If we place the Pope card from the Tarot of Marseille next to The Moon (card 18 in the majors), we see that he points at it, recreating a wise saying from a famous Buddhist Sutra, the Lankavatara:

“Just as a fool, on seeing a Moon-pointing finger, looks at the finger but not the Moon, so one who is attached to words does not see the Real.”

The Pope is the teacher, but he is not a God. Look at what he is pointing to: do not mistake the finger for the Moon. Appreciate the teachings, but do not worship the teacher: that is not the point. This is the wisdom of the sutra.

And so, let us allow ourselves to explore a profound teaching that the Buddha offered, one which has interesting correlations with the Tarot – the teaching of the five elements.

In Buddhism, this teaching points to something very radical. Particularly in today’s rather ‘self’-centred world.

We are all made up of five ‘elements’ - Water, Earth, Fire, Air, and a fifth element of Space. These elements combine to create our existence, yet they do not define us. We take water into our bodies, we pass urine. At one moment, it is outside of our bodies; next, it is inside of us, and then out again. The same is true of Earth, Fire and Air, and the fifth element of Space, which refers to all openings inside and out of the body, including the nostrils, mouth etc.

In the Dhātuvibhaṅga Sutta (The Exposition of the Elements), the Buddha says:

"What, bhikkhu, is the earth element? The earth element may be either internal or external. What is the internal earth element? Whatever internally, belonging to oneself, is solid, solidified, and clung-to, that is, head-hairs, body-hairs, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, bone-marrow, kidneys…. Now both the internal earth element and the external earth element are simply earth element. And that should be seen as it actually is with proper wisdom thus: ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.’ When one sees it thus as it actually is with proper wisdom, one becomes disenchanted with the earth element and makes the mind dispassionate towards the earth element."

But why become disenchanted with the beautiful element of Earth? Isn’t that the direct opposite of what is going on in this blog? I don’t think the point in the Sutra is for us to become disenchanted by the Earth element per se, but actually with the idea of ‘me’, “I’, something separate from the Earth: me here, and that, there. The trees and the rocks that we touch are as much ‘me’ as the skin and bones that are attached.

When we let go, we become. When we identify less with ‘my’ body, we come to experience it as a fleeting, impermanent set of conditions. We realise that we are not a separate little self in relation to the Earth, the Universe. We are an expression of Earth, of Universe. We are a tiny fraction of something very big indeed. The Universe expresses itself through our existence.

We see the conditions present all around us as Water, Earth, Fire, Air, and – why not? – Space; energies which constantly meet each other to create temporary forms. Your body is a meeting of these conditions, a spell of magic or science that has come alive. Individual in a sense, but always a part of the whole.

I don’t own this body of mine, it is a part of All That Is.

The Pope points to some kind of miracle, but it’s the miracle that we must pay attention to, not the Pope. When we appreciate the true beauty of the elements – a rushing river, a solid mountain, a slap of wind, the warmth of fire, we can recognise them as passing through our bodies at any moment. We are an energetic cog in a big and beautiful world of flux. When we sit and meditate on that, or even just contemplate it quietly, something radical can happen.

But what of Space? Tarot readers call the fifth element (represented by the Major Arcana) a number of things including spirit, ether, consciousness … take your pick. I’m not brave enough to claim that the Major Arcana might represent Space (which, of course, in Buddhism is pointing to something more profound than just our nostrils and bum-holes), but Buddhism and Tarot share more than most people recognise, even if historically, they have been of little influence on each other (at least, as far as we know). And yet, they are both spiritual wisdoms that have reached humanity from the same part of human consciousness – a desire to truly experience The World (who happens to be the final card in the Major Arcana).

I am curious. What if we were to think of those 22 Major Arcana cards as representing Space? What happens inside of you, when you sit with that idea? Don’t those powerful archetypes take place in a spacious world – our inner worlds – that we cannot point to, or pin down? Whilst I mostly subscribe to the Major Arcana as representing ‘consciousness’ (I’m not sure that ‘Spirit’ or ‘Ether’ works for me, but that’s just a personal thing), I am inviting in the word Space for a while, sitting with the ambiguity and strange clarity in that idea. 

When it comes to Tarot, I propose nothing, and contemplate everything. And right now, this is touching something peaceful and profound inside of me, yet simultaneously ungraspable, and inexplicable.

Please take a look at the Osho Zen’s equivalent card to The Pope: ‘No-thingness’ (below). Sit with it for a moment: it pulls the card’s focus away from the teacher and onto the teaching. I love it.

Yes, my friend, I have digressed a little in this post. But not too much, not really. The Hierophant /Pope could be a Zen Priest, a Shaman or a Pagan Priestess. As one of the Tarot’s primary spiritual teachers (we all prefer The Hermit really though, don’t we?) perhaps we being are asked to ponder the spiritual teachings of the Tarot itself. And some of those teachings are remarkably similar to some key Buddhist teachings. 

That’s all for now, friends. Thank you for being here – and please check out my Tarot Therapy Sessions if you’d like us to work together. You can also sign up for the Tarot Blog newsletter (different to my main newsletter) below to receive email updates on every new post.

Smiles from Scotland,

Stephen