A Major Arcana Map to Spiritual Transformation
There’s more than one way for the Fool to journey through the tarot! You’re probably used to thinking of the Major Arcana as a sequence, from beginning to end. And even when you study the Majors in those patterns called tableaux, the cards are still laid out in order. But what if we shake it up? Rather than understanding the Major Arcana as twenty-one individual stepping stones, we can organize the cards into seven logical, three-card steps. And what if we based those groupings on the seven classical planets of astrology and the signs they rule? This sounds much easier to wrap your brain around! But wait, don’t those seven planets align with the seven stages of alchemy? You betcha! The Alchemical Tower Tarot Tableau deepens your understanding of the Major Arcana, teaches the astrological correspondences in the cards, and reveals the tarot’s instructions for your alchemical transformation.
In the Beginning: The Thema Mundi
In order to place our tarot tower on a firm foundation, we need to look to the heavens. According to traditional astrology, there is a map called the Thema Mundi, or Chart of the World. This chart describes the origins of the universe. It has 15 degrees of Cancer rising, with the Moon in Cancer, the Sun in Leo, and each planet lining up from fastest to slowest, filling out the next five signs from Virgo to Capricorn. This map is not only the secret source of the planetary rulers of the signs, but it also teaches the theory of the aspects! But as interesting as the Thema Mundi is, we have to move along quickly so we can focus on building our tarot tower.
Traditional Planetary Rulerships
We can take the Thema Mundi one step further. Not only does Mercury fit nicely into Virgo, adjacent to the Sun, but the open space one sign up from the Moon is Gemini, also ruled by Mercury. So we can plug Mercury in there as well. Then the next open spot is Taurus, ruled by Venus, the next planet in line. Again, we can continue this pattern following planetary speed and moving backwards through the signs from the Moon. We conclude this process with Saturn in Aquarius. Back when I was trying to memorize the signs the planets ruled, I would draw this from memory on every scrap of paper I came across in order to cement it in my mind.
The Alchemical Thema Mundi: Saturn to the Sun
Now let’s get alchemical on this tarot tower! This diagram provides the same info as the previous, but it’s arranged to mimic the ladder of the planets. But instead of progressing in the Chaldean order of the planets, from slowest to fastest–Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon–it disrupts this pattern. The Sun is knocked out of its central position and lands at the end of the sequence. Fascinatingly, when we proceed from Saturn to the Sun, we outline the seven-stage alchemical sequence that turns lead (Saturn) into gold (Sun).
Converting the Thema Mundi Planetary Ladder to Tarot
By converting the Thema Mundi ladder of the planets into grid format, we can begin to see an initial draft of our alchemical tarot tower. In fact, we can plug in the corresponding tarot cards into each position in this table and start to examine this from a tarot perspective!
Origin Story of the Alchemical Tower Tarot Tableau
On June 22 of this year I attended a class called, “The Spiral Key: The Hidden Astrological Structure of the Golden Dawn Tarot” with tarot author and teacher Mary K. Greer. Early in the talk she laid out the cards in the Thema Mundi grid. Later, she introduced the Seven Story Tarot Tower. But she laid it out the way it’s usually laid out, cards 1, 2, 3 on the bottom row, 4, 5, 6 above that, 7, 8, 9 next, and so on. Why didn’t she lay them out in astrological order, as she had already demonstrated?
Wait, that Tarot Tower only had six stories because it puts six of the twelve zodiacal signs on one side and six on the other. The Sun and Moon have to share a row! But the metaphor of a seven-story tower most certainly equates to the seven classical planets along with all their correspondences, including colors, metals, etc. Can the Thema Mundi Planetary Ladder be rectified to seven stories?
YES IT CAN!
The Seven Story Tower
The Thema Mundi sequence is from the Moon to Saturn. But the alchemical sequence is inverted, starting with Saturn (lead) and ending with the Sun (gold). So let’s move the Sun and its sign, Leo, to the bottom row. Ta-da! Seven stories.
But because the Moon and Sun only rule one sign each (traditionally, the other planets each rule two signs), the Tower is lopsided. Does it have a narrow base?
Wait, this layout only has nineteen cards. We’re missing three cards! But where to put them?
The Fool, The Hanged Man, Judgment
We’re missing the Fool, Hanged Man, and Judgment.
The Fool is the element air, and the outer planet Uranus.
The Hanged Man is the element water, and the outer planet Neptune.
Judgment is the element fire and the outer planet Pluto.
The Seven Story Tower Rectified
The Fool is the hero making this journey, so he is not part of the Tower but above it, ready to descend.
The Hanged Man is water, so clearly it has to join the emotional Moon and the cardinal water sign Cancer.
Last but not least, Judgment as fire is an obvious choice to take its place with the hot, dry Sun and fixed fire sign Leo.
The Alchemical Tower Tarot Tableau Reveals Its Secrets
The Fool is Uranus, the modern ruler of Aquarius. Makes sense that he’s right above that row.
