The Tarot by Paul Foster Case is a beautiful and clear expository of the first twenty-two cards of the major arcana of the Tarot. Case uses a modified Rider-Waite version of the Tarot called the Builders of the Adytum, which he designed himself to be more in line with his own comprehensions.
Case was an early twentieth-century occultist and author who began his path in the theater and working as a stage magician. His interest in Tarot in particular came after the a fellow occultist asked him where he thought playing cards came from, and from that research he entered into a lifelong study of the Tarot, esotericism, and yogic practices.
The Tarot is a useful primer of the basics of Western occultism as each chapter contains a detailed explanation of the Tarot card and its associated Hebrew letter, numerical value, astrology sign, planet, color, musical note, and Kabbalistic significance. The book also emphasizes the importance of the sequence of the Tarot cards in order, and the relationship of each card to the other in various combinations.
For someone new to occult studies it is useful to learn about the language and vocabulary of Western occultism contained within these teachings.
For students of the gnostic teachings of Samael Aun Weor this book may be of interest to help augment and complement the studies with the Egyptian Tarot deck and his work The Initiatic Path in the Arcana of Tarot and Kabbalah.
While Samael Aun Weor writes in a powerful way about the purely internal and deeply esoteric initiatic path, Case brings in a clarity and simplicity to understand the Tarot as it has been used for centuries within Western occultism.
It is always important to understand that even the most clear explanation can never do justice to the true inner meaning of the Tarot, but hopefully it inspires further investigation within ourselves to comprehend these archetypes.
“The Golden scales in the woman’s left hand are a subtle hint that solar energy, or light, for which the ancient symbol was gold, may be used as an instrument whereby to weigh and measure action. This fact was well known to occultists in the day Tarot was invented, and modern science confirms this by making the speed of light, and also its mass, the basis for calculations which demonstrate the electrical nature of all so-called ‘matter’. These same calculations have led to the discovery of atomic fission, which will undoubtedly bring about the revolution of chemical and physical science predicted in 1859 by Eliphas Levi.”
– Paul Foster Case, The Tarot, Chapter for Key 11
“The mental attitude suggested by the Hanged Man then is ‘Not my will, but thine’. This is ever the position of the adept, as, indeed, it is the position of every person who works in any field of applied science.
It is an attitude born of the knowledge that ‘my will’ is an illusive, personal thing which is but the reflection, or mask, of ‘Thy Will’, the real Will, which is the purpose or motive of the cosmic Life- a Will absolutely free, and certain to be realized. This thought does not imply that the Universal Will visits affliction, disease and poverty upon us. It does not mean that we must be resigned to our troubles, like dumb beasts, making no complaint when they are beaten. It means that in spite of appearances the cosmic Will works always toward good, that the universal Will-to-good cannot possibly be defeated.”
-Paul Foster Case, The Tarot, Chapter for Key 12