappeared, he believed he was being punished. Because this was a Buddhist meditation camp, the story he formed for himself was that he was being punished for something he’d done in a former life and that when he’d “done his time,” the blissful states would return.

  I can’t say whether his story accurately reflected reality. I do know that we all do this. Our hearts open and close to the Divine, like flowers open and close for the sun, independent of what we consciously want. And we tell ourselves stories about why.

  I know that once, many years ago, when I had done something I considered truly sinful, I felt cut off from the Divine. I don’t believe there was a deity with a personality in a heaven telling some ministering angel to go down and close the spiritual gates for me. But I do believe that something inside me closed my ability to perceive the Divine in every moment, that simply by walking so far off the path of righteousness, I had created my own inner darkness so that I felt the grief of the figure in the Nine of Swords.

  In fact, I believe that one can walk so far off the path and do things that are so grievous that it feels as if one has murdered one’s own soul. This is what I see in the Ten of Swords.

  Except the soul doesn’t die, and you can’t kill it. But it can feel like that. And when you come to this place of desolation, these two cards are where you are. Today, just as we are about to open to the vastness of Ein Sof in the hopes of touching that place where we feel at one with the universe, it’s important to be reminded that we are still living in the world of phenomena and that states of consciousness come and go. We may recognize in this pair a place we’ve been in the past, and it’s possible it’s a place we’ll see again. More importantly, because we’re in Yesod of Malchut, we may know someone who is in this place. And your experience can be of great value to someone in this place. Reach out to that person without expectations of results, only love. And as E. M. Forster said, “Only connect.”

  Day 48: Yesod of Malchut in Assiyah

  The Nine and Ten of Pentacles

  _________within_________

  I will be ever present in your midst.

  LEVITICUS 26:12

  Our last pair for Bonding in Nobility brings us to our last visit with the woman in her garden in the Nine of Pentacles. With the garden as a metaphor for both her body and soul, we know she has done the work; her channels are open to the divine, and her Foundation in the mindful and sacred expression of her sexuality is solid. So that when she is in her literal garden, she is the mistress of it all.

  When she goes out into the world, regardless of the awareness of the people around her, she is aware of the Divine Presence ever in our midst. She can see the sparkling nature of reality hinted at in the Ten of Pentacles.

  Because she is alone, though, there is a question of whether her Sovereignty is such that it prevents her from Bonding; it’s entirely possible that other people sense her inner Nobility and, not feeling equal to her strength, never get close enough for an Intimate Relationship. This is one of the difficulties of walking this path. Often people who work deeply on their own spirituality and psychological development find it hard to meet a partner who has done work that is as deep. It’s one reason I have never restricted my search for a partner to any one particular path; I just want to know that a person is on a path and actively walking it. So much the better if it’s a path we walk together. But ultimately, we come to a place on the path where we must face our demons and our deities alone. The woman in the Nine of Pentacles is ready to face them but may not be ready to face another person, and most often that’s where we find our demons and deities.

  That said, when you’re on this path and you meet someone who sees reality as it is—who sees its sparkling nature even as the dog pees on the side of the city gate—it’s a beautiful moment, whether it leads to a longterm relationship that’s both physically and spiritually Intimate or not. Because it’s a moment of true Intimacy, of recognizing each other’s souls. And such an experience nourishes the heart and waters the garden.

  Questions for reflection and contemplation: Day 48

  1. (Wands) Use the words from Psalm 94:18 as your mantra for the day: “When I think my foot is slipping, your mercy, O Lord, supports me.” Repeat it silently in your mind every time you stand up to go from one place to another. At the end of the day, journal about your experience.

  2. (Cups) What is your experience regarding studying text together in a spiritual community and with another person in particular? Describe how you experience your N
obility and the Nobility of others in this Relationship.

  3. (Swords) Remember a time when you felt cut off from the Divine. What happened that led to this feeling? What happened when it shifted and you reconnected? Whom do you know who might be in such a dark place now? Is there any way your experience can be of service to that person?

  4. (Pentacles) How have your spiritual search and your journey on your path affected your Relationships and your search for Intimate Relationship? What are the ways your work on your soul is reflected in the ways you care for your body?

  Day 49: Malchut of Malchut

  Living in Integrity Is True Sovereignty

  Today is the forty-ninth day of the Omer, which is seven weeks of the Omer.

  Seven weeks ago, you decided to take a path out of slavery and into freedom. And it wasn’t an easy path. But you have reached a place that’s more than just freedom: you are Royalty. A King or Queen, true Sovereign of your self. And with Sovereignty comes Responsibility, not only to yourself but also to others. Because as you have grown stronger in your ability to hold Divine light, you are called on to share that light with others. To serve as a beacon for those on the path behind you.

  You may feel a new reservoir of confidence and clarity in who you are and what unique gifts you bring to the world. You may feel a quiet and simple joy that suffuses every moment and every interaction. Remember to bring this confidence, clarity, and joy to the places within where growth was harder, and be sure to let go of any disappointment for whatever you are not ready to do yet. Because, of course, while the Counting the Omer is done for this year, the journey does not end here. But today is a day to look back over the past seven weeks and reflect on how you have grown. On the ways in which you have become more open. How your love has grown stronger. How your discernment has become clearer. How your compassion has deepened. The ways in which your endurance has increased. How your humility has become healthier. And how your ability to be intimate with yourself, others, and the Divine has been enlarged.