The Bible and Tarot

There’s a book called the Torah. In other centuries, it may have been referred to as the Five Books of Moses, or what many Christians refer to today as, the Old Testament. It also includes the Ten Commandments. So basically, the Torah is one of the earliest links between Judaism and Christianity.

The Kabbalah is a book that was written to provide a deeper understanding of the Torah. The Kabbalah is also described as “the soul” of the Torah, and its fundamental values are congruent with those in the Christian Bible.

So, if the Old Testament was originally based on the Torah, and if Tarot cards were created as a set of symbolic images intended to represent the teachings of the Kabbalah, then couldn’t it also be assumed that Tarot cards correspond with the Old Testament, and therefore, Christianity?

The Tree of Life

The Kabbalah and the Old Testament both reference a tree (i.e., the Garden of Eden) to symbolize a deeper meaning of the life process, showing how the influences of the past, present, and future (a trinity) exist within us and around us at all times. The tree also represents the teachings themselves, as another source of life connected to the wisdom of the past, needed for the present, to carry out a brighter future. Similarly, in some of the traditional tarot images, a picture of a tree is often used as a focal point, for the intention of symbolizing the same concept.

Metaphorically speaking, the Tree of Life can also represent us as an individual, with the roots serving as our connection to the past and the conditions that led to our development; the trunk representing our physical body; and the branches/leaves/fruit representing the possibilities for creation and future growth. In literal terms, when the inner parts of the tree (the tree’s genetic makeup) and the outer elements of the tree (soil, water, sunlight) are working in harmony, the result is a full and lively tree.

However, due to our advanced human psyches, we come with a whole other level of complexities that interfere with how we perceive and nurture the life we’ve grown. We also have a keen ability to avoid and mask parts of our true selves by presenting an image (or persona) based on how we hope people will see us from the outside. This persona is our ego, and if we let it run our lives, it will reject and neglect our true potential; and our tree will be unable to thrive.

Alternatively, when who we believe we are on the inside, is congruent with how we are perceived by others on the outside, we have aligned our inner selves with our outer form, bringing our true self to life. The teachings found in the Kabbalah and the Bible both highlight this human experience, using lessons through the art form of storytelling, to offer hope and healing for those struggling with an unfulfilled life.

And as it turns out, so do tarot cards.