by Bruce Johnson
© 2014 Bruce Johnson – Reprinted with permission – Shining Lotus Metaphysical Bookstore Newsletter November 2014.
The universal truths of the tarot are reflected in many ways through varied translations. Interpreting the Tower card esoterically for an advanced soul reverses the traditional account of destruction and catastrophe, into one of great good fortune. Uranus, symbolic of soul intelligence expressed as a sudden lightning bolt of divine fire from heaven, is more present in the Tower card than in any other tarot card.
The Tower symbolizes a human personality, individual and apparently separated, looking out through unlit windows of perception. The individual is nevertheless spiritually advanced, indicated by the Tower reaching up to heaven, and its location on a mountaintop, a traditional place of spiritual revelation. Esoterically, the Tower card symbolizes a point when the limited human self has a major divine contact with the greater self or soul, and experiences a life-changing spiritual illumination and transformation as a result.
This inflow of three-fold soul power has dramatic and multiple effects. The divine intuitive mind and human concrete mind are blended and unified into one consciousness. The human mind, signified by the yellow crown, is dethroned as the ruler of the personality by the soul. The impurities of the physical and astral bodies, and their influences, represented by the red and blue figures, are expelled by the inrush of divine intelligence. Spiritual fires within the individual are awakened, including the fires of the head chakras shown by the flames in three windows and on the top of the tower.
The alchemist’s furnace can be seen in the tower with its spiritual fires of purification and transformation distilling out the pure essence of the individual. Smoke, composed of fire and air elements, is present as a by-product of the transmutation process. Reflected droplets of divine fire like dew from heaven, descend for the benefit of others climbing the mountain below.
Astrologically, Uranus rules the 11th house of group relations and creative change through group work. Uranus is the ruler of the sign Aquarius, and radiates the violet flame color ray. Uranus is one of the seven sacred planets in Esoteric Astrology, and one of the seven chakras of the Solar Logos of our solar system. The violet ray is a ray of synthesis. It relates and blends physical forces with spiritual energies. The violet ray is very important to spiritual growth in that it unifies the higher and lower selves. The violet ray is used to stimulate and develop an occult consciousness that understands the causations behind manifestation. It is the ray most related to creative and positive ceremonial magic.
The book – From Intellect to Intuition, by Alice A. Bailey, further reveals the nature of the intuitive higher mind.
Bruce Johnson has over 30 years of study in the fields of Ancient Wisdom and occultism. He has taught classes on a wide range of topics, from Atlantis to mediums to Zoroaster. He is also a Spiritualist minister, with a background in spiritual astrology. He lives in Colorado with his wife and their cat.
Rare Used Books about Astrology and Tarot are sometimes available for purchase at the Shining Lotus.
The Sabian Symbols in Astrology – by Dr. Marc Edmund Jones. $18 Trade Paperback
— Illustrated by 1000 Horoscopes of well known people — First written in 1953, and now integrated into astrological work globally. For each of the 360 degrees of the zodiac: a symbolical picture, psychological significance, key-word and positive and negative influences.
Hermetic Astrology: Volume 1 Astrology and Reincarnation – by Robert Powell. $14 Trade Paperback.
— “the ancient hermetic mystery wisdom of the stars stemming from the primal astrological revelation of the Egyptian sage Hermes Trismegistus.”
The Meaning of Tarot – by David Hoy. $45 Hard Cover signed by Author.
— “Human Nature has always sought the unknown, and the role of Tarot remains a fascinating method of divining the past, the present, and the future.” Regardless of their origin, Tarot cards became an influential factor in the lives of many kings, philosophers, mathematicians, and scientists.
Tarot Classic – by Stuart R. Kaplan. $60 first edition Hard Cover.
— An unusually important and authoritative work, Tarot Classic traces the evolution of tarot cards from their many reputed origins (Egypt, India, China, Morocco) to the seventy-eight-card Tarot Classic deck, a newly-printed (in 1972) eighteenth century deck based upon original woodcuts.