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A System of Correspondences between the I Ching and Tarot.

The I Ching (the Book of Changes) and the Tarot Cards are two great mantic systems created at different times and entirely different cultures - Zhou China and Medieval Europe respectively.

Both systems do not only deal with divination but also convey the ancient wisdom symbolically and reveal mysteries of the universe and human being.

Both systems contain a fixed set of symbols, each expressed with formal signs (lines of hexagrams, symbols and suits of cards) and symbolic images (aphorisms attached to hexagrams and lines, pictures and divination meanings of cards).

Taking into consideration such essential typological resemblance, one can ask a natural question whether each of these systems expresses concepts meaningful in the context of the corresponding culture only, or the Tarot cards and I Ching hexagrams are different symbolical manifestations of the same archetypical ideas whose universality is deeper than their specific way of representations accepted in one or another culture.

If the assumption about the universal archetypal source of the Tarot an I Ching meanings is correct then there should exist a mutually unique correspondence between hexagrams and cards.

Two principal differences in the structure of these systems are striking even after superficial acquaintance with them. First, these systems have a different number of elements: the Tarot deck contains 78 cards, while the I Ching comprises 64 hexagrams. Second, 64 hexagrams are of equal rank while Tarot cards are divided into 22 Major and 56 Minor Arcana.

Let us note that the number of cards exceeds the number of hexagrams by 14 (78 - 64 = 14). This is an important number for the Tarot since 14 is the number of cards in each suit of the Minor Arcana.

Structure of the Tarot deck

The 22 Major Arcana are divided into 10 Former ones and 12 Latter ones. "XI Arcanum ... starts a new cycle of the Major Arcana which strongly differs from the previous one. ... the system of the first ten Major Arcana dominates over the following Arcana. The Major Arcana of the first cycle are higher than Time, higher than the Principle of Motion itself. ... Correspondingly, all Arcana of the second cycle contain motion in their essence. (V. Shmakov, "The Sacred Book of Thoth"). Thus, it turns out that the Major Arcana are divided into two groups: 10 (I-X) Former Arcana and 12 (XI-XXII) Latter Arcana. 10 Former Major Arcana represent static principles and 12 latter Major Arcana represent dynamic principles.

The Minor Arcana consist of four suits. Each suite, consisting of 14 cards, comprises 10 pip cards from ace to ten and 4 face cards: king, queen, knight and page (there are three face cards in the modern standard 52-card deck since the knights are not included in it). There are four cards of different suits for any number of pips. Each of these tetrads is headed by the corresponding Former Major Arcanum. For example, four aces are headed by the I Major Arcanum, four twos are headed by the II Major Arcanum, four threes are headed by the III Major Arcanum, ... four tens are headed by the X Major Arcanum.

Traditionally the suits of the Tarot are represented by wands, cups, swords and pentacles. In the modern playing deck wands have transformed into clubs, cups into hearts, swords into spades, and pentacles into diamonds.

For each face card, we can find the most proper attribute: the wand suit for a king, the cup suit for a queen, the sword suit for a knight, and the pentacle suit for a page. Thus, among all 16 face cards, we can pick out four "pure" cards whose attribute corresponds to their rank: King of Wands, Queen of Cups, Knight of Swords, and Page of Pentacles. G.O.M., a famous Russian occultist of the early 20th century, calls these four cards the main cards in their suits. The other 12 cards are "mixed" ones. The "Pure" cards represent static principles while the "mixed" cards represent dynamic principles.

So, according to the "statics-dynamics" parameter, the Tarot cards can be divided into two groups: 14 stationary Arcana (10 Former Major Arcana and 4 "pure" face Arcana) and 64 Arcana of motion (12 Latter Major Arcana and 52 Minor Arcana - 40 pip and 12 "mixed" cards).

It turns out to be possible to establish a mutually unique correspondence between the 64 Arcana of motion and 64 Hexagrams of the I Ching.

A brief summary of the Tarot deck structure

22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana

56 Minor Arcana = 4 suits * 14 cards = 40 pip cards +16 face cards

The suits: wands, cups, swords and pentacles

Face cards: King, Queen, Knight and Page

22 Major Arcana = 10 Former Major Arcana + 12 Later Major Arcana

16 face cards = 4 "pure" cards + 12 "mixed" cards

14 stationary cards = 10 Former cards + 4 "pure" cards

64 cards of motion = 40 pip cards + 12 "mixed" cards + 12 Later cards

The Arcana of motion correspond to Hexagrams of the I Ching

The structure of the I Ching and its comparison with the Tarot cards

The I Ching is divided into two parts: the Upper Canon (hexagrams 1-30) and the Lower Canon (hexagrams 31-64).

