ANIMALS IN THE TAROT

In the Western Mystery and Native American Totemic Traditions

Deborah Edelen Siminpour
© 2014

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 Dedication
To Fraters and Sorors on the Path of Return,
those of my totemic tribe, and & White Spirit Wolf with L.V.X.

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 Table of Contents
Introduction 4
Chapter 1: The White Dog 6
Chapter 2: The Ram 9
Chapter 3: The Serpent and the Lion 12
Chapter 4: The Lion, Eagle, Bull (Ox) and Man 17
Chapter 5: The Scarlet Ibis 24
Chapter 6: The Crayfish or Crab 31
Chapter 7: The Wolf 37
Conclusion: The Red Feather and the Totemic Bundle 43
References 47

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 INTRODUCTION
The complementary meanings of animals in the Western Mystery and Native
American traditions, when considered together, provide potent insight. The Native
American tradition is steeped in the perception of animals as “wakan” or sacred; as
permutations of the Great Spirit. The traits they exhibit are seen as outward aspects of
this sacred, mysterious, inner power, for both good and ill. The common western view
and languages do not possess the means to communicate these concepts well, yet they
resonate and find sympathy in the Western Mystery tradition. Paul Foster Case, in
“Tarot, the Key to the Wisdom of the Ages” (1947), a book to which these reflections will
frequently refer, points out that the symbol of the snake eating its own tail or Ouroboros
refers to the Life-Power remaining unchanged in potency while shifting form in the
manifested world, thereby consuming and reproducing itself. These references
demonstrate that on a fundamental level, both traditions share a concept of the
conjoined and symbiotic relationship among all of manifested life.
The sacred powers and medicine of animals are also used by the Native American
shaman in shape-shifting. The shaman may dance wearing animal skins or feathers,
summoning their abilities to aid him, or he may have developed the skills necessary to
take on the astral form of an animal. The latter is the exact definition applied to shape-
shifting by Israel Regardie in “The Tree of Life.” Additionally he refers in “A Garden of
Pomegranates” to the “shape shifting Magician” or the adept who, like the shaman,
acquires abilities on an astral level that are particular to an animal to assist him, such as
that of a snake with an acute sense of smell, or winged bird with the faculty of flight.
Arthur E. Waite says that the Magician "adapts (the implements on the table) as he
wills.” So the shape-shifting Magician adapts the skills and medicine of the
animals…and especially the Tarot animals.
“All things share the same breath - the beast, the tree, the man. The air shares its
spirit with all the life it supports.”
~ Chief Seattle

To the Ojibwe, from whence we obtain the concept of the totem, a totem is
defined as that from which a person draws his or her purpose, meaning, and being. An
animal totem is not only a person’s likeness, but also a spirit guide and the bearer of
healing medicine. An animal appearance may signal an important message.

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 CHAPTER 1

THE WHITE DOG

From a Tarot perspective, the little white dog in Key 0, the Fool, represents the
intellect. In the primary sense, intellect refers to the conscious mind; the conscious mind
that is unique to humanity.

Hearkening back to mankind’s deep past, one begins to realize why the intellect
or conscious mind is represented by the dog. Most of humanity’s history was spent in the
wild, where the conscious mind served to guide and protect by warning and alerting
when opportunities, and danger, were near. Thus while the other animals of the field
had better developed senses or sharper claws, in this natural setting, conscious
awareness was truly best friend to man and woman on the hunt in other ways. Conscious
awareness cautions the wayfarer as to what lies ahead, as the dog cautions the Fool in
Key 0. The dog also cautions the Fool that he is about to fall, for some aspects
connected with self-consciousness will lead to The Fall that humanity will take in the
Garden of Eden.

In parallel, as a Native American totem and in terms of medicine, people with the
dog totem are those who serve humanity. Explains Beverly “Two Feathers” Owens, in
“Native American Totems,” people who have strong Dog Medicine are people who serve
their tribe, and humanity, in some way. They will be the charity worker, the
philanthropist, the nurse, the counselor, the minister, and the soldier. Historically, all of
the Southwest and Plains Tribes had dogs. The noble animals would often give warning
signals of approaching danger to the tribe. They helped in the hunt and provided
warmth on a long winter night. Most of these dogs were half wild but that wildness did
not in any way hamper the innate loyalty that they gave to their owners.

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 As such, there is a complementary relationship between the Tarot dog as symbol
for intellect which serves humanity, and the Native American totem and medicine of
the dog which serves the tribe and all human kin.

Paul Foster Case refers to the half wild aspect of the dog as well in “The Tarot: A
Key to the Wisdom of the Ages”: “The little white dog is a descendant of wolves. Thus he
is a human adaptation, whereby something wild has been changed into a friend, helper
and companion of man. He also indicates the truth that all subhuman forms of the Life-
power are elevated and improved by the advance of human consciousness.”

Here, the Native American dog totem which serves humankind seems to directly
mirror what Case has to say about the unfoldment of human consciousness serving the
world. The entire progression of the Tarot depicts the unfoldment of human
consciousness and ends with The World, whereby through our enlightenment, we serve.

Here is the intimation, if we know that Tarot is a circle, that when the completed
stage of enlightenment has been reached, we must begin again. The little white dog may
then come to represent the infant stages of yet another level of consciousness which
must pass through all the grades again toward a higher attainment. This makes the
white dog an extremely important Tarot symbol.

In Native American lore, white animals carry profound significance. The

appearance of one signals messages of great weight. The one who saw the white buffalo,
white raven, or other white animal will tell the entire tribe and the tribe’s holy man or
shaman will consider very carefully what the meaning of this appearance might be. In
terms of their medicine and as totems, white animals are also known as spirit animals:
the white or spirit buffalo the white or spirit raven, and so on, and are known as portents
of the divine. We might then think of the white dog as the spirit dog. The appearance of
the white or spirit animal is of such great import because seeing one is connected with
the death, and/or and rebirth, of the world. This is a curious connection for us in the
Tarot with the white dog indeed, as he does appear at the end of the world and also at
the beginning.

In the Native American tradition, dogs are also a symbol of the small becoming
great. This speaks to the progress of the self-consciousness of mankind toward
enlightenment. It is said that a person with the dog totem has a spirit that is very
difficult to break and which is capable of love without reserve. Not only does this speak
to the unconditional divine love, it also speaks to an association with the dog and the
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heart. For in Hebrew, the very word for dog is very similar to the word for heart.
Consciousness is what causes the Fall, but it is love and clemency which bring
redemption and renewed times.

Dogs themselves are seen as being especially close to the Great Spirit. We shall
see an interesting connection here, for dogs are known for their acuity in inner seeing
and hearing, which we would associate with the Emperor, Heh, and the Hierophant, Vav.
And we see, on the Fool’s collar, the Tetragrammaton, Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh. This reminds
us that our intellect is what enables us to commune with the Life-Power on a conscious
level and that attunement and development of our astral senses are an important part of
our path toward attainment and toward that communion.

The dog also reflects in its nature the challenges that lie along the way toward
attainment. For the dog can be trained or conditioned, and so too can the intellect, and
this can either be for good or for ill. The dog and the mind are both faithful and true to
conditioning. In Key 16, the Tower, we see the overthrowing of the false doctrine or ill
conditioning that has trained humanity’s consciousness, and the turmoil this causes, but
also the transformation once it is overcome.

Dog medicine, therefore, extends to the ideas of training our consciousness

according to the proper patterns, for only then will we achieve our goal of
enlightenment for all, symbolized by Key 21, the World. “In completing the circuit
(from Keys 0 to 21)”, says Case, “we should arrive at 0 again. This is an important clue to
some of the deeper meanings of Tarot. Ponder it well.” As earlier suggested, if the white
dog portends a new stage of consciousness to unfold, he could begin the stories of ages
to come.

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 CHAPTER 2

THE RAM
The ram symbols in the Emperor signify Aries and Mars, and lend the key its red-
orange color. The yellow sky is connected with the Sun which is exalted in Aries, as
Aries denotes the spring solstice which brings the Sun, and as such is connected with
Key 19. The Sun is also suggested by the cube on which the Emperor sits, which contains
the ram on its southern face, for in the Cube of Space, the southern face would contain
The Sun. As Aries governs the head, there is a suggestion of connection with the letter
Resh, head, assigned to Key 19, the Sun, as well as connotations of leadership. Another
of the Sun’s role in the Emperor is that the Sun’s light is responsible for vision, and the
Emperor and Heh, the window, are connected with sight and vision. The Emperor as the
head indeed connects with ideas concerning higher development of consciousness which
run throughout the Tarot.

Sheep and rams have pupils which are open horizontally, and due to this and the
placement of their eyes, their peripheral vision is exceptional, up to 320°, and they can
see behind themselves without turning their heads. Rams rely extensively on their sight.
The ram totem parallels our Western Mystery view of the Emperor, in that the ram’s
eyes are a wide window to visual awareness. Ram people, and ram medicine involves
expanding horizons to a wider field of vision than that experienced by the human.

