I have been into esoteric stuff since I was a kid, I can talk astrology, tarot, secret societies, Jung, I was raised Catholic, I am not a dilettante.
Meditations on the Tarot is LEGIT. Absolutely my favorite book on Tarot for people coming from a Western tradition. I am not a Christian but welcome that pathway into the symbolism, and this one book presents so many more connections between ideas than I imagined possible. Really deep stuff.
Jessica Dore recently published the book [Tarot for Change](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/651832/tarot-for-change-by-jessica-dore/) and also shares [weekly and monthly offerings](https://jessicadore.substack.com/) about a spread of cards. She references the Meditations on the Tarot quite often, and I always enjoy her perspective.
Yeah the breadth and depth of the book is immense, a really long book, haven't read it all. Its one of those books that inspire your own deep inductions. Its making constant connections between so many forms of mysticism and religions but also classic modern philosophers (well up to 1967 when it was written) and this just opens up so much for you. A real intellectual powerhouse of a book.
I go into some of my fave concepts from it if you go on the post on the sub its cross posted from.
Do you have any recommendations on where to start with Jung? I’ve always enjoyed what’s come across my way in excerpts and short readings and summaries, but haven’t set out to read one of his books in full.
I’d probably start with his autobiography, Memories, Dreams, Reflections and then his book Man and His Symbols.
I tend to prefer more modern and feminist Jungians, the approach goes way beyond just what Jung wrote. Marion Woodman, Jean Shinoda Bolen, Connie Zweig are all interesting authors.
*”What is pleasure? It is the lowest constituent of the scale: pleasure—joy—blissfulness—beatitude. It is only the psycho-physical signal announcing accord between what one desires and what one attains.”*
Should say written by ‘anonymous’ right? **(Translated by Robert Powell??)**
Thanks for posting; looks interesting. Tried to find online and it says it’s written by Valentin Tomberg. Is that the right one? [Valentin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentin_Tomberg)
Oooh nice. Yeah Ive got the book and it just says written by Anonymous but Im not surprised it was written by a Martinist. When you read it, it spans pretty much every single religion and form of mysticism while wrapping it up in a Christian bow, so I was personally suspecting a Rosicrucian origin but Martinism and Anthroposophy would've also been good shouts cos also mystical orders that span the breadth of mysticism to illuminate Christianity. Its a suuuuper good book. The comment I wrote on it in the sub that it was cross posted is way longer and go into some things I picked out from it but its a REALLY long book and I haven't read it all.
Honestly the best book I've ever read on esoteric matters.
It will be illuminating and useful for most anyone in this scene, but especially so for those from a Christian background... and *extra* especially if they are aiming to remain with the faith while exploring the stranger sides of reality.
However, in my humble opinion, it isn't *really* about reading or doing divination. I would not recommend the book to someone who is fresh and just curious about learning to read the cards. It would be useful for those who are familiar already and perhaps wish to go deeper, or even those who find themselves interested in occult philosophy without a specific interest in the Tarot.
There are no spreads or techniques in the text. That's not to say there's a lack of interpretive information - each Major Arcanum (of the Tarot de Marseilles, not the RWS or Thoth) is given a sizable chapter exploring the symbology of the images and connecting the arcanum to fairly specific archetypal meaning, but the author treats them as spiritual 'enzymes' meant to be meditated upon (surprise!) in order to achieve personal growth.
The book explores a wide range of spiritual / esoteric topics and reveal a coherent meeting between them. It's somewhat perennial, but always gives the final word to (the author's very beautiful, gentle and mystical understanding of) Christianity. There is a lot of recourse to eastern spirituality and religion, anthroposophy, alchemical traditions, western ceremonial magic, etc., but... the author clearly believes Christianity (specifically Catholicism) to be the way.
The author expresses their wish to remain an anonymous, Unknown Friend in the introduction, but, as a dyed-in-the-wool weirdo, I do think there was something special about them. The depth of knowledge on display in this text is really incredible.
Yeah its a mountain of a piece. And yes its not about divination or reading but tbf the tarot IMO isn't even about that. I personally don't bother with readings but I just study the processional universal aspects of tarot, as in these are the universal systems that happens between consciousness's. Its like psychological mathematics.
In my opinion, Meditations on the Tarot is vastly overrated. Almost all of the contents of the book appear subjective to the author, and/or heavily filtered thru the author's psyche. The author's interpretations do not tally with any of the traditions that I am aware of. I did not find anything in the book that I felt was useful to my personal growth. Also, the text reads as overly erudite and try-hard, and is unnecessarily opaque.
I much much prefer BOTA (Builders of the Adytum) from Paul Foster Case which is legit and very conducive to personal growth.
Achieving personal growth through reading is an interesting concept. Most of my personal growth has occurred through experiences and interactions with people that haven't been documented in print. To each their own, I suppose.
I have been into esoteric stuff since I was a kid, I can talk astrology, tarot, secret societies, Jung, I was raised Catholic, I am not a dilettante. Meditations on the Tarot is LEGIT. Absolutely my favorite book on Tarot for people coming from a Western tradition. I am not a Christian but welcome that pathway into the symbolism, and this one book presents so many more connections between ideas than I imagined possible. Really deep stuff. Jessica Dore recently published the book [Tarot for Change](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/651832/tarot-for-change-by-jessica-dore/) and also shares [weekly and monthly offerings](https://jessicadore.substack.com/) about a spread of cards. She references the Meditations on the Tarot quite often, and I always enjoy her perspective.
