Published for the first time with an index and Cardinal Hans Urs von Balthasar's afterword, this new English publication of Meditations on the Tarot is the landmark edition of one of the most important works of esoteric Christ-ianity. 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. The author wanted not to be thought of as a personality who lived from 1900 to 1973, but as a friend who is communicating with us from beyond the boundaries of ordinary life.
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"It is simply astonishing. I have never read such a comprehensive account of the 'perennial philosophy.' There is hardly a line without some profound significance. To me it is the last word in wisdom." (Father Bede Griffiths)
"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, OCSO)
"Meditations on the Tarot has become instrumental in my thinking and in my understanding of health and disease. The writer-who calls himself 'Unknown Friend'-seems to be speaking to me directly with endless wisdom and inspiration." (Gerald Epstein, M.D., author of Healing Visualizations)
"The most beautiful and instructive book of the twentieth century concerning Western esotericism." (Antoine Faivre, professor of Germanic Studies at the University of Haute-Normany)
"The book begs not only to be studied cover to cover, but also to be savored, meditated upon and assimilated into one's life." (Richard W. Kropf, National Catholic Reporter)
"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, OCSO)
"Meditations on the Tarot has become instrumental in my thinking and in my understanding of health and disease. The writer-who calls himself 'Unknown Friend'-seems to be speaking to me directly with endless wisdom and inspiration." (Gerald Epstein, M.D., author of Healing Visualizations)
"The most beautiful and instructive book of the twentieth century concerning Western esotericism." (Antoine Faivre, professor of Germanic Studies at the University of Haute-Normany)
"The book begs not only to be studied cover to cover, but also to be savored, meditated upon and assimilated into one's life." (Richard W. Kropf, National Catholic Reporter)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
171 of 172 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating, difficult, and unique; "pushes the envelope" of orthodox Catholicism
November 26, 2005
Format:Paperback
First, what this book is NOT: it is not a "how to" book that will teach you how to use and interpret Tarot cards for the purpose of divination. There is nothing here about "spreads," nor are the "minor arcana" discussed at all. So if divination is your purpose, or even a general introduction to the Tarot, this is not the book you are looking for.
Then what is it, and who is it for? It is what the title says, i.e., the Tarot cards (major arcana) are used as "launching points" for philosophical meditations on the {alleged) truths of Christian Hermeticism. And what is Christian Hermeticism? It is an occult philosophy that is the Western equivalent of what in the Hindu tradition is called the "Purusha," the doctrine of the Primordial Man or the Divine Man, in which the life of Jesus is viewed as an archetype of the relationship between every man and the Divine reality. The historical reality of Jesus is not so much denied as reinterpreted as a real-but-symbolic representation of the nature of man and man's relationship to God. The nature of man in a sense mimics and recapitulates the nature of God ("As it is above, so it is below."
This is heady stuff, and makes for difficult reading. Although originally published anonymously, the author is known to be Valentin Tomberg, an occultist of the Steinerian tradition who converted to Roman Catholicism relatively late in life. Tomber's erudition is impressive, and he is obviously widely read in the philosophical and mystical traditions of East and West.
This book is a tour-de-force in which Tomberg relates the symbolism of the Tarot cards to Christian doctrine, understood in both an exoteric (orthodox) and esoteric (mystical and/or heterodox) manner. The tone is gracious (the author repeatedly describes his reader as "dear unknown friend), and one can easily imagine Tomberg as an amiable sage seated in an overstuffed armchair, smoking his pipe, surrounded by books, and explaining the hidden wisdom of Christianity to a small group of enthralled listeners. Tomberg is a man who speaks with authority, and one wonders where that authority comes from. In fact, he is a representative of a Western occult tradition that is very old, a tradition that many orthodox Catholics will find disturbing, subversive, even diabolic. But it does not seem diabolic to me, and has indeed received praise from several prominent Catholic monks (Basil Pennington and Thomas Keating, among others).
I do not pretend to agree with, much less understand, everything Tomberg says, but he casts a spell which shines light on teachings which had hitherto seemed moribund and lifeless. Who would have thought religion could be so interesting?