The ram totem is not only concerned with visual sight but clear inner seeing.
Fittingly it is said that the ram is an intellectual totem, giving stimulation and energy to
the mental faculties. The discerning mind cuts a clear path. The aspirant must find the
path of truth in rocky, uneven terrain. The travails of the ram’s feet through the
mountains is much the same.

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 The meaning of clear visioning and thinking aligns with the Emperor’s
representation of conscious thought, logic and reason. We remember the connection
with the dog as symbolic of the intellect and its higher development. There are great
toils and labors involved here, where clarity of vision, intention and perseverance on the
path play a role.

Mars and Aries are traditionally allied with aggression and ferocity, as the
Emperor is of the stock of the kings who lead in battle, asserting or protecting their titles
as heads of state. Rams also clash horns to achieve dominance, and the victor wins a
mate. Both the warrior nature of Aries and the ram’s battles relate to the Tarot
attribution of logic and reason ascribed to the Emperor. Ideas go head to head, in the
mental realm, and the victor that is chosen rules what will be pursued, and come to
manifest and take its place in the corporeal, actualized kingdom. Ideas compete in tests
of logic and reason to achieve decisive dominance. But the manifested achievement that
takes its place in the material realm will not do so only by way of the Emperor, but with
the help of the Empress, the Emperor’s mate. Imagination, with logic and reason,
together yield an issue. So the ram’s battle ends in the gain of a mate.

Rams are sheep, but they do not follow a shepherd. The ram leads his own way
on the sharp, jutting red rocks that are the backdrop of Key 4. The medicine of the ram
tells us how we will prevail in our aims. He reminds us that if the force of will is deep
and strong, orange-red with passion and desire, the sure-footed steps of the ram will
make a trail through the most difficult of mountain terrain. Rams not only can be found
among steep rocks like that found in Key 4, bundling their hoofs along a narrow ledge
of a rock wall, but also in snowy, high passes and peaks. Territory where the Hermit
walks with his lantern after many travails.

The ram totem and medicine, like the Emperor, are each marked by vision,
tenacity, authority, and determination. Ram medicine teaches perseverance and strength
in the face of even the most severe of opposition, never giving up, which is also the
mark of a victorious king. Eventually, when the ram, or Emperor, reaches the summit,
we will in fact see him again as the Hermit, for they are both the Ancient of Days. The
Cube of Space hints at this also, for there, the North-East line of the Emperor turns and
forms a right angle to the North-Below trail of the Hermit. Paul Foster Case reminds us
that this position does represent the highest snowy peaks, for that which is above is
below. He also tells us that the Ancient of Days, while in the form of the Emperor,
signifies the “Grand Architect of the Universe…the constituting power”. As such, the
path-making, visionary medicine of the ram not only constructs paths, but also
blueprints. He breaks ground, forges and builds.

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 Perhaps a Native American poem about the ram totem can help us best utilize his
medicine in fulfilling our aims:

“Great horned ram, filled with life force,

Teach me to go my own way, to follow my inner path,
Not walking in the rut made by the narrow-minded.
Help me to balance harmoniously in unstable places,
Keeping my freedom to be me.”

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 CHAPTER 3

THE SERPENT and THE LION

The Native American view of animals as totems and guides teaches us the
importance of avoiding the approach of animals and their messages as dry symbols and
their correspondences. One cannot look up one’s totem in a chart. Discovery of totems,
and animal spirit guides (which are those in a person’s life for a certain time or lesson) is
a process. One must begin with the intention to observe the animals which appear in life,
being open to receive and interpret their messages. These may come in surprising ways,
through dreams, statues, and other means. This is because the animal is considered to be
present first on the spirit or “wakan” level, and so will manifest around the person, if that
person is open and observant.

Likewise, studying the animals in the Tarot with the added dimension of their
totemic significance is a process. One must descend from the loft of contemplation and
enter the world of experience to understand. One must personally integrate the
messages and medicine, assimilating them like smoke flowing from the smudge-stick.
Attunement to animal encounters offers vibrant lessons as to their Tarot meaning, as
they may body forth the characteristic or teaching as living expressions of the Great
Spirit, or Life-Power, and even become portals through which to momentarily enter a
Tarot Key.

It was through this openness that while starting the process meditating on the
serpent in Key 6, a wonderful coincidence of animal experiences occurred. At the time, I
was on vacation in the South African island of Mauritius, and was out for a day of sight-
seeing. We were winding around the sharp bend of a road built on ancient volcanic
mountains, when suddenly an enormous bronze statue below came into view. Our guide
explained that it was that of Shiva, the Hindu Lord of Serpents, and it was plain to see
the cobra draped around Shiva’s shoulders. Below him was a white temple that reflected

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in the waters of the Ganga Talao, a lake sacred to the local Hindu people, with more
serpentine statues. The suggestion to think of the serpent in Key 6 in terms of Kundalini
was unmistakable. After leaving, we came to a nature park and wildlife sanctuary. One
area was home to a group of lions which had been accustomed to human contact, and
those who were willing were permitted to enter and have a personal lion encounter. I
soon found myself sitting on the grass amid the scent of oncoming rain, my hand in the
mane of a huge lion laying at my side. I knew right away what the meaning of this was:
Key 8, Strength. The lion was guiding me to consider its relationship to the serpent in
Key 6. The lion yawned broadly; his mouth and teeth were unimaginably immense and
powerful. In that one brief moment, with the lion’s mouth open wide, I felt I’d been
given much more than the allusion of Key 8 but the gift of the rich experience of
entering the Key itself in living form.

The story of Shiva’s serpent provides a wonderful linkage between the serpent
and the lion that relates perfectly to their place in the Tarot. According to Hindu
tradition, this serpent is that of the Kundalini, which dwells sleeping and coiled in the
root chakra. But when she awakens, she unwinds through a spinal channel known as the
sushumna, and seats herself in the crown chakra in the head. Since we know that our
Tarot lion, Leo, is ruled by the sun, and that the sun’s letter is Resh, the head, then we
know that the lion represents the awakened consciousness in the crown chakra, “the
light of thousands suns”. The serpent is of course the Kundalini force itself, that which
Madame Blavatsky called “Fohat”. Paul Foster Case described it as “the subhuman
expression of cosmic electricity”, for it is present, dormantly, in all living forms, and
may awaken only for the human possessor of consciousness. In the same sentence, Case
refers to this energy as “the king of beasts”, the lion whose astrological shape as Leo
bears more resemblance to a serpent. This serves to demonstrate that while sacred
literature of all traditions falls short of being able to describe this force in any language,
its essence is bodied forth by the serpent; its conscious experience in that of the lion.

In Native traditions, this energy is perceived as so profoundly sacred that the

name for it is never spoken aloud. The Hopi tradition views it as the energy of the Great
Spirit, but enclosed in the human through a door at the top of the head, and thereby
inhibited, when laying fallow from consciousness, from raw expression.

The correspondence to the spinal column and head are hinted at by the serpent in
Key 6 is coiled around the tree just behind the spinal column of Eve, with its head near
her crown chakra. If one thinks of the spinal column as the tree trunk, the Kundalini
can be imagined as the sap flowing through the central channel or sushumna. It flows
through all life irrespective of any conscious ability to direct it, but the human ability to
become conscious of it sets us apart from our animal kin. It is not the case, however, that
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all people will do so. The serpent-power is also known as the Divine Feminine, the Moon.
The Lion in the head is the Sun, and Mercury is the conscious guidance. So if the Great
Work is the Sun and Moon through Mercury, it is to be expected that not all will fully
awaken the serpent-power. It is also evident why the caduceus of Hermes and the staff of
Moses depict the coiled serpent of Shiva.

The serpent then becomes the spirit guide to help us understand the nature of the
energy Mme. Blavatsky called Fohat, and the medicine of the lion leads us to understand
the nature of our conscious work, and experiences with it. “The name of the serpent
which tempted Eve,” says Case, “is NChSh, Nachash, and the number of this word is 358,
the value of MShICh, Messiah. Here is a profound subtlety, for numerical identity
between Hebrew words points to some inner correspondence of meaning. Finally, it has
been said that The Devil is God, as He is misunderstood by the wicked.” This is because,
as he further explains, the very serpent which tempts also redeems. The risen serpent in
Hermes’ caduceus has become the universal modern symbol for healing and medicine.
“When the tempting and illusory aspects of the serpent are overcome,” says Case, “it
becomes the instrumentality of salvation.” The Kundalini unfoldment is always
transformative. When any negativity attached to it is shed, it is the instrumentality of
attainment.

Case reminds us that digestion is the function assigned to the serpent Teth. This
is because, as discussed in the introduction, the Life-Power remains equally as potent at
all times but morphs to various mandalas of manifestation. Like the Ouroboros, the
snake biting its own tail, it consumes itself in the process, but it also renews. This
reminds one of the Toltec legend of Quetzalcóatl, the serpent god depicted with
feathered wings, capable of flight. Quetzalcóatl would die, but would return, so in
essence to be resurrected. The serpent is an apt parable, for since ancient times
humanity has seen the serpent casting its skin as a sign of reincarnation, regeneration
and immortality.

