Book T
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@Her said
"Does anyone know why the Golden Dawn's Book T starts the minor arcana / decan system from the first degree of Leo and the 5 of Wands?
Wouldn't the first degree of Aries and the 2 of Wands be a more natural starting point?"
A couple of reasons. One, Mathers was an early advocate of a form of the Sidereal zodiac, though he was about 5° off on the correct starting point - he thought Regulus marked 0° Leo, whereas it's really at 5° Leo. In any case, he thought this marked the beginning of the actual zodiac.
But also, this allowed the discussion of the decanates to begin with a Saturn-ruled decanate. That's really no more than an organizational device for the monograph, of course.
The sequence has no relevance for the Tarot itself - it's just a catalogue device. The natural sequence through the Tarot (for tracking its underlying Story) is: Aleph through Tav, then Knight (= King) of Wands through Princess of Disks, then Ace of Wands through 10 of Disks (in the sequence: all Wands, then all Cups, etc.).
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93 Al,
Quote Jim:
"But also, this allowed the discussion of the decanates to begin with a Saturn-ruled decanate. That's really no more than an organizational device for the monograph, of course.
The sequence has no relevance for the Tarot itself - it's just a catalogue device. The natural sequence through the Tarot (for tracking its underlying Story) is: Aleph through Tav, then Knight (= King) of Wands through Princess of Disks, then Ace of Wands through 10 of Disks (in the sequence: all Wands, then all Cups, etc.)."
Captivating answer Jim. I have always been under the impression that the decanates or minor arcana where specific groupings of the Major Arcana to produces specific results in tarot meditations and possibly rituals.
Such as the 6 of wands, (*Tiphareth in Atziluth: Jupiter in Leo: Atu-10 the *Wheel of fortune & Atu-11 Strength) produces an attitude and the conditions of Victory in life. Or say, the 10 of pentacles (*Malkuth in *Assiah: Mercury in Virgo: Atu-1 the magician & Atu-9 The Hermit) produces an attitude and the conditions for Wealth in life. Am I in left field on this?
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@Ankh said
"Captivating answer Jim. I have always been under the impression that the decanates or minor arcana where specific groupings of the Major Arcana to produces specific results in tarot meditations and possibly rituals."
The Majors can be used as a tool for meditation on the Minors - which isn't exactly what you said, but maybe close enough
"Such as the 6 of wands, (*Tiphareth in Atziluth: Jupiter in Leo: Atu-10 the *Wheel of fortune & Atu-11 Strength) produces an attitude and the conditions of Victory in life."
Or, perhaps, the meditation on the Kaph and Teth cards (for Jupiter + Leo) can be expected to give insight into exactly what the word "Victory" means when applied to that card (in contrast to the four 7s, expessions of Netzach, which each show what is necessary to attain Victory in the respective worlds.)
"Or say, the 10 of pentacles (*Malkuth in *Assiah: Mercury in Virgo: Atu-1 the magician & Atu-9 The Hermit) produces an attitude and the conditions for Wealth in life. Am I in left field on this?
"Again, I'd put it differently: I think these meditations answer the question, "What does the card really mean?", which indirectly becomes, "Why is it called Wealth? What does that really mean?
In this present example, Malkuth in Earth nearly gives the whole answer: It is the fulfilment of manifestation to the level of Assiah, the peak abundance of potentiality of manifestation. (Etc. Other words would serve, other ideas would give nuance. This is off-the-cuff.) Mercury+Virgo gives further insight, which might include how to align oneself with that idea of "wealth," etc.
In the prior example, again, the Sephirothic expression nearly tells us the whole story. Tiphereth in Fire tells us this card is expressing the Beauty of the Will - the equilibration, balance, centered vitality, etc. of the Will idea. Sun + Jupiter (the Sephirah and the symbolic decanate ruler) give an inherent idea of blessedness, royalty, abundance, the highest quality and dignity, etc. The Kaph and Teth cards can lead us down other meditative avenues that give much more subtlety.