The Tao in the Tarot

Book excerpt: The Tao in the Tarot weaves together the mysteries of the I-Ching and the Major Arcana of the Tarot. Part 1 reveals an underlying synthesis of ideas and a common source of inspiration between these two methods of divination, and shows how for more than two thousand years the traditions of each would have been used and debated by travellers along the Silk Route connecting Europe and Asia. In Part 2 we journey through the cards of the Major Arcana placed in a circle and connect them with selected hexagrams from the I Ching and in so doing we are led out of the circle into a spiral. Along the way we connect with other ancient traditions such as the grail legend, the pattern of numbers, pagan gods and goddesses and the early use of stone circles, to finally discover just how relevant these ancient symbols are to us in today's world. The author's own simple but evocative Tarot pictures accompany the text of each card, and the relevant I Ching hexagrams are fully explained with coloured diagrams. Essential reading for the serious student of either the Tarot or the I Ching.