Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey into Christian Hermeticism

by Valentin Tomberg, Robert Powell (Translator), Robert Spaemann (Introduction)

Drawing on the rich resources of Christianity, including its oft-neglected esoteric streams, Meditations on the Tarot glows with the radiance of contemplation enriched by the sacramental life found in the Corpus mysticum. Published now with an extended table of contents, supplementary material, recently discovered early notes, and an exhaustive index, the Angelico Press edition of this spiritual classic, which has drawn boundless praise, is a priceless gift for today's spiritual seekers. "A thinking, praying Christian of unmistakable purity leads us meditatively into the deeper, all-embracing wisdom of the Catholic Mystery." Hans Urs von Balthasar " Meditations on the Tarot helps us see that the future of orthodoxy and above all its metaphysical coherence, may depend upon a new engagement with Sophiology, theurgic Neoplatonism, and Hermeticism." John Milbank "These Letters lead us to a deeper level of seeing , a seeing of primal phenomena and similarities ." Robert Spaemann " Meditations on the Tarot shows that Christianity has not been lost, but lives and breathes." Stratford Caldecott "The book begs not only to be studied cover to cover, but also to be savored, meditated upon and assimilated into one's life." Richard W. Kropf, National Catholic Reporter " Meditations on the Tarot has been a constant source of spiritual renewal and companionship." Michael Martin "The anonymous author's recovery of Christian Hermeticism is quite simply manna in the desert." Therese Schroeder-Sheker "It is without doubt the most extraordinary work I have ever read. It has tremendous spiritual depth and insight." Trappist abbot Basil Pennington, OCSO "This book, in my view, is the greatest contribution to date toward the rediscovery and renewal of the Christian contemplative tradition of the Fathers of the Church and the High Middle Ages." Trappist abbot Thomas Keating, OCSO

Genres: Tarot, Religion, Spirituality, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Christianity, Occult

768 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Valentin Arnoldevitch Tomberg was an Estonian-Russian Christian mystic, scholar, and hermetic magician.

Reviews

[Szplug · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sui generis, at least as regards my reading experience so far. A profound, beguiling, and massively erudite exposition upon Christian Hermeticism built from within the traditions of the Roman Catholic church. The anonymous author—who insisted that his French original be published posthumously—delivers his perceived insight and transcendent guidance from beyond the grave, in a manner of speaking, via epistolic essays on the twenty-two Major Arcana of the Tarot. Dense and difficult—the more so as I entered the book woefully uninformed about Catholic and Christian Hermetic ritual and terminology—but also endlessly fascinating and edifying, especially in the recondite and convincing manner with which scientific, psychological, and anthropological phenomena are reconciled with the spiritual revelation of Christ. A billion microbes of bacteria find their explicatory place in the Hermetic tradition.

Most astonishing is the vast wealth of scholarship invested by the author in this labour of love. Entire volumes of disparate material have been sifted and parsed through this pen wielded by an unknown hand in order to provide thoroughgoing directions for a mystic augmentation of one's spiritual life. One need not be a Christian, nor even a believer in God, to become lost within the pathways of the Tarot as so rendered—indeed, if it does nothing else, this tome will spark the imagination and stir the creative juices of any reader still capable of drawing breath. A book not to be read so much as studied, pondered over and, inevitably, returned to for another dose of enigmatically bracing wisdom.

[Cordelia Becker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a book to read cover to cover. It is a book I keep and read passages. The unknown author is actually a fellow (I've heard that his name is Valentin Tomberg) who was deeply involved in the Golden Dawn/Rosicrusion/Rudolf Steiner crowd and then converted to Catholicism - perhaps becoming a monk (not sure about that). This is no airy fairy, hippie dippie new age book it's a intensely researched tome.

He uses the Tarot Deck to reconcile the modern church with the Gnostic traditions. (I'm not a scholar in these matters this is just my take on it) Anyway I am neither Catholic nor to I practice Hermeticism but something about this book facinates me. I read a page from it weekly. It's giving me a great education because he makes hundreds of references (The dude is uber-erudite) to things I've never heard or things I've heard of but never took the time to understand - he inspires me to look up his various references -- just so I can know what the heck he is talking about. The only thing is my paperback version is a mess - from my scribbled notes and highlighting - I can be cruel to books I love -- I think I'll have to get a hard bound version at some point.

