Customer Reviews

Egyptian Revival or the Ever-Coming Son in the Light of the Tarot

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Frater Achad (Charles Stansfeld Jones) goes into the meaning of the tarot cards very deeply here. If you are interested in the correspondences between the tarot trumps and the "paths" on the Tree of Life, this is essential reading. And if you feel like something is "wrong" with the conventional attributions, you will find much food for thought here.

For instance, the conventional scheme has the "Fool" starting at the top of the Path. But why would the order of the paths go down the Tree of
Life instead of up? Many people think this must be backwards. Otherwise the Path of Enlightenment would be leading downward from Heaven to the material world of Malkut.

In "The Egyptian Revival", Achad presents an interesting argument in favor of another arrangement. I'm not sure that he gets it exactly right, but some of his placements seem infinitely more meaningful than the existing positions. At least his paths start in the material world and lead in the direction of Kether, rather than the other way around. His attitude is very humble in making these suggestions, and he goes out of his way to praise some of those in the world of established commercial magick who disagreed with his ideas.

Of course, the same correspondences that cause the tarot to be ordered the way it is, also exist in the dogma and ritual of scores or hundreds of secret orders and organisations. So Achad anticipated opposition. He was very careful to pose his ideas as merely the suggestions of an
humble truthseeker. I think he was like many good and innocent people who assume other people to be good and free from malice in an
intellectual discussion.

But the magick establishment reacted very negatively to even a second hand suggestion that their ceremonies and grades might not be exactly
right. They moved to pursue and destroy the gentle Frater Achad. Even today, more than fifty years after his death, they spam his Wikipedia
page with undocumented rumors to destroy his reputation.

For people interested in such things, Frater Achad makes fascinating reading on this very obscure subject matter.

Do you really want to know your major arcana like the back or your hand? Along with fascinating historical insight, you will gain a view of the Tarot as it was originally intended. I found it a tasty little treat to add to my ever expanding library. I hope you will too.