The reader who comes to this book with a background in philosophy or theology, and who is prepared to give the book the time that it requires, will find much here that challenges, inspires, and perhape even provokes. But if you are looking for a quick read or a popularized introduction to the Tarot, go elsewhere - you are not likely to make it past page ten of this book.
Then what is it, and who is it for? It is what the title says, i.e., the Tarot cards (major arcana) are used as "launching points" for philosophical meditations on the {alleged) truths of Christian Hermeticism. And what is Christian Hermeticism? It is an occult philosophy that is the Western equivalent of what in the Hindu tradition is called the "Purusha," the doctrine of the Primordial Man or the Divine Man, in which the life of Jesus is viewed as an archetype of the relationship between every man and the Divine reality. The historical reality of Jesus is not so much denied as reinterpreted as a real-but-symbolic representation of the nature of man and man's relationship to God. The nature of man in a sense mimics and recapitulates the nature of God ("As it is above, so it is below."
This is heady stuff, and makes for difficult reading. Although originally published anonymously, the author is known to be Valentin Tomberg, an occultist of the Steinerian tradition who converted to Roman Catholicism relatively late in life. Tomber's erudition is impressive, and he is obviously widely read in the philosophical and mystical traditions of East and West.
This book is a tour-de-force in which Tomberg relates the symbolism of the Tarot cards to Christian doctrine, understood in both an exoteric (orthodox) and esoteric (mystical and/or heterodox) manner. The tone is gracious (the author repeatedly describes his reader as "dear unknown friend), and one can easily imagine Tomberg as an amiable sage seated in an overstuffed armchair, smoking his pipe, surrounded by books, and explaining the hidden wisdom of Christianity to a small group of enthralled listeners. Tomberg is a man who speaks with authority, and one wonders where that authority comes from. In fact, he is a representative of a Western occult tradition that is very old, a tradition that many orthodox Catholics will find disturbing, subversive, even diabolic. But it does not seem diabolic to me, and has indeed received praise from several prominent Catholic monks (Basil Pennington and Thomas Keating, among others).
I do not pretend to agree with, much less understand, everything Tomberg says, but he casts a spell which shines light on teachings which had hitherto seemed moribund and lifeless. Who would have thought religion could be so interesting?
The reader who comes to this book with a background in philosophy or theology, and who is prepared to give the book the time that it requires, will find much here that challenges, inspires, and perhape even provokes. But if you are looking for a quick read or a popularized introduction to the Tarot, go elsewhere - you are not likely to make it past page ten of this book.
74 of 74 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
This book has been listed as one of the greatest spiritual classics of the century.
For those who have been exposed to various religious, mystical, occult, philosophical, political and psychological thinkers and wondered how they all blend together in a meaningful way, this is the book that does it.
It is an effort to revive the tradition of Christian Hermeticism - that spiritual tradition that seeks the depths and the heights of meaning and authentic tradition. It is a welcome introduction to esoteric Catholicism - revealing the hidden meanings in the religion and explaining them in the light of Kaballah, Buddism, Sufism, Hinduism, Jungian thought, and on and on. There simply is no other book like it.
Finally the book itself is a work of spiritual exercises. Each chapter is to be read as a step in spiritual exercises.
You will find the answers to the following questions inside:
What is the method of seeing and understanding with spiritual depth?
What is the nature of Power and who is more powerful a lion or a virgin?
What are the three essential vows, necessary for progress in the spiritual life?
What are the esoteric meanings of the 10 Commandments?
What is the spiritual function of the Catholic Chruch in history?
What the difference is between black magic, magic and sacred magic? And why the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the most powerful ritual of sacred magic?
What is Catholic Chakra development?
The spiritual meaning of Nazism and Marxism?
The truth about the Virgin Mary?
The reality of the communion of saints and the hierarchy of angels?
And immensely more. . .
129 of 138 people found the following review helpful
By RJ Buck
Format:Paperback
At the very beginning of this book, the anonymous author, who left this book behind with strict instructions that it not be published till after his death, addresses the reader: `Your friend greets you, dear Unknown Friend, from beyond the grave.' He means it literally, absolutely literally.
