So you’re a tarot aficionado, eh?  Like to lay those cards for personal growth or to engage in little psychic practice.  Want to convey some “ancient” wisdom?  Think you’re doing yourself and the world a favor by spreading those cards on a table? Well, here’s something you probably didn’t know. The tarot deck in its current form with its 22 major arcana and 56 minor is a masonic creation.  Thee tarot deck that you’ve seen in stores, the tarot deck that you or your family and friends use, the tarot deck that some people like to believe is full of divinely inspired wisdom, was created by a well known and respected Free Mason by the name of Arthur Edward Waite (1857 – 1943) and is therefore, and necessarily, full of masonically-inspired philosophy.

Masonic Fool Card

Yup, it’s true.  Old Mr. Waite took an old tarot system which had nothing to do with freemasonry, designed a bunch of new images for it, created the distinction between major arcana and minor arcana (and interestingly enough the minor arcana were not illustrated before Waite came along), and completely colonized our understanding of the tarot.  The truth is if you pick up a tarot deck, just about any tarot deck you care to mention, you’re picking up and learning from a masonic textbook.  As one masonic commentator notes:

…Arthur Edward Waite provides the most modern, and authoritative interpretation of the Major Arcana of the Tarot by a well-known Freemason, whose sources are incorporated into his own work, and who there-by provides a continuum of the tradition of Tarot dating more than 100 Years. Though Bro. Manly P. Hall (1901- 1990) [xi], also published interpretations of the Tarot (1925) these pre-dated his Masonic affiliation (1954) and are sufficiently different from those of Waite as to indicate that they do not represent this tradition.

Yup, a masonic tarot.  And if that doesn’t stew your noodle consider that just about every single deck currently in print bears a masonic imprint.

If you pick up a deck and it has a Fool card.

If the deck talks about judgment.

Masonic Fool Card

If it  teaches you that life’s a school and you are here to learn your lessons…

Then it is a masonic deck and you are absorbing masonic concepts.

It is kinda stunning when you think about it.

If you’ve ever browsed tarot decks you’ll know, they all have a fool card, they all talk about judgment, and they all teach you that’s your a “fool” in school.

Really, there’s only one word to describe the Masonic influence on the esoteric fabric of this planet’s consciousness and that word is IMMENSE with a capital I and a huge block of pyramidal stone dropped right on your head.

Which is fine.

If your intent is to be schooled by some twice-born master mason, if you want to incorporate the teachings of some hierarchical, exclusive, and super secret old boy’s club into the fabric of your body’s consciousness, that’s cool.  You’ve always got a choice on which path to take.  However, if you want something a bit different, if you would like to try out a tarot that is free of Masonic influences, step onto my Lightning Path and check out the Halo/Sharp deck.  The Halo/Sharp deck is a completely revised, completely independent, and totally clean version of Tarot archetypes, one that painstakingly strips out masonic influence and leaves you with a powerful tool of spiritual awakening and empowerment completely devoid of the hierarchy, exclusion, and judgment of the masonic deck.

Interested?

You can find a description of the deck by clicking this link.  If you are interested in tarot and want to take a closer look at what deck uncorrupted by masonic influence looks like, you can purchase the deck and the associated introductory handbook The Book of the Triumph of Spirit, by clicking this link.  If you want to just jump right in to your spiritual study, you should know that the Halo/Sharp deck and associated Book of the Triumph of Spirit do not stand alone.  The deck is part of a system of spiritual thought and practice and I say that if you want to get the most out of the Halo/Sharp tarot, if you want to get at the deeper meaning of the cards and the reason why a non-masonic alternative might be a good idea, if you want to see what your true potential is, then visit the Lightning Path main site at http://www.michaelsharp.org.  Browse around or, if you want to jump right in, start with this quick start guide.  You never know.  The life you save may be your own.

The Calling to Awaken (Halo/Sharp Deck)

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