The Native American view tells a similar story. Says Otter on a Rock of the snake
totem and medicine: “Where all animal spirit medicines speak of healing, the Snake
totem is the medicine of medicine itself. Her lessons are a private journey into releasing
the personal and opening to the universal. Life, to be lived, requires a body to do so.
Snake medicine speaks of transcending personal challenges and of renewal. Snake,
unlike dragonfly or butterfly, does not transform herself into a completely new shape.
She molts; a process of gliding through old dead cells to emerge improved and renewed
with its original design intact.” Clearly, she is speaking of our inner alchemical
transformation, and the role of Kundalini. Those who have undergone the inner
initiation and transmutation appear the same, on the outside.
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 This is further reinforced in Native American folklore which describe the
shaman, in snake ceremonies, using its venom to transmute the poisons of the body. In
fact, very often, shamans themselves are serpent people. The serpent, as a totem, is a
guide for those of high spiritual aspiration, portending growth and transformation,
creativity and wisdom. The serpent, as the one who sheds old skin and is renewed,
especially in Ojibwe legend, is the mark of the healer and medicine man.

And if it is the serpent-power that transforms, it is the medicine of the lion

needed to cope with the transformation. Says Elena Harris, a writer about Native
American totems, “The lion spirit animal represents courage and strength in meeting
challenges…the presence of this power animal could also mean that something difficult
to control is happening.” The lion totem is about achieving mastery, leadership, courage
and strength, and it is also said to be one of great responsibility, needful of invoking
humility and grace. This lion totem and medicine clearly speaks to that of the shaman
or initiate with the newly unfolded consciousness; of those in whom the Kundalini has
awakened, and the title Key 8 on which it appears, Strength, relates perfectly to its
totemic meaning.

Beyond the Native American tradition, the lion is often a totem of kings. Writes
Cinnamon Moon in the publication “Spirit Lodge”: "Universally linked with royalty,
strength, and courage, the lion is usually associated the masculine sun gods in Greece
and Rome…the lion is also a symbol of the tribe of Judah and of the Davidic line of
kings.” The lion as a king is linked to its representation as the Divine Masculine or
alchemical Sun which, when united with the Divine Feminine, the serpent or alchemical
Moon, results in the Mystical Marriage.

Some intriguing reflections on the nature of Kundalini itself, and people’s

response to it, are provided in some practical observations of the lion encounter. To
begin with, people’s reactions to the opportunity to interact with lions were very
different. Many people were terrified, some to the extent of declining the chance to get
near them at all. The Kundalini experience, in parallel, is often approached with
trepidation and fear of danger, and rightly so; but the experience itself is for the most
part overwhelmingly positive. And the conscious opportunity with Kundalini is an
opening that, like sitting with a lion, not everyone may have in a lifetime, and that will
require readiness and openness. Finally, one is impressed by the image of the yawning
lion as a powerful reminder that even the unawakened Kundalini, slumbering on the
ground of the muladhara chakra, is an immense force that is not to be approached
lightly.

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 Says Paul Foster Case, “Make your thought patterns accurate, profound,
courageous, and positive. Then you tame the lion. This, indeed, is the secret of all
spiritual activities, the secret of strength, and ultimate mastery.”

A wonderful meditation is provided in the Native American ode to the lion:

“Lion...
Oh kingly leader,
Of sleek, feline form,

Touch my heart with courage,

That I may lead with foresight,
Assurance bright and true,
To carry on the spirit,
Of the strength I see in you.”

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 CHAPTER 4

THE LION, EAGLE, BULL (OX) and MAN

We have already mentioned the lion in the previous chapter, in connection with
the serpent. Presently, we will deal with the lion, eagle, bull (or ox) and man at one time,
for their relationship in Keys 10, 14, and 21 is essential to their purpose and meaning in
the Tarot.

We will begin with their essential place in Key 10, The Wheel of Fortune. In “The
Tarot: A Key to the Wisdom of the Ages,” Paul Foster Case tells us: “The design is
adapted from Eliphas Levi's diagram of the Wheel of Ezekiel, in his Ritual of the
Sanctum Regnum. At the corners are the mystical animals mentioned in Ezekiel and
Revelation. They correspond to the fixed signs of the zodiac: the bull to Taurus; the lion
to Leo; the eagle to Scorpio; the man to Aquarius. The numbers of these signs in the
zodiacal series are 2, 5, 8 and 11, adding to 26, the number of Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh. In this
name, Yod is represented by the lion, the first Heh by the eagle, the Vav by the man, and
the final Heh by the bull. Thus the "living creatures" typify the fixed, eternal modes of
the One Reality, which, so to say, remain permanent in contrast to the flux and reflux
symbolized by the turning wheel.”

Case points out also that the symbol on the lowest point of the wheel, the two
wavy lines, is an alchemical symbol for Dissolution. It is also the glyph for the
astrological sign of Aquarius, attributable to the man. This is a key to the purpose of this
animal quartet: that man is among them. For the Great Work is a task for man, not
beast. The lion, bull and eagle are there because their medicine is of indispensable
assistance to man in this alchemical procedure of self-transformation and realization.

It is helpful, to shed light on Eliphas Levi’s exposition, to consult Levi’s own work
directly. He therein explains: “The Wheel of Ezekiel is the type on which all the
Pentacles of the Higher Magic are designed. When the adept is in the blessed possession

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of a full knowledge of the powers of the Seal of Solomon, and of the virtues of the
Wheel of Ezekiel, which is indeed correspondent, in its entire symbolism, with that of
Pythagoras, he has sufficient experience to design talismans and pentacles for any
special magical purpose.” Of the Wheel of Ezekiel itself, he makes a most critical
statement: that it is the solution to what he refers to as “the problem of the quadrature of
the circle”.

The problem of the quadrature of the circle is exactly what provides insight into
the meaning of the Wheel, and the four animals. The circularity of the Wheel of Fortune
itself embodies a certain ineffable wholeness therein. The symbol at the center of the
Wheel is that of the fifth element known as the Quintessence; Spirit, that spins all of
reality into existence. Indeed, one who experiences reality does not apprehend
demarcations of time, season, or any other division; only the smooth, uninterrupted flow
of the turning of the Wheel. Where the elements meet and are separated is not
perceived, and yet they are shown in this key, at the four corners, as the four animals.
These four stations, like the animals themselves, are nonetheless an integral part of the
supernal wholeness of the Wheel. One must take great care, in the division, not to lose
the totality, lest one lose the Quintessence, the wakan essence of the Great Spirit itself.
By the same token, it most difficult to find the quadrature, or square, of the circle. In
times past, many attempts were made to find the precise area of a square equivalent to
that of a circle with a compass and a straightedge, but it was not possible. It must be
solved mathematically. This solution, this solvency, is something we must personally
undergo in the alchemical process of Dissolution, and the symbol of that process
appears at the base of the Wheel itself and is intimated by the man, for he represents the
astrological sign Aquarius bearing the identical glyph. The man, who will, unlike the
beasts, undergo the Dissolution process, will do so by virtue of his consciousness, and
thus will he or she experience it. To square the circle is to pin and fix to the four corners
this untenable totality, without losing the Quintessence. The four elements, fixed signs,
and animals accomplish this, bodying forth all the aspects of the Life-Power.

The Native People also circumscribe the Medicine Wheel itself into the Four
Directions, but the number of their elements is also five, reflecting the divine essence of
the Great Spirit at the center, from which everything emanates. Says Tree Song: “A
Medicine Wheel is a physical manifestation of Spiritual energy. An outward expression
of an internal dialogue. A mirror in which we can better see what is going on within us.
It is a wheel of protection and enables us, and allows us, to gather surrounding energies
into a focal point and to commune with Spirit, Self and Nature, all elemental forces, all
of Creation!”

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 The Medicine Wheel

So the lion, eagle, bull and man are the embodiment of the four elements,
emanating from the Quintessence, or Great Spirit at the center who has spun the web.
This is depicted in an image Case provides in connection with Key 10, as a star or
pentacle superimposed over the Wheel of Fortune with the symbol for Spirit (which is
actually at the Wheel’s center) corresponding to the top point. This returns us to the
mention made by Eliphas Levi of the “Pentacles of Higher Magic.” All magic is done by
the elements. Why does Levi refer to a pentacle or five? It is because the elements, like
the tattwas, number five. It is these the adept, and also the shaman, who must work with,
five elements; for without Spirit, all magic is rendered null and void.

Levi continues: “The state of universal equilibrium is suggested by the

counterpoised emblems, and the pairs of symbols. The flying eagle balances the man;
the roaring lion counterpoises the laborious bull.” Here, not only do we draw closer to
the medicine of each animal, but we also see that that they complement and balance
each other. We find that Levi’s assessment is commutative, for the lion and eagle and the
bull and man become balanced pairs also, the former of which is the very essence of Key
14, Temperance, where fire and water are equilibrated. In the World, the perfect
counterpoise of the animals and elements represent the final stage of the Great Work:
achievement, the realization of the true Self.

While the symbiotic relationship between the animals is always present, each one
as a symbol is the embodiment of the sacredness it represents; its medicine wakan and
holy; part of the Tetragrammaton. We come first to the eagle, the first Heh. In this part
of the Tarot, it more than a little bit curious, and worthy of contemplation, that the eagle
represents Scorpio, and not a scorpion. Moreover, an eagle is a creature of the air, and
yet he is intended as the embodiment of water. Why is this?

