Cheiro wrote:He may not have. I'm not sure. I know that he did practice kriya yoga, and was a believer in Theosophy and Ascended Masters. The concepts behind Theosophy are essentially the same as those in astrology and Tarot, when they are understood properly. The problem is that many people don't understand what they are or how to use them.
Perhaps Aleister Crowley gave Tarot a bad name. He was a very sick "puppy".
Even the earliest known tarot decks weren’t designed with mysticism in mind; they were actually meant for playing a game similar to modern-day bridge. Wealthy families in Italy commissioned expensive, artist-made decks known as “carte da trionfi” or “cards of triumph.” These cards were marked with suits of cups, swords, coins, and polo sticks (eventually changed to staves or wands), and courts consisting of a king and two male underlings. Tarot cards later incorporated queens, trumps (the wild cards unique to tarot), and the Fool to this system, for a complete deck that usually totaled 78 cards. Today, the suit cards are commonly called the Minor Arcana, while trump cards are known as the Major Arcana.
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/article ... ood-cards/Theosophy is very interesting.
THEOSOPHY: The word is derived from the Greek theos (god, divinity) and sophia (wisdom). Its philosophy is a contemporary presentation of the perennial wisdom underlying the world's religions, sciences, and philosophies.
We are not brought into existence by chance nor thrown up into earth-life like wreckage cast along the shore, but are here for infinitely noble purposes.— Katherine Tingley
http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/ts/h_tsintro.htm