Bach, Chakras, Tarot: J.S. Bach's Toccata in F Major (S. 540) is an image of the kundalini!
J.S. Bach’s Toccata in F Major (S. 540) is an image of the kundalini!
by E. Alan Meece
Bach, Chakras, Tarot
This is an elaborate and detailed essay, always under construction, concerning my discoveries about Bach's Toccata in F and related subjects. It explains in detail the thematic structure of the Toccata, its relation to other toccatas and to the toccata form, and explores the meanings of its structure. It has lots of charts and pictures! You can dip in and out and enjoy pieces of it if you like.
A lot of music that helps us experience, heal and release the spiritual kundalini energy of our 7 chakras is being created today; but Bach was there first!
His Toccata in F is the most powerful and vivid musical experience of the chakras ever created, or that ever will be.
It is also a key to all the esoteric mysteries: tarot, chakra system, kundalini, alchemy, astrology, kabbalah, sacred geometry and proportions, and more.
This site has been created for non-commercial uses only.
The Toccata in F for organ by J.S. Bach, BWV 540/1, composed in about 1717-1722, has been my co-favorite (with the other, much more-famous Toccata in D Minor, S. 565) for
decades. (Note: S. = Schmeider, compiler of BWV catalogue of Bach works.) I have listened to Bach's Toccata in F, and practiced it, more often than any other piece since I first heard it in 1972. But it only occured to me in 2004, just before leading an informal talk and ritual at a Summer Solstice Celebration, that this piece I have been practicing and listening to with rapt attention for years, is actually a picture of the chakra system.
Now that I have made this connection, it seems so obvious. And upon further reflection, I have discovered amazing links to all the esoteric traditions.
Since 1986 I have been developing the Philosophers Wheel, which compares all the great philosophy traditions of humanity on a circle. I also noticed that the circle or wheel is used the world over to symbolize and contact the divine and the mystical or ancestral powers. Then I saw
that the chakras, the 7 main consciousness centers along the backbone of
the human body, can be compared to the "backbone" or vertical axis of this mystical circle, or
philosophers wheel as I call it. Finally in 2004 I made the connection between the chakras and Bach's Toccata in F Major.
What? Bach was into metaphysics, mysticism and esoteric philosophy? Is this a secret kept from the world, beneath the Christian symbolism that is so prevalent in his work? I'm not claiming this. But if you look a little closer, you can see the links. If his music is as cosmic, symbolic and mathematical as everyone says it is, then it should reveal this deeper level of spiritual truth; the esoteric or hidden level of religion that all philosophers and scholars know lies underneath the doctrines given to the masses of faithful at most Christian churches, and that lies within the story and message of Jesus himself.
This Toccata is indeed the most metaphysically significant and symbolic piece of music in the world. We know that Bach, in his greatest works, did not choose his inspired themes by accident! By itself, the Toccata in F
tells you more about these esoteric subjects than you could otherwise know. And putting them into music
allows us to experience them more deeply. I am continually amazed at how much there is to discover. I always felt something special about this piece, and now this feeling is confirmed. It is a true spiritual
hero's journey story in sound; a 7-stage stairway from earth to heaven. If as Robert Place says, this "now forgotten" story "lies at the root of our culture" (The Tarot p. 4), and as Virgil Fox says "from Bach all other music comes down," and given Lionel Rogg's description of this piece that matches the kundalini, then this great cathedral in sound called Toccata in F evokes the roots of our civilization; as I have always felt just by listening to it for over 30 years. As we will see, you could even call it "our DNA."
Now, it must be admitted that to some people this piece sounds repetitious at times. The organ has the disadvantage
that notes sound just as loud no matter how hard you strike them; unlike a piano which allows the musician to "express his emotions" by striking
the key more loudly or softly. For that very reason, the full name of the piano, invented in the 18th century in the time of Mozart and Beethoven,
is the piano-forte, which means soft-loud in Italian. Since it is not played on a piano-forte, a great organ piece must rely more on the ingenuity and beauty of the note
patterns and structures themselves, and the varieties of different sounds, instead of on changes in volume executed by the player. To sensitive hearers, the organ compensates for its lack
of personal expressiveness not only by its exquisite tones, with each pipe crafted and voiced by expert builders, but also by allowing the musician
to play at least three keyboards at once, with each hand and the feet playing simultaneously, allowing three or more majestic and elaborate
melody lines to be composed in counterpoint. Instead of the musician being the source of the sound, it flows as if coming down from heaven, as air
is blown into all of the pipes; the sounds only being made as each pipe is opened by the key to the ever-flowing current.
The Toccata in F uses this trait of the organ to full advantage. It rises like a majestic structure from a vibrant, idealistic, uplifting
and joyous theme, through an ambitious, grandly-expansive and elaborate (if somewhat repetitive) development, full of "musical alliteration," to a visionary, crowning climax.
It sounds more like a concerto or a symphony than a piece for one instrument. Its spacious attitude reminds me of Beethoven’s F-Major Symphony,
the Pastorale (the sixth). Like Beethoven's Fifth Symphony too, everything is formed out of the original germ, according to organist Lionel Rogg, who performed
the most definitive version of the Toccata in 1970 at Arlesheim Switzerland (on the organ at left).
Hear it here, in the video at left.