The Hanged Man, which we placed with the watery Moon, is Neptune, the modern ruler of Pisces. But Neptune is an octave of Venus. Venus rules Taurus–the sign of the Moon’s exaltation.
Judgment, next to the Sun, is Pluto, modern ruler of Scorpio. Pluto is an octave of Mars, which rules Aries–the sign of the Sun’s exaltation.
To recap, the Hanged Man and Judgment not only fit comfortably into the Sun and Moon rows based on their element, but when considered as the corresponding outer planets they point us to signs that are important for the Sun and Moon.
Pretty cool!
The Alchemical Tower Tarot Tableau as the Seven Alchemical Stages
There are a variety of ways to understand the stages of alchemy. The most basic is the two-step process, solve et coagula, or dissolve and reform. The essential philosophy of alchemy is to eliminate the dross, then purify what’s left. The alchemist repeats this in different ways to try to reach a perfect, spiritual result.
Another common way of understanding the alchemical process is to see it in three operations, known as blackening, whitening, and reddening. Some authors will insert a fourth stage of yellowing between the white and red stages. The blackening stage represents the elimination of what’s not needed, the whitening is the purification of what remains, and the reddening is the influx of the spiritual component into the end product.
And that’s not all! There can be up to twelve or more stages, and each author will understand them in their own unique way. But no matter how you slice it, it always comes down to eliminating the unwanted, purifying what’s left, and infusing spiritual energy to create a final outcome.
But for our purposes, we’ll work with the seven stage approach to alchemy which matches with the seven planets and our newly formed seven story alchemical tarot tower.
Mineral, Vegetable, And Personal
Incidentally, there are two types of alchemy, transformation of metals (turning lead into gold, the origin of the modern science of chemistry) and the creation of plant tinctures (known as spagyrics). In both styles, the process that the object undergoes (the transformation of mineral or plant) is a metaphor for the spiritual evolution of the alchemist. The alchemist undergoes transformation in parallel to the work he does.
Saturn: Calcination
The first stage of alchemy is calcination, or burning away the unnecessary to reveal the unchanging inner core. The word “calcination” derives from calx, which means limestone or chalk, but in alchemy usually refers to bone. In this stage the alchemist eliminates everything impermanent to find the most basic, essential, inalterable substance, known as the alchemical salt.
This becomes immediately clear as we look at the three tarot cards on this level of the alchemical tarot tower. The top row, the starting point centered on Saturn, shows The Star, The World, and The Devil.
First, it’s easy to see an overview of the three basic stages of alchemy indicated here: The Devil is base matter, ready for transformation. The Star represents purification and spiritualization. The World is a perfect representation of the lapis philosophorum, or the final and perfected result, the philosopher’s stone.
But even as this first step promises the completion of the process, it also clearly indicates the necessary first step of calcination. The Star as Aquarius gives us the vision of what we want to accomplish. The Devil as Capricorn shows impediments that must be overcome and gives us the diligence to do the work of building ourselves anew. The Devil’s flaming torch lights the tail of one of the imps, initiating this first, fiery step. The World, Saturn, is the resulting alchemical salt, or the bone that cannot be burned away. In medical astrology, Capricorn is the skeleton and Saturn governs the bones.
Jupiter: Dissolution
Dissolution is the second of the seven alchemical operations. In this stage, the alchemical salt remaining from the calcination process is dissolved in a solvent to further purify it. This process can dilute or wash away any remaining imperfections.
Looking at the three cards for this level, we see The Moon, The Wheel of Fortune, and Temperance. One common interpretation of Temperance is that the angel dilutes wine with water. Even the Sagittarius correspondence of the card reminds us that we are only one drop in the whole, as we explore places and ideas that are so much bigger than us. The Moon, Pisces, the ocean, is also an excellent representation of dilution, and the ocean literally is salt dissolved in water. But the Moon also reminds us of the dark, shadowy night we must journey through in order to reach our far-off goal. The Wheel of Fortune at its most literal is the stirring process used to dissolve the salt! But it also illustrates that the King must experience complete loss of self before climbing to the height of authority.
Mars: Separation
We now arrive at the third stage, separation, governed by the planet Mars. This stage can include the use of filtration, distillation (which comes up as its own stage later on), funneling, and using screens. The idea is to keep similar things together and let dissimilar things pass by. This process includes dividing something into pieces, or sorting like things together, for example, making piles of like-colored puzzle pieces before starting the puzzle. The alchemist purifies the separated pieces before reuniting them all.
Looking now to our cards, we see The Emperor (Aries) and Death (Scorpio) flanking The Tower (Mars). As I was meditating on these, it seemed to me that one way our society uses to separate people into groups is hierarchy–a good keyword for the Emperor who is the top dog of the Empire. By ranking things, it becomes easy to sort them. This can be applied to anything you can make into a Top Ten list–our culture responds whole-heartedly to anything that someone else has deemed the best.
