Cactusland

The Hermit is examined through film and art.

The Chariot is examined in relation to the sign of Cancer and Plato's Allegory of the Chariot.

The Hierophant as seen through geometric art, law, math, music and political and religious dogma.

The Lovers card is explored through the astrological sign of Gemini, the twins, Castor and Pollux.

The Emperor is explored through his association with the astrological sign of Aries, the god Mars, political leaders, generals and Shakespeare's play, Henry V.

The Empress is explored through her clear association with the goddess Venus and her connections to Astarte, Inanna and Ishtar.

The High Priestess is explored through The Thunder, Perfect Mind and her correspondence with water, the Moon, the Virgin and several saints.

The Magician is explored through is connection with alchemy and art.

The Fool is explored through his core archetypes, the trickster and Parsifal from the Grail Legends.

The structure of the Major Arcana are explored, making associations between the cards and the seven classical planets, the signs of the zodiac and the four classical elements.

Duality is at the backbone of esoteric thought, and this section of the film explores how duality expresses itself in the four humors, the four elements, astrology and the cross. Joseph Campbell gives an explanation of the crucial duality between the sun and the moon.

Part 3 explores the meaning and structure behind the archetypes of the major arcana of the Tarot. Special emphasis is paid to the tetractys and the Pythagorean origins of the cards as well as the Jungian concepts relevant to understanding the major arcana.

Part 2 explores the origins of the major arcana of the tarot as well as the influences on it, including alchemy and the Cathars, from the first Visconti- Sforza deck through to the Rider-Waite-Smith deck.

The subtitles have the transliteration as well as the English translation. The Argala Stotram is a prayer to the Goddess Durga by the Rishi Markandeya performed by Krishna Das. I used images and clips from other projects to accompany the music. https://www.krishnadas.com/lyrics/sri-argala-stotram-selected-verses-show-me-love/ The final clip is a reading from the Gnostic text, The Thunder, Perfect Mind. http://gnosis.org/naghamm/thunder.html

The Strength card is explained through Plato's concept of the tripart nature of the soul, the four classical virtues and the teachings of Christ.

This is part one of a 27 part series on the esoteric meaning of the major arcana of the Tarot. This video explores the reasons why the major arcana of the tarot are relevant and meaningful today.