Sinologist, mentioned, that «the Book of Changes was of great influence on the development of the spiritual science in China, in very many ways: in philosophy, mathematics, politics, strategy, theory of painting and music, and in the arts in general. The Book of Changes has always been known as an unclear and mysterious text. Despite the understanding of the true value of this piece of ancient literature, interpreting some of its texts is still a real challenge, so peculiar and strange are the images that express its concepts».
Multiple scholars worked on decoding this ancient text, from the old times and until our days. The best minds of China and the neighbor countries of the Far East – Japan, Korea, Vietnam and other Asian and European countries – for centuries have been trying to understand the Truth that was formulated in this book.
Kumazawa Banzan (1619—1692), a Japanese philosopher, created a theory about the Cosmic occurrence of the phenomena, which the book describes. He pictured the silent and motionless Spirit as a tetragon, which was placed inside a circle that symbolized the developing and lively moving matter. He put the word «Truth» amidst the tetragon, thus symbolizing the Celestial Path, and the four attributes of the Sky, namely, impulse, development, appearance and endurance, were put around it.
Before creating the world, they all were the uniform Spirit. However, as the cosmogony emerged, and images and bodies came into existence, everything found its own place.
Wood became East, Fire became South, Metal became West, and Water became North (directions on a map, or magnetic field sectors). «Impulse wakes the matter of Wood to give birth to spring. Development wakes the matter of Fire to give birth to summer. Appearance wakes the matter of Metal to give birth to autumn. Endurance wakes the matter of Water to give birth to winter. Truth is the Spirit of the matter of Earth. It is in the center of the tetragon, and on all four its outer corners. This is the absolute form that is the creative work of the Sky and the Earth – its inexhaustible thesaurus». The systematization of the material, which was initially known, is the achievement of Kumazawa Banzan.
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646—1716), a great German scientist, analyzed the Book of Changes, and he managed to discover the binary code, which is now used in all calculating machines, including our computers. It is the same code that was put as the basis for trigrams and hexagrams in this ancient Chinese book.
The Book of Changes influenced Confucian, Taoist and Buddhist Chinese philosophy. Therefore, to know the Truth that is hidden in this unique manuscript, we are going to discuss Taoist Cosmology, a direction of its philosophy, in more details.
The first phase is energy in rest, and this phase has the name of Water. The second phase, according to this philosophical teaching, the origin of all is the Sky. It is the embodiment of the enduring creative power, and no obstacle can prevent its development.
Therefore, the perfect human, who fully realizes this Celestial principle, may demonstrate the creativity in his actions, which is favorable for everything surrounding him. The same important for the Taoist teaching are the idea about the similarity of the Macrocosm and the Microcosm, and the idea about the possibility to simulate Cosmos and control the created model.
The Book of Changes comprises various combinations of the two opposite energies, called Celestial pneumas, which were the female pneuma Yin and the male pneuma Yang. The combination of the two energies was reflected in 8 trigrams and 64 hexagrams, which became the basis for this book.
If the number 64, which reflects the amount of possible hexagonal combinations of the 6 Celestial pneumas, is divided in four sectors of the cardinal directions, then each of those sectors would correspond to 16 possible combinations, which may be depicted in 16 sheets of the corresponding extended universal Tarot card deck.
The number «sixteen» is associated with the symbol of completeness and measure, and it is the favorite number in India. Indochinese goddess Pussa is pictured with sixteen arms. The classical Indian aesthetics comprises 16 images of beauty. 16 mantras represent a unit in poetry. Vedas mention 16 chants during the preparation of the sacred drink Soma. In Indian music, one tintal comprises 16 beats. In classical Arabic literature, the number 16 is the sign of perfection.
It is worth mentioning, that each hexagram of the male sign in the classical Chinese Book of Changes is balanced with a female sign. However, when hexagrams are distributed according to corresponding suits, male hexagrams that correspond to odd numbers will be associated with the suits of Clubs and Hearts, while the female hexagrams will be associated with the suits of Spades and Diamonds.
Analyzing Tarot cards, Papus emphasized that it is the numbers, which are the most trustworthy and the simplest elements for studying. Therefore, the numbers may lead us, and it is via numbers, how we can discover the Law of Analogy. Let us recall the existing classification of numbers, and it will be easier for us to define parallels between Yi Ching Canon hexagrams and Minor Arcanum Tarot cards.
In his book «Astrology for Initiates and Tarot of the Bohemians», Papus mentioned there are multiple types of Tarot card decks, consisting of different amounts of sheets. Let us list some of them. For example, the Italian Tarot, or Mantegna Tarot card deck, consists of 50 sheets, Bologna Tarot card deck has 63 sheets, Venice Tarot card deck has 78 sheets, Florentine and Munich Tarot card decks have 97 sheets each, Hindi Tarot has 96 sheets, Chinese Tarot has 77 sheets, and the modern European Tarot card deck has 78 sheets.
The abovementioned examples demonstrate, that the amount of Tarot card sheets was not the same at all times and among different nations. Out of the abovementioned decks, Hindi Tarot deserves special attention, with its 96 sheets – the amount, which, apparently, reflects one of the main laws of the Universe. The Florentine and the Munich Tarot card decks comprise the amount of sheets, which is close to 96. The universal Tarot card deck that we propose is based on the 22 sheets of the Major Arcanum, and the 64 sheets of the Minor Arcanum, based on the classical Chinese Book of Changes, and in total it comprises 86 sheets.
Please, find some time to read more about it in my other books: «Universal Tarot card Deck», «Runic Tarot», «Buddhist Tarot» and «Astrological Tarot», which, together with the book «Yi Ching Tarot», represent the complete cycle of publications on the matter.
Yi Ching Tarot card meanings, Minor Arcana
Sector Northeast
This sector of Bagua, in accordance with Feng Shui, the ancient oriental teaching, corresponds to Wisdom and Knowledge, and to the blue color. It symbolizes coming spring. We should pay special attention to the Northeast sector of our house. Initially, the entire living space should be cleaned and become free from unused old clothes and items. Then, to activate this sector of the house, nice pictures of mountains, porcelain items and nice minerals with the blue color and items with square shape must be placed there. The activation of this sector of your house, and keeping it clean all the time, would improve your Wisdom, therefore, you are going to obtain new Knowledge easier and for the benefit of yourself and the people around.
Wands (Clubs)
They are associated with East and with the season of spring. This suit symbolizes business activity, the purpose and glory.
The twenty-second Yi Ching Tarot card
22. One, or Ace. It symbolizes a new idea, or a new approach to things, and also income and luck. In a combination with the King of Cups,