My faviorite chapter is Temperance Card 14 - this card represents genius and our guardian angel. He speaks of this Angel as being an entity whose purpose is only to serve our needs...well he says it better than I:"An Angel depends on man in his creative activity. If the human being does not ask for it (help), if he turns away from him. the Angel has no motive for creative activity".....(the angel) can then fall into a....twilight existence".... "An Angel who has nothing to exist for is a tragedy in the spiritual world. Therefore Unknown Friend, think of your guardian Angel, think of him when you have problems, questions to resolve, tasks to accomplish, plans to formulate, cares and fears to appease! Think of him as a luminous cloud of maternal love above you, moved by the sole desire to serve you and be useful to you."

He also has an interesting take on card #24 - Death which has given me an interesting insight on the millions of women involved in scrapbooking and the new interest North Americans are taking in the Latin American holiday "Dia De Los Muertos_ - Death far from being a scarey card is really a message about memory and memorializing those who are no longer with us.

[Roger Buck · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my experience, to engage sincerely with this book is to engage with more than a book. It is to engage with a living spiritual saint, master and genius of the highest order. A very human being, with the warmest of hearts, the most lucid of minds. A profound, profound thinker whose heart, burning with compassion for the world, gave us a manual of practical Christian transformation – a transformation that has undone my neuroses, strengthened my sanity, vastly enlarged my scope of feeling, vitalised my mind, melted my anger, fired my compassion, deepened my calmness. And more, so, so much, much more besides.

But not only this, he has given us a compendium of psychology, sociology, politics, theology, philosophy and hermeticism that could offer the new millennium – in all its potential horror – the wisest of guides. More here at my website inspired by this book:

http://corjesusacratissimum.org/2009/...

I also have an archive of posts devoted to Valentin Tomberg with material from him which is unusual and hard to find in the Anglosphere: http: //corjesusacratissimum.org/tag/valentin...

[Jessecooperlevy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anonymous is the best writer ever.

[Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most valuable books I possess - not in terms of how much I would get selling it second hand, but because it has such a depth of valuable scholarship in it. The writer, who chooses (chose) to remain anonymous, poured his/her learning into these 'meditations' on the major arcana of the Tarot. The reader is provided with an education into esoteric symbology that goes far beyond most so called esoteric books, because the writer has/had such a wonderful grasp of the intricacies of the thought that underlies the Tarot.
You can read it from cover to cover but you are more likely to take it a chapter at a time as almost every paragraph has ideas to ponder and penetrate.
I discovered some years back that I had shared a flat in Brighton (UK) with Robert Powell who translated this book from the original German. Strange the byways of fate.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't say enough about this book. To give you an idea how amazing I think it is, after finishing it I went back to the beginning and started reading it again. I have never done that before, certainly not for a dense 650 page book. Anyone interested in self-improvement, philosophy, sacred magic, or alchemy should check it out. If you come from a Christian background it will be familiar territory. If not take it with a grain of salt. Although the other does draw on every major religion and many philosophers, he is unapologetically Catholic. I was raised Catholic, so I was fine with it. Some people might not like this. Addresses many of life's tougher questions that people seldom discuss.

[Alex Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

2014 Review
As creatures of language, we use meaning to tell us who we are, where we are, what we are and how we are to be. This author dives deeply into the meanings of many deep traditions, as is his chosen methodoloy: Christian Hermeneutics. Hermeneutics is the interpretation of text; really trying to get meaning out of words. So very exactly, this author has tasked for himself to find the meaning of traditions (religion, philosophy, linguistics, cultural critics, historical figures, literary figures, writers...), anyone or work of art whose sole function is to tell us who we are, where we are, what we are and how we are to be.

To organize this search, he uses the vehicle of Tarot cards, as a spiritual journey, a transformation of self to be more than self, in order to describe the ascent (or the beginning of such an ascent) to have a deeper holistic grasp of the universe around us. This book is not about fortune-telling.

One of the many spoken and returned to themes (and there are many) is the Jungian subconscious. Because we use our internal filing systems qua archetypes to structure relationships in the world, we have access to the outside only in that way. And in that sense, despite archetypes or despite language, we literally have the world through these forms. These forms, like the Tarot, become the Runic gateway not only to our unconscious but also to the outside.

But also because of using forms, we run the risk of producing relations. Because we live in these form arrangements, we otherwise know these forms as reality. The author warns us, there is a difference between reality and truth. That is to say, don't get caught up in your world and lose the true union with the universal-all.