A toccata is a virtuoso piece usually written for keyboard, which highlights its potentials. The name means to touch, meaning to touch the keys. It is a musical form which (according to Lionel Rogg)
Bach shaped and perfected in this Toccata in F (and which Bach evolved through its predecessors, his famous d Minor S.565, whose "fugue" actually resembles the later toccatas more than its "toccata;" then in C major S. 564, and in the Dorian mode S.538).
A toccata is not really just like a symphony or a sonata though. It does not develop themes in the same way, because it is peppered with rapid running passages and repeating chords. Many listeners appreciate the lively, vibrant brilliance and perpetual
motion that the toccata form as perfected by Bach in this work expresses. It may even remind some listeners of today's European style of electronic music. Such composers as Schumann,
Chaminade, Prokofiev,
and the modern French organ composers created brilliant toccatas based on Bach's organ Toccatas. Rogg defines "toccata" for us here.
See LINKS to hear many examples of these toccatas, and verify Rogg's insight that they were influenced by Bach's (especially S. 540).
Rogg compared the Toccata in F to the building of a cathedral. As we'll see, it's also like the building of kundalini energy in our own bodies, our temple of the spirit. The grand
chords and "motoric" running passages of the toccata take you on a journey to ever higher places, giving you a succession of ever-grander scenic views. Upon hearing (and playing) the climax at the end,
composer and organist Felix Mendelssohn famously declared, "It sounded like the church was going to collapse. What an awesome cantor Bach was!" It has been called "apocalyptic" and "monumental."
On the left is the facade of Reims Cathedral, and on the right is the interior of Amiens Cathedral
Notice how this greatest of cathedral facades at Reims has 7 levels, with the fabulous rose window in the center; see the heart shapes on it? Oh, and the heart chakra is supposed to have 12 petals!
Toccata in F is a piece that means a lot to many people. Whenever I think of "what is the purpose of my life," I think of Bach's Toccata in F. It is a symbol of life and its meaning; of what needs to be created, and of how life can be.
It speaks to us of what it means to bring something great into the world. It also represents evolution; how life itself came into being. Of course, as spiritual or religious music, it also creates a picture of how God creates or manifests the world.
In 7 stages, in fact, like the chakras! Or, for traditional Christians, that could be the 7 days of creation, which is also on the esoteric level the basis of the kabbalah. But Bach's F Major Toccata is not only the most esoteric, metaphysically significant music in the world, it has a visceral appeal too. It grounds the listener deeply; and at the same time calls you to aspire toward the heights-- and then takes you there. Afterward, in the fugue, you continue to float. As Virgil Fox put it, "you can ride to another plateau with Bach."
The Chakras are 7 places along the spine of our own body that we experience as 7 major centers of energy, corresponding to the 7 endocrine centers and
7 nerve ganglia of the body. The Hindus developed the yoga system of kundalini
to arouse and liberate the energies that get blocked in each of our centers. The physical and sexual energy of the lower chakras is raised to the higher
ones, leading to blissful enlightenment. The chakras are the seven steps to enlightenment. In each center we can feel the energies and abilities we need for life.
When all centers are open and balanced, and the currents between them are flowing, each center functions at its highest level. Thus, enlightenment and insight (and not just ordinary, runaway thinking) happens in the upper
chakras when they are connected to the physical energy and desire of the lower chakras, and success in the physical world (and not just runaway fear and indulgence) happens through the lower chakras when they are connected to
and guided by the higher centers. Connecting to the heart chakra in the middle is essential to balance the chakras and contact your authentic, loving self. You can connect to each chakra from lowest to highest as you move through the 7 main sections of Bach's Toccata in F. Here are the aspects and faculties of our being that are related to each chakra, listed from the highest:
7 (crown of the head): bliss, enlightenment, connection to God and cosmos, spirit, thought and understanding, pituitary gland*
3 (solar plexus/navel): will, power, energy, digestion, center of gravity, self-esteem, action, muscles, legs, adrenal glands
2 (sacrum, lower stomach): sexual/sensual energy, female sexuality, joy and pleasure, desire, subconscious mind, ovaries, prostate gland
1 (base of spine): survival, grounding, finances, matter, roots of life, feet, "seat of pants" basic instincts, instilled beliefs, excretory system, male sexuality, testicles
*Accounts differ regarding this gland correlation, but this seems to be the consensus, even though the pituitary gland is actually located closer to the eyes than the pineal. They may also be the yin and yang sides of the 6th chakra. Some say enlightenment or intuition results when these sources of "milk and honey" are joined. Rick Richards is one who correlates the pineal with the crown chakra, and says both the 6th and 7th chakras, and both the pituitary and pineal glands, must be active before we can see through the third eye. The pituitary is the gland that controls all the others. Also see All Good Things
Below is a picture showing the polarity and color of each chakra, according to Anodea Judith. The base, Chakra One, is at the bottom (red); and the crown, Chakra Seven, is at the top (purple). The yang chakras are more assertive; the yin more receptive. Yang chakras turn from the right, counterclockwise; the yin chakras from the left, clockwise. As shown in the charts below, the yang chakras 1,3 and 5 correspond to primary colors red, yellow and blue, while yin chakras 2 and 4 correspond to secondary colors orange and green; until we get to the 6th chakra (2nd from the top), which corresponds to the tertiary color indigo, while the yang 7th chakra corresponds to the secondary color purple. These are the colors of the rainbow delineated by Newton, which may be why Anodea Judith calls the chakras the "rainbow bridge from earth to heaven." Those who can see auras most often report that the chakras show these colors, especially when healthy. To the right below is a diagram of the glands that correspond to the chakras. They also are arranged according to male (yang) and female (yin).