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 Astrologer Lynn Hayes explains that the scorpion is not the only representation
of Scorpio, and there are not one but two others: the eagle, and the phoenix. Says she:
“The eagle shares with the scorpion the ability to strike at a moment’s notice. Where the
Scorpion’s journey is low to the ground the eagle soars above the earth, proud and free.”
The phoenix, like the eagle, is part of the higher part of the Scorpion nature. For Scorpio
is associated with Death and Key 13, but the phoenix rises from its own flames of
destruction on the funeral pyre. These flames speak to an association with Mars and fire,
wherein rebirth is revealed as the secret of immortality. For the Egyptians, the eagle was
not only also connected to resurrection and overcoming death, but also represented
initiation into the sacred mysteries. These connections make the eagle the appropriate
personification of Scorpio as one of the fixed signs of the four directions.

As a Native American totem, there are few more honorable than that of the eagle.
Says Beverly “Two Feathers” Owens: “An eagle soars to great heights and is quick to
scrutinize the expansiveness within the overall patterns of life. From the clouds, eagle is
close to where the Great Spirit resides. Eagle medicine, she says, denotes a closeness with
the Divine, as the bird is able to balance being of the realm of the Great Spirit, yet a
creature of Mother Earth at the same time. “The eagle,” she concludes, “represents a
state of grace which is achieved by hard work, understanding, and completion of tests of
initiation which result in the taking of one’s personal power.” This and the identity of the
eagle and the phoenix draws us nearer to the intimation that the eagle represents the
fine astral body of the adept, risen from the ashes of the sacrifice of the egoistic self.
Eagle medicine also calls forth a particular passage of the Emerald Tablet: “It ascends
from earth to heaven and descends again to earth, and receives the power of the
superiors and of the inferiors. So thou hast the glory of the whole world; therefore let all
obscurity flee before thee.”

This is so in connection with the counterbalancing of the animals mentioned by

Eliphas Levi, for in the Wheel of Fortune and the World, the lion, or element of fire, is
below that of the eagle or the element of water, such that the bird becomes the
alchemical vapor that flies up because it has been heated by the flame. As such, it rises
and ascends to heaven. In Key 14, Temperance, the eagle and the lion on either side
indicate the balance of water and fire, further reinforced by the urn pouring forth water
and the flaming torch. The eagle, not the scorpion, flies up. And from above, he or she
sees from this sky vista the patterns of the Great Spirit below in full, woven into a
tapestry of being. Here we are reminded not to forget about a fourth eagle in the Tarot:
the one emblazoned upon the wallet of the Fool. This talks about developing the higher
vision as well. Case describes the eagle on the wallet as an allusion to “the development
of a higher type of vision” through which we can view the design stored in universal
20
memory. He tells us that the ten stitches on the wallet flap are synonymous with the ten
wheels on the Fool's coat, indicating ten expressions of higher perception developed by
occult practice. And each one of these wheels as we know is akin to the one in the Wheel
of Fortune.

For the water to ascend, or fly upwards, flame is required – the lion, who
represents the element of fire and the Yod of the Tetragrammaton. We examined the
lion meaning and totem at length in the previous chapter. It is that of courage, power,
leadership, responsibility, and most of all, strength, which the name is given to Key 8. It
is connected with the serpent, for it is the serpent power or Kundalini that is the rising
flame itself. This transformative fire of lion is that from which the eagle or phoenix rises
or flies up. In the final Key, the World which symbolizes the realization of the true Self,
the four animals appear again. Here, the eagle which can soar is the alchemical bird, the
phoenix indeed, risen from the leonine fire of the Kundalini awakened in the head.

The bull is the clear astrological emblem of Taurus and the second Heh in the
Tetragrammaton. He is affixed to the corner given to the element earth. He is
sometimes called an ox, which creates an affinity with Aleph, the ox, and thereby, the
Divine breath of ruach. Here it is interesting to note an incidental phonetic similarity to
the word “auroch” which is the wild ox or wild bull, the animal referenced in the Bible
which is now extinct. The Hebrew word for the auroch was re’em, Resh-Aleph-Mem,
wherein one can clearly notice an elemental connection to light, air and water. The wild
ox, or auroch, to the Hebrews, was an animal of great significance. Enormous and fierce,
the auroch grew as large as six feet in height, and was superlatively wild and impossible
to tame. In Job 39:9-12, the subduing and training of the wild-ox is said to be beyond
man’s ability and understanding. The auroch or wild ox represented the strength of
Israel, and Moses said of Joseph: “And his horns are the horns of the wild-ox, and with
them he shall push all the peoples, even the ends of the earth.” So with this insight into
the meaning and significance of the wild ox, we can better understand the bull in
Ezekiel which is under the dominion of man. The connection with the ox and breath
remain, as does the animal’s power, but now is under man’s influence and will. This is
intimated by the position of the man being above the bull in the Wheel of Fortune and
the World.

Bull medicine in Native American tradition is direct kin to that which we

associate with Taurus: tenacity, power, force, strength, fertility and abundance and is
connected to the buffalo, another wild animal of immense significance to the Native
Americans. According to the interpretation of Loretta Standley: “Bull's message is about
using your inner strength and power in order to call abundance into your life. Much like
buffalo medicine it is asking you to embrace abundance. When bull medicine comes in
21
front of you, it is reminding you to think abundantly and the ability to replicate is in
your grasp.” Her choice of words is thought-provoking, as Kaph, the letter of Key 10
means to grasp, and suggests the curve of a closed hand. “Kaph is the hand of the man
in the act of grasping. To grasp is to hold, to comprehend, to master,” says Paul Foster
Case. It is also to bring something under control. Could it be the Divine breath which we
must learn to hold, to grasp, to bring under our control? For the ox or bull that works
for man works and pulls, and so does our breath, as it draws. Breath gives life, brings
forth abundance; allows us to manifest. In Key 21, the World, the bull turns his head in
an outward direction to signify the unbroken life force in the completion of the Great
Work.

And so we come to the man, mentioned previously as he who performs the

Dissolution, the wavy-lined glyph of which is the same as the astrological sign of
Aquarius given to the man. He is the Vav in the Tetragrammaton. He represents the
element air, but is the water bearer. Divine light, as a form of air, is often referred to as
astral water. It is through breath that man brings Divine light forth into the world. And
we must recall that it is the Quintessence at the center of the Wheel which must be
brought forth in physical form; the circle from which comes the square that man makes.
This square is somewhat like a stone; one with which man can build. In this way, man
tames the bull, masters the earth, grasps the Quintessence, and brings it forth, invoking
its potency, fertility, and abundance.

In this way, man’s and woman’s own medicine becomes the Divine light which he
or she brings. The four animals and elements each represent an aspect of the Life-Power,
or Great Spirit, which has been fixed into the physical world, but together they become
Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh, so they have not changed being, only outward form. This reminds us
once again that man is capable of the Breath of Heaven only by way of having a body. It
is a process which is accomplished, not by the grasping hand of man only, but by the
medicine of the four animals. Eliphas Levi explains it well, when he points out that in
the use of the Pentacles of Higher Magic, the initiated cannot help himself to the magic
or another. Says he: “If you become initiated you will at length make and vary your own
talismans and pentacles; you will choose the proper hours, select your perfumes and
compose your own invocations”. Elucidating further, he poignantly reminds us that in
each of us the life force is unique, as is our personal consciousness, and therefore our
individual connection with the Divine. Our work with the five elements is hence unique
for each one of us. Levi offers us counsel in the way of presenting the medicine of the
four animals to us:

“Is it a decision that is needed, ask it from the human head.

Is it help and protection that you need, ask the lion's claws to afford it.
22
Are you poor and ignorant, invoke the power of the bull, and work yourself.
Do the struggles of life weary you, take the eagle's wings and raise yourself on
high above the earth.”

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 CHAPTER 5

THE SCARLET IBIS

The scarlet ibis is the bird of Hermes or Thoth, god of wisdom, sacred to ancient
Egypt. Paul Foster Case in “Tarot: A Key to Wisdom of the Ages” describes the identity
of the ibis in Key 17, the Star, the fish-hook of Tzaddi, as both Hermes and the Magician.

In so doing, he suggests that the ibis is connected with Key 7 through Key 1, the
Magician. Key 7, the Chariot, does in fact reflect an important aspect of the scarlet ibis
and it habitat, for it is a fishing bird, catching crustaceans such as crabs with its hook
shaped bill. In fact, its scarlet color comes from a diet of these shell fish. Cheth, the
letter of Key 7 which means fence or enclosure, is the carapace of these crustaceans, just
as Cancer is the Crab that is the astrological ruler of this key. So in a sense we see that
the fish that Hermes, the Magician, is angling for is a crab, sometimes the fresh water
crayfish in the Moon. These are hard-shelled fish; tangible. At the same time, when we
meditate, the activity represented by the Star, we are also angling for the tangible. In
Key 17, the stars depict the chakras that are involved in yoga and meditation. There are
corporeal physical changes that take place with progress in these yogic meditations, just
as there are corporeal changes to the ibis when it catches and eats the fish that cause it
to turn scarlet. One can imagine the yogi as a vessel of clear liquid or life force, which
turns red when the heavenly breath of Spirit has entered it in meditation. Suspensions of
gold in liquid are also vividly red. So is the Philosopher’s Stone as an elixir or a solid
medicine. Such is the medicine of the ibis.

