Let my cry come near before thee, O Lord: give me
understanding according to thy word. Let my supplication come
before thee: deliver me according to thy word.
My lips shall utter praise, when thou hast taught me thy
statutes. My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy
commandments are righteous.
Let thine hand help me: for I have chosen thy precepts. I
have longed for thy salvation, O Lord: and thy law is my
delight. Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee: and let thy
judgments help me.
I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant: for I
do not forget thy commandments.
Once more we have arrived at the end of our pilgrimage, at the foot of the cross which is the letter Tau, or T in the Greek alphabet. From the twenty-second Psalm come the words which the Christ spoke on the Cross. The concluding verse of the 119th Psalm also sounds the key phrase of the Crucifixion and the Cross.
"I have gone astray like a lost sheep ... I have longed for thy salvation. Let my cry come before thee."
In Christian esotericism the Path of Initiation is called the Way of the Cross. It has a meaning which is close to that of Lamed, the Hanged Man, yet there are differences. Lamed hangs head downward. Tau is the elevated cross upon which the Just Man is raised aloft. "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me.
The Hanged Man of Lamed is also the symbol of the holy martyr, personified in the New Testament record in St. Peter, who was crucified head downward at his own request. There is an ancient teaching that God will accept the martyrdom of certain holy ones in order that a remnant may escape the retribution demanded by cosmic law. Moses was not willing that even one of his Israelites should be blotted from the book of life and offered himself to die in their place, even though he knew that they had been disobedient and faithless. This is the doctrine of the Faithful Shepherd, most beautifully fulfilled in the Birth, Crucifixion and Resurrection of our Lord Christ Jesus.
Whether in the fashion of Lamed with head downward, the martyr with calm visage whose blood drops like gold upon the earth, or the fashion of the cross elevated on Golgotha where the Son of God is raised against the sky for all men to behold, the Crucifixion represents the ultimate and complete self-conquest — not defeat, but victory!
The final Tarot Arcanum holds a similar symbolism, though it is not on the surface. This Arcanum is The Fool, or The Divine Idiot. It has several meanings. Here we see the blind or the blindfolded youth walking unconcernedly toward a precipice, where a crocodile waits to devour him; a dog barks at his heels, whether in play or warning cannot be immediately discerned. It may typify the uncontrolled animal nature. An obelisk covered with mysterious hieroglyphics lies at his feet, but he cannot see it. A bag is flung across his shoulder in which he carries all his earthly possessions. These treasures will become heavier and heavier as he proceeds on his way, weighting him down.
This, however, does not mean that his name is blotted from the Book of Life, for every man is God's child, and God is Love; and when at last he calls upon his Father, like the Prodigal Son, an Angel of Mercy is at hand instantly to aid him in the struggle toward regeneration.
The number 22 is a Master Number, and miracles may be accomplished through its power. For this reason we hold that ,the twenty-second Tarot is rightly considered the culmination of the series and is not an un-numbered card as some kabbalists say. The Tarot ascribed to Ayin or Oin is likewise taken to be important in the spiritual series and is not a mere zero, except as the zero is ascribed to the deepest mysteries of the Absolute. The prayer for Tau is the petition of those who know the meaning of bearing the Cross and who have learned to bear it alone, and who dedicate themselves to the ministry of crossbearers.
"Let my cry come near before thee, 0 Lord: give me understanding according to thy word ... Deliver me according to thy word. Let my soul live and it shall praise thee, and let thy judgments help me. I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant, for I do not forget thy commandments."
T, Tau or Tav is the final letter of the Hebrew alphabet; hence, Consummation. But every end of a cycle begins a new cycle, and therefore it is New Beginnings.
In the sixth Tarot Arcanum the neophyte stood between two divergent paths. His decision there affects his entire destiny, for all lives to come. 'fhe path of carnal pleasure, flower-strewn as it may appear to be, leads inevitably to the cross of sorrow. The straight and narrow way, which has so formidable an aspect and seems well-nigh impossible of ascent, leads with equal inevitability to the high and holy joys of spiritual illumination at-one with God.
In the twenty-second Aracanum, The Fool, we see one who had chosen the path of the senses, of pleasure and frivolity, in terms of the carnal man. He has followed this path, and it has led him to the extreme verge of destruction. Yet in the heavens above him a bright sun is just emerging from eclipse, or is half-hidden by a cloud, suggesting that no man ever reaches the place where he cannot save himself from destruction by means of repentance, reform and restitution and thus exchange the Cross of Sorrow for the Crown of Life Everlasting.
— Corinne Heline