In 2004 it occured to me that, since the Toccata unfolds in seven distinct phases, it is an audio
picture of the seven major chakras. The piece opens with a grand canon (imitation) theme, just like the double helix of kundalini, but soon (after a pedal solo) we hear a majestic chord that decisively defines the end of the first section. Then a second canon starts, and this section ends with a whole bunch of powerful chords. Then immediately the third section is launched by a second, different but related, powerfully-uplifting theme. This theme returns to mark off and open each succeeding chakra section, including the seventh where it is transformed into a stunning, blissful climax.
As we move up the Toccata from its auspicious beginning to its
crowning glory, we hear the first two sections in which the two hands each play long lines of notes that imitate each other, accompanied by a held-down pedal note
(called an organ or pedal point); each time followed by a pedal solo. In the next three sections, hands and pedal together play a powerful uplifting theme alternating with the original theme. The piece
concludes with two sections distinguished from the preceeding three by the soaring transformation of the themes, giving the impression that one
has risen to the top of the chakras (or mountain, cathedral, cosmos, etc.), with each of the two final sections affording an increasingly magnificent
"peak experience" and releasing incredible energy, just as students of kundalini yoga might experience.
The 7 stages of the Toccata, therefore, show a larger 3-part arrangement within it which is identical to how Anodea Judith
arranges the chakras in 3 parts, with the two base chakras and the two upper chakras mediated by three in between, and centered on the 4th chakra
in the center or heart (see Wheels of Life, p.46, 183). Judith goes further to identify the three groups with the Hindu gunas, the first two correlated
with tamas (denseness), the middle three with rajas (passion), and the highest two with sattvas (wisdom, expansion); although the heart is considered
both rajas and sattvas (indicating the wisdom and balance of the heart). These are also the same three parts of the soul mentioned by Plato, the
Kabbalah and Freud. Robert Placeshowed how the 21 tarot trump cards (the so-called Major Arcana) reveal a 3-stage journey of the soul, and compared
them to the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries of Christianity, often recited in rosary prayers, describing Christ’s journey; mysteries Bach himself might have known of (The Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination, p.128).
The Joyful stage was Jesus' incarnation and early life (when he was a carpenter), the Sorrowful stage was his trials, passion and death, and the Glorious stage is Christ's resurrection and ascension. The story of Jesus, so familiar to Bach, is indeed a prime example of a spiritual hero's journey, which the Toccata in F symbolizes in sound.
Examining Bach's Toccata in F more closely, we find not only 7 sections, but
we see that each section in turn has two parts. Of the 7 main sections, however, the last two are somewhat shorter in duration than the other 5, as if each of these
final two sections could also be considered a division of one larger section. Thus, 6 sections, and 12 sub-sections.
This corresponds to what Anodea Judith has described (p.118 and 121) as the energy flow or channel on each side of each chakra, one flow upward from below, and one downward from above, which Hindus represent as two snakes (Ida and Pingala)
winding themselves 6 times around the backbone axis (the Sushumna, like the staff of the caduceus symbol), and around each chakra (illustration at left from Alchemy by Burckhardt).
The two opposing directions of the energy flowing around each chakra, causes them to "spin," and to alternate their direction of spin from one chakra to the next one above it. As in the Toccata, there are 12 positions in the chakra system, two for each chakra (except the crown) as the two currents pass up and down on each side of each chakra.
Thus in the Toccata, in each chakra section of the piece, we
hear its first part representing the upward or liberating current, and a second representing the downward or manifesting current, which surrounds
each chakra. During the Toccata we meet the manifesting current flowing downward as we ascend each chakra level. Judith explains that in the lower chakras the downward or manifesting current predominates, while in the upper chakras the liberating current predominates (Wheels of Life, p.26). These first or "liberating" sections in the Toccata are aspiring and upward-moving, and introduce or suggest new themes. The "manifesting" sections by contrast bring a "landing" which grounds us back to the original theme. Here are listed the liberating and manifesting themes (shortly to be described) heard in each chakra section, with the last/highest sections on top:
These 12 positions in the chakra system correspond to the 12 signs of the zodiac. Astrology and the chakras are linked, because in kundalini we move up and down the chakras in the same pattern as we move through the signs each year.
What this means is that the zodiac is in your own body. As you move through the chakras, you also move through the signs, and as you listen to the Toccata in F, you move through the signs as well as the chakras.
You hear the cosmos reflected within yourself as you hear Bach's cosmic music. The Toccata in F is truly the "music of the spheres" as envisioned 2600 years ago by Pythagoras, who first compared music to the planets, forming a stairway to the heavens, and also to the soul centers or chakras, which are also our own internal "stars" and "stairway." (or star-way)
To understand this correlation, observe the pattern. As we move through the signs each year, the same alternation happens as in the chakras, which change from yang to yin and back as you move up or down.
Each succeeding sign changes polarity from the preceeding one. Thus Aries is yang (positive polarity), the next sign Taurus is yin (negative polarity), Gemini is yang, Cancer is yin, and so on. This means that the "current" of energy through the yearly cycle of signs and seasons alternates back and forth in the same way that the chakras do. Also, as we move from the dark and cold of Winter to the bright light of Summer, and back, so also in kundalini we move from being blocked in the darkness of our base chakra up to enlightenment and bliss in the third eye and crown, and back again.
