The following articles were not in time for the publication of the book, but may be included in any later editions. The latest additions appear first.
What is the secret in the Book of Revelation?
The $64,000 question*, that many have asked me in emails, is “what is the secret hidden in the Book of Revelation?” Well, without giving it all way, there are secret exercises given to raise the Kundalini, find enlightenment and thereby achieve resurrection within one’s lifetime, as referred to in Thomas’ Gnostic Gospel. Taking Grandma’s Bible down and perusing the Book of Revelation will probably not help you uncover the secret text. It took the skills of the famous American psychic to interpret this text. Which reminds me of a wonderful quote by Ambrose Bierce, author of the aptly named “Devil’s Dictionary”, who said that the Book of Revelation was “A famous book in which St. John the Divine concealed all that he knew. The revealing is done by the commentators, who know nothing.” I hope that doesn’t include me!
(*for my overseas readers, this was a catch-phrase from a 1955 television programme.)
The Minor Arcana were added to the Tarot deck later, and were originally the Diamonds, Spades, Hearts and Clubs that we still use, but these were changed to the Chalice/Cup and Stave/Baton, and the Coin/Plate/Pentacle and Sword.
These four items represent the Four Grail Hallows, items that were deemed sacred to early Christians, the Holy Grail, the Lance that pierced Jesus, the Sword of David that executed John the Baptist, and the platter that held his head.
But in these seemingly innocuous items we can see the continuation of the battle between the Gnostic "heretics" and the teachings of the Church of Rome.
The platter and the sword represent John the Baptist, and the Chalice and the wand/ lance represent Jesus Christ.
The lance pierced Jesus' side and the chalice caught his blood - (notice how the Marseille Tarot cards for Cups all have red interiors).
These two beliefs, the real relationship of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ in early Christian teaching, have been subtly kept alive in front of our very eyes!
The Minor Arcana in the Tarot of the Revelation are objects that appear in the Book of Revelation, and so, though a coin would have been aesthetically suited to the element of earth, no such object appears that match the chronological order of the first septenary.
The order Trumpet - Vial - Candle - Church is also important as it teaches another important metaphysical lesson. Notice how the backgrounds are different; the Court Cards, when laid out in the correct order, make another image, which also has a meaning.
The trumpet is one of the seven held by the seven angels, and the candle one of the seven around the Magician's feet.
The vial is one of the seven poured on Earth by the seven angels and the church one of the seven to which John was told to write letters.
It came to me the other day that that simple game we all know from our childhoods, Snakes and Ladders, is just Christian teaching in disguise!
Of course the Ladders take us upwards, they are symbolic of Jacob's Ladder, and of course the Snakes lead us downward to our vanquishment, because they represent Lucifer, who changed his shape into a serpent to deceive Adam and Eve, to get his revenge on God.
But unfortunately it is a deception, Lucifer was a good guy.
You will have read in my book, The Tarot of the Revelation, about the easy way to understand Court Cards.
Here is another insight, it applies to the Marseilles Tarot deck and others based on it.
The Pages have a "practical" nature, and as coins are an earth sign, we have the doubling of the element, practical and down-to-earth.
Now look at the direction all the pages are facing; all but the Page of Coins faces the left. Why?
Because left in Latin is "sinister" and right is "dexter", so looking right he is practical, down-to-earth and "dexterous" (meaning skilful with his hands).
Don't believe me?
Look it up in a dictionary!
All the Court Cards have similar signs in them to help you understand their true nature.
So, firstly, the Fool.
He is waiting on Patmos Island, looking into the distance, waiting for a sign from God.
The Magician appears, with the seven stars of the chakras in his hand, which he is looking at to indicate their importance in this story; in his left hand is a map of the region showing Patmos.
The rest of the symbolism is described in the book.
Finally, we have the Star, the Morning Star (also known as Venus and Lucifer).
It not only depicts the state of Christ Consciousness, a wish for the future and that everything will turn out alright, but also that we ourselves are being looked after.
We need only put our trust in God.
For those of you that have a pack of Rider-Waite cards at hand, look at the Wheel of Fortune.
The "wheel" is really a compass rose, the arrow points to the East (the origin of wisdom &c) marked A (alpha) and the other end O (Omega) ie the beginning and the end, which is one of the names of the Oversoul (the Magician) Rev 1:8.
The other arms of the needle pointing at T and R, have on them the astrological symbols for Mercury and Aquarius, in other words, the Magician and the Star, which in the Tarot of the Revelation are the first and last cards, and A Ω!
Once the manuscript is printed all the errors come to light! It must be something metaphysical.
I have to own up to the following mistakes (for brevity's sake I won't list up spelling mistakes!):
p17, line 3:
"fifty-two cards" should read "fifty-six cards"
p63 lines 9-11
"the first seven cards come from chapters 2 to 8, the next seven cards from 9 to 15 and the last seven from 16 to 22, nearly a perfect fit." should read "the first seven cards come from chapters 1 to 10, the next seven cards from 12 to 14 and the last seven from 15 to 22, nearly a perfect fit."
p65 Traditional Numbering for The Chariot is 7 not 6
p66 Traditional Numbering for Judgement is 20 not 19, and for The Sun is 19 and not 18.
But more importantly, the order is incorrect.
The Sun card in Rev 19:17-18 comes before Judgement in Rev 20:4-5, so Sun is number 17 and Judgement
18 in the Tarot of the Revelation numbering system.
This is why I choose Author's Proof Publishing - the book is still only a proof!
Please let me know of any other gaffs.
Thank you.
is a director of the Edgar Cayce Centre in Japan; as well as completing a Master’s degree in Transpersonal Studies from Atlantic University, founded by Edgar Cayce, he is also a Tarot Master. He works in the pharmaceutical industry, has a degree from London University in Japanese and Chinese, a Ph.D. in Neuro-science and has lived more than 25 years in Japan. He is also the author of four other books including "Letters from an English Public School".
Contact the author here
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