Rota Mundi Tarot
Something completely different
Recently I received a copy of the Rota Mundi Tarot and this week I took it with me on our short family vacation. Having spent time with the deck, and much more time with the accompanying book, I am ready to share some thoughts about it.
Ordinarily I would post about a Tarot deck on my little Tarot blog, The Keystone, but as the Rota Mundi Tarot explores themes related to esoteric Freemasonry, it seemed most appropriate to post here on Emeth.
The first thing I should point out is that I don’t think this Tarot deck was actually designed to be used in Tarot readings as they are commonly understood. Rather I believe that the cards were created to be a teaching tool.
This belief is born out by the superb guidebook accompanying the deck, which is 250 pages of very densely packed information.
The Rota Mundi Tarot explores Rosicrucianism, including the Chymical Wedding Of Christian Rosenkreutz in great detail. It discusses separating the wheat from the chaff within the Western Esoteric Tradition, and then goes into an exploration of the Kabbalah, and Alchemy. Finally, of course it explores the Tarot, going into great detail about its history, development, and growth from Kabbalah and Alchemy.
Its primary focus is on Tarot symbolism as developed by Freemason A.E. Waite and his collaborator Pamela Smith.
The chapter on the Tarot includes sub-chapters exploring the Tarot’s history, structure, and symbolism before moving into methods of reading the Tarot, and debunking myths and superstitions about it.
The largest section of the book is a detailed explanation of each of the unique cards within the Rota Mundi Tarot. Their symbolism and correspondences. In my experience this is a different and interesting way to teach Tarot, and to teach it in a manner that dispels much of the assumed, but incorrect history of the cards.
I would be remiss writing about the Rota Mundi Tarot without pointing out that the deck and book are undeniably created from a strong Christian perspective. That seems rather unique among popular Tarot books, but in keeping with Christian mystical traditions.
Additionally, the card reading methods explored within the text are from a very rationalist perspective. Mystery and mysticism are banished here. The methods as described seem almost sterile, and stand in contrast to the book’s other sections.
Moving into the realm of the mundane, the book and deck are high quality and well presented. For the price, they are an exceptionally good value.
I believe that the Rota Mundi Tarot is a great tool for those looking to increase their knowledge about Rosicrucian, Kabbalistic, and Alchemic traditions, and how those traditions influenced the development of the Tarot as we know it today. It should prove to be of great interest to esoterically inclined Masons.
I have ordered this set, looking forward to the training aspect. Have you looked at DuQuette's deck? It is similarly an amazing training and correspondence deck. It was just reprinted recently.