Furthermore, each sign of the zodiac is linked to one of the 7 visible planets ("the spheres"). This is called rulership. Thus, we also are moving in and out through the "ladder of planets" as we move through the signs and chakras.
The 5 visible planets each rule two signs of the zodiac, and the Sun and Moon each rule one sign. This pattern was discovered around 2000 BC,
when the Summer Solstice occured as the Sun entered the constellation Leo. This diagram from Titus Burckhardt's bookAlchemy (page 88) shows this pattern (labelled by me, in case you don't know the symbols).
sign
polarity
ruling planet
polarity
sign
Leo
yang
Sun/Moon
yin
Cancer
Virgo
yin
Mercury
yang
Gemini
Libra
yang
Venus
yin
Taurus
Scorpio
yin
Mars
yang
Aries
Sagittarius
yang
Jupiter
yin
Pisces
Capricorn
yin
Saturn
yang
Aquarius
With the yin/yang alternation added, you get the above pattern
As you can see, a whole pattern is formed among the visible planets in astronomical order,
like a ladder from the outermost planet Saturn at the bottom of the table to the Sun and Moon at the top,
and each planet rules both a yin sign and a yang sign, one on each side of the table (and thus each side of the year, from Winter to Summer, or from Summer to Winter).
Just like the chakras, this pattern has 7 levels, with the top level divided into the signs ruled by the brightest two "planets," Sun and Moon.
Therefore, as the mystic sage and scientist Pythagoras discovered, each of the 7 planets corresponds to one of the 7 chakras. Both also correspond to the 7 notes of the diatonic musical scale, which is why he called this harmonious pattern "the music of the spheres." The signs ruled by Saturn represent the bottom, base or first chakra (Aquarius the positive or yang sign, and Capricorn the negative/yin, each ruled by
Saturn), the signs ruled by Jupiter represent the 2nd chakra (Pisces the negative, Sagittarius the positive), the signs ruled by Mars represent the third (Aries positive, and
Scorpio negative), Venus the fourth (Taurus yin and Libra yang), Mercury the fifth (Gemini yang and Virgo yin), and Moon and Sun represent the 6th and 7th respectively,
sharing co-rulership of one sign each (Cancer being the negative yin polarity, and Leo the positive yang)-- just like in the Toccata, where the two shorter
final sections can also be considered the two halves of the final section, and just like the pituitary and pineal glands on the same level in the brain.
By the way, it's appropriate that Leo should represent the crown theme, since the Lion is the "king of beasts" and kings wear crowns.
Whatever we may think about whether the Leos we know are actually wise in their regality, or just arrogant, the sign of the Sun is archetypally the sign of the crown chakra and its wisdom.
The seven levels of the chakras are seen in other systems of thought and patterns of nature. For example, the color
spectrum runs up the chakras as follows: red at the 1st chakra, orange at the 2nd, yellow at the 3rd, green at the 4th, blue at the 5th, indigo
at the 6th, and violet at the 7th (again, indigo and violet really being two shades of purple at the two top chakras).
In alchemy we move through the seven metals, from lead, linked to Saturn and the base chakra, up through tin (Jupiter, 2nd chakra), iron (Mars, 3rd chakra), copper (Venus, 4th), mercury (Mercury, 5th)
and silver (Moon, 6th chakra) to gold (Sun) at the crown. Even the periodic table of chemical elements is arranged on 7 levels, with heavy ones at the bottom and light ones at the top,
and with elements of negative valence (yin, as it were) on the right-brain side, and positive, or metallic (yang), on the left-brain side. The word "periodic" should be a clue there of what is going on. (btw, the 2nd level from the bottom of the table has 32 elements)
See a chart of the 7 levels here, showing a few of these patterns and how they align with the 3 parts of the soul.
Here is a chart showing how the signs of the zodiac correspond to (and even generate) the two energy current channels Ida and Pingala (or the two caduceus snakes), by alternating polarity between yin and yang
(or negative and positive) through the yearly zodiac cycle.
This cycle is shown starting with the southern Winter signs (Capricorn, Aquarius) at the base chakra, moving up through the Spring signs, to the northern Summer signs (Cancer, Leo) at the crown chakra, and returning through the Autumn
signs to the base.
Each chakra is ruled by a planet, which in turn rules (is linked to) two signs each, one yin and one yang; except the Sun (yang) and Moon (yin) which rule one sign each. With the planets in the center, their two ruling signs are shown on each side of them. Yang signs are in bold and red, yin signs are in italics and blue.
The ascending, liberating, yin Ida current or "snake" flows through the yin signs, and the descending, manifesting, yang Pingala current/snake flows through the yang signs, each current switching from side to side at each level.
Although to my knowledge this scheme has never been presented before, it is a combination of the illustration by Anodea Judith from Wheels of Life (1989, Llewellyn), page 123 (shown under "chakras
and currents" in the next chart below), and Titus Burckhardt, Alchemy (1960, Penguin), page 88, shown in the picture above.
By the way, sometimes the liberating current is described as yang and the manifesting as yin.
