About this title: Written by an anonymous figure who wished for the book to be published posthumously, "Meditations on the Tarot" is a timely contribution toward the rediscovery and renewal of the Christian contemplative tradition of the Fathers of the Church and the High Middle Ages.
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Description: Brand New. Paperback. Written by an anonymous figure who arranged for the book to be published posthumously, this 20th-century spiritual classic has been translated from the French by Robert Powell and re-issued in a fully corrected edition. This book, in my view, is the greatest contribution to date toward the rediscovery and renewal of the Christian contemplative tradition of the Fathers of the Church and the High Middle Ages. -Trappist Abbot Thomas Keating. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: J P Tarcher
Date Published: 2002-06-01
ISBN-13:9781585421619ISBN:1585421618
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9781585421619. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Jeremy P. Tarcher
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9781585421619ISBN:1585421618
Description: Good in good dust jacket. Cover somewhat worn, Pages are in generally good shape. No markings, underlinigs, highlightings, etc. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 670 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Jeremy P. Tarcher
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9781585421619ISBN:1585421618
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Cover somewhat worn, Pages are in generally good shape. No markings, underlinigs, highlightings, etc... Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 670 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Good. Used book in good condition. The cover and the binding are in good condition. The pages edging are slightly tanned. The pages are unmarked. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: JEREMY TARCHER PUBL
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9781585421619ISBN:1585421618
Description: Written by an anonymous figure who wished for the book to be published posthumously, "Meditations on the Tarot" is a timely contribution toward the rediscovery and renewal of the Christian contemplative tradition of the Fathers of the Church and the... read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Jeremy P. Tarcher / Putnam, New York
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9781585421619ISBN:1585421618
Description: Very Good. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Very little wear overall; slight waving to the upper rear cover, rubbing to the surface; light corner rubbing. Text is clean. 'This new English publication...is the landmark edition of one of the most important works of esoteric Christianity. Written anonymously and published posthumously, as was the author's wish, the intention of this work is for the reader to find a relationship with the author in the spiritual dimensions of existence....Using the twenty-two ... read more
Edition: Reprint
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, New York, NY
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9781585421619ISBN:1585421618
Description: Softcover. Large thick 8vo. 674pp. Illustrated in b&w. Index. Light rubbing & a few faint spots to covers, otherwise appears unused. Near fine condition. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Not Specified
Date Published: 0000
ISBN-13:9781585421619ISBN:1585421618
Description: Vg. 1585421618 Published anonymously in this edition. A journey into Christian Hermeticism. Draws on the Bible, Upanishads, the Cabbala, the Hermeticists, Origen, Teilhard de Chardin, Plato, Bergson, Jung, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche & John of the Cross in a profound study of contemplative Christianity linked with the Tarot symbols. translated by Robert Powell, afterwordby Urs con Balthasar's, with index. 2002, 670pp. read more
"After just browsing the first couple of chapters, it seems to be just another book on that old integral evolution jargon. The author's parallel between biblical passages like the one where Jesus talks about the Spirit being like a wind of which no one knows from where it comes or where it goes and the act of receiving intelligence seems quite fabricated in my opinion. And he does this sort of thing a lot.
Re - integral evolution: Here it's referred to as reintegrated consciousness and it's stated that this is "the kingdom of God". This is nothing but a restated doctrine from the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas:
"Jesus said... Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty."
"Know thyself" is the supposed key to all hermetic schools of thought I've ever seen, and I've seen plenty.
The Valentinian Gospel of Truth also says something similar:
"The gospel of truth is joy to those who have received from the Father of truth the gift of knowing him by the power of the Logos, who has come from the Pleroma and who is in the thought and the mind of the Father.... What exists in him is knowledge, which was revealed so that forgetfulness might be destroyed and that they might know the Father, since forgetfulness existed because they did not know the Father.... In time unity will make the spaces complete. By means of unity each one will understand itself. By means of knowledge it will purify itself of diversity with a view towards unity, devouring matter within itself like fire and darkness by light, death by life."
Who was it, Blake?, that said all new thoughts are just a kind of remembering?
The author would have a long way to go if he wanted to persuade me that the fall and the new kingdom are just a matter of forgetting who we were (a part of God with divine attributes) and then remembering again. And I've yet to see a person made better by believing it.
I also find the author's interpretations of various tarot card symbolism to be erroneous. But then, I find nearly everyone's interpretations of them to be just as far from the mark. The Magician he starts out handling fairly well. One can probably accept the Magician card as symbolic of something along the lines of a giver of wisdom, or the author of wisdom--perhaps even as an elemental power embodying wisdom itself. But does one accept this logic because the card actually seems to portray something about wisdom? Probably not. There's really no reason for thinking so. It may be portraying something else altogether such as that mysterious force which holds together creation. That is, the thing that turns dream into material reality and then sustains it. That's what I get from the Magician card. The infinity symbol above the Magician's head to me represents "sustain" while the vegetation around him represents creation. I see nothing about Spiritual gifts in this card despite what Waite and other Kabala masters claim. Whether the symbols of the Tarot suits on the table represent the four elements of life or not is also something I'm not convinced about. Aside from the cups being containers for "water" one would be very hard pressed (as occultists always are) to find any rational association between the other three elements and the remaining suits. His handling of The High Priestess is no better.
The book just seems another rehashing of Gnostic/New Age teachings under the guise of Christianity. It's not for me. I'm trying to find my way to the kingdom. I'm not trying to find my way _back_ to the kingdom. I don't believe the "fall" had to do with all of mankind past, present, and future. It may effect me, but I was not a part of it. I'm not trying to get back to an old garden. I'm looking for a new and better one. It will come about if I work for it--not if I think the right thoughts and imagine some kind of divinity within. The Spirit within is something that gives me strength to do the work that must be done in this material world. The renewing of my mind is not simply a matter of reflecting on an ancient bit of primordial consciousness that may or may not be within me and rebuilding it. This is Gnosticism in a nutshell. Gnosticism always looks to the past. Christianity looks to the future."
"This is one of the most valuable books I possess - not in terms of how much I would get selling it second hand, but because it has such a depth of valuable scholarship in it. The writer, who chooses (chose) to remain anonymous, poured his/her learning into these 'meditations' on the major arcana of the Tarot. The reader is provided with an education into esoteric symbology that goes far beyond most so called esoteric books, because the writer has/had such a wonderful grasp of the intricacies of the thought that underlies the Tarot. You can read it from cover to cover but you are more likely to take it a chapter at a time as almost every paragraph has ideas to ponder and penetrate. I discovered some years back that I had shared a flat in Brighton (UK) with Robert Powell who translated this book from the original German. Strange the byways of fate."
"So far this is mostly sitting by my bed stand while I peruse feng shui books and my book club books. Still, what I've read is amazing and gracious and worth my time."
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