I Ching hexagrams are grouped into pairs, consisting of a hexagram with an odd number and a following hexagram with an even number. The hexagrams of the pair can be obtained from each other by 180° rotation. The only exceptions are the hexagrams which are invariant under this rotation. In these cases, one hexagram of a pair is obtained from the other by inverting all its lines.

A comparison, between the I Ching hexagrams and Tarot cards, suggests the following rule: the first pairs from the both I Ching Canons (hex.s 1-2 and 31-32) correspond to aces, the second pairs (hex.s 3-4 and 33-34) correspond to twos and so on.

To compare the two systems we used the Rider-Waite Tarot deck (1909). This deck contains the canonical images of the Minor Arcana. These images, based on the tradition of divination meanings of the Minor Arcana, are the results of comparison of pip cards (from two to ten) with the 36 decans of the Zodiac and their planet rulers which were already known in the Hellenistic Egypt.

A careful reading of the aphorisms attached to a hexagram as a whole and its separate lines shows that the accompanying text of each hexagram consists of fragments which can be linked by some plot. These fragments can be used for a reconstruction of a whole story.

The obtained narration and their topics can be compared to the image of the corresponding Tarot card. In most cases, the story of the hexagram clearly correlates with the motif of the card.

A System of Correspondences between I Ching and Tarot

• The numeration of Major Arcana is given in accordance with the French system.
• The numbers in brackets are card numbers from the Rider-Waite deck.
• The Former Major Arcana, located in the left column of the table, are the main cards for the corresponding row.
• On the right from each of the Former Major Arcanum, there are the four Arcana of motion which correspond to the hexagrams of the I Ching.
• The number of the hexagram and its name is in the upper part of the cell, the name of the corresponding Tarot card is in the lower part of the cell.

  I The Magician	1. The Creative Асе of Wands	2. The Receptive Асе of Swords	31. Influence Асе of Cups	32. Duration Асе of Pentacles
  II The High Priestess	3. Difficulty at the Beginning Two of Cups	4. Youthful Folly Two of Pentacles	33. Retreat Two of Swords	34. The Power of the Great Two of Wands
  III The Empress	5. Waiting Three of Cups	6. Conflict Three of Swords	35. Progress Three of Wands	36. Darkening of the Light Three of Pentacles
  IV The Emperor	7. The Army Four of Swords	8. Holding Together Four of Pentacles	37. The Family Four of Wands	38. Opposition Four of Cups
  V  The Hierophant	9. The Taming Power of the Small Five of Cups	10. Treading Five of Pentacles	39. Obstruction Five of Wands	40. Deliverance Five of Swords
  VI The Lovers	11. Peace Six of Cups	12. Standstill Six of Swords	41. Decrease Six of Wands	42. Increase Six of Pentacles
  VII The Chariot	13. Fellowship with Men Seven of Swords	14. Possession in Great Measure Seven of Cups	43. Break-through Seven of Wands	44. Coming to Meet Seven of Pentacles
  VIII (XI) Justice	15.  Modesty Eight of Swords	16. Enthusiasm Eight of Wands	45. Gathering Together Eight of Pentacles	46. Pushing Upward Eight of Cups
  IX The Hermit	17. Following Nine of Pentacles	18. Work on What Has Been Spoiled Nine of Swords	47. Oppression Nine of Wands	48. The Well Nine of Cups
  X Wheel of Fortune	19. Approach Ten of Pentacles	20. Contemplation Ten of Cups	49. Revolution Ten of Wands	50. The Caldron Ten of Swords
  King of Wands	21. Biting Through  XI (VIII) Strength	22. Grace King of Pentacles	51. The Arousing King of Swords	52. Keeping still, mountain King of Cups
  Queen of Cups	23. Splitting Apart XII The Hanged Man	24. Return Queen of Swords	53. Development Queen of Wands	54. The Marrying Maiden Queen of Pentacles
  Knight of Swords	25. Innocence XIII Death	26. The Taming Power of the Great Knight of Cups	55. Abundance Knight of Pentacles	56. The Wanderer Knight of Wands
  Page of Pentacles	27. Corners of the Mouth XIV Temperance	28. Preponderance of the Great  Page of Wands	57. The Gentle Page of Swords	58. The Joyous, Lake Page of Cups
  	29. The Abysmal XV The Devil	30. The Clinging, Fire XVII The Star	59. Dispersion XVI The Tower	60. Limitation XVIII The Moon
  	61. Inner Truth XIX The Sun	62. Preponderance XXI (0) The Fool	63. After Completion XX Judgement	64. Before Completion XXII (XXI) The World

  
  

  The hexagram is a simple geometric shape that has taken on various meanings in a number of religions and belief systems. The opposing and overlapping triangles used to create it often represent two forces that are both opposing and interconnected.