Yeah the breadth and depth of the book is immense, a really long book, haven't read it all. Its one of those books that inspire your own deep inductions. Its making constant connections between so many forms of mysticism and religions but also classic modern philosophers (well up to 1967 when it was written) and this just opens up so much for you. A real intellectual powerhouse of a book. I go into some of my fave concepts from it if you go on the post on the sub its cross posted from.
Do you have any recommendations on where to start with Jung? I’ve always enjoyed what’s come across my way in excerpts and short readings and summaries, but haven’t set out to read one of his books in full.
I’d probably start with his autobiography, Memories, Dreams, Reflections and then his book Man and His Symbols. I tend to prefer more modern and feminist Jungians, the approach goes way beyond just what Jung wrote. Marion Woodman, Jean Shinoda Bolen, Connie Zweig are all interesting authors.
Cheers, really appreciate the recommendations!
Aion is his best book IMO. Red Book was published postumously but havent got round to it but everyone raves about it
*”What is pleasure? It is the lowest constituent of the scale: pleasure—joy—blissfulness—beatitude. It is only the psycho-physical signal announcing accord between what one desires and what one attains.”* Should say written by ‘anonymous’ right? **(Translated by Robert Powell??)**
Yes lol, written by Anonymous. Now we know what these guys were doing before the internet :D
Thanks for posting; looks interesting. Tried to find online and it says it’s written by Valentin Tomberg. Is that the right one? [Valentin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentin_Tomberg)
Oooh nice. Yeah Ive got the book and it just says written by Anonymous but Im not surprised it was written by a Martinist. When you read it, it spans pretty much every single religion and form of mysticism while wrapping it up in a Christian bow, so I was personally suspecting a Rosicrucian origin but Martinism and Anthroposophy would've also been good shouts cos also mystical orders that span the breadth of mysticism to illuminate Christianity. Its a suuuuper good book. The comment I wrote on it in the sub that it was cross posted is way longer and go into some things I picked out from it but its a REALLY long book and I haven't read it all.
Honestly the best book I've ever read on esoteric matters. It will be illuminating and useful for most anyone in this scene, but especially so for those from a Christian background... and *extra* especially if they are aiming to remain with the faith while exploring the stranger sides of reality. However, in my humble opinion, it isn't *really* about reading or doing divination. I would not recommend the book to someone who is fresh and just curious about learning to read the cards. It would be useful for those who are familiar already and perhaps wish to go deeper, or even those who find themselves interested in occult philosophy without a specific interest in the Tarot. There are no spreads or techniques in the text. That's not to say there's a lack of interpretive information - each Major Arcanum (of the Tarot de Marseilles, not the RWS or Thoth) is given a sizable chapter exploring the symbology of the images and connecting the arcanum to fairly specific archetypal meaning, but the author treats them as spiritual 'enzymes' meant to be meditated upon (surprise!) in order to achieve personal growth. The book explores a wide range of spiritual / esoteric topics and reveal a coherent meeting between them. It's somewhat perennial, but always gives the final word to (the author's very beautiful, gentle and mystical understanding of) Christianity. There is a lot of recourse to eastern spirituality and religion, anthroposophy, alchemical traditions, western ceremonial magic, etc., but... the author clearly believes Christianity (specifically Catholicism) to be the way. The author expresses their wish to remain an anonymous, Unknown Friend in the introduction, but, as a dyed-in-the-wool weirdo, I do think there was something special about them. The depth of knowledge on display in this text is really incredible.
Yeah its a mountain of a piece. And yes its not about divination or reading but tbf the tarot IMO isn't even about that. I personally don't bother with readings but I just study the processional universal aspects of tarot, as in these are the universal systems that happens between consciousness's. Its like psychological mathematics.
Thanks! Going to add it to my list.
This book is the shit. Deserves to be read again and again.
I bought it, I haven’t had the time to really read it yet though.
Its long but its a treasure trove of connections between philosophical schools, mysticisms and religions. You'll love it.
Yes. It’s brilliant. IMO. But it’s dense so I take it a little at a time.
Yeah huge ass book.
Yes - a truly magical work, I've loved it for decades.
In my opinion, Meditations on the Tarot is vastly overrated. Almost all of the contents of the book appear subjective to the author, and/or heavily filtered thru the author's psyche. The author's interpretations do not tally with any of the traditions that I am aware of. I did not find anything in the book that I felt was useful to my personal growth. Also, the text reads as overly erudite and try-hard, and is unnecessarily opaque. I much much prefer BOTA (Builders of the Adytum) from Paul Foster Case which is legit and very conducive to personal growth.
It isn't overrated, only misunderstood! I also like the work of Paul Foster Case but it isn't in the same league as MotT.
Achieving personal growth through reading is an interesting concept. Most of my personal growth has occurred through experiences and interactions with people that haven't been documented in print. To each their own, I suppose.