VIII "Adjustment" THOTH TAROT CARD: ANALYSIS AND READING.

 

VIII "Adjustment" from Aleister Crowley's "Thelema" inspired Thoth Tarot card deck, has reaffirmed in my single and random card readings, his intermixing of the Thematic with 1900s Western occult practices that flourished throughout the early part of the 20th Century.  And if you have been reading my analysis, and interpretation of Crowley's Thoth cards to date, one can see, and feel the dizziness of his up and down flows to each of the card meanings.  Mostly tuned to Qabalah, Christian Gnosticism, Astrology, Asian and Middle Eastern mythology, Crowley's word play and mixing of various Occultist and theorized mysticism of the last 500 years, is textured and layered with an intricacy that at times offers a confusing sentiment.  Which in all retrospect, one has to have at least some understanding of Hermetic alchemy of the 16th Century, and their alignment with Jewish mysticism via The Tree of Life and Qabalah.  But, as mentioned in my previous analysis of the Thoth readings, early occultism manifested from medieval alchemy and the Age of Enlightenment, when Christianity in Europe began to lose some of its shine.   The fascination with ancient Egypt and their belief system, especially the Pyramids as a structural marvel, all of this tied into astrology and European Gnosticism after the Crusades.  Thus, manifesting an occultist framework which Crowley embraced with gusto, that being the main original esoteric and occult society which was disbanded in 1908, "The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn".   

Secrets sects, obscure meanings and compex rituals were probably more aligned with creating an academic perspective to the occultist fixation of the 1900s Europe, morphing from the Freemasons of the 17th Century, which were a Western sect (The Knights Templar) that were aligned with Catholicism.  Western occult societies began to peter out into the late 20th Century, with a handful of novelty elements still active today.  Crowley passed away in 1947, leaving less of a legacy as such, only his detailed writings and philosophy centred around Thelema.  Studying the Thoth Tarot cards is a study of the man himself, and with my critical observation of analysing the Thoth Tarot, would be enough to say how much drugs created these highs and lows of his sentiment, and to each of the card's meanings.  Which, in itself, holds a tedium when conducting this study.

Crowley's "Adjustment" card, which is Eighth of the Major Arcana is one of those cards which has a crisscross of meanings from his The Book Of The Thoth, that can be hard to pinpoint what his exact purpose of the card, anymore than less a hint, via Crowley's own ambiguous interpretation.  In a somewhat theatrical, and irritating coding, under the inspired 'secrecy' of the Thelema playbook. 

And the obscure, rambling hints are numerous in total, with an indication the card holds a feminine purpose, which is the mystique of satisfaction.  Adjustment is related to "The Fool" card of the Thoth deck, to which Crowley compared the two cards as similarities, The Fool being of the masculine and the Harlequin, which represents the Fool, is of the feminine.  Again, meanings seem to crisscrosses over each other, with the Qabalah, Egyptian mysticism also manifesting within the card's meaning, utilizing confusing rhetoric in lieu of the Tree of Life, balance and adjustment. To which the card has, like most of the Thoth cards, an affection for Jewish esoterica, and so did medieval Hermeticism that influenced Crowley in devising his own belief system.  He also alludes to Hinduism and Buddhist elements of Karma, with the 'Harlequin' goddess veiled, possible influenced by Crowley when he lived in Morocco early part of 1900s.  The card is sexual nature of the card, and it does seem that Crowley was trying to define the feminine as a sexual entity that holds the balance and adjustment over the masculine.  The Phallic symbol being the Magician's Sword, held by a veiled woman on tippy toes.

So, without overdoing an analysis of Crowley's own confusion with the card's reading from the "The Book of The Thoth".  How does the card read to me?  Thus, it would be me owning the card's meaning, and making it more so.  Without further ado, I present you with my reading of "Adjustment".

Reading:

The Feminine stands alone, tippy toed above the equilibrium and the exactness of nature, the Fool very much may have conjured, but it is the Harlequin that dances upon his grave.   The male can create the complexity of the female, which does not exist.  She is simply satisfied, in her adjustment, what was once justice has now passed.  She may appear suspended in action, but judgement is delayed.  Can you dance with the mystique? Are you brave enough? Disciplined enough?   She may be masked, but she holds the key to dominating the dis-equilibrium, holding the Magician's sword, the phallic symbol of the masculine.  This was not taken from him, but rather she pays homage to it presence, holding it tightly with awe. Urging the meditation, the testes and ovaries are the same, both are of two.  The duplication, being the Spheres representing Four, is of equity and the limitation of the personal plane.  The material body and its senses will perish in time.   So therefor, to avoid equilibrium as an illusion of time, it must be adjusted through the sexual realm of understanding the impermanence.  Female to male, Male to female.  Be one under the feminine and masculine power of satisfaction.   Yet know, that she may hold the calculations of matter, to the reactions of time.  But, relies on the effort of the other, as the Wheel of Karma, dictates actions and their consequence.  All are interconnected.  Be it, that I may be compensated with its integrity.  That satisfaction comes from its equal.  The finale outcome.  The reward. The ogasmic release. The end.  Le petite mort.

Summary:

• Balance and Satisfaction, Harlequin's Dance over Male Complexity, Justice Delayed, Dominating Dis-equilibrium, Impermanence of the Body, Sexual Realm, Woman Satisfied, Master of time, Unity of the Feminine and Masculine, Satisfaction from Equal Interplay, Wheel of Kama, Compensation with Integrity, Reward, Orgasmic release, Adjustment, Completion.

  

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(A.Glass 2024)

All Thoth analysis and readings to date:  chiasmusmagazine.blogspot.com/search/label/Thoth%20Tarot%20reading