Rachel Pollack - Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom

SEVENTY-EIGHT DEGREES OF WISDOM

An in-depth analysis of the Tarot, examining all aspects of the cards their origins, symbolism, psychological resonances and historical, mythological and esoteric background, including instructions on how to give readings.

BY THE SAME AUTHOR:

Alqua Dreams

Godmother Night

Golden Vanity

Tarot Tales

Temporary Agency

Unquenchable Fire

The Body of the Goddess

The Dali Tarot

Fabrications

The Haindl Tarot

Le Jeu Divinatoire

The New Tarot

Shining Woman Tarot

Tarot Readings and Meditations

Teach Yourself Fortune Telling

The Vertigo Tarot

RACHEL POLLACK

This edition first published in 2019 by Weiser Books, an imprint of

Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC
With offices at:
65 Parker Street, Suite 7
Newburyport, MA 01950
www.redwheelweiser.com

Copyright 1980, 1983, 1997, 2007, 2019 by Rachel Pollack

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC. Reviewers may quote brief passages. Previously published in 2007 by Weiser Books, ISBN: 978-1-57863-408-8.

ISBN: 978-1-57863-665-5

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request.

Cover design by Kathryn Sky-Peck

Interior by Rosamund Saunders

Typeset in Bembo

Printed and bound in Great Britain by

CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY

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To Marilyn, who taught me so much by becoming my student; to Edie, the best reader I know; and for Joan Goldstein, who knows that the best cards are the ones that tell the truth.

Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom is my first Tarot book and the very beginning of my Tarot journey. I was suffering from an eating disorder and went to the emergency room and stayed in the hospital for ten days. I lost my grandfather after taking care of him for one year and did not want to do anything. Then I read your book and miracles happened. I want to thank you for sharing your Tarot wisdom. Your book changed my life and inspired me to move on my Tarot journey.

Peggy Lee, Tarot reader from Taipei

It is a strange experience to have written a book that changes people's lives in a deep and serious way. I almost wrote deep and mysterious, for it is that as well. To write about a subject for which you care passionately is a joy. To have other people read and appreciate it only increases that joy. But to have peopletotal strangerswrite to you or tell you face-to-face that this book has opened up their world, has saved them in some way, this is more than just exciting.

We sometimes see a writer or a performer speak of such experiences as humbling. Surely, we think, this is a pose, a false modesty. Wouldn't they feel pride, not humility? Well, of course, hearing or reading such stories makes you proud. Only a fool or a liar would try to deny the thrill that comes with the knowledge that your work could play a serious role in people's lives. But in some ways that pride is just the surface. Beneath that excitement lies a sensation deeper and almost frightening, that something you did can touch people so deeply. Not just open up their lives, but actually save them at some important momentthis can touch you in a way that reaches beyond pride to a part of life that lies below the ever-present hunger of the ego. This is what we mean when we talk of a humbling experience.

Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom was originally published in two parts, in 1980 and 1983. It has been in print ever since. When it first appeared, it was a different kind of Tarot book than the others before it. It was not a list of fortune-telling formulas or a work of occult diagrams and mystical references. It focused on readings, not simply as predictions, but rather as a way of discovering ourselves, and beyond that, the spiritual wonders of life.

While writing it I tried to remain always conscious of its audience. To me, it would have to include both people who knew a great deal about spiritual and psychological ideas and those who might know nothing at all, yet could take hold of such things and run with them, if given the chance. The challenge was to not bore the first group while not confusing the second. I remember stopping frequently to ask myself, can someone follow this without any prior knowledge? And just as important, will this touch people who already know the doctrines and traditions? It's possible that my attempt to constantly keep my readers in mindrather than simply writing what I wanted to sayled to the book's powerful effect on so many people.

I first became aware of this quality in a metaphysical shop in New England. I'd gone there with my friend Zoe Matoff during a vacation. The store was a treasure house, with beautiful, obscure Tarot decks I'd never seen before, a dazzling array of books, and elegant metaphysical jewelry. One thing that especially caught my eye was a silver caduceus pendant with a blue topaz at the top.

The caduceustwo snakes wound around a stick, with wings at the topholds special meaning for me, for it was the wand of Hermes, god of magic, knowledge, trickery, divination, and writingand the light that Hermes used to guide dead souls to a new existence. I have always felt a special bond with Hermes, have even spoken of him as my brother.

People connect the caduceus with the medical profession, but this is actually a mistake. The true symbol of healing is the Rod of Asclepiusone snake wound around a staffgiven by Apollo to his son who would become the god of healers. In the Tarot, we see the caduceus itself in the 2 of Cups, while Hermes lies behind both the Fool and the Magician.

The owner of the store saw me looking at the caduceus and took it out from its case to let me hold it. It was beautifuland expensive. I started to give it back, clearly with regret, but instead of taking it and returning it to its case, he said to me, Keep it. Please. Startled, I asked him why.

Because, he said, you saved my life.

He had suffered a deep and tragic loss and, unable to deal with the pain, was choosing oblivion over life. And then, he said he discovered the Tarotand Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom. He began to turn to the cards and reach out to others who might help him. Slowly, he made his way back to life. It was clear to him that Tarot was the instrument, but Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom was the guide. And perhaps more, the book helped him to see the Tarot as a living force, a caduceus to lead him through his own personal land of the dead.

Those who know me, either as friends or at Tarot conferences, know that I make necklaces from magical pendants and precious and semiprecious stones. The necklace I made with the caduceus uses blue topaz, lapis lazuli, and sterling silver. I consider it among my most precious possessions.