Vol 3, No 9
The Tarot Arcana
Humanity's
Horoscope
by Valentin Sidorov
Translated from the Russian
by Timofey Reshetov
Esoteric Activity Under Communism During visible human history, constant attempts have been made to lift the veil of complex terminology and enigmatic, ancient symbols that purposely hid the esoteric mysteries from the uninitiated.At the dawn of Christian civilization, attempts were made by alchemists and Kabbalists to decode these cryptograms of ancient wisdom. In more recent times, this decoding was done by Theosophists. But it may be that the researchers of the Russian Arcana are the ones who came closest to the edge of the eternal mysteries. The turn of the 19th and 20th centuries were both distinguished by an unprecedented rise of Russian spiritual thought — a phenomenon usually known as Russian Cosmism. Russian Cosmism is connected with the names of great scientists, who, while totally in accord with scientific principles, managed to extend the boundaries of earthly science toward cosmic infinity. Nikolai F. Fedorov, author of The Philosophy of Common Cause, succeeded in providing a scientific ground to the apparently totally mystical problem of raising the dead. Fedorov's successor, Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky, attempted to find practical applications for his ideas.However, the school of Russian Cosmism is not confined to these names. It is wider and deeper, and has been more thoroughly concealed. The Himalayan branch of this school is undoubtedly represented by Nicholas and Helena Roerich (see the separate article about the Roerichs in this issue), who introduced us to Agni Yoga, a discipline that reveals the laws of the Subliminal World through a scientific paradigm that coincides in many of its parameters with Vernadsky's noosphere.However, the iceberg of Russian Cosmism — as is appropriate for an iceberg — has its secret, underwater part, never suspected by the uninitiated. Spiritual Activity Under Communism From an outside view, Russia was turning into a country of militant atheism, appearing to be a spiritless desert. Not in vain did Tomberg characterize the unthinkable and fantastic as "a Christian hermeticist on Red Square in Moscow on ... the anniversary of the October Revolution."[1]Well, in spite of the strictly arithmetic logic of external factors, Christian hermeticists did show up at the Soviet main square on revolutionary holidays — and not only once. But this never hindered them in continuing their invisible inner work — work that never stopped for a moment, even under the most extreme conditions. But they were doomed to obscurity, not only because of the strict secrecy that was required, but also because their most sensitive work belonged to the Future — a time whose coordinates were unknown to them. Today, what was occurring then seems miraculous. Never denying current reality — coordinating their actions with the undeviating rules prescribed by the present moment — the hermeticists of the new school lived in the Future. For they were guided by the Teaching of the Future, personified to them in the name of Paraclete the Consoler.[2] They saw themselves as citizens of the Country of Paraclete, the place where Russian saints and hermits go when the time of incarnation of the Holy Spirit on Earth is come. And who knows? Perhaps at the very moment when Tomberg was speculating that Christian hermeticism could not co-exist with Soviet rule, these Soviet hermeticists, in the cellars of their communal apartments, were bending calmly over their drawings of the Arcana, trying to contemplate them from the viewpoint of the Teaching of the Future. Just as Tomberg had, they found themselves in the vibrational field of Christian esoterics. But in order to stress the cosmic nature of the teaching of the Church of Christ, they preferred to call their works on arcanology[3] (and not only arcanology) "Cosmic Yoga." The Russian Language and the In the meantime, the spiritual essence of this Revolution was clearly highlighted. For example, the Decree of Soviet rule, released one year after the famous Decrees of Land and Peace,[4] had a modest, humdrum title: "On Introduction of New Orthography." This decree structured the sequence of cases [grammatical elements], and withdrew some obviously archaic letters from common use. However, behind the seemingly unpretentious name of this act, the real Revolution lay hidden. It was the second October Revolution, and was scarcely less important than the first, both in its scale and in its consequences. For there is an indisputable truth not always registered by our minds: "In the beginning was the Word." A case in point is the Cyrillic alphabet. Spreading among the Slavic peoples, it had a resolute influence on their destiny. Without it, Russian Orthodox civilization could never have administered its people. It is no accident that the Church, both Orthodox and Catholic, views the activities of Cyril and Mephody, authors of the Slavic alphabet, as a kind of High Apostolic Service. The Russian language reform and the new Cyrillic alphabet, despite the subjective intentions of its creators, were intended to fulfill the needs of the coming epoch. What, in actuality, was the major, principal outcome? Only this: After sifting out all secondary and unnecessary effects, it brought about an alphabet consisting of 33 letters! I assure you that this number was by no means random, just as it is not a random occurrence that the ancient Hebrew alphabet consists of 22 letters. The structure of the initiatory language is subject to profound laws that are hidden from a superficial eye. The very number 22, which corresponds to the number of the Major Arcana, points to an enigmatic cosmic mystery. But the same mystery may be divined in the number 33, which corresponds to the number of Jesus Christ's years of life on Earth. As is known, the ancient Hebrew language (which, legends say, is the same as the language of Atlantis) is directly connected with the celestial sphere: constellations' outlines are reproduced in the inscriptions of its letters. But the Russian language also — and this is no secret now — has celestial roots. Madame Blavatsky, as though she foresaw the appearance of modern Russian, considered the Russian language of her