That is to say, in my experience, to engage sincerely with this book is to engage with more than a book. It is to engage with a living spiritual master and genius of the highest order. A very human being, with the warmest of hearts, the most lucid of minds. A profound, profound thinker whose heart, burning with compassion for the world, gave us a manual of practical Christian alchemy - an alchemy that has undone my neuroses, strengthened my sanity, vastly enlarged my scope of feeling, vitalised my mind, melted my anger, fired my compassion, deepened my calmness - and more - so, so much, much more besides.
But not only this, he has given us a compendium of psychology, sociology, politics, theology, philosophy and hermeticism that could offer the new millennium - in all its potential horror - the wisest of guides.
Some may find this hard to read. Try it in the mornings, or whenever you feel freshest and most alert. Any difficulty will not be because it is dry or abstract. No, this is the most human book I have ever read. Human, human, human - kind and warm, profoundly kind and warm - calling us to heal our lives, heal our culture, not with destruction and polemic, but with peace and alchemy, with the most rigorous clarity of thought and the most tender of feelings.
For those suspicious of the author's orthodoxy, I suggest they note its foreword by no less than Hans Urs von Balthasar. And for those suspicious of the author's Catholicism, I would say the author is arguably more holistic than anyone. He deeply recognises the evil in the Church - but refuses a path of polemic. The way to heal any tradition is through loving, gentle alchemy and not revolution, not violence - psychological or otherwise.
In this sense, this is a book of profound holistic peace. He repeatedly affirms all the world's traditions, and those called to participate in them. And yes, in the West he affirms the traditional church (Catholic and Eastern Orthodox), whose sacramental life, he considers as having the greatest healing value for our troubled culture. The sacraments can heal our ever more stressed, nervous, fractured psyches in a profound way. And he regrets the destruction to the traditional church by any who have taken up violence - psychological or otherwise. There is a deep affirmation of sacramental Catholicism here - but not, if you read it carefully, of a Catholicism that destroys, condemns, imposes, or frightens. The author's heart weeps for a Catholicism of non-freedom.
Such vast realms of insight are here. Single paragraphs can furnish years of meditation. Or a sentence might be read ten, twenty times, before one realises it contains a universe of meaning not glimpsed before one is ready. The thought of such thinkers as Aquinas and Kant, Rudolf Steiner and St Francis of Assisi, Eliphas Levi and Carl Gustav Jung and many more is probed, extended, amplified, regenerated. And still so much more. More upon more. World upon world upon world ... There is supernatural and superhuman inspiration and genius at work in these pages. Those who think me excessive, are urged to look at other reviews on this page - which testify, I think, to the immense detonation in consciousness this book can effect ... after which nothing is ever the same again.
Oh, what more can I say to you, dear Unknown Friend who left us this book? You have immeasurably enriched my life beyond compare - far, far beyond compare. You have healed and strengthened and succoured me. You have opened my heart and mind to the Christian Mystery. You have taught me about sincerity, about rigour, about non-violence, about tragedy, about courage, about tears, about philosophy and poetry, and about profound, profound human-ness. I can never thank you enough. I believe your masterpiece may be the most important of the twentieth century and is my greatest source of hope for the twenty- first.
That is to say, in my experience, to engage sincerely with this book is to engage with more than a book. It is to engage with a living spiritual master and genius of the highest order. A very human being, with the warmest of hearts, the most lucid of minds. A profound, profound thinker whose heart, burning with compassion for the world, gave us a manual of practical Christian alchemy - an alchemy that has undone my neuroses, strengthened my sanity, vastly enlarged my scope of feeling, vitalised my mind, melted my anger, fired my compassion, deepened my calmness - and more - so, so much, much more besides.
But not only this, he has given us a compendium of psychology, sociology, politics, theology, philosophy and hermeticism that could offer the new millennium - in all its potential horror - the wisest of guides.
Some may find this hard to read. Try it in the mornings, or whenever you feel freshest and most alert. Any difficulty will not be because it is dry or abstract. No, this is the most human book I have ever read. Human, human, human - kind and warm, profoundly kind and warm - calling us to heal our lives, heal our culture, not with destruction and polemic, but with peace and alchemy, with the most rigorous clarity of thought and the most tender of feelings.
For those suspicious of the author's orthodoxy, I suggest they note its foreword by no less than Hans Urs von Balthasar. And for those suspicious of the author's Catholicism, I would say the author is arguably more holistic than anyone. He deeply recognises the evil in the Church - but refuses a path of polemic. The way to heal any tradition is through loving, gentle alchemy and not revolution, not violence - psychological or otherwise.