Which direction each chakra turns MAY depend on which way you look at the body: looking from within yourself outward, as in the chart below, the yang chakras (1,3,5,7) turn counter-clockwise; facing inward as in the video below, yang chakras turn clockwise, which seems more in accord with magic practice if the manifesting current is yang.
chakra
Autumn signs
Planets
Spring signs
chakra
7-crown
Leo
Sun/Moon
Cancer
6-third eye
5-throat
Virgo
Mercury
Gemini
5-throat
4-heart
Libra
Venus
Taurus
4-heart
3-solar plexus
Scorpio
Mars
Aries
3-solar plexus
2-sacrum
Sagittarius
Jupiter
Pisces
2-sacrum
1-base
Capricorn
Saturn
Aquarius
1-base
Note also that this symbolic scheme can be represented in an alternative way, with the yang signs all placed on the right and the yin signs on the left (or vice versa works too). This aligns the yang signs and the yang chakra current with the East of the Medicine Wheel, and the yin signs and yin current with West on the Wheel (as demonstrated at the solstice ceremony), and the right and left columns of the kabbalah's Tree of Life. In these symbols, yin and yang do not switch sides at each level. But in this arrangement, the alternating current still flows through the sequence of the signs during the year, from Aquarius in January to Cancer in June (spring signs) and from Leo in July to Capricorn in December (autumn signs). In each case, the chakra spins in a direction opposite to the one below it, because the currents still switch from side to side as they ascend and descend:
yin signs
PLANET
yang signs
Cancer (spring)
MOON/SUN
Leo (autumn)
Virgo (autumn)
MERCURY
Gemini (spring)
Taurus (spring)
VENUS
Libra (autumn)
Scorpio (autumn)
MARS
Aries (spring)
Pisces (spring)
JUPITER
Sagittarius (autumn)
Capricorn (autumn)
SATURN
Aquarius (spring)
Some occult symbols (like the Golden Dawn's Tree of Life) reverse
the positions of the planets, putting outer planets at the top instead of the Sun and Moon. The planets' places on this "Tree's" 10 "spheres" is based on another version of the "stairway to heaven": the Greek cosmos with the earth at the center of the universe, leading up from Earth, then to the fastest planet Moon, then up the ladder's 7 steps to the slowest planet Saturn, and beyond; with Sun in the middle of the stairway (which was actually the orbital path of the Earth). More about this on a future webpage.
Some traditional yogis do not say that the two currents switch from side to side, but that the feminine, lunar Ida current flows only on the left side of the body, and the masculine, solar Pingala current only on the right. Some say they only cross each other twice; at the 3rd and 5th chakras. I think this grand symbol contains any of these interpretations.
If correlated to astrology, the current can still be seen both as running up and down on one side, or as switching from side to side. If all the yin signs, representing the lunar Ida current, are all placed on the left (as in the above table), and all the yang signs, representing the solar Pingala current, are all placed on the right, then, as on the Medicine Wheel and the Tree of Life, then as I mentioned the currents still shift back and forth as they proceed through the sign sequence during the seasons of the year. If the currents only switch at the 3rd and 5th chakras, then they mark the divisions between the 3 parts of the soul. Many clairvoyants, such as Anodea Judith, observe the currents switching and the direction of spin changing, from one chakra to the next. Be sure and see part 1 of her video for a graphic illustration of this (video embedded below; it comes in the 3rd minute).
Anodea Judith correlates the Moon with chakra 2, and Jupiter with chakra 6, and many authors follow this model. In this case, as I see it, the yin chakras 2,4,6 can be correlated with these planets (Jupiter with chakra 6 and Moon with chakra 2) if the whole series is flipped upside down, with Saturn (7th chakra) at the top (like the Golden Dawn's Tree of Life/Saturn = World card or Binah), while the yang chakras 1,3,5,7 continue to be correlated to the original Sun-at-the-top model shown above. Thus one current is pointing up, and the other is pointing down. Venus at the center, of course, fits both ways.
Here are three more chakra illustrations:
Before looking at each section of the Toccata, let’s examine
the theme itself more closely.
Get a copy of the piece and listen to it
if you can, and/or find a sample by googling Toccata in F online. Or click on one of the performances available on You Tube:
You can follow the essay and the music together by cleverly using the web's and You Tube's features. Just click on the embedded video for each chakra below. Also, you can open a second browser window for this essay (copy and paste the URL
http://users.sfo.com/~eameece/toccata.htm
at the top; then open the browser without closing this one and paste in the URL), then open You Tube from the link here. Switch over and click the pause button whenever you need to stop the music, to give yourself time to read the description of each relevant section.
Chakra One
Intertwining snake theme turns the chakra wheel from right to left
The Toccata in F begins with a long, snake-like linear string of notes played by the hands. The theme itself consists of 6 notes per measure (the 1st 6 chakras), with this 6-note figure then virtually repeated in the next measure one note up the scale, to form a total of 12 notes. The 1st note of the next bar can also be considered the 7th note of the previous bar (thus, the 7 chakras!). In the first two bars, there is one note for each sign of the zodiac, and one note for each of the 12 half-sections of the entire piece. Also, since the first note of the 3rd bar is also a part of the basic theme, that makes 13 notes in all in the theme of Toccata in F. There is no other piece of music that so graphically represents the chakras in its very theme.
The notes of the theme themselves alternate back and forth between up and down (or yang and yin, like yang and yin signs or chakras). To me, this resembles the movement of a snake, like the two serpents around the axis of the
caduceus, the symbol of medicine.
Turned upright, the notes appear to alternate between left and right too, an even better symbol of yin/yang. Since the middle notes have the widest gap between them, you can draw a "medicine wheel" around the notes. The 4 directions are apparent, with the middle notes showing the east-west axis and the first and last notes defining the north-south axis.
