67 of 71 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Occult Classic, November 23, 2004
This review is from: The Tarot: A Key to the Wisdom of the Ages (Hardcover)
This book, explaining the symbolism of the B.O.T.A. Tarot Keys, is significant for a number of reasons. This was one of the first works in which several Occult secrets about the Tarot-- secrets which, until then, had been closely-guarded by a handful of reclusive Orders and Fraternities-- were revealed to the general public for the first time.
Perhaps most importantly, this was the first book that openly published the correct Hebrew letter attributions of each Key-- publicly linking Qabala and Tarot for the first time. Previous books on the subject had either employed blinds or blatant falsehoods to conceal the correct attributions. Publishing these correct Hebrew letter attributions was a bold step, and although it's hard to imagine today, Case's decision to go public with this information was extremely controversial among Occultists at the time.
This book also revealed the Tarot tableau, a pattern for laying out all of the Tarot Keys which reveals certain relationships and dissimilarities between them-- relationships which might not otherwise be apparent to the casual reader. This tableau was used by the American branch of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn when Case was Praemonstrator of that Order, and like the correct Hebrew letter attributions of each Key, it had never been openly published before.
Last, but certainly not least, this was the first published book to reveal ALMOST ALL of the Tarot attributions on the Qabalistic "Cube of Space" diagram. Until the publication of this book, most Occultists had never even heard of the Cube of Space, had no idea what its attributions were, and couldn't have guessed about how it related to the much better-known "Tree of Life" diagram. (To give you an idea about just how esoteric this subject really is, consider that until the mid-1990's there were almost no other books in print that even mentioned the Cube of Space!)
One of the things that I really like about this book is that it includes Paul Foster Case's only public commentary about his own "Pattern on the Trestleboard," which is sort of like a Qabalistic catechism. Granted, Case's comments are pointedly brief, but they also place "The Pattern on the Trestleboard" firmly in the public domain, where they can be openly discussed with people who aren't members of Case's organization, Builders of the Adytum (B.O.T.A.).
Older editions of this work also include the B.O.T.A. method for Tarot divination-- something that many of its members would be surprised to learn about, since B.O.T.A. repeatedly emphasizes that Tarot is primarily a tool for meditation, not divination! The truth is that Tarot works rather well in either capacity, but using the Keys for divination might distract from a beginning student's more important task of discovering his or her own "Inner Self" through meditation. Case's method of divination is similar in many respects to various Golden Dawn and Crowleyan methods that I've seen printed elsewhere-- but with some interesting, and perhaps not insignificant, differences.
As if this weren't enough to entice the serious Occultist, however, Case's analysis of each of the twenty-two Tarot Keys is nothing short of masterly. This is really the one area in which Paul Foster Case's book towers above almost any other book about the Tarot! Each Key is considered in light of its imagery, the Hebrew letter to which it is assigned, that letter's attribution of the Tree of Life, that letter's mode of Intelligence from the BOOK OF FORMATION, that letter's numerological significance, the Key's astrological associations... and on and on and on. This isn't the sort of book that can be lightly read once and then set it aside-- this is a reference work which should be consulted frequently!
The Keys themselves are lovely. Although B.O.T.A. as an organization resisted printing colored versions of these Keys for many years (Paul Foster Case insisted that coloring your own Keys was an important step in memorizing their exact details), newer editions of this book depict each Key in full glorious color! Even the black and white editions of this book are lovely, however, emphasizing details which might be missed in colorized versions. Based rather closely on A.E. Waite's Tarot, the B.O.T.A. deck departs radically from Waite's designs on a few of the Keys.
If Qabala is the Key to Western Occultism, Tarot is surely the Key to Qabala! This is one of the best available works on Tarot, and Paul Foster Case's masterly analysis of the Tarot Keys can't lead you in the wrong direction. Highly recommended for any Tarot enthusiast!
[...]
SHALOM!
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53 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
for amateur esoterists and numerologists everywhere..., August 31, 1998
This review is from: The Tarot: A Key to the Wisdom of the Ages (Hardcover)
If you take a delight in the esoteric, cryptic, and seemingly irrelevant, pay attention to this book. Case puts every card in its context; he invariably begins by describing its Hebrew origins, its diverse associations, and its symbolic place in the tarot. As with any real tarot book, it is useless without considerable meditation and tarot-work outside of the book; slowly the perspective that he communicates will enrich your understanding of the cards.
This book will be useless to any who haven't gotten the basic gist of tarot already. You see, it is simply a combination of the elements and numerology; numerology is, I think, the richer aspect of the two. Once you have a basic understanding of it, this book has the information to refine that understanding. It can also help to introduce you to the Caballah through the Tarot.
If you aren't too used to tarot cards yet, try buying a book that addresses numerology directly, but very straightforwardly--Case is more straightforward than the old guarde of esoterists, but that won't mean much to a newcomer.
Also, some newfangled Tarot decks don't (I believe) really pay all that much attention to numerology. If that is the type of deck you are reading, this book will be useless to you. Some fairly orthodox decks are the Rider/Waite deck, the Golden Dawn Tarot, and the Thoth deck.
Yet another thing: Case comes at it from the Hebrew side, but the Egyptian side is also extremely relevant. I don't know much about astrology, but word is that side is also suitable..especially for a deck such as Thoth, which has astrological symbols all over the place. Case addresses a bit of astrology.
This book has taught me a great deal and continues to do so. It is not for everyone, still I recommend it extremely highly.
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the most important works on the tarot., February 16, 2002
This review is from: The Tarot: A Key to the Wisdom of the Ages (Hardcover)
This book is one of the most serious studies on the sybolism of the major arana as designed by Paul Foster Case otherwise known as the BOTA deck, and is quite simular to the Rider- Waite deck, which in my opinion are two of the best decks to start out with. It lays an essential foundation for anyone who seriously wishes to use the tarot for spiritual growth and divination.
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