Essay:A Magical Primer For Children

A Magical Primer for Children

Collect ideas here for an introduction to Magic suitable for the Harry Potter Generation.

A Children's Tarot

What about a Tarot Deck based on "The Garden of Eden Before The Fall" - that's the version of the Tree of Life in which there is no Malkuth, DAATH is a full Sephirot, and Innocence is still present.

I haven't been able to find a convenient graphic to link to describing all of that, but see Tree of Life for the After The Fall version.

Here are the correspondences: http://www.telp.com/tarot/tree.htm

However, consider this:

http://web.archive.org/web/20040205224326/http://pws.prserv.net/leon/Kabbalah-articles/treeof.html

Really important to understand how profoundly different the Jewish conception of the tree is.

So the changes one makes are:

Daath becomes a full Sephirot.

The Sun now runs from Chokmah to Daath The Moon now runs from Binah to Daath The Fool now runs from Chesed to Daath The Magician now runs from Gevurah to Daath The Priestess now runs from Kether to Daath The Star now runs from Tiphareth to Daath

The logic for these assignments is weak at best: reassign the paths to MALKUTH to DAATH, and patch things up. I suspect a Proper Kabalistic Scholar would actually have different assignments of letters, and therefore cards, to this form, and that's something I intend to research.

I'm going to outline a little about how I think each card should work here:

0 The Fool

1. The Magician

Harry Potter, or as close as one can get and not get sued.

1. The High Priestess
2. The Empress

Mother - simple.

1. The Emperor

Father - obviously.

1. The Hierophant
2. The Lovers

Choices - children picking other children for a team game, with two left at the end.

1. The Chariot

The Bicycle - same concepts of Balance to achive forward motion and power in the world, but without references to black and white horses and stuff. Kids know bikes, and riding a bike is a big transition for many children.

1. Strength
2. The Hermit

A child playing happily alone.

1. Wheel of Fortune

Merry-go-round

1. Justice
2. The Hanged Man

Waiting at the Principle's Office? or a kid in detention looking smug.

1. Death

Kids burying a small animal in the back yard. Mouse/Shoebox burial, kinda.

1. Temperance
2. The Devil

Tough one. A stranger with an open car door, or a TV set.

1. The Tower

A tall tower of bricks, with a child's hand knocking them down.

1. The Star
2. The Moon
3. The Sun
4. Judgement
5. The World

This article is a stub. You can help by expanding it