Manly P. Hall in “The Most Holy Trinosophia” describes the alchemical process
the adept undergoes in a similar way. The vessel is the retort; clear and crystalline as the
liquid within, which rises as vapors from the heat of the blazing flames below. “The
adept,” explains Hall, “is lifted up…and discovers that the color of his garment has
changed…to brilliant red. The solution in the alchemical retort, if digested a certain
length of time, will turn into a red elixir, which is called the Universal Medicine. It
resembles a fiery water, and is luminous in the dark." The changes that occur as a result
of meditation are both spiritual and corporeal. The mediator is the mind or Mercury:
Hermes, the winged messenger. The ibis is his totem.

But the ibis is also connected to another bird: the phoenix. Here, the previous
chapter is recalled in which the phoenix flies above the lion, because the phoenix is a
bird of Scorpio as is the eagle. That fire is the “Astral Light”, the name given to the
Kundalini force by Eliphas Levi. It is embodied in Key 8, the sum of the numbers in Key
17. This, or course, is the lion. Many Tarot animals and their meanings converge here.

24
The lion is the risen form of the serpent-power that comes to rest in the head or crown
chakra. But this rising action is that which causes the eagle or phoenix to fly. “Arieh, the
Lion,” says Case, has “the same numeration as GBVRH, Geburah, Strength.” He further
explains that Key 14, Temperance, one can find the eagle and lion balancing each other,
as “a symbol for the Mars-force concentrated in Geburah.” It is, as we know, an
equilibrium of the serpent-power. Mars and Geburah are both connected with the color
red. There is an interesting connection to be observed by overlaying the Tree of Life
atop of both Keys 6 and Keys 17. In the former, the red Sephirah of Geburah the lion is
found precisely over the serpent and Eve’s head, as he whispers in her ear. In Key 17,
Geburah is directly over the scarlet ibis, almost as if to confer its color, that of the red
lion and Elixir.

Stations of Geburah in Keys 6 & 17

The red color is achieved through control over the Astral Light. This is why in
Strength, an infinity symbol appears above both the head of the woman and the
Magician. And is Eve, in Key 6, not the same as the woman in Key 8 and the Magician
not the same as Hermes and the ibis?

It is useful to remember that the woman in Strength who controls the Astral
Light is Binah: Understanding. She opens the mouth of the lion to hear him speak.
Thereby, wisdom and understanding are received. The ibis as the bird of Thoth is a bird
of wisdom. He very rarely calls. As a totem, ibises often represent those who tend to be
of few words. Ibises are mostly silent in the wild. Likewise, meditation is an act of
listening and not speaking. It is an internal form of communication that Hermes uses to
bear away his messages. It is remarkable to note the implications from a passage of Job,
38:36. There, God has challenged him, asking: “Who has put wisdom in the innermost
being? Or given understanding to the mind?” Some translations read thus: “Who gives
the ibis wisdom? Or the rooster understanding?” There is a suggestion that the
understanding of Binah comes by way of opening the mouth of the red lion; inner

25
listening to hear the messages of the ibis. Here is a suggestion of why the “Secret of All
Spiritual Activities” is attributed to Key 8.

Here is also the intimation of the emphasis placed on the mouth of the ibis, not
only through speech but through its bill which catches and ingests the fish. The fish-
hook of Tzaddi that we should picture is neither a net nor a line, but a stout, trusty red
bill. The mouth of the previous key, 16, Peh, stained red by Mars. And when the crimson
crab is digested and assimilated, the principle of reorganization of the subsequent key,
the Moon, from whence the crab has issued, is invoked.

It is mostly on the shore of the water that the ibis can be found, just as he is in
Key 17, looking for a hapless shell-fish. He most frequently flies over the waters and not
land. There, he is suspended, like the Suspended Man of Key 12, Mem. Similarly, we
must also suspend our minds in meditation. There, like the scarlet ibis in “The Star” we
find our fish. A keen eye is often necessary to spot them just under the surface, and a
steady diet rich in carotenoids ensures such vision. And yet, sometimes, like the crab in
the Moon, the fish we need just crawls out of the water to meet us on the path.
Sometimes in meditation and sometimes in dreams, Spirit meets us. When these gifts
come, we must be ready to receive, to write them down.

The ibis represents the higher mind and nervous system, for it is that part of us
which communicates with the beyond. He is sacred to Egypt because he captures
something which has been brought forth from the Divine: the living gold of heavenly
divine Light. It is carried away in the breath, brought to the shores of the living, coloring
our essence with its ruby presence of assimilated wisdom, becoming a part of the
body…our most sacred and treasured jewel.

In “A Rainbow of Spirituality”, it is said that the medicine of the ibis unfolds over
a period of weeks. “Ibis medicine teaches patience,” says the author. “She will show how
to transition in steps as each week progresses so be ready because she heralds a new
richness and fertility coming your way. The archetypal power of Ibis conveys sacrificial
and protective elements in life's storms either in personal areas or towards others. Trust
your intuition as she demonstrates the importance of timing.” In this way, the ibis
represents spirit guidance as well, which also reaches us in meditation. This may be an
abundant blessing, or it may be a means of weathering a storm. The latter is quite
appropriate, for tradition associates the ibis with the most terrible of all storms, the
hurricane. According to legend, the bird is the last of the creatures of the field to take
shelter before the storm, and the first to come forth after it has passed. The medicine of
the ibis both protects and guides.

26
 To see an ibis has practical implications as well. It could also mean that there are
snakes nearby. For the ibis does not only eat crustaceans, but also serpents. It is not
surprising to learn that as the bird of Hermes, the ibis was known in ancient times to
feed on “the fiery flying serpent” which the Egyptian and Arabian peoples of antiquity
greatly feared. Herodotus wrote of a place in Arabia wherein he heard tales of winged
serpents, finding in a visit there “bones and spines of serpents, in such quantities as it
would be impossible to describe. The form of the serpent is like that of the water-snake;
but he has wings without feathers, and as like as possible to the wings of a bat.” It was
said that these serpents contained treacherous poisons. Some sources attribute them to
the Staff of Moses, others to evidence of the existence of dragons.

Curiously, a strikingly similar mythology can be found in the ancient Native

tribes of Mesoamerica. There, Quetzalcóatl, the winged serpent, played a pivotal role in
the creation story of mankind, by descending into the underworld and retrieving bones,
which Quetzalcóatl combined with his own blood to create new life. The lore of the
winged serpent can be found as far north as Utah, carved by the ancient Native tribes
who dwelt there. The legend of the horned serpent of the lake called Gichigami or
Gitche Gumee - Lake Superior – is still told by the Ojibwe or Chippewa people. This is a
water serpent, as serpents which the ibis feeds on can sometimes be. He is associated
with great storms on the lake – storms which would swallow ships whole - which the
strength and wisdom of ibis medicine would teach us how to endure.

It is an intriguing point that Herodotus’ evidence of the winged serpent involves

the finding of many bones on the other side of the world. Similarly, one finds association
between the creation story of Quetzalcóatl and the phoenix in the mythos of
resurrection and re-creation from the remains of an earlier deceased body, as one finds a
similarity between Quetzalcóatl and Thoth themselves. The scarlet ibis of Thoth or
Hermes is today found in great numbers in South America, not far from the origin of
the Quetzalcóatl legend. The ibis, whether scarlet or white was revered as majestic bird
who could defeat and devour the winged serpent itself, digesting and transmuting its
fire. Indeed, this is the transmutation of the Kundalini through Mercury. It is likely that
these animals are the very ones who have provided these ancient archetypes through
which we understand the workings of the Kundalini or Astral Light.

27
 Phoenix, Thoth, Quetzalcóatl
& Winged Serpent in Utah Cave

This archetype is discussed by Manly P. Hall in “The Most Holy Trinosophia,”

wherein the alchemical image of the ibis rises above a torch by an altar. The bird rises in
this manner because, as Hall says, “the suspended state (is only possible) when in the
midst of the flames." Here again, the Suspended Man hovering or flying above the
waters of Mem in meditation is called to mind. True to the archetype, the ibis who
consumes the fiery serpent is identified by Hall as the phoenix rising from the ashes as a
“symbol of rebirth and immortality through spiritual enlightenment.” The physical
change by what is eaten or consumed is highly suggested.

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 Altar, bird and torch

Hall relates in a later passage about the ancient Egyptian rites related to
resurrection and immortality. “The soul of the Initiate departed in the form of a bird,” he
writes. “He is shown hovering over the couch on which the mummy lies. The soul-bird
with the green branch refers to the Messianic Mystery as set forth in the Book of the
Dead. Wisdom confers immortality upon the soul. Without wisdom, the soul must perish
with the body.” There he tells of a second Greater Mystery: “the accomplishment of the
philosophic androgyne, in which the male and female principles of wisdom—
represented by the Ibis and the butterfly—are united in one creature.”