time [1831 – 1891] to be a sort of projection of esoteric astronomy. According to her, its luminous structure was composed of the 12 signs of the Zodiac and the 7 basic colors, with each color having 3 tints (light, normal, and dark). Twelve plus 7×3, or 21, equals 33. Like the initiatory vocabulary of the ancients, the 33 letters of the Russian alphabet are inspired by the Star Breath of the Sky. It's what Roerich used to call the "Sanskrit of the future," a language intended to be the conductor of the wave of the Holy Spirit on Earth! When we see this, we may then realize why there is such a prayerful attitude toward the Russian language ("You alone my prop and support, oh great, mighty, true, and free Russian language"). And when we accept this, then it becomes clear why any attempt to profane the language turns into an assault against the Holy Spirit — something that may not go unpunished. This seems to have been borne out by the fate of that ill-starred and illiterate initiator of language reform, Nikita Khruschev ... who was State Leader at the height of the Reform preparations. Here is the warning that resounded in the heartfelt rhythms of [poet] Yaroslav Smeliakov: "Even leaders disappeared, momentarily and forever, once they by chance encroached upon the essence of the Russian tongue." And, finally, once we understand these esoteric roots, then we see that the Russian language has become the sacred language of the present time, and is thus the surest key to deciphering the portentous secrets contained in the Major Arcana of the Tarot. This was Maria V. Dorogova's opinion. She would also want to add that the Pythagorean science of numbers is harmoniously consistent with the Russian alphabet. "Present-day numerology," she used to say, "doesn't require complicated mathematical operations: It comes down to a simple, numerical definition of letters from 'A' to 'Ya.' This is quite sufficient for deciphering the arcanological meaning of words." . . . . The fundamental approach to arcanology — and this is especially stressed by Maria Vadimovna — is constantly to keep in mind the Great Unity of the Arcana. This is because every Arcanum is present in all the others, and all of the Arcana are present in each one.The Major Arcana: A Horoscope for Humanity's Future Introduction to Arcanology The Major Arcana of the Tarot are considered to be the highest revelation from the highest spiritual center of Planet Earth. They are the quintessence of the ancient wisdom, where one who aspires to spiritual knowledge may distinguish the fiery signs of the Future.The cosmic-initiatory path of humankind is encoded in the symbolic drawings, laid out from time immemorial in strict accord with the laws of esoteric geometry. I say "cosmic" because humankind — and this was no secret to adepts of the ancient wisdom — is not enclosed in tight boundaries. Humankind is a cosmic entity. The task that has always arisen before the keepers of the sources of the innermost knowledge has been to protect, at whatever cost, the guiding thread of the mystical tradition. During periods of global cataclysm, whether social or natural — times when the material wealth of civilizations was lost — the keepers of this knowledge have protected it, making sure that it would be there once again when needed by those whose spirits were not yet awakened. According to legend, everything started in Atlantis. It was there that the cosmic hieroglyphs of the initiatory vocabulary of humanity were first drawn. Then, just before the downfall of Atlantis, they were moved to the Egyptian temples. Similarly, in Ancient Egypt, the symbols were moved once more in expectation of the inevitable intrusion of Barbarians. But this time, the task was more complicated. Guaranteeing the integrity of the arcanological symbols for the future required that they be spread everywhere, throughout the Earth. Still, although some exterior, ornamental aspects of the cosmic signs have become altered due to pressure of time and certain other conditions, the main contours of the esoteric drawings have remained intact. (Indeed, this is a never-ending process, a sort of "reincarnation" of the Arcana. They seemingly "die" only to incarnate in a new shape, but still filled unfailingly with the same spiritual content.) So in this way, the ancient symbols of the Tarot have finally reached us in the form of a Gypsy deck of playing and divinatory cards, divided into two parts. The first part consists of 22 cards, 22 being the number of the Great or Major Arcana. The second deck contains 56 cards, the number of the Small or Minor Arcana. Spiritual paths of humanity are marked with the luminous dotted lines of the Major Arcana, which actually are descended from the ancient Egyptian cryptography of the 22 Emerald Tablets of Hermes Trismigistus [or Thoth]. (This information was undermined by Madam Blavatsky when she stated that it was the "Father of all Existence" who carved out the "22 Letters of the Foundation.") These 22 Letters of the Foundation are prefigured in the alphabet of ancient Hebrew. According to legend, this alphabet, in which every letter renders the outlines of certain constellations, was developed in Atlantis. Thus, in a way, the Major Arcana are no less than the esoteric horoscope of humankind! And so, deciphering them requires more than just penetration into the deepest mysteries of the sacred language. It also requires penetration into the deepest mysteries of sacred mathematics, and is thus inseparable from the work of Pythagoras. We know now that it was Pythagoras who discovered that nine numerals lie at the foundation of Universal structure, giving order to all its yeasty chaos and harmonizing the cosmic processes (a decade, or "ten," being nothing more than a return to the "one"). The essence of Pythagorean numerology is that the esoteric root of any number may be derived from the number itself. In other words, any multidigit number may, by adding up the digits of which it is composed, be brought down to a single integer. According to this same system of numerology, every letter of the initiatory language of humankind corresponds to a certain number that pertains to its inner vibration. Number and Word are indivisible!
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