In this sense, this is a book of profound holistic peace. He repeatedly affirms all the world's traditions, and those called to participate in them. And yes, in the West he affirms the traditional church (Catholic and Eastern Orthodox), whose sacramental life, he considers as having the greatest healing value for our troubled culture. The sacraments can heal our ever more stressed, nervous, fractured psyches in a profound way. And he regrets the destruction to the traditional church by any who have taken up violence - psychological or otherwise. There is a deep affirmation of sacramental Catholicism here - but not, if you read it carefully, of a Catholicism that destroys, condemns, imposes, or frightens. The author's heart weeps for a Catholicism of non-freedom.
Such vast realms of insight are here. Single paragraphs can furnish years of meditation. Or a sentence might be read ten, twenty times, before one realises it contains a universe of meaning not glimpsed before one is ready. The thought of such thinkers as Aquinas and Kant, Rudolf Steiner and St Francis of Assisi, Eliphas Levi and Carl Gustav Jung and many more is probed, extended, amplified, regenerated. And still so much more. More upon more. World upon world upon world ... There is supernatural and superhuman inspiration and genius at work in these pages. Those who think me excessive, are urged to look at other reviews on this page - which testify, I think, to the immense detonation in consciousness this book can effect ... after which nothing is ever the same again.
Oh, what more can I say to you, dear Unknown Friend who left us this book? You have immeasurably enriched my life beyond compare - far, far beyond compare. You have healed and strengthened and succoured me. You have opened my heart and mind to the Christian Mystery. You have taught me about sincerity, about rigour, about non-violence, about tragedy, about courage, about tears, about philosophy and poetry, and about profound, profound human-ness. I can never thank you enough. I believe your masterpiece may be the most important of the twentieth century and is my greatest source of hope for the twenty- first.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
one of the most profound book of Christian wisdom in the 20th century
Far too many people will never read this book because of the title's reference to the tarot. Please look at the endorsements on the back cover - many of the greatest Christian... Read more
Published 29 days ago by Mark H. Andrus
5.0 out of 5 stars
Remarkable
I finished this book yesterday. It is the most remarkable book I have ever read. The author begins each chapter with a description of a specific Tarot card and an explication of... Read more
Published 1 month ago by EA-FC-MM
5.0 out of 5 stars
. . . maybe this product is the best or the next best product that I...
. . . maybe this product is the best or the next best product that I have ever purchased in this particular category or genre or what ever word is applicable.
Published 2 months ago by D. Nelson
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fabulous book
This was a carefully chosen gift for.a friend well versed in biblical scholarship. I have read this work many times in order to incorporate its wisdom into my life and wanted to... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Paul Kusbach
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Spiritual Anchor
This book is a spiritual anchor for those who have been traveling in rough seas of searching for the Truth. Read more
Published 4 months ago by True Tome
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Marvelous Mystical Text
I am a mystic-philosopher and writer. Over the past forty years, I have read well over a thousand texts from the various spiritual traditions, both East and West. Read more
Published 5 months ago by L. Ron Gardner
2.0 out of 5 stars
Personal Musings
PERSONAL NATURE OF THE BOOK
This book is a series of the author's personal musings on the 22 Major Arcana Tarot Cards:
p. Read more
This book is a series of the author's personal musings on the 22 Major Arcana Tarot Cards:
p. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Neal J. Pollock
5.0 out of 5 stars
Addendum
I am on my third read of this book. The other reviewers say what is needed to be said in a review. Let me only add that a two-volume biography of the author is available in German,... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Betsy Hulick
5.0 out of 5 stars
astonishing
.
this book is LUMINOUS with ancient AND eternal light!
as the title says: this IS a MEDITATION;
it must be read patiently and absorbed as if through... Read more
this book is LUMINOUS with ancient AND eternal light!
as the title says: this IS a MEDITATION;
it must be read patiently and absorbed as if through... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Hector Lasala
1.0 out of 5 stars
Way off the mark
The title of this book is very misleading. The unknown author starts each chapter under the name of a Tarot card, then expounds his own version of Christianity. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Casca
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