Teeny Tiny Tarot Trumps

Major Arcana from the Tarot of Marseille

The 22 Major Arcana or Trumps from the Tarot of Marseillewhat a wonderful gift! Not only do they stimulate
the creative imagination, they also offer profound insights into our Western Christian tradition. For example, the
series of cards above suggest that we can die before we die that, Christ-like, we can take up our cross --our old
man being crucified with him; that we can become like little children and enter the kingdom NOW; and that being
raised up together with him, NOW, we can abide in him and walk with him in newness of lifehow cool is that!?
Playing the Fool
One way to familiarize yourself with these TeenyTinyTarot Trumps is by means of a very simple game
called, Playing the Fool (or, if you prefer, The Pilgrimage of the Fool). Heres how to play: Gently
randomize the order of the cards taking care not to bend them in the process and lay them out, face
down, in three rows of seven, as follows:
T T T T T T T
T T T T T T T
T T T T T T T
Turn the remaining card face up and play it in its proper position, numerically
speaking. Turn the face-down card that was in that position face up and play it
in its proper numerical position, and so-on, until all the cards have been played
and only The Fool remains. When the game is over, all the numbered cards
should be face up in their proper numerical positions as follows:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
If the unnumbered Fool turns up before the last play of the game (as is usually
the case), play it face down in the position of another face-down card of your
choosing and continue the game as before, until the last card is played in place
of The Fool (wherever it has finally ended up).
When the last numbered card is played and only the unnumbered Fool
remains, the game may begin again:
What we call the beginning is often the end
And to make and end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from ~ T. S. Eliot
NOTE: It is considered by some to be very auspicious when The Fool doesnt turn up until the very last
play of the game. This doesnt happen often, but if you keep playing, chances are it will happen for you.
Best wishes as you continue on your pilgrimage have fun but try not to play the fool too often!

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The Symbolism of the Tarot - Ouspensky

If we imagine twenty-one [numbered Tarot Trumps] disposed in the shape of a triangle, seven
cards on each side, a point in the centre of the triangle represented by the zero card, and a
square round the triangle (the square consisting of fifty-six cards, fourteen on each side), we
shall have a representation of the relation between God, Man and the Universe, or the relation
between the world of ideas, the consciousness of man and the physical world. The triangle is
God (the Trinity) or the world of ideas, or the noumenal world. The point is mans soul. The
square is the visible, physical or phenomenal world. Potentially, the point is equal to the square,
which means that all the visible world is contained in mans consciousness, is created in mans
soul. And the soul itself is a point having no dimension in the world of the spirit, symbolized by
the triangle. It is clear that such an idea could not have originated with ignorant people and
clear also that the Tarot is something more than a pack of playing or fortune-telling cards.
~ D.P. Ouspensky, THE SYMBOLISM OF THE TAROT

Cynthia Giles illustrates this as follows:

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