Tarot Card Meanings: Fundamentals

Tarot Fundamentals is a course of esoteric Tarot instruction by one of the greatest modern occult teachers, Paul Foster Case. This book is the first published version of the correspondence course which was formerly the exclusive possession of BOTA students. Now, anyone with interest can pursue this course of Tarot mastery. Paul Case chose to copyright this particular series of lessons in the 1930's but never published them. Case probably knew that one day these books would see their way into wide circulation, and he couldn't have planned for a better time! Concomitant to the explosion of interest in Tarot in the past few years, it is a true blessing.Many recent books have moved beyond reading the cards for divination, and into psychology and intuitive development. The writings of Paul Case go much further, revealing a true esoteric wisdom contained within the Tarot keys. The Tarot is essentially a story of consciousness, both personal and cosmic.The introduction explains the purpose of using Tarot as a path to spiritual unfoldment: "This course on Tarot Fundamentals will show you how to use the Tarot Keys for the purpose of evoking thought, thus bringing to the surface of your consciousness, where you can see and understand them, those fundamental principles of practical occultism that lie hidden in the hearts of all mankind. Its rich symbolism and ingenious construction make Tarot the best of all instruments for true occult education: that is, for drawing out the wisdom hidden within you."The chapters take the form of a lesson, with Case as the teacher, and indicate how to work with the system. For example, he suggests having a regular study period, looking intently at the cards during this time. The student begins by systematically going over the card, from top to bottom, right to left, then meditating on the symbols. Each card should be given a week or two of study, rereading the text from the book, and making notes on any feelings or impressions that come to you. Each of the 22 keys is given two lessons: the first imparts the general pattern and gives detailed coloring instructions; the second goes into detail on the esoteric meanings of every single symbol shown on the card. Before the lessons on the keys themselves, there is a lesson on the symbolism of numbers, the numbers from 0 to 9, and their esoteric meanings.Paul Case felt the need to design and print a Tarot deck that he felt would best display the esoteric symbolism and wisdom of the ages. Known as the BOTA Tarot, it is the one presented in most of Cases's writings on the Tarot. It must be obtained uncolored, and the student's initiation involves coloring the deck. The deck can be obtained from the BOTA, The Builders of the Adytum. "Tarot Fundamentals" contains instructions for coloring the deck.Those who enjoyed his marvelous book, "The Tarot: A Key to the Wisdom of the Ages" will be delighted by this recent addition to the literature. While "The Tarot" details the correspondences of the major arcana keys with Hebrew letters, astrology symbols, directions on the cube of space, paths on the Tree of Life, colors, tones, and modes of consciousness, it is lacking in detailed explanations of basic occult principles. Those principles find their explanation here in "Tarot Fundamentals". Combined, they yield a treasure of knowledge to the serious student.In summary, this is a fantastic book that must be read and studied by all serious students of Tarot, and will also find a home in the hearts of Qabalists, occultists, magicians, alchemists, and Hermeticists in general. It is truly a book that must be studied, read over and over, and meditated upon. But it will work for beginners as well, provided they understand it will require dedication. With such effort, the esoteric student can expect to find the "wisdom hidden within you." This is the true meaning of Tarot Mastery.

By title and book cover, it is easy to be mislead - This book is filled with Profound Sacred Life- Liberating Enlightening information. It is as though. It is mind -bending mental science with deeper understanding of the symbols in the cards than elsewhere. Paul Foster Case was the founder of the international tarot organization Builders Of The Adytum (BOTA)

Paul Foster Case is a top teacher in the Western Mystery Tradition. His books are readable and understandable by the lay reader in all phases of your path. I've re-read his classics multiple times and always discover more on the second, or third, or fourth pass through his books. He writes with clarity and authority to all levels of practitioners.

This is the whole course work on Tarot Fundamentals that the BOTA gives their students. If you are already a student, this book makes an excellent way to carry the 48+ lessons. For the price, it is a great buy. I highly recommend becoming a student of the BOTA because they offer 14 years of course work. This best way to study each card is to read the lesson, then color the card, and study the key for 2 weeks. After this move on to the next card. All you need to do is meditate with the card for 5 minutes a day.

Do not judge a book by its cover. This book is jam packed with more info about Tarot than most libraries! Wow!

I completed all of the course work of the BOTA some years back. I can think of nobetter source for Tarot work than Paul Case's writings, especially in the lesson formatthe BOTA publishes. However it is also good to see his work showing up in book form.It can happen that new or old students would need a quick reference to locate some pointand this book is a good start in providing such a reference.

Never judge a book by its cover!Note: This book is the same as 'Wisdom of Tarot - The Golden Dawn Tarot Series 1', This presentation is illustrated with the Keys whereas 'Wisdom of Tarot' is not.

Paul Foster Case's writing deserves a better cover than this one, which looks like a poor illustration from a pulp fiction book about fortune telling.

Pages began falling out upon immediate perusal. This book only covers the major arkana, which is fine but I was under the impression that it covered the entire deck, but apparently this is only volume 1 so I must have misread the description, but irregardless the construction is poor and I am apprehensive of purchasing volume 2 because I not interested in more loose pages.

