The path of jesus christ illustrated in 22 trumps
According to the world tarot experts, the Marseille tarot was created at the end of the XVth century under the influence of Christian Neoplatonist philosophy, probably by Marsilio Ficino, philosopher and Catholic priest.
To understand the deep meaning of the Marseille tarot, we have to assess the 22 trumps in light of the Holy Scriptures and Neoplatonist philosophy.
I) To live according to the Spirit instead of living according to the flesh
In French, the word “Le Bateleur” can be broken down this way: “Le Bas te Leurre,” which literally means “The Depth is luring you.”
It seems that it is a reference to the Augustinian concept of “ordo amoris.” Ordo Amoris teaches us that God and spiritual concerns must be put at the center of our lives. Material concerns, instead, should not outweigh spiritual matters.
According to Neoplatonist philosophy, matter is not evil but is less perfect than the spiritual realm.
The Bateleur prevents us from being trapped and stuck with material concerns, impeding us from connecting with the Most High.
That concep can be linked with Mathew 6 : 26-33 :
“Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are we not worth much more than they are? Can any of you, for all his worrying, add one single cubit to his span of life? And why worry about clothing? Think of the flowers growing in the fields; they never have to work or spin; yet I assure you that not even Solomon in all his regalia was robed like one of these. Now if that is how God clothes the grass in the field which is there today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, will he not much more look after you, you men of little faith? So do not worry; do not say, “What are we to eat? What are we to drink? How are we to be clothed?” It is the pagans who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all. Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on his righteousness, and all these other things will be given you as well.”
The first step of Christ’s path is to realize that we have to seek God first, and He will take care of our material needs.
The main color of the first trump is the flesh color, that means the Bateleur is “leuring” by the material world.
The Popess represents the silence of the thought that is required to become pregnant of Jesus Christ.
II) Cultivating the silence of the soul
“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” Luc 2:19
The next step, illustrated by the Popess, is to reach the silence of the soul (in the ancient world, the soul is associated with the mind, the psyche) to give birth to Christ in ourselves.
“Jesus could be born a thousand times in Bethlehem, if he is not born in your heart, it is useless” Angelus Silesius.
To become pregnant with Jesus Christ, our intellect, which is represented by Mary in the Holy Scriptures, has to take back its virginity.
So we have to abandon all our false knowledge (the book that the Popess does not read) and be free from our thoughts and our senses to be filled by the Holy Spirit.
If we don’t manage to reach inner silence and if we are still focusing on our senses, we remain under the influence of the “Sovereignties and the Powers,” and so we can’t hear the whispers of God anymore.
The popess reachs her goal practicing the “Lectio Divina”
“The virgin whom no power defiled” .
[TO BE CONTINUED]