Rightly so. In a Hegelian like synthesis (without the chaos of Hegel), this author runs the gambit, a real cornucopia of meanings, picks and chooses, guides our way across them in argument leading us on a possible path, an interpretation of a huge sum of human knowledge to the point at which portals break down, words become invisible and you understand more than yourself... also your ultimate place, where you can't get knocked down. Literally lodging you so no one can move you from there, you just understand and you are that understanding. No one can beat you talk, or talk you out of yourself. You just are. Nirvana, heaven, you name it, he's considered it and arranged it here for us to see it. See it all in relation.

A real He-man, fascinating piece of work this art. It took me over a decade to get through this book, with many false starts, interruptions of life, and a need to learn how to read better and be more clear in thought... but also, in a way, an impossible pipe-dream too, don't you think? To think we can break the noumenal skin that separates the i from the not-i... and then sort of melt into the rest of the world and become 1.

Yet despite this stated goal, when one reads, one gets a better sense of the larger world around us. Transitory in nature, full of riddles, temptations and desires for status -- the author shows us how these things are... so we can learn. this author too wants us to be grounded in a humanly, divine way, to be among fellow men. We are to be, in our spiritual quest, better human beings, which is part of being of the world. He shows us this indirectly, discarding and picking up forms, to give us stepping stones to the way.
---
2021 Review
This second time around reading it, it becomes clearer how each card can express a relationship in the world -- if you want, a kind of truth, a way of being. This book is a hermeneutic exploration of each of those relationships as they form an open but combinatory system for understanding who we are and how we are in the world.

This time, rather than seeing the cards as a kind of search for truth, or some kind of systematic exegesis, I thought of this book as an exegesis on modes of attunement in the world. The Moon or the Hanged Man are ways of "being" and relating to situations... and in that sense the tarot card is a psychotechnology for calibrating awareness for what relationships might be salient... it's odd, how the relationship of card reader and card drawer make a difference. But brought about in an awareness of Christian hermeneutics, this can become a very different kind of deployed relationship.

Read in this angle, this book becomes about opening one's awareness to the salience of what could be relevant, of what is true; the balance of which will be brought to bear differently as things around us change and our life's direction can take us in ways. I rather enjoyed this book this second time around (second time finishing, 3rd time starting it) -- and that was really amazing.

I highly recommend this book to anyone seeking to push the limits of what they can consider in the world. It's not gospel truth, but it is a way of approaching what is in a way that is spectacular and amazing.

[Sam Sanford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not about fortune-telling; the symbols from the Tarot are used as the starting points for a series of spiritual exercises intended to immerse the reader in the living tradition of Christian Hermeticism. Absorbing the knowlege in this book is a lifelong project.

“Now, the normal relationship between thought, feeling, and the will for a civilised and educated person is such that his thought awakens feeling and directs the will. Having to act, one thinks, one imagines, one feels, and - lastly - one desires and acts. This is not so for the ‘spiritual person.’ He acts first, then he desires, then he feels the worth of his action, and lastly he understands."

[Kent Langseth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing, and of no interest to most modern readers. I dare say most would drop it like a hot potato. For those with the inclination to study it, the book is remarkably rewarding.

What's it about? W..e..l..l.. There are ancient mystical traditions, partly commingled with Catholicism (the author was a devout Catholic), which we have little clear sight of today. The author had clear sight, and he shared his understanding in a series of essays on the symbolism used in the Marseilles Tarot. This is not about fortune telling, boys and girls.

The ideas involved and the processes described for mining meaning in the strata of our consciousness are marvelous, both in content and in the contexts defined for their interpretation. The symbols used in the Tarot - tacky artwork and all - are markers, reminders of core ideas.

Much of the wonder I experience while studying this book is due to the unusual truth-telling, truth from an era when the Great Chain of Being had not yet got a stake through its heart, courtesy of the scientific revolution.

Science at present is not much good at levels of being, states of consciousness, mental archetypes unfurling into timebound instantiations. I believe such ideas are important even though my buddy science doesn't handle them well.

Meditations on the Tarot ... provides quite an education.

[Marymark2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been reading this for a little over a year. It was written by Valentin Tomberg, not Robert Powell--he is the translator only. This is for me the ultimate read--highly provocative, deeply inspiring, profoundly wise.Meditations on the Tarot

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far this is mostly sitting by my bed stand while I peruse feng shui books and my book club books. Still, what I've read is amazing and gracious and worth my time.