“The Initiate is told to seize and affix the symbolic bird. For nine days (degrees)
the adept pursues the bird, which he finally forces to enter the tower named corruption.
The tower is the vessel for further digestion, through which the elements of the Stone
must pass before their final perfection.” One calls to mind the Tower, the key preceding
the Star, and the activities of digestion undertaken by the ibis. It is through the medicine
of the ibis that the adept completes his long journey. “He beholds the bird, the altar and
the torch united into one spiritual body. Heaven, earth, and man have been united by
the indissoluble bonds of Hermetic wisdom.”

The ibis, as a totem, is known as concerned with an ability to flock, to work in a

group. There is the altar and torch; the Sun and Moon; Wisdom and Understanding. The
bird – Mercury - is required as a mediator to communicate between many pairs. The
forces of the Sun that rise up to help the ibis to fly and obtain the food of the Moon. This
patron of Thoth completes the sacred three, the Most Holy Trinosophia.

When the scarlet ibis flies, his brilliant plumage is like that of the phoenix:
luminous as he is caught in the late afternoon light of the Sun in the forest, and he
drops a red feather on the ground. It is the red feather of corporeality, and of
29
communication with the Divine. A wayfarer sees the red feather dance in the wind, as it
falls to the trail in front of him. He picks it up, places it in his crown of leaves, and takes
his little white dog along the path that now turns toward a high cliff.

Red Feather

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 CHAPTER 6

THE CRAYFISH or CRAB

As Carol Hermesh writes in “Spirit Animals”, the medicine of the crab or crayfish
teaches that “not all paths are direct and straightforward. There are lesser known paths
that will lead you to your goal.” This lesser known trail of the crab that is meant is
sometimes a sideways one, resonating with the sideways movement of this creature’s
legs. Sometimes, the lesser known trail that is spoken of is the inner one. This is so
because it is the soft bodied being inside the shell, with its exceptional vision, that choses
and controls the course or direction.

Likewise, the Path of Return is an inner journey. Hermesh tells of the path of
those with the crab totem as the unconventional one. These are the very individuals who
are likely to take the esoteric path of the mysteries rather than the well-traveled exoteric
thoroughfare of the masses. The lesser known, inner journey is the yellow path that
stretches out before the emerging crayfish in the Moon. This connects with the sign that
rules this key, Pisces, for Pisces is attributed to the feet whose steps move along the road.
It is said that the feet are related to Understanding, and this is appropriate here, for it is
the inward guidance, and not the feet, which lead the way.

The crab is a fish, its glyph of the sign of Cancer, which itself is ruled by the
Moon. This fish is also the one which is caught in the bill of ibis – the fish hook of
Tzaddi - in meditation. As we have seen in the previous chapter, it is from feeding upon
these carotenoid-rich, ruby-tinted crabs that the plumage of the ibis turns scarlet.

31
 And so, appropriately, Key 18, the Moon, is primarily concerned with an inward
journey which results in physical integration and corporeal changes. Explains Paul
Foster Case, “the Moon represents the fourth stage of spiritual unfoldment, wherein the
knowledge gained by meditation is incorporated into the bodily organism. It is the stage
of body-building, or organization in accordance with subconscious mental patterns.” The
ingested crayfish or crab, then, is readily seen as a symbol of what is being assimilated.
In one sense, this absorption is utterly physical, a token of the hard outer shell of the
fish. Yet it is simultaneously the inner journey of the mind, of meditation, that has
brought forth the nourishment to be integrated.

The crayfish is also regarded in the Tarot as a representation of a false perception

the aspirant must overcome of separateness from the One Self. Paradoxically, however,
even when transcending that perception it is the possession of a body which makes the
journey of the Path of Return possible.

Qoph, the Hebrew letter of the Moon, means “the back of the head”, in connection
with the subconscious processes involved with assimilation of lessons received, a process
which occurs beneath the surface of awareness and during sleep and dreams. This world
of thought-waves under the surface is depicted throughout the Tarot in the form of
water, which first flows from the robe of the High Priestess. She who not only is
governed by the Moon, but who symbolizes subconsciousness itself. These waters trickle
through many keys, ultimately forming a pool in the Moon. In this blue pool of
subconscious swims not only the forms we encounter inside our dreams, but also the
fish which nourish the corporeal changes necessary to complete the Great Work. The
emergence of the hard-shelled crayfish onto land represents the manner in which things
that exist only in our minds eventually break the surface of the waters and enter into the
physical world.

In a very real sense, this breaching of the waters and climbing forth into
corporeal existence is a kind of birth. This is indicated by Key 13, which is assigned the
letter Nun, the fish. Key 13 is entitled Death, but due to the principle of reversal that
operates in the Tarot and the sunrise which appears in the horizon on the image, it also
means birth or more accurately, rebirth. It is the fish that is being born, and the hard
shell of the crayfish or crab suggests that it is a physical resurrection. The Nun fish
hereby reveals itself as a symbol of the Christ and Christ-Consciousness.

The fish itself is connected to Christ through two miracles which produced both
fish and loaves of bread. Through means unknown, Yeshua caused a small number of
them to be multiplied in order to provide bountiful food with which to feed the lot of his
disciples. The second incidence of this mysterious phenomenon took place immediately
32
following Christ’s resurrection on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. There, the risen Christ
astounded his disciples through the miracle of his own reappearance and also by
causing fish and bread to appear in abundance. This meal, therefore, followed the Last
Supper, wherein three days before, he offered his blood and body in the form of red wine
and bread. The loaves of bread and fish eaten in Galilee are called “manna” in Hebrew,
which signifies the otherworldliness of this food, for it is the Bread of Heaven. The letter
Nun appears meaningfully in the center of this word like fish in its belly, ready to be
assimilated. The letter Nun not only means fish but also “to germinate and sprout”, and
so it connects also with wheat and bread, and in fact the letter Nun in some languages
related to Hebrew also is the common word for “bread”.

The bread and wine that is offered from the cup as communion bears a likeness
to the fish of Nun reborn from the pool of water in the Moon. The cup and pool are
redolent of the womb of the Divine Mother who is so closely associated with water.
Yeshua or Jesus is in fact called “the son of ‫ נון‬Nun,” for he is born from the waters of the
mother Mary, mayim. This symbolism is found mirrored in other Tarot images,
particularly the Rider-Waite Page of Cups, in which it is not bread, but an actual fish
issuing from the Page’s cup. In the Thoth Tarot version, the Knight of Cups, it is none
other than a red crab. The Ace of Cups also echoes this imagery, with an actual bird
taking the bread in its beak, like the ibis which catches the fish. And the color red of the
wine and the crab remind us of the ibis, which assimilates the red color into its feathers.

Further, the allegory of the fish and cup suggests that the fish or bread is in
essence the Philosopher’s Stone; the red wine the Elixir of Life, for it must also be the
bread and wine of the Last Supper which gives salvation and everlasting life. More
evidence of this connection is derived from the Hebrew word for Moon, Labanah. There
are two parts to this word: laib, heart, and ben, son. In the latter is the intimation of the
birth of the son, and also the Stone, which in Hebrew is ehben.

The Great Work and completion of the Stone is also revealed in finding that
“heart” is part of the word for “Moon”, for the heart is the Sun center, and the Great
Work is the Sun and the Moon through Mercury. In Key 18 itself, the image of the
Moon seems to contain the Sun within it, for the Moon’s light is a reflection of the Sun.
And the number assigned to this Key, 18, speaks to the forces of the Sun in Key 8
through that of the Magician, Key 1: Mercury. The subconscious reflects
Superconscious, and the consciousness aids it.

33
 Fish Issuing from Cup: Divine Communion
Lest there be any doubt, it is in fact of this son or fish from which the ibis
will indeed eat, for it represents the communion with the Divine that is received in
meditation. This is the Heavenly bread and wine. And it is assimilated in a corporeal way
through the organization principle represented by the Moon. We must eat of this fish
that we catch in meditation.

From a more literal perspective, our physical bodies are built through the food
that we have consumed. We are essentially a regenerated form of that food. On a
constant basis, through subconscious processes which the Moon symbolizes, we are
reconstructing our bodies, much of it occurring during the cycle of sleep. Every seven
years, our corporeal forms are completely rebuilt, to the extent that in this time span, all
of our cells are completely replaced. It is nourishment which makes this possible.
Conscious awareness of this fact when eating, and the blessing of our food, is in fact a
vital aspect of the Great Work.

Says Carol Hermesh to people who have the crab as a totem: “You are constantly
doing your inner work and deconstructing yourself and rebuilding who you are.”
Crayfish are experts to this end, for they molt at the end of June. They must consume
their old skeleton, in fact, in order to extract from it calcium and phosphates therein.
Their medicine teaches us how to renew ourselves and build vehicles for the
performance of the Great Work.