Likewise, Death reminds me of any on-off binary such as live or die, keep or sacrifice, choose or decline. It represents a very strict form of separation: accepted or rejected. Gossip magazines love to tell us who or what is in–or, horrors, out. At the same time, learning discernment, or the practice of making considered evaluations, is very important in everyday life. It’s even more important when we stand face to face with those once-in-a-lifetime monster decisions.
The Tower certainly fits here–both as the well-established institution on the verge of collapse, as well as the freedom of release from impending doom when our good judgment shows us an answer.
Venus: Conjunction
The fourth alchemical operation is conjunction. In this stage, the alchemist brings the separated, purified essences together, rejoining them in a new, refined incarnation. The object is fully corrected and rectified. This can be the first glimpse of the integration of the heavenly forces with the earthly object, although we’ll see even more spiritualization of the object in future stages.
The alchemical tarot tower shows us at this level The Hierophant and Justice on either side of The Empress. Interestingly, as the Venus-ruled signs, both The Hierophant (Taurus) and Justice (Libra) are associated with marriage, or the joining of people in a legal and spiritual union. But we see further than this very specific and relevant interpretation. The word “hierophant” means “to show forth what is holy.” That is the goal of the conjunction stage–to make our alchemical creation holy, or more specifically, to discover the holiness concealed within. This is symbolized by the marriage of the Sun and Moon, the union of the subtle and gross. The Empress as Venus can represent the gestation of the alchemical child, which will be born in the final stage.
Mercury: Fermentation
Next we come to fermentation. At this stage, Spirit is fully integrated with the body or Salt of the alchemical object we are creating. If you’ve ever made wine or beer, you know that at a certain stage of the fermentation process gas bubbles are released. This is symbolic of the integration of Spirit in the work. Interestingly, for an advanced stage, this can include anything that rots and sometimes putrefaction is included at this level. However it’s achieved, the influx of Spirit inspires and motivates you with direction and guidance.
The cards for this level are The Lovers and The Hermit on either side of The Magician. Although the Lovers might seem like a more literal fit for Venus and conjunction, it is interesting to note that as Gemini, the card represents The Twins. In mythology, one twin is usually mortal and the other immortal. This is another way of saying that the divine and mundane are combined at this level. The Hermit, walking his lonely path, fits nicely at this level because he has found his guiding light. The Magician, correlated to the planet Mercury, clearly points up to Spirit with one hand, while the other indicates the infusion of that ethereal energy into the earth below–or into the objects on his table. Mercury, also known as Hermes the god of magic, knows that every magical operation depends on the activation of the material level with incorporeal forces.
Moon: Distillation
Our penultimate stage is distillation, ruled by Luna. Once we have brewed our rotting must, we can distill it into the concentrated liquor known as “spirits.” This stage involves evaporating and condensing our alchemical work to gain its most pure, concentrated, and essential power. Alchemists compare this operation to the formation of dew by the Moon just before sunrise.
The three cards are The Chariot (Cancer), The Hanged Man (water, Neptune), and The High Priestess (Luna). If you think of The Chariot as an enclosed and protected space that allows forward movement, it becomes quickly apparent that this vehicle is an excellent metaphor for the complex distillation apparatus. Distillation is achieved by heating a vessel, which opens into a another, cooler vessel above. The reduction of temperature causes the steam to condense, at which point it trickles down a long tube and is caught in the final receptacle. Each step of this process must be sealed in such a way that cross-contamination cannot occur.
Another symbol for this stage is the font, and the descending Hanged Man, head down toward water in some card illustrations, can easily be seen as the catechumen entering the waters of baptism.
The High Priestess, holder of secrets and wisdom, the veil behind her concealing the deep, is the essence of this stage, herself the sealed vessel which transforms the life force into pure light.
Sun: Coagulation
The seventh and crowing stage of the alchemical process is coagulation. At this stage, all the disparate elements are reunited one last time into the lapis philosophorum, the philosopher’s stone. Here we experience the birth of the divine child, the complete concentration of the most pure and spiritualized powers and the perfection of our work. This stage is often symbolized as a walled garden full of bounty, safe and secure. Another symbol is the resurrection of the phoenix out of fire. It represents complete transformation, rebirth, and reinvigoration.
The alchemical tarot tower shows us Judgment (fire, Pluto) and Strength (Leo) flanking the Sun (Sol). These cards tell this complex story simply. Judgment is the calling forth of our complete and perfect self–body, soul, spirit–into a new, transcendent life. Strength shows the alchemical red lion (Sulfur), integrated under the gentle control of the White Queen (Mercury), united as one (Salt) via the linking chain of roses, in a state of perpetual success indicated by the lemniscate above her head. As Leo, the stage reminds us to shine the light of our true, divinely inspired Self. The Sun card itself shows the alchemical child, safe in the walled garden, arms outstretched in the purest joy of life.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed this tour through the creation and explication of the Alchemical Tarot Tower Tableau. If you’d like to dive deeper into these ideas and learn how to use them to study the Major Arcana and to transform yourself, please register for my pre-recorded class, “The Alchemical Tower Tableau: A Major Arcana Map to Spiritual Transformation.” For more info and to register, visit the class page.