[Ojo Oim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This isn't a tarot reference book but an extended meditation, an open-ended pondering of the symbols of the major arcana. The nameless author writes letters to us as to an Unknown Friend, considering the art of a divine kind of magic, various difficulties and temptations in esoteric studies and philosophy. The author seems to regard himself as a Christian Hermeticist, I'm not sure what that means but it seems to be something like a philosopher, a lover of Christ and wisdom, and a point the author returns to again and again, engaged in a process of evolution, of becoming. Actually in the index Henri Bergson maybe has more listings than any other name, including Rudolf Steiner, who was the author's teacher at one time. He shares with Bergson an interest in evolutionary spirituality, a moving and growing spirituality.

There is a wonderful beauty about this book and about the way the author thinks. Anthroposophist talk about a "living" kind of thinking, and this book exemplifies such a way (as well as I can tell). He clearly has a point of view, which I don't all the time agree with. For example, his critique of Advaita Vedanta is that the adherent loses the ability to cry. A curious and touching observation, but which I don't think is necessarily true. He goes further into the mystery of tears in his discussion of the Temperance card, how the Rose Cross is a symbol of this mystery. Still, our disagreements are not unbearable; the spirit of friendship overwhelms particular ideas and points, and the flow of thought itself is very agreeable.

When I bought this book, the kind white haired gentleman at Trident bookstore said that this book had given him much inspiration over the years. His memory and words are part of the warmth of this book for me.

[B. M. Talbott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Excruciatingly Catholic.

[Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

For serious and trained occultists, ceremonial magicians, and genuine followers of the Mysteries this is a book to have at your elbow. I have recommended to my students many times and return to it when I need to seek deeper information. It is a book that offers something new to the deep thinkers.

[Jann]

This is NOT a book on the tarot (as in "card reading"). It is estoteric Christianity.

[Theodore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much anticipated book was well worth the hype.

I liked some chapters more than others, but loved the book in its entirety.

The author has most likely read everything you have read, and then some: Bhagavad Gita, Yoga Sutras, Bible, Hermes Trismegistus, Zohar, Buddha, Kabbalah, Plato, Aristotle, Scholasticism, Decartes, Hume, Kant, Nietzsche, and Jung to name a few. Most of his references I knew, but I learned about a lot more after reading.

Topics that intrigued me:
-the difference between the teachings of Christ and that of the Church
-is there such a thing as pagan wisdom?
-reincarnation, evolution
-can a believer in Christ investigate other traditions?
-will not the Truth (regardless of who/where it came from) set you free?

I think Hans Urs von Balthasar (who wrote the afterw0rd) was right when he said the aim of the book was a synthesis of all Jewish, Eastern, and Pagan wisdom without the expense of his Christian faith.

I am interested in the author himself, just as much as his writing. There is a biography that recently came out that I will be reading in the near future.

I highly recommend this book to pretty much anyone.

[Francis Siefken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of interest for anyone wondering about a possible dialogue between the esoteric and christianity. In this regard the endorsement and the forword and afterword by cardinal Hans Urs von Balthasar is noteworthy. He notes that the "The author wished to remain anonymous in order to allow the work to speak for itself, to avoid the interposition of any kind of personal element between the work and the reader - reasons that we respect."
The book is not about divination. The author uses the symbols of the tarot as object of meditations on aspects of the Catholic faith.
Of interest is his take on the relation between non-fallen Nature, Mary, Sophia, the Virgin, being Chaste and his views on the notion of the holy trinity illuminated by this fourth element. Also noteworthy is his take on apparitions and the Amsterdam 'Lady of all nations': "I may add that I went to Amsterdam in order to make as scrupulous an investigation as possible, and the result of this investigation there (confirmed subsequently by experiences of a personal nature) was complete certainty not only with respect to the authentici­ty of the experiences of the seer (a woman forty years of age) but also with respect to the authenticity of the subject of these experiences."

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not about Fortune Telling or Divination, but is rather a free-fall plunge into the profound depths of Christian Philosophy. It is dense with meaning, every phrase and paragraph a tiny explosion of greater understanding. This is the sort of book you read and read, and then your brain is full and needs some time to digest what it's read. Some time meaning anything from days to years.

No, I'm not done reading it yet. I suspect that once I am, my copy will be so battered that I will need to buy another copy just to have one that isn't falling apart.

It cannot be read cover to cover, not if one is reading to understand. Take time over it. Pour yourself a glass of wine, coffee, water, chocolate milk, or beer, and allow yourself to linger, to mull and ponder. Do not rush this. Do not read it with any sort of deadline involved.