Excerpt From Back Cover:-"Discover the true esoteric wisdom contained within the Tarot keys. The Tarot can take you on a journey of exploration of the story of your personal and cosmic consciousness. You too will be able to unlock the deepest symbolism of the Tarot thanks to this complete course on understanding its hidden mysteries by one of the world's leading Tarotists. For more than half a century, savvy students from around the world joined Paul Foster Case's school of ageless wisdom, Builders of the Adytum, to explore advanced teachings of the Tarot that couldn't be found anywhere else. Now, you too can be part of the best kept secret of a whole generation of Tarot Masters. By popular demand, the four volumes have now been compiled into one single reference. They cover all the important Tarot fundamentals of the Major Arcana and lay the foundation that you need to start working with the Tarot on your own. There are no mundane, cookie cutter Tarot references in here. You will get the deep meanings behind the Hermetic symbolism of each of the cards in language that makes it applicable in today's world. As a bonus for those who purchased the earlier individual volumes, you will also find a $30 redeemable coupon inside this book."Written in 1932 By Paul Foster Case, founder of the Builders of the Adytum, the best, long-standing Tarot School in the world.Includes references to the Cube of Space, Astrology, Use of Symbolism and Meaning, Colour, Universal Laws and Principles, Hebrew Alphabet and the Tree of Life.Don't be deceived the by the cover! If you've feel there is more to Tarot, and want to know the real system behind it I really do recommend you buy this book. There is so much to this book when compared to other Tarot books which only go into everyday surface meanings and interpretations. This is because Paul Foster Case explains the material that others wanted to keep from the 'uninitiated' - people who just want a quick life fix.Case explains the the Tarot as Keys to Enlightenment which is their original purpose. However this book only teach you about each card while his second book 'Tarot Card Meanings: Interpretations' teach you how to use them to increase personal awareness, obtain deep insight and to unlock the secrets of the mind and the universe.In this book Paul F Case explains the underlying meanings, structure and system, in a way that you won't find anywhere else. This book is a fountain of Ageless Wisdom which will not only help to understand yourself and the way's of the world, but will give you the necessary knowledge and confidence to expand your Tarot reading capabilities beyond any other course of book on the market.The book gives individual lessons for each Tarot card, and each card is dealt with in two chapters. The first chapter gives background introduction and colouring introduction for the card. The second chapter goes into more detail referring to the Hebrew letters, astrological associations, references to the cube of space as well as explaining the meanings of the individual symbols such as the colour choices, garments, crowns, wings, pillars thrones etc. Case's strength lie in his ability to explain and correlate these references to the meanings of the card in an enlightening and easy to understand way. You will become very familiar and deeply attached to each card.Paul Foster Case refers to the Builders of the Adytum Tarot deck which is much like the Rider-Waite with some small differences. It is a Majors only deck printed in black and white so that the student may colour it in according to each lesson given in this book. Paul Foster Case believes that colouring in your own deck impresses the symbols and their meanings onto the subconscious. Why should you need to do this? Read the book to find out! I will say that I personally found this procedure fun and very productive. The very inexpensive B.O.T.A. deck is available on the Builders of the Adytum website and was sent to me promptly from USA to UK. However each uncoloured card is given in the book along with the lesson.It's not an easy read because there is so much to take in, but Paul Foster Case does have a way of explaining the occult doctrine behind the Tarot in a way that is graspable, especially if you've familiarized yourself with the Tarot already. There is such much information it will take a few reads before you finally remember it all, but the content, for the person who is seeking more from the Tarot will not want to put it down for the exciting concepts and life changing teachings it offers. I've spent the last month studying and writing notes on it because I want to remember every detail. However, as Case says, the contents are not for the foolish, the fly by night, speed reader. It's serious stuff! If you take the time to study this you will be well on your way to being an truly authentic, wise and truly knowledgeable human being, let alone Tarot reader.I felt a sudden connection to 'The Hermit'. The Hermit for me meant teacher, I really wanted to get close to someone who new the 'ins and outs' of the Tarot system. A series of events led me to this book and I realised that my request for a Tarot Teacher came in the form of the author. My request was literally answered, and this book told me how and why.I must express my personal annoyance that of all the websites, Tarot blogs, courses etc. etc. not one pointed its reader to this material - the true Tarot as Keys to Enlightenment. It becomes obvious that most Tarot authors are unfamiliar with true Tarot meanings or attempt to rephrase it avoiding the underlying principle of each Tarot card or rather Tarot Key.

This is one of the most important books in print, full of beautiful and inspiring lessons. Unfortunately there are quite a few misprints, some of which are misleading or risible - but the book is still worth five stars because of the content.It is sometimes a difficult read, and I am very fortunate to have a wise teacher who has already walked this Path and uses it to guide students towards their own understanding.Should you find this book difficult to manage alone, I would recommend that you contact Builders of the Adytum, whose Founder wrote it. They run correspondence courses and are easy to find on the web, operating in America and the UK.One more thing - at the beginning of the book is a page listing Seed Ideas - it's titled 'The Truth about the Self.' There is a badly misleading misprint in no.7 which completely reverses the meaning - it should read "Living from that Will, supported by its unfailing Wisdom and Understanding, mine is Victorious Life". The printers have changed 'supported' to 'unsupported'. Cross the misprint out and return it to the original meaning.I wish you Light and progress on your Path.

This is an amazing book but it is not for the faint hearted - there is so much information and detail included that it can be hard to take in. It's the sort of thing that some consciously sinks in and the rest happens on a deeper level - by osmosis almost. Working with the subconscious a lot, this really appeals to me and the images it evokes and conjures up sit well with me. the same might not be for everyone though. Probably not for beginners. I've helped teach some tarot courses and too much information seems to panic some and dishearten others. Keep it on your shelf though, as it's great to dip into if you are so inclined.D DeSilver Author of  How To Read Auras - Discover What Your Aura Colours Mean)How To Read Auras - Discover What Your Aura Colours Mean)

The language is a little old fashioned but the substance with very interesting. It is quite perscriptive in how the author believes one should learn the Tarot but I think each to their own and even if you did not wish to follow him to the letter there is much to learn.