The Wandering Fool & Three Lectures on Hermeticism: Love and its Symbols, Early Studies on the Tarot by Tomberg Valentin

Author:Tomberg, Valentin [Tomberg, Valentin]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: INgrooves
Published: 2009-05-28T16:00:00+00:00

The Tarot Symbol According to Rudolf Steiner

Let us first consider the significance of the Greek letters Tau and Rho. Rho has a very profound meaning. Observe how the letters are drawn. In our modern alphabet the letters are relatively abstract shapes. When we go back to the Greek or earlier alphabets, however, the shape of the letters still had a symbolic, imaginative, spiritual significance—as in the Hebrew language, for example.

Figure 1

Our letter “R” is derived from the Greek letter Rho (ρ), which is essentially a circle with a tail on it. Looking at the letter Rho, one can see that it is an imaginative representation of the human head and spinal column together. Thus Rho represents the human being. This is especially clear from the original Greek way of writing the letter Rho (as contrasted with the abstract typescript image of modern times).

On the other hand the Tau symbol relates to the very ancient impulse underlying the religion of Taoism.1 Our letter “T” is derived from the Greek letter Tau (τ). In the ancient Chinese religion Tao represented the force of nature, the force related to Isis in the ancient Egyptian mysteries. Tau represents the intelligent force of nature that is leading all the time to higher and higher levels of evolution. It is a force with which we can connect and which guides humanity to ever higher levels on the evolutionary path.

The Tarot symbol made up of Tau and Rho represents a coming together of the force of nature, the inner spirit of nature (Tao), symbolized by the letter Tau, with that which is represented by the letter Rho, which has to do with the human soul. Tarot—Tau plus Rho—is very often translated as “the Way.” It represents the way of the human soul incarnated in a physical body connected with the whole of nature (by virtue of being in a physical body here on the earth).

This is one level of understanding the Tarot symbol, and this was known in the ancient Egyptian mysteries. Here is what Rudolf Steiner says regarding this image in his lecture on the Christmas tree:

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