If you have been seeking the depths that Sunday School, Sunday Sermons, and Best Selling Inspirational Authors just haven't been able to deliver, this is an excellent, foundational start.

[Iohannes · Rating 3 out of 5]

well, this was certainy ..interesting, I mean I know of know other book that talks about the spiritual mechanics of levitation and teaches you that one can 'suck in' ghosts; nevertheless apart from these curiosities I think the overall project of this book, i.e. that of a 'great synthesis' of basically everything from Hermeticism/Christianity to Goethe/Schiller and Teilhard/Jung/Bergson to name only a few of the references, 'the alchemical marriage of opposites' etc. (as the author is not tired to repeat) is ultimately a failure and results more often than not in a kind of syncretistic theosophy ("pseudo-religion" as Guenon rightly dubbed it). Ironically by far the strongest passages of this book are when he's arguing against certain tendencies, such as the "spiritualisers" (non-dualists) on the one hand and 'will-to-power' materialism on the other hand, while at the same time showing the superiority of the Christian Tradition.

[Abe Fabella · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, along with Manly P. Hall's masterpiece, "The Secret Teachings of All Ages," is one of the few authoritative books on spirituality and occult wisdom that I have ever encountered.

The author, who published the book anonymously and posthumously, exudes an unmistakable connection to God as well as rational and moral rightness. Warning: this is very dense reading and I would recommend spending a lot of time, as much as one needs, to digest the wisdom. This is a book not to scan but to savor.

I will go back to this book again and again to gain insight into what life brings, this is certain.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extremely challenging but rewarding set of Catholic Christian meditations centered around the Marseilles Tarot. Bizarre, wonderful, at times incredibly deep.

[HillbillyMystic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Suffice it to say after thousands of fiction tales I have stumbled upon a topic I will never tire of and most likely write about someday adding to the magnum opus should I happen to live through this particular extinction level event. One reason I am so drawn to occulted or hidden knowledge so much is it helps me manage the current trauma and put things in perspective so I can be grateful and vibrate on a higher level of consciousness than the base fear state the elites try so so desperately to keep us in. As a social worker I did an inordinate amount of trauma centered care for refugees labeled with schizophrenia. The entire world is suffering from trauma based mind control and you can easily see the victims, all of humanity. There are two things a child in an abusive, traumatized family learns quickly: don’t feel and most definitely don’t talk about it. Most of us ignore it altogether, believe the narrative and think the mRNA spike protein gene therapy is actually safe and effective. Others of us sit in augmented reality day after day telling ourselves posting memes and videos is helping. Either due to the law of polarity being used against us or denial and trauma, no one talks in person about what’s really happening in the world. Censorship has kept many from seeing over 500 televised athlete heart attacks and yet those are just the ones deemed press-worthy. I did residential sales the past year and every homeowner I spoke with told me stories of people dying in their neighborhood weeks after the vaccine or booster. How many anonymous folks out there are suffering from “vaccine” damage in silence with zero acknowledgement, sympathy or compensation from Pfizer, CNN, NBC, FOX, Biden, Trump, Fauci or Gates and certainly no press due to “vaccine hesitancy”. To be fair Gates and Fauci have patents on both the vaccine and the renal failure drug Remedesivir-ethics be damned. According to VAERS, whom Harvard claims is underreported by 90%, there are millions more damaged and dead babies, adolescents, teenagers and adults from this one “vaccine” in just one year than all other vaccines combined in VAERS 30 year history. Just don’t try to post about your damaged or dead family online, because it will be censored for the aforementioned vaccine hesitancy. I have been censored by all the true heavies myself for such. It’s long passed the time we start talking loudly about this insanity, abuse and trauma happening to our brothers and sisters around the globe daily. Once again, the government solution being enforced and pushed, unethically, by pedophiles (who stand to make billions) is far worse than the problem. Like Aaron Rodgers said recently, “Are you censoring the pedophiles or terrorists?” When the truth comes out about how awful the mRNA spike protein gene therapy these sociopaths coerced hypnotized, non-thinking, polarized, liberal parents to give their babies and the wheelchairs, body bags and public heart attacks become too plentiful to further censor hopefully a Nuremberg 2.0 will commence. My next book is Zhuan Falun and he says in there this will be our 82nd extinction level event, so we got that going for us, which is nice. Now you gotta determine, for your soul’s sake, whether you’re gonna go out on your knees like Professor Schwab in a mini-skirt on Epstein Island, or fighting on your feet like Pancho Mother-Fucking-Villa.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the merit of its originality and profundity of thought, this is easily a 5 star masterpiece.

