Amulets by Merlin's Blog

This is the Eighth of a series, an introduction is found in First Resonance.

The Grand Spread
When viewed together
they teach us valuable lessons about how to live
the Foundation of Ethics

The cycle of the seven Resonances:

The Magician The Ability to Focus on the Now
The High Priestess The Depth of Memory;
The Empress Visualize the Future
The Emperor Logic and Perception, Activation
The Heirophant: Intuition, the Inner Authority
The Lovers: The Dynamic Balance between the Aspects of Being
Chariot: The Containment of all of these things; the Sacred Circle

These “first tones” of the Major Arcana are augmented with the second cycle:

Strength the tools of Consciousness
The Hermit The Action of Consciousness
The Wheel of Fortune The Patterns of Existence
Justice Karma
The Hanged Man The Suspension of Consciousness
Death the Evolution of Consciousness
Temperance The Art of Being

The third cycle of seven are:

The Devil Inversion, Humor and Stagnation
The Tower Realization and it’s Consequences
The Star Meditation as a way of perception
The Moon One’s Life Path
The Sun Stretching beyond One’s Limitation
Judgment Amalgamation of the Self
The Universe All things perceivable and Beyond

Each of the Major Arcana are extremely complex
giving them simple definitions alludes to a shallow view of them.
In truth, each card represents concepts best described in stories.
For example,
the Lovers Card
is often illustrated by the story of Perseus and Andromeda
(the more recent movie “Clash of the Titans”
actually changes the ancient story with a very different outcome).
Each step of the story is a description of the alchemical formula
to Unite the Self: the Sacred Marriage of One’s Being.
Knowing that One could argue each card is a mix of various “tones”,
each describing an aspect of the self in detail.
However, to describe the Resonances,
let us consider each of the Major Arcana as a Unique Tone unto itself.

In the Second Resonance,
the three tones are The High Priestess, The Hermit and The Tower.
These three tones form a Resonance or chord of concepts.
When played together,
they describe a mode of being.
In this case the High Priestess
helps us recall our personal experience as well as the lore
(history)
of both people and our planet.
This Knowledge base is harnessed by The Hermit
(Consciousness set into Action: the Hand of God).
Note: The Hermit acts independently from the crowd, influence from movements,
culture and other Human perspectives do not recruit him;
thus the Hermit is “independent” in his actions.
Finally: the third tone is The Tower.
Action inspires re-action and brings Realization:
consequences.
This pulls together everything before it and provides
a better perspective of the world One lives in.
It implies such lessons like “don’t build huge structures on sand”
which applies to metaphorical scenarios
as well as actual physical situations.
It also demonstrates what happens when you build a structure on a bedrock of lies;
hence the card’s relation to Peh
(the Hebrew letter related to “the mouth”).

When viewed together,
this and the other Resonances or Chords
teach us valuable lessons about how to live,
it weeds out unnecessary, unwanted and self destructive patterns.
When viewed this way it is the Foundation of Ethics:
How One Lives.
In the Second Resonance,
we learn the importance of making Truth a way of life,
how telling and living lies will undermine everything you do,
turn others against you and pull the material world on your head.
Resonance offers a solution to the problem and provides a Way of Being
which will avoid such problems,
offering you growth and development.
Knowing the History and Lore (the High Priestess)
gives you a guideline of what others have done and the consequences which follow.
Walking the Path of these lessons places you on a narrow,
yet extremity long and full-fulling journey of life.
Nothing is without it’s pitfalls,
thus The Tower continually reminds One of any short sightedness
and destroys preconceptions that are erroneous,
providing us with a new start to re-build a stronger perspective,
closer to the Truth.
This resonance holds all three together into one triad,
each supporting the other.

When studying the series,
it is best to take them in sequence: One’s Self being the Fool in this journey of life,
taking them one at a time we may master the lessons and benefit from them.
Once One understands the concepts and set them into motion in life,
we discover they are being presented all at once or in clusters
and to Come Correct is as natural step forward.

I encourage you to set the cards in the Grand Spread
and review each of the Seven Resonances
see how each of these Card Combinations revel The Truth.

As many of you know,
I make Tarot Interpretations as Amulets
may be worn singularly or in combinations.
To learn more, please visit my Tarot Amulets Page.

This is the Seventh of a series of articles examining the Major Arcana
using the Grand Spread
(three groups of seven, the Fool being separate)
to better understand and harness ourselves,
our talent, intelligence, experience and gifts.

The Grand Spread
When viewed together
they teach us valuable lessons about how to live
the Foundation of Ethics

An introduction is found in First Resonance.

The Chariot
Cancer

Next to the Lovers is the Seventh card:

The Chariot
From the single point of consciousness of The Magician
(the ability to focus on the Now)
to The High Priestess
(the depth of Memory);
to The Empress
(visualize the future)
to The Emperor
(logic and perception, activation)
to The Heirophant:
(Intuition, the Inner Authority)
to The Lovers:
The Dynamic Balance between the Aspects of Being
manifests The Chariot:
the containment of all of these things;
the Sacred Circle that is everywhere at once.
This defines what Is so one may harness it,
grow with it.
This represents the Discipline needed to undertake anything of value.

Temperance
Sagittarius

In the second line underneath The Lovers we find

Temperance
This is the Art of Life itself.
Here we combine portions of Being into something new:
aspects that appear opposite to each other combining into objects,
music, thoughts and feelings the very way we live our lives.

The Universe
Saturn

In the third row under Temperance is

The Universe
All at once both the finite and infinite:
the limits of what we know and then some.
It is the Great Dance of All Things of which we are all a part.
This is the sum total of all the cards brought to realization so that which we “know”
is always expanding.

The first level reveals the position (The Chariot)
for the personal,
the second position (Temperance)
reveals the environment in which we work
and the third position (the Universe)
demonstrates how we may apply what we have learned.

The Fourth Resonance of the Fool’s Journey is:

Seventh Resonance

The Chariot, Temperance, The Universe

It is in this Final Resonance.
In The Chariot we define our purpose,
in Temperance we Manifest the Vision,
in the Universe we Connect with All Things.
The Three Keys together create the Great Work of our lives.
Once going through a deep understanding of each of the Resonances,
the Seventh becomes a natural step on one’s life.
This resonance holds all three together into one triad,
each supporting the other.
Place these three cards together and observe the delicate balance produced.
Set these cards on your alter,
use them as meditations,
place them in your pocket or wear the combination as amulets.

For more information see Merlin’s Tarot Casters Page