34
 The birth of the Sun is a key element of the mythology of Khephra, the scarab
beetle of ancient Egypt which Paul Foster Case tells us that the crayfish directly
represents. Khepra is not a Moon deity, but that of the Sunrise, and rebirth itself, just as
the Nun of Key 13 relates to the rising Sun and rebirth. In ancient Egypt, the scarab
beetle, which by day rolled balls of dung across the ground, was seen to guide the Sun’s
course across the sky. Khephra each day rolled the Sun across the sky, and then far
beyond the horizon to be swallowed by Nut, the night, from whence Khephra would be
reborn the next morning. The scarab beetles for whom Khephra was named underwent
a similar transformation, dormant in the night of gestation, and emerging fully formed
from their eggs. And the egg itself was, according to lore, a gift of Thoth, laid by the ibis.

Khephra and Scarab Beetles

Khephra mirrors the alchemical stage of fermentation, a two-stepped process. It

begins with a putrefaction of an offspring, which culminates in a death and results in a
resurrection to a new, fully formed being. Fermentation is also used to make wine,
analogous to the Elixir of the Cup of Life. The personal experience of this stage of
unfoldment is expressed in the vivid visions and a shimmering array of remarkable
insights and perceptions. Because of this, this stage is known as the Peacock’s Tail. Its
iridescent hues betoken mystical feelings of Divine union that come in meditation, the
insights and realizations achieved in the vision quest and sweat lodge, and the flashes of
truth provided through the shamanic hallucinogenic experience. The colors associated
with stage reflect the peacock, the scarab beetle, and the ibis.

35
 These crystal visions in meditation are what enables us to see our way clear to the
Divine. It is an inner sunrise that reveals the true colors of the One Self, the jeweled
garments of all, as embodiments of the Life-Power. We see that all is One in this wheel
of corporeality. All is colored by the consumption of the fish, which is only yet another
incarnation of the Divine. The crystal waters of the depths through which these brilliant-
hued visions come betokens the presence of crayfish. For the clearest waters of the
world, through which one can see to remarkable depths, are made so by the clarification
process of crayfish.

In “Spirit Streams”, Nate Martin writes of the Vision Quest, the age-old Native
tradition that makes it possible to commune with the Great Spirit. “The power of the
Vision Quest goes way back, well beyond our time. It was at the heart of the Native
American Indian culture but its power is just as strong today. All you have to do is seek
it out. The Vision Quest is traditionally known as a three-day, three-night fast, alone, in
a place of natural power. Once completed, you will be “reborn” and have renewed focus
on what you truly were put on this earth to do and also how to go about doing it.”

Martin relates this to a higher purpose or path, the lesser known path spoken of
by Carol Hermesh of the crayfish or crab. Says Martin, the call to attain to this path can
only come from the Great Spirit, for “the only way to truly be touched by Him is to enter
His world, His environment, that He created.” Martin chooses a place by the river where
he often goes trout fishing. “We are entering a place of natural power,” says he. “Trout
live in some of the most beautiful places in the world and water in itself, has a natural
innate healing power. It is here where clear thought is possible, where new life can be
found, and where direction is received, from the Creator Himself. All you need to do is
seek it out.”

36
 CHAPTER 7

THE WOLF
The message of the wolf in the Moon is inherently tied with the path that
stretches from the pool to beyond the two towers in the distance. This path is beneath
the night sky, illuminated only by the pale thin light of the moon and stars. It is the Path
of Return. Though others have made the journey before, each one must take up this trail
alone. The wolf is a pack animal, yet the lone wolf is simultaneously the quintessential
individual. We will not be without companionship and guidance on the path, of the
wisdom of those who have gone before. Wolf medicine is of teachers and guides. The
Path of Return is not meant to be followed in the sense of the sheep, but rather found,
navigated, forged, much in the way that wolves go forth in the deep of the forest, for the
wolf is sometimes called “the pathfinder”.

This name reaches back through the centuries to ancient Egypt, where the name
given to the wolf was Wepwawet, literally meaning “opener of the ways.” He was
perceived as a kind of scout, clearing the path for the warriors who would later take the
road to victory.

37
 The Wolf on the Path

Says Elena Harris in “Spirit Animals and Animal Totems: “Wolf is a powerful
totem when you feel lost and don’t know where to go. He guides you, he will be your
protector as you make your journey on an unexplored path, as you gain wisdom, insight
and experience. But to venture into the forest on the path of the wolf you must be
willing to face the unknown. You must do this in order to find sustenance for your
growth.”

The wolf, in ancient Egypt, was also seen as the opener of the gates between
worlds. These gates are marked in The Moon by the two towers, which Paul Foster Case
tells us “mark the boundaries of the known”. Here, the seeker must go forth into the
unknown to find sustenance for the journey, through communion with Spirit. This is
done through subconscious; through dreams and inner listening wherein guidance is
imparted. Says Dr. Rex about the wolf totem: “The wolf angel symbolizes your inner
teacher. Trust in your many senses and intuition and you will connect to your meaning
and blaze your own path on the journey of life.”

38
 The Hierophant, Key 5
Because the wolf delves into the aspects of Key 18 that are connected with
intuition and inner hearing, we find links between The Moon and The Hierophant, Key
5, which is primarily concerned with intuition, inner hearing, and interior astral senses.
The word Hierophant means “revealer of sacred things”. There are a number of lunar
symbols in The Hierophant. The yoke at his throat as a Moon intimates that it is through
the subconscious that we are joined to the One Self, Superconscious, especially when we
are listening, for the word “yoke” connects with yoga where we perfect this art. The
Moon is also represented in one of two keys between the two priests at his feet; the white
one; the other gold one is a symbol of the Sun or Superconscious. The priest on the left
seems to reach for the silver Moon key, as though to access intuition. The backs of the
heads of the two priests hint that the intuition is invoked, and seem to depict Qoph, the
Hebrew letter that is assigned to the Moon that means “back of the head”. The Moon is
also exalted in Taurus, the ruler of the Hierophant.

The golden yellow of the Life-Power is reflected on the path in the Moon itself.
These rays of gold are those of the heart: the Sun center. It is the heart which catches the
Sun’s reflection. Intuitional guidance is often felt with the heart. Without being caught
by the light of the heart, the path itself would disappear into the night and the silence of
the stars. When our outer senses are dim, our inner ones are kindled and awaken, which
may be why it was Helen Keller who said that true beauty “cannot be seen or touched,
but must be felt with the heart”. We know this true beauty as the light of truth itself that
is illumined in the golden strands of Tiphareth.

The gates between worlds opened by wolf medicine is not only the portal to
dreams and intuition but to Divine guidance. This is where we must go to hear our Inner
Teacher, by attunement to vibrations. These vibrations are intimated by the path itself,
which Case tells us “rises and falls”, relating to “periodicity, wavemotion, and vibration.”
39
 A remarkable connection is seen here with the howling of wolves, recorded in a
spectrograph by Fred Harrington for NOVA. Says Harrington, the howls “look like
rolling hills or steep ridges leading to or falling away from plateaus.” He explains that
this indicates that manner in which these howling sound waves travel extremely far,
sometimes as much as six miles away in the forest and ten miles on the open tundra.
Other acute wolverine senses reflect the attunement to vibration of the inner senses,
including the intensified olfactory powers that wolves possess, being able to detect scent
for miles, their night vision, and even their ability to swim long distances, assisted by
webs in their feet.

It is the physical sensation in the heart, tendrils of vibrations that touch our
innermost center, that lets us know if we are on the right trail. This understanding in
one’s heart, in the tranquil darkness of Binah, suggests the understanding connected
with Pisces and the feet, associated with the Moon. Wolves’ feet point straight, finding
the way, unlike dogs whose feet point out to the sides. The Piscean wolf feet are nimble,
leading to understanding of the way through the wooded trail.

Binah is also connected with the Empress, the heart and the Divine Mother, all of
which are tied with the Moon. The wolves’ pack is its family and its fortitude, for as
Rudyard Kipling wrote in his verse, “The Law for the Wolves”: “The strength of the wolf
is in the pack, and the strength of the pack is in the wolf”. Recent scientists have found
family at the core of the wolf pack, and believe that labeling a wolf “alpha” or “omega” is
misleading because “alpha” wolves are simply parent wolves. That means that the wolf is
the mother, the protector, and the nurturer. All of these are hallmarks of the wolf totem.
They mate for life, and the teaching part of their medicine is also connected with the
familial aspect, for the parent is often the first teacher. Furthermore, The Moon is
primarily concerned with the principle of corporeal reorganization. It is the mother, we
must remember, that gives birth; that provides the material that will become the body.
It is the mother that, like the Moon itself, protects and watches over us.

The wolf walks the path along with the dog. The white dog of The Fool is a
symbol of the newly bestowed intellect, but the brown dog in The Moon now receives
the earthen color of experience, the consciousness of a learned person. Paul Foster Case
describes the meaning of the wolf and dog symbols on the path: “The wolf”, he writes,
“remains what nature made him. The other, a dog, is a product of human adaptation.
Thus the path passes between the extremes of nature and art.” And so it is the wolf is
actually an earlier guide that assisted us long before the dog. This does not mean that
the wolf is a lower part of our nature; on the contrary, it is only a deeper and more
ancient faculty. The wolf and dog walk together because the conscious and
40
subconscious must work in symbiosis, just as dreams dance with waking to achieve the
infinity helix of night and day, Moon and Sun.