The author does a shockingly good job at reconciling all manner of occult teachings, ancient and modern philosophy, and even science into a mostly coherent and often inspiring Catholic worldview (aside from a few questionable stretches). this is a work that could easily turn a devout occultist Christian if they approach it with an open heart, and I certainly gained a new appreciation for certain Catholic teachings through the work.

Unfortunately, even assuming one has sufficient grounding in the theological, philosophical and occult matters discussed in the book, it is frankly enormously repetitious, dense, and needlessly verbose and meandering throughout. as a "meditation" I suppose this is natural and appropriate, but the simple fact is as brilliant as the work is it took me nearly 6 months to get through due to these factors.

in conclusion, as a work of religious and occult study it is a 5/5 but as a work of literature to be read and appreciated it is one of the most tedious and dense works I have read - hence the slight demerit.

[Jean Bowen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't finished this but was tired of seeing it in my "current read section" since this is a book to read slowly overtime and to revisit again and again. It's crept into my dreams, poetry, and prayer.

[Joe Dickson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Felt this book really came together at the end. Was not a fan of the first 3/4.

[Austin Chiappetta · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book I've read in a very long time. This book opened my eyes to what a truly Catholic (i.e., Universal) view of religions, esoteric traditions, and the cosmos can be. This book is incredibly profound and deeply beautiful. The author writes with such tenderness as he describes the Major Arcana of the tarot and how meditating upon them can blossom the flower of mystical experience. This will definitely be a book I return to throughout my lifetime.

[May Fly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had picked up this book as a guilty pleasure of sorts, wanting to learn a little about Tarot cards. Instead I ended up with a text about esoteric theology and philosophy. Well, alright, not what I thought I was getting into, but I figured I ought to follow where I was being led and see what came of it. By the end of the first chapter, "The Magician," I was fairly satisfied with that decision and curious to read more.

Now, each card is presented as a teaching tool of sorts for a particular set of ideas, and the anonymous author seems to harness the imagery to make his points quite convincingly. Beginning from a background in Western European thought, he quickly expands his pool of reference to include comparative religious studies from a variety of cultures worldwide, and seems to find a broad understanding attempting to accommodate all of them. If you can imagine Joseph Campbell putting together a theological treatise on Jungian archetypes, that's basically what's being done here.

Not a perfect work by any means, but considering the ambitious scope I'd say it's fairly successful in setting out a compelling school of interpretation, not only of these cards, but also of ourselves and the world around us. The influence of the great C.G. Jung is strong here, unsurprisingly, but I also enjoyed seeing the work of such disparate and eccentric thinkers as Henri Bergson, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Eliphas Levi, Rudolph Steiner, and St. John of the Cross brought together in one place. My main recommendation once you put down the book would be to look further into the works of Bergson, as he ended up being quite the influential figure for certain Continental philosophers (especially my all-time favorite, Gilles Deleuze).

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a remarkable, if not unique book. Giving it only 4/5 stars is almost insolent, but what can I do when I disagree with some of the core premises? Now, I'm not a christian and this probably shows more than anything else, that the author remains true to his religion, although freely incorporating and contemplating ideas from theosophy to buddhism. I'm glad I'm through, but this is truly recommended reading for anyone who can just barely identify with all or some of the keywords in the title. Tombergs breadth and scope in scources he draws upon and elegance of interpretation is a joy to behold and a vast step up from the usual trite fad one is served in the written world of the esoteric.

[Hayden Lukas · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting, but not worth the full effort. Had some helpful things. Had a good amount of unhelpful things (the universalism, the reincarnation...zoinks). Wouldn't recommend except maybe certain passages. The first essay was pretty good to examine how work is done: concentration without effort. That was very helpful. Apart from that, there's some interesting exegesis of scripture which takes the text seriously. Particularly, Tombergs take on "overcoming" the world was helpful to consider. It is a good (not perfect) attempt to express the method and goal of Christ's overcoming not as domination but love.

[Grant Crow · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most profound books I have ever read, that demands close, repeated readings, and careful study - in short, a book to be absorbed and put into practice.
It was first recommended to me many years ago by a good, a holy friend, who is a Trappist mo
nk at a nearby monastery. At first, I was put off and puzzled by the title, but, rest assured, this is no bizzare work of occultism. It is one of the most life-changing explications and explorations of the Christian Mystery and Revelation that I have ever encountered.