Chakra One
Muladhara (root)
Base of Spine
Grounding, Survival
4 petals
Saturn/Mars
Titus Burckhardt writes in Alchemy, "a serpent or dragon as the image of cosmic power is to be found in all parts of the
world...A reptile moves without legs and by means of an uninterrupted rhythm in its body, so that it is the incorporation, so to say, of a subtle oscillation."
(p.130). This smooth "uninterrupted rhythm" is characteristic of much of Baroque music in general, and of this piece in particular, with its unique
up and down oscillation between each note that sounds like the wiggling movement of a snake. Indeed the rhythm is so seductive it almost sounds
like a snake dance. I call Bach's Toccata in F the serpentine toccata. Master organist, composer and teacher Lionel Rogg wrote that Bach’s later organ toccatas
are brilliant pieces characterized by an "uninterrupted movement" and "an implacable rhythm," and that they were the basis for the modern form of the toccata.
Click HERE to read liner notes by Lionel Rogg and Harry Halbreich for the Toccata in F by Bach
But in Bach’s Toccata in F, you don’t have just one snake; you
have two, just like in the caduceus symbol! For the identical theme starts
again just two measures later, now played with the left hand, even as the
right hand continues on, each hand now moving in canon form, one imitating
the other in counterpoint. So you have a striking image in the theme itself of
two snakes twirling around each other. One is played with the right hand;
thus the yang current, and one with the left hand; thus the yin current. It is a round, like "Row Row Row Your Boat" (with only two voices). You can also call it a spiralling double helix.
What’s more, you also have the pole holding steady in the center, provided by the held-down pedal note underlying the whole magnificent theme. This OM-like sound of the
held pedal note is similar in intention and effect as the tamboura in Indian music, and you can hear this sound easily in the versions by Alain,
Fox, Koopman, Robinson,
Leistra and others heard on You Tube.
If we superimpose the last 6 notes of the 13-note theme over the first 6 notes, the theme is a caduceus (the 7th note represents the crown).
The 8th note represents the first level of the downward manifesting current which we meet as we go upward. The manifesting current (Pingala, notes 8-13 of the theme here)
is shown in red, the liberating current (Ida, notes 1-7) is shown in blue.
We also notice that this snake or canon (imitation) theme, which lasts about a minute, itself has 7 portions, each consisting of from 6 to 8 measures each. Everywhere
throughout this piece, we have the same pattern repeated on many levels, as if we were watching a hologram or a fractile. Often the sequence of notes in each of these 7 portions of the canon "snake theme"
suggests the chakras as a whole. For example, twice among the 7 portions of the theme, the third measure features 3 longer, triumphant and optimistic notes that leap
upward, suggesting the energy release to come at the third chakra section. Twice as well, the basic 6-note theme repeats itself 7 times in a row,
starting one note higher on the scale each time, providing us a picture in minature of the 7 chakras, each one higher than the last. It is significant
that the modulation (change of key), from F to B-flat that happens during the first canon, and from C to F in the second, each takes place in the fourth measure of
this very sequence, representing the inner transformation that takes place at the heart chakra. What’s more, during the second canon (or 2nd chakra
section), this 7-measure movement up the chakras starts with C and ends with B, thereby correlating with the way the notes are traditionally linked to each chakra:
We notice that the first chakra section has two halves, a liberating
part and a manifesting part, as does every section. After the canon with the pedal point underlying it (with the right hand leading the way, representing the first chakra’s yang polarity), the theme is then played again all by itself on the pedals.
This represents the downward manifesting current of the first chakra, because the solo pounding of the feet on the pedals represents the down-to-earth
pull of the first chakra, as we ground ourselves in the movements of our feet. What’s more, most of the time the pedal notes are themselves moving
downward toward the roots, or into the dark fog, as the 12-note theme is heard one note lower each time, until the very last note leaves us dangling in chaos, as if out of tune.
(In some editions of the Toccata, this note has been changed to a more harmonious dominant note.) Then at
last, three grand chords immediately and boldly announce the next chakra, in which we move upward again.
The intertwining snake theme turns from left to right
In the second chakra section, representing the second chakra of the genital area in the lower abdomen, once again we hear
the same canon composed of exactly the same notes, with the theme repeating itself two bars later in the other hand as before; only this time, things are switched
around. The left hand starts instead, and it also begins lower down in the dominant key of C major (it soon returns to F, and then back again
to C; just as in the first canon it starts with F and moves to B Flat and back). The left hand leading is a clear symbol of the feminine nature of
this center, as Anodea Judith describes it. Once again the held pedal note majestically underlies the snake movement, just like the great OM sound underlying all
creation. And this time, the "snake" theme not only gives the impression of joyous celebration, but conveys the "sweetness" for which Chakra 2 is named. The cosmic snake spirit is speaking to us in this music.
Indeed, I find few if any musical passages as sweet as this second canon in the Toccata in F. This tender joyfulness also indicates the chakra’s
yin or feminine polarity. The music also conveys a wonderful fluidity. Somehow the softer sound of the lower notes played by the left hand, leading the higher notes
played by the right hand, allows a sweeter feeling to emerge. The subconscious, softer, more relaxed and feminine part of us is
leading the way. Both canons together have always given me the impression of a world coming again to new life, as if Kundalini or Shakti is rising out
of the trap in which she is originally found, coiled like a snake inside the base of the spine. Now she’s being released, and nothing represents this liberation and new life, nor the sacred fire of the divine feminine, better than this sweet, snake-like music.