  The Hexagram

  The hexagram is a unique shape in geometry. To obtain equidistant points -- those that are an equal distance from one another -- it cannot be drawn in a unicursal manner. That is, you cannot draw it without lifting and repositioning the pen. Instead, two individual and overlapping triangles form the hexagram.

  A unicursal hexagram is possible. A six-pointed shape can be created without lifting the pen and this has been adopted by some occult practitioners.

  The Star of David

  

  The most common depiction of the hexagram is the Star of David, also known as the Magen David. This is the symbol on the flag of Israel, which Jews have commonly used as a symbol of their faith for the last couple of centuries. This is also the symbol that multiple European communities have historically forced Jews to wear as identification, most notably by Nazi Germany in the 20th-century.

  The evolution of the Star of David is unclear. In the Middle Ages, the hexagram was often referred to as the Seal of Solomon, referencing a Biblical king of Israel and son of King David.

  The hexagram also came to have Kabbalistic and occult meaning. In the 19th-century, the Zionist movement adopted the symbol. Because of these multiple associations, some Jews, particularly some Orthodox Jews, do not use the Star of David as a symbol of faith.

  The Seal of Solomon

  The Seal of Solomon originates in medieval tales of a magical signet ring possessed by King Solomon. In these, it is said to have the power to bind and control supernatural creatures. Often, the seal is described as a hexagram, but some sources describe it as a pentagram.

  Duality of the Two Triangles

  In Eastern, Kabbalistic, and occult circles, the hexagram's meaning is commonly closely tied to the fact that it is composed of two triangles pointing in opposite directions. This relates to the union of opposites, such as male and female. It also commonly references the union of the spiritual and the physical, with spiritual reality reaching down and physical reality stretching upward.

  This intertwining of worlds can also be seen as a representation of the Hermetic principle "As above, so below." It references how changes in one world reflect changes in the other.

  Finally, triangles are commonly used in alchemy to designate the four different elements. The more rarified elements – fire and air – have point-down triangles, while the more physical elements – earth and water – have point-up triangles.

  Modern and Early Modern Occult Thought

  The triangle is such a central symbol in Christian iconography as a represent the Trinity and thus spiritual reality. Due to this, the use of the hexagram in Christian occult thought is fairly common.

  In the 17th-century, Robert Fludd produced an illustration of the world. In it, God was an upright triangle and the physical world was his reflection and thus downward pointing. The triangles only slightly overlap, thus not creating a hexagram of equidistant points, but the structure is still present.

  Likewise, in the 19th-century Eliphas Levi produced his Great Symbol of Solomon, "The Double Triangle of Solomon, represented by the two Ancients of the Kabbalah; the Macroprosopus and the Microprosopus; the God of Light and the God of Reflections; of mercy and vengeance; the white Jehovah and the black Jehovah."

  "Hexagram" in Non-Geometric Contexts

  The Chinese I-Ching (Yi Jing) is based off 64 different arrangements of broken and unbroken lines, with each arrangement having six lines. Each arrangement is referred to as a Hexagram.

  Unicursal Hexagram

  The unicursal hexagram is a six-pointed star that can be drawn in one continuous movement. Its points are equidistant, but the lines are not of equal length (unlike a standard hexagram). It can, however, fit inside a circle with all six points touching the circle.

  The meaning of the unicursal hexagram is largely identical to that of a standard hexagram: the union of opposites. The unicursal hexagram, however, more strongly emphases the intertwining and ultimate unity of the two halves, rather than two separate halves coming together.

  Occult practices often involve the tracing of symbols during a ritual, and a unicursal design better lends itself to this practice.

  The unicursal hexagram is commonly depicted with a five-petaled flower in the centre. This is a variation created by Aleister Crowley and is most strongly associated with the religion of Thelema. Another variation is the placement of a small pentagram in the hexagram's centre.