It is dog medicine – the intellect – by which we read, learn and study glyphs, but
by wolf medicine – the intuitive powers – that we apprehend these glyphs. There are
things which we cannot read about of the Mysteries. We are given charts, maps, symbols.
The powers of subconscious work to receive the meaning on a level where language is
inadequate. Dreaming is a symbolic experience. And so it is that both the wolf and dog
are needed to make the appropriate connections needed to navigate the Path of Return.

Eliphas Levi has related, in connection with the Wheel of Ezekiel and “squaring
the circle” that the Magician must ultimately devise and craft his own spells. This cannot
be done by intellect alone, and the supersensory abilities must be invoked. The Path of
Return, after all, is so named for a reason, being a circular one. The purpose of this
circular journey, as was seen in connection with the dog, is for the successive
development of human consciousness. The dog appears at the beginning of each
journey, on the path with the Fool, to symbolize another revolution. The wolf, we see in
Key 18, must enjoin the dog. The path ultimately returns to where it started.

The Ojibwe or Anishinaabe creation story reflects a symbiotic relationship

between man, wolf and dog intimated by the Moon. Originally, the Great Spirit sent the
wolf as a companion to walk beside man. As described by Reyna Crow: “Ma'iingan (the
wolf) and Anishinaabeg (the people) were told to travel together and name everything
in nature, including all of the plants and animals. After they did this, they returned to
the Creator who told Wolf and Anishinaabeg that he would separate them. From now on
they would forever walk apart from each other, but that they would live parallel lives.
What happens to one will befall the other”. But the people would not walk alone, for the
Creator would send a new companion: the dog.

Wolf and Woman

41
 Wolf medicine or intuition does not only assist the Magician with composing his
own spells, but also with the powers of transformation, for wolf is a shapeshifter. The
very purpose of understanding the totemic link with the Tarot animals is to learn to
relate with qualities within ourselves that can be developed, through identification with
the animals who embody them. As a guide and teacher who leads us to our Inner
Teacher, the wolf is himself or herself a bit of a Shaman, Medicine Man, or Magician.

Says a Native American poem about the medicine of the wolf:

“Goddess-company, we trace the truth.

Understand our night cries!
We guide and protect her children.
Heed our counsels!
We sing to the Moon to show you the way
To ancient Moon magics!
We stand at the gates between the worlds.
Follow us!”

The White Spirit Wolf

42
 CONCLUSION

THE RED FEATHER and the TOTEMIC BUNDLE

We now arrive from whence we started in this journey of the Tarot, which is
circular. For the Fool is the alpha and omega; both beginning and end.

The Fool wears a red feather, which as Case tells us signifies corporeality. More
specifically, he tells us that the red feather represents belonging to “the higher class of
organisms in the animal kingdom, evolved from the vegetable world.” He adds that it is
also a symbol “of aspiration and of truth.”

The red feather is an object of great significance in Native traditions. Feathers not
only have magical uses, but must be earned, as a result of the completion of a test, or a
rite of passage or initiation. A feather may also fall onto one’s path: A gift of providence
and of Spirit. The red feather is frequently conferred upon the warrior who has returned,
victorious, from battle. The feather, whether ceremoniously bestowed or as a sacred gift
must be treated with respect and care, either worn, displayed, or carried in the medicine
pouch or totemic bundle, to serve as reminder of how to behave. It must not be dropped
on the ground.

Feathers worn, and all objects carried in the medicine pouch, carry totemic power.
A totem itself is, as previously described, not merely a symbol but an embodiment of an
aspect of the One Self. The totem is described by Arthur Versluis in “Sacred Earth” as
being “grounded in archetypal kinship” with the spiritual reality it bodies forth. The true
identity of the totem is an inner one, not defined by its earthly garments of corporeality.
Versluis explains that “there is no difference between a bear and one who goes by the

43
name of a bear.” All who carry the name of the bear are guardians of the extant
archetype of Spirit. The people who belong to the bear tribe, and the bear animal equally
carry bear medicine by virtue of spiritual aspects which they embody. The outer
garment is not the foremost aspect of the embodiment, so they may appear different.
The scarlet ibis is the totem of Hermes or Thoth; their inner essences are the same. For
the one with the totem of a bird who communicates with Spirit can indeed fly.

The red feather of the Fool in a sense has an affinity with the scarlet ibis and
Hermes or Thoth. For its red color alludes to the corporeality of blood, and the red of
the scarlet ibis is linked to communication with the Divine through the sacred breath
whose spiritual gold sparkles in the red cells of our blood. The Fool represents that
breath of Spirit contained in all life, and which is also underlies all the kingdoms of
manifestation, including mineral and vegetable. Paul Foster Case tells us that the green
wreath of the mineral kingdom and the red feather of animal kingdom describe how “in
manifestation, the energy (of the One Self) is temporarily limited”. The red feather, then,
represents membership to red-blooded tribe of humanity who may attain to the
Mercurial fulfilment of Hermes. It also represents an article of prodigious meaning and
power that might be bestowed upon a great warrior or Medicine Man.

Traditionally, the totemic bundle, sometimes called a “medicine pouch” or

“medicine bag” contains objects sacred to the bearer, sometimes the Shaman. There are
two types of bundles: that of the individual and that of the tribe. Remarkably, the bundle
traditionally will contain a collection of items from the each of the mineral, plant and
animal kingdoms as well as from mankind. From the mineral kingdom could be
magical crystals, gems or stones such as amethyst or turquoise. Items from the plant
kingdom could include ritual, smudging, or healing herbs; sage, flowers, tobacco and
seeds of the “three sisters”: corn, bean and squash. From the animal kingdom would be
that of the animal totem: fur, claws, teeth, and feathers. And finally, the items of the
humankind carried would be the pipe, small ceremonial items, maps and charts of the
Shaman, paints, and perhaps even coins, or keys.

The wallet carried by the Fool is in essence his totemic bundle. Case describes his
wallet as holding the “treasure of stored-up experience in the universal memory.” On the
flap are an eye and eagle. The eye is the All-Seeing Eye of Freemasonry, the Eye of
Horus, while the eagle alludes to the Scorpio force that enables the Life-Power to be
passed from cycle to cycle. This eagle is that which, as we have seen, flies up in response
to the interior flame, providing the illumination and altitude needed for the inner
seeing to perceive universal truths. It is appropriate here that the eagle is the bird of the
Shaman, he or she who flies close to the Great Spirit, able to see the Divine pattern in
44
the ground below. A Shaman may well have an eagle painted on the totemic bundle that
he or she carries.

The contents of the totemic bundle of both the individual and the tribe frequently
come by way of the Vision Quest. This is undertaken as an initiatory ritual or rite of
passage in youth, revealing the animal totem and other medicine that the person will
carry throughout his or her life. The Vision Quest is undertaken to experience the
Divine directly. One looks deeply within, seeing and learning the true essence of his or
her self, which defines his or her own medicine as an embodiment of the Great Spirit.
This direct apprehension of the Divine is likened to the meditation described in Key 17,
the Star. Similarly, through subconscious as a reflection of the Divine, revelations can
be received in dreams, as illustrated in the Moon, Key 18. These can be for the
individual or for the tribe. The Delaware received, through the dream of a Shaman, the
instructions to build the Great Lodge, which became the place in which tribe members
would receive subsequent visions. The Ojibwe or Anishinaabe allowed for the Shaman to
carry a totemic bundle for the entire tribe. What is contained therein are totemic
revelations, initiatory articles linking the individual and/or tribe to what Versluis
describes as “cosmological affiliations linked to the archetypal nexus” of Spirit.

As initiatory articles of revelation, and as objects from the realm of mankind, a

totemic bundle of the Western Mysteries could contain the Tarot keys themselves; the
Tree of Life; the Hebrew letters, and the Cube of Space. Like the treasures of universal
memory in the Fool’s wallet, they contain a complete revelation of spiritual truth. A
totemic bundle, it has been found, is potent only to the extent that it remains close to the
bearer; active, an extension of that individual. The articles within must be carried with
reverence and worked with, for they require their bearer as the catalyst. The most
important component of a Shaman’s medicine pouch is the Shaman, for it is through
him or her that the healing forces of the herbs contained therein are released.

Paints themselves are essential totemic items carried in the bundle. The colors of
the paint are totemic in nature; aspects of the manner in which the One Self is
“grounded in archetypal kinship” with the symbol. We then become the catalysts for this
rich treasure-trove of symbols; not only the red lion and the eagle which flies up, but all:
the red feather, the green wreath. In essence, each time we complete a cycle through the
Tarot, we increase the “treasure of stored up experience” that we will carry with us in the
wallet the next time around. The victory wreath of the World-dancer will be worn by the
Fool in the next cycle.

45
 Our totemic bundles gather more power as we carry them with us, cycle after
cycle. The totem is a revelation of the Life-Power; and in turn, identification with a
totem enables one to experience the revelation of one’s own true Self.

46
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