The OM sound of the pedal, and the vibrant notes twirling around it, evoke the powerful movement of life as it unfolds "implacably" within and all around us.
Pause, listen, awaken, and participate!
I want to emphasize this point. Many canon (imitation) themes were written in Bach's times, including Michael Maier's,
which had some inverted voices (more about Maier below). But there are few if any other pieces with just two canons in it, each with the opposite hand leading.
Bach was clearly making a symbolic point here. And it's no accident that the second canon sounds sweeter. The significant thing here is that there is almost no difference at all between the actual notes of each canon.
The effect is mostly achieved just by switching the hands, and yet we notice the difference.
There is one other difference: the right and left hand are two octaves apart, symbolizing chakra two, until the notes ascend through the chakras in the portion shown above. Then, by changing just two notes, Bach returns to imitating the notes one octave apart. This happens in bar 99. It is an amazing moment, here in this sweetest part of the Toccata. The right hand (top staff; the "male" side) jumps ahead and leads the left again, just for this one bar. It is imitated in the left hand 2 measures later in bar 101. Then, two measures after that, the right hand imitates it again (bar 103). Three times in all. Mmmmmmmmmmmm; seems symbolic! They are the 3 apples of Atalanta! (see below) Male and female are intertwining. In making these minor changes to the second canon (and to the second pedal solo too), Bach was working within the limits of the organ keyboard; but considered from a mystical, symbolic view, everything is part of the divine order--- including the artistic medium in which it's expressed.
Then once again, after the canon/snake theme, a pedal solo follows, which represents the manifesting current of the 2nd chakra. I don't know another piece with two pedal solos in the midst of it either. This also seems highly symbolic.
The foot movements ground us again, showing we are still in a lower chakra; but this time the theme not only moves downward through the pedals, but takes a leap upward too,
and moves around with greater freedom. Then, it readies us for the "takeoff" which comes upon us suddenly as we enter the next chakra.
Chakra Two
Svadhisthana (sweetness; my place)
Sacrum, above Genitals
Desire, Joy
6 petals
Jupiter/Venus
As the third chakra section begins, it is as if the music has burst into flames. Judith indeed compares this chakra to the fire element.
What’s more, she says it represents our courage, our power and our will. Indeed, any virtuoso organist who has played Bach’s Toccata in F can testify
that it takes courage to play the next three sections, because now both hands and feet are playing elaborate themes all at once. Entering this
third section, representing the solar-plexus or power center, it seems like a change of state has occured, from the more joyful but dense tamas
phase to the passionate and ambitious rajas phase. This portal of power is a transition; it can also be considered the end of the second chakra section.
In the first series of chords which announce the change, the wiggling snake is transformed into two great declarative chordal columns (as if standing for the two
left and right columns on the Kabballah’s tree of life), with the pedal axis remaining between them. First a pedal note sounds; then the two
chords. As we will see, I call this the "chariot theme." It is like a model of the chakras. Here again, there are 12 chords in all, one for each zodiac sign, and they come in higher, then lower notes (yang and yin). That's one yin-yang pair for each of the first 6 chakras. The pedal note preceeding each set of two chords alternates between higher and lower octaves, representing the yang and yin chakras. The theme is then capped by another high pedal note, followed by the same three chords that announced the second chakra. These 3 chords preceeded by a pedal note are heard often from now on, and they have special significance. Here they represent the crown chakra.
The graceful up-and-down octave movement on the pedals once again represents the central staff of the caduceus, its vertical direction
now visible to us. Even so, the 12 chordal columns still "wiggle," as they alternate between higher and lower notes just like the original theme.
So, in effect, in the chordal columns the original theme is given a larger and slower treatment, fractal-like.
It is like two moving triangles, composed of two chords preceeded by a pedal note; with the pedal notes, one higher and the next one lower, representing the apex of the triangles; one pointing up and one down. Or you can also see two successive wedges formed just in the pedal notes (the bottom staff): the first 3 notes form a wedge that points down and next 3 form one that points up. You can see this in the original theme too. The first three notes are a triangle pointing up, and the second three are a triangle pointing down. This pattern is said to represent the Merkabah, or the soul’s chariot in its journey to "the other world." Those familiar with The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown may also recognize this chariot figure as the two icons for chalice and blade, or male and female, one pointing up and one down, which when combined form the Star of David from the Temple of Solomon, which is also a symbol of the Merkabah, our vehicle of ascension. The pedal notes shifting up and down thrust the Chariot up the chakra tree, not only here, at the start of the third section (which is also regarded as the end of the second section), but throughout the rest of the mystical journey, since we hear this theme again (once for each chakra) in all the following sections. Anodea Judith says at her web site that the word chakra originally derives from the wheels of the chariots of the ruling class of the Aryans, who invaded and conquered India from the north around 1500 BC, after which chakra knowledge was developed. It also refers to the "eternal wheel of time," which we know as the zodiac.
The pedal note and 3 chords that introduced the 2nd chakra, now announce that we have entered the Third.
Turning itself upside down, the original theme is now magically transformed into
an upward-leaping movement that traverses an entire octave; first entering on the pedal, then the right hand, then twice with the left (four times, for the 4 elements). This is called an arpeggio because it is like a chord with the notes played successively instead of all at once. In yet another symbol of the Merkabah or Star of David, this second theme reverses the first: the first three notes are a triangle that points up; the second three point down.
