Review by Bonnie Cehovet
Pain Free Qabalah
For Tarot Readers is a series of tapes that came out
of the Tarot School teleconference by the same name.
This is an introduction to Qabalah as it relates to
Tarot, and is an interactive course. There are several
things that I want to state right at the beginning of
this review - the first of which is that I have only
dabbled in Qabalah through personal reading and study, and
it is from this viewpoint that I will be discussing
the tapes.
The next point that I want to make is
about the presentation of the material in the tapes.
Wald has done intensive studies in Tarot, as well as
other esoteric areas. His knowledge is well grounded,
through having been put to use in his life over the years
as well as through his personal Tarot work. As a
speaker, his voice is clear and distinct (a must have for a
taped series). He comes to class well prepared, with a
firm idea of what material is going to be presented,
the format he is going to present it in, and exactly
how much material can be worked with over a given time
period. (This is extremely important in a teleconference
setting, as one needs to allow time for "audience
participation".) He shows a great deal of respect for the material
he is presenting, and for his audience as individuals
and students. He genuinely wants them to go away with
the best understanding that they can get of the
material being covered.
The final point that I want to
make has to do with the tapes themselves. Wald's wife
(and Co-Director of The Tarot School), Ruth Ann, has
done an absolutely marvelous job of editing the tapes
so the the material flows fluently, moving from one
side of the tape to the other, and between tapes, in a
fluid manner. This is a time consuming job - and it has
been quite well done!
The material is presented as a
series of four classes, with two tapes to each class. In
the first class (the first set of tapes), Wald
provides a rich background for the connection between Tarot
and Qabalah. He makes the statement that the Qabalah
is the source of meaning and image of Tarot decks and
systems of reading for the past 150 years.
With the
Qabalah we have an available system of knowledge, one that
as readers we can make use of in our readings, as
well as a gateway to knowing ourselves on a deeper
level. Qabalah is an oral tradition, and one that was not
originally meant for use by the general public. Breaking down
the branches of Qabalah, we have:
1. Hermetic, or Magickal Qabalah
2. Kabbalah, or Jewish Qabalah
3. Cabala, or Christian Qabalah
The first set of tapes continues on to discuss Qabalah
as a map of the invisible world, with the visible
world being the last step in a long process. How in
Qabalah we see a portrait of what it is to be human - and
what it is to be Divine. We look at the Triumphs
(Trumps) as archetypes of human experiences, as life
experiences that we all go through.
The discussion then moves
on to the Sephiroth - to the three levels of meaning,
and the depth and width of experience that they
represent.
In the second set of tapes, Wald touches on the
hidden architecture of the Tree of Life. These tapes are
filled with wonderful information that takes us from the
void completely through to manifested being. The worlds
of Ain, Ain Soph and Ain Soph Aur are discussed, as
well as the right, left and middle pillars on the Tree
of Life. The three triads (the Supernal Triad, the
Triad of Soul and the Triad of Nature) are also defined
and discussed.
In the third set of tapes, Wald
starts discussing the three numbers that act as doorways
in Qabalah - the numbers four, ten and twenty-two.
This is also where the Cube of Space is brought into
discussion. In a very amazing way, he leads us through
"finding" the Cube of Space on our own Tree of Life
diagrams. I have to say - for me, this was riveting
material!
In the fourth set of tapes, Wald discusses the number
twenty-two, and how Qabalah becomes integrated into our
readings in a very natural manner. We look at the
twenty-two trumps, each representing a name for God. We look
at the letter, sound, astrological attribution,
meaning in Hebrew, function, intelligence and path for
each of the twenty-two trumps. And, in kind of a "by
the by" manner, we fall into another way of looking at
reversals for the trumps. Several of the trumps have dual
functions - functions that are diametrically opposed. How to
decide which meaning to use? Looking at the surrounding
cards is one way of doing this. Another way is to take
the second meaning for the trumps when reversed. This
would apply to the Magician, the High Priestess, the
Empress, the Hermit, the Wheel of Fortune, the Tower, the
Sun and the World.
Throughout the tapes the class
has been working with the handouts that were supplied
with the tapes. This is a wonderful, hands on,
experiential way of learning. It carries much more meaning that
simply looking at pre-made graphs and nodding your head -
this is this and that is that. In the writing we place
the knowledge within us. It becomes part of us, and
will be easier to remember. By the time you are done
working with this set of tapes, you will have graphs for
the ten Sephiroth; their numbers; English and Hebrew
names; the paths between the Sephiroth; the placement of
the Trumps on the Tree of Life; the astrological
attributes for each Sephiroth; the three Triads and the
colors associated with each Sephiroth; the Path of the
Lightening Sword (the Path of Emergence); the Four Worlds,
with their primary and secondary attributes and labeled
glyphs of the twenty-two Hebrew letters.
In the very
last section of the tapes, Wald gives the Tarot student
the greatest gift that they could ever receive from a
course on Qabalah. He walks them through setting the
seventy-eight cards of the Tarot on the Tree of Life. In front
of your eyes is the "living" Tarot - the ten
Sephiroth, the twenty-two paths - the whole thing! And it
doesn't stop here. By making use of the court cards, Wald
takes the student through the four elemental worlds
(Fire, Air, Water and Earth). My personal thought - if
this doesn't have an impact on a Tarot students
readings - then nothing will!
I highly recommend this
course for those with an interest in Qabalah as it
relates to Tarot. As Wald states - the course is a bare
bones beginning, upon which the Tarot student will build
their knowledge. Maybe this is bare bones, but there is
a tremendous amount of material to work with in
these tapes! If I could make a suggestion to those that
want to work with these tapes - make copies of the work
sheets. There are enough to work with during the class,
but, if you are like me, you will want more to work
with in the future as you go back and try to place this
wisdom in your life.
© August 2003
Bonnie Cehovet is Certified Tarot Grand Master, a professional Tarot reader with over ten years experience, a Reiki Master/Teacher and a writer. Bonnie has served in various capacities with the American Tarot Association, is co-founder of the World Tarot Network, and Vice President (as well as Director of Certification) for the American Board For Tarot Certification. She has had articles appear in the 2004 and 2005 Llewellyn Tarot Reader.
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