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Symbolism of the Tarot
Peter D. Ouspensky
Now, if we imagine twenty-one cards
disposed in the shape of a triangle,
seven cards on each side, a point
in the centre of the triangle
represented by the zero card,
and a square round the triangle
(the square consisting of fifty-six cards,
fourteen on each side), we shall
have a representation of the relation
between God, Man and the Universe,
or the relation between the world of ideas,
the consciousness of man and the
physical world. The triangle is God
(the Trinity) or the world of ideas,
or the noumenal world. The point is
man's soul. The square is the visible,
physical or phenomenal world.
Potentially, the point is equal to the
square, which means that all the visible
world is contained in man's consciousness,
is created in man's soul. And the soul
itself is a point having no dimension in the
world of the spirit, symbolized by the triangle.
It is clear that such an idea could not have
originated with ignorant people and clear also
that the Tarot is something more than a
pack of playing or fortune-telling cards.
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