Robert M. Place teaching in Beijing

Tarot Essentials with Robert M. Place
at the NY Open Center

Because of the stay at home order,

this class will be conducted on Zoom.

Three weekly sessions on Wednesdays, 6 – 7:45 pm;

On

May 13, 20, and 27, 2020

at The New York Open Center, 22 East 30th Street, New York

follow this line to sign up

Tarot Essentials

 

The Tarot is a deck of cards that can be used as a tool for developing intuition, but it is more than this. The cards in a Tarot deck contain symbolic images that express a mystical philosophy, a philosophy that stems from the mentors of Western culture, Pythagoras and Plato, and that has been cherished by mystics and sages over the centuries. The philosophy is expressed not only in individual pictures but in the structure and organization of the deck. Effectively, the Tarot is a map of the spiritual universe, a mandala, divided into separate components but maintaining the pattern through the relationship of each component to another. When this philosophy and structure is understood and the cards are used as an intuitive device, a communication happens between the conscious self and a source of wisdom in the unconscious that I call the Higher Self. Used in this way, the Tarot is like a personal sage that one can converse with whenever guidance is needed. As day to day decisions are made from this place of wisdom, using the Tarot becomes a spiritual path.

In this three-part class we will first study the symbolism of the Tarot as its Italian Renaissance creators intended and come to see the spiritual message contained in the deck. Then we will learn and practice techniques for developing intuition and reading the cards as a message from the Higher Self. Students will need a Tarot deck created by Robert Place or the Waite-Smith Tarot.

For this class it is recommended that you buy The Tarot, Magic, Alchemy, Hermeticism, and Neoplatonism by Robert M. Place. The course is based on this book and you will get the most out of the class if you read it. The book will be available at the Open Center bookstore. You may also buy a copy of from this website and read it in advance of the class.

For more information on the class contact the New York Open Center

(212) 219-2527

Tarot Essentials

 

Tarot at the Met
An Afternoon of Tarot and Oracle Card History at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

 

Because of the coronavirus outbreak,

Tarot at the Met is canceled

 Wednesday, June 17, 2020

from 2:00 pm to 4:30 PM

(this event is filled)

I will once again take a small group of people into the back rooms of the Metropolitan Museum to look at the museum’s collection of historic Tarot and divination cards, ranging from the earliest woodcut Tarocchi, printed in 15^th century Italy, to rare 19^th century Le Normand divination decks. All accompanied by my talk on the history and symbolism of the cards.  This year we will also see one of the oldest and richly illustrated books on divination with cards, Le Sorti, published in Venice in 1540.

The afternoon at the Met is $85 per person, prepaid. Each participant is also responsible for obtaining a ticket for entrance into the museum for the day. There is only room for 14 people at this event so don’t delay; it will fill up quickly. I will be handling this event  myself; so all arrangement must be made through me.

To register contact me at:

alchemicaltarot@aol.com

Payments can be made by PayPal, check, Visa, or Master Card, or by requesting a PayPal invoice.

Shanghai, China

 

My Chinese workshops are also being conducted through Zoom.

Please contact Giselle Gao for details

Giselle Gao

 

Using the Tarot to Heal the Seven Soul Centers: a Psychoactive experience with Robert M. Place

This workshop was conducted in November of 2019. Although it is no longer available, I am posting some photos from the last class.

For Further details on future workshops in China contact Giselle Gao at: giselle_gao@qq.com

The theory of the seven psychic centers in the body, commonly called the Chakras, is thought to originate in India. However, the oldest writing in India that describes it dates from the 2nd century. In the West, in the 6th century BCE, the Greek philosopher, Pythagoras—the first man to call himself a philosopher—used the seven notes of his musical scale to bring the soul centers of his patients into harmony and health and realized that these seven centers also figured in our spiritual development. In the 4th century BCE, Plato ordered these soul centers into a hierarchy and described how the cardinal virtues brought each of these soul levels into balance and allowed the purified soul to ascend to greater and greater wisdom. After the fall of the Roman Empire, this Platonic system was Christianized by the founding fathers of the Church and became the bases for the lists of the seven virtues and seven vices. When this system is reexamined in light of its history, it is apparent that it is a Western system of Yoga and a path to enlightenment in which each virtue becomes a remedy for the seven imbalances represented by the seven vices.

For this class we will use my Tarot of the Sevenfold Mystery. This is a deck that I worked on for over ten years and it is the most beautiful deck I have created. I started this deck because of my love for the paintings of the Pre-Raphaelite artist, Burne-Jones, with their otherworldly, melancholy settings peopled by tall, pale, stunningly beautiful women and equally memorable lean heroic men. Burne-Jones was inspired by the beauty and symbolism of 15th century Renaissance art. This is the period that gave us the Tarot and it is not surprising that Burne-Jones painted many of the same themes that we find in the Tarot trumps, such as Temperance, the Wheel of Fortune, and the Fool. It seemed that he was starting to create a Tarot deck without knowing it and I wanted to finish that deck for him. As I progressed, I realized that this deck would express the mystical allegory that I believe was expressed in the original 15th century Italian Tarot decks. Additionally the deck harmonizes with those aspects of the occult interpretations that are in accord with this allegory. The title came from my belief, as I mentioned above, that the common list of seven virtues stems from a form of Western yoga, in which the virtues are meant to purify and heal the seven soul centers that ascend the human spine. The World card in particular is a representation of the Tarot’s seemingly missing virtue, Prudence. She is the culmination of the four Cardinal Virtues, the mother of the Three Christian Virtues, and the personification of the Sevenfold Mystery. This deck is best suited for my soul center reading.

This workshop is based on my most advanced Tarot reading in which the cards are used to illustrate the condition of the querent’s soul centers and to make improvements in the flow of energy in each center. When this is accomplished, improvement in health, prosperity, and well-being follow. The class will start with a discussion on the soul centers, and mediation practices to help us attune to their energies. We will learn the unique symbolism of The Tarot of the Sevenfold Mystery and become proficient in reading with this deck, with my three-card technique. When this is accomplished, we will move on to the soul center reading in which we will learn to lay out three cards for each of the soul centers and create a psychoactive map of the querent’s spine. Once this map is created there is a connection between the cards and the querent’s soul centers. The energies are same in both and we can feel them with our hands. When we read the cards we find what attitudes and memories are held in each center and uncover any blocks or problems. Then we layout more cards to advise the querent and dissolve the blocks. In the last part of this reading, we can use the layout to interact on a deeper unconscious level with our cards and turn the reading space into inner space, manipulating the symbols to encourage the flow of energy. As I said, this is a healing reading.

To receive The Restored Temple of Hermes, my free newsletter e-mailed every three months or so, with links to my latest articles and news about up-coming lectures, workshops, and publications, send an e-mail to me with The Restored Temple of Hermes in the subject line. Also, please let me know what state or country you live in.

alchemicaltarot@aol.com

Issue 58 of the Restored Temple of Hermes was sent out on December 10, 2019. If you did not receive it you may need to send me an updated email address.