Chakra Three
Manipura (lustrous jewel)
Navel, solar plexus
Power, will
10 petals
Mars/Sun
The whole theme is repeated 4 times, modulating (changing) through 4 different keys. Beginning immediately and confidently, this new optimistic, rhythmically-bouyant and
uplifting theme represents our will, which has come under our command. Nothing could evoke it more clearly than this powerful and grand musical figure.
Also, the direction in which this next chakra turns has shifted again. This third chakra of will and power is considered a yang or male chakra, contrasting with the
previous yin chakra below it, and similar to the yang first chakra that turns in the same direction. As Anodea Judith explains, our personal power and will is not created by domination, but by the coordination among the parts of our being
and by our ability to work together with others. Here this new energy and coordination is represented by hands and feet playing this new courageous, uplifting, liberating theme together in counterpoint.
The feet always play the theme first, in the lowest notes, which may indicate how important the subconscious mind (developed or tapped in the 2nd chakra and in the pedal solos),
as well as our passion and sensuality (also 2nd chakra), are in fueling and guiding our will and our power, at least when
well programmed by our higher soul centers. In fact, when the 2nd pedal solo jumps upward it anticipates the new uplifting theme, with only a one note difference.
What’s more, it is clear that we have entered a truly ambitious and liberating journey that will take us ever higher. We are climbing a "stairway to heaven" (to higher consciousness), which has 7 steps. This confident new
uplifting theme is repeated to open each succeeding chakra section (at the climactic 7th chakra the theme is given an expanded and altered treatment). The liberating current becomes dominant as we go up the chakras, and
likewise this liberating theme becomes more dominant as we go upward in the music. Already, in the opening two canons
or snake themes, it had been suggested in the third measure (thus anticipating the third chakra), as the principle notes of this uplifting, liberating
theme were sounded there. It is also embedded in the pedal solos. But in the lower two chakras, the liberating theme is only suggested, while the snake or "manifesting" theme is completely
dominant. This represents the preeminence of the manifesting current in the lower chakras. In the third, fourth and fifth sections, however, the
two themes alternate equally. But in the final and highest sections, it is the original manifesting snake theme that becomes submerged and blended
beneath the uplifting liberating theme, now transformed into a fabulous crowning glory.
The grand "chariot theme" (12-chord column-like figure, accompanied by pedal octaves), which announces the third chakra, returns here during it, and during all the remaining sections
of the piece, usually following the liberating uplifting theme; affording us ever more magnificent scenic views on our journey. Meanwhile, the second half of the 3rd chakra is introduced with huge, grand chords of great energy and flourish. The most powerful notes of the Toccata are heard at the center of our center of power. Then a new version of the original 12-note
"snake" theme is heard, now in a minor key (d minor; related to F major, the key in which the first chakra-- also having a yang polarity like the 3rd-- began), played this time with both hands and feet.
The return of the "snake" theme reminds us of the first two chakras "below." We are meeting the downward movement of the current on the other side of the chakra, represented by the return of the original manifesting
snake theme-- this time of shorter duration and in grand style, and played with two hands and feet. The minor key also represents the downward trend. Furthermore, toward the end of this half-section,
the pedals perform a torturous, rapid downward-moving shorter version of the original pedal solo, with the left hand imitating it in harmony, accompanied by a slower, descending, up and down movement in the right hand.
Capping off the third chakra section (and again also the fourth and fifth), and leading us into the next, are 7 notes moving rapidly down the scale, representing
the downward movement through the 7 chakras of the manifesting current.
Opens with the uplifting arpeggio again, but it is calmer
Then as the "uplifting" or liberating theme sounds again, we have entered the fourth chakra, the heart. We notice a difference this time from the previous
section. The theme dangles around itself five times through different keys, as if moving more freely and gracefully (untied or "unstruck," the
Hindu name of the chakra), with less of the frantic ambition to move upward and onward that we heard in the previous third chakra. The themes are also
played lower on the keyboard than in the previous and upcoming sections. Furthermore, in the middle of the third chakra, an unresolved chord had led us into an
extra upward-moving passage that gives the distinct impression that we are making a tortuous and difficult ascent; and this happens again in the fifth chakra, and the 7th (all yang chakras). Here
this passage is omitted, and the first half of the heart chakra section (after the "chariot") ends on a quiet tonic chord. This gives the fourth chakra section a more peaceful feeling than
the last, representing the calm yin polarity of the heart chakra. The missing "difficult ascent" passage, built from the liberating and then the manifesting
theme, here doesn’t block the heart’s center; representing its "balance" and serenity. So now, the two currents, upward & downward, Ida &
Pingala, are in equilibrium, and we feel centered here in the very middle of the Toccata, as if we’re in the eye of the storm.
I wondered for some time why the heart chakra section features five repeats of the liberating theme, while the 3rd and 5th chakra sections have only four repeats. The Da Vinci Code provided the answer for me.
It makes much of the pentacle (five-pointed star) as the symbol of Venus, the goddess of love and the sacred feminine. Brown, as well as astrology writers like Mark Lerner, have pointed out that the planet Venus makes 5 stations
(passages close to Earth) before returning to the same place in the zodiac 8 years later (with an advance of only 8 minutes of arc). As you can see from our tables, Venus rules the heart chakra. The 5 repeats of the liberating theme
also matches the "5th element" (or ether, the quintessence), which I have linked to the heart. The pentacle is also related to the famous fibonacci series, because the lines
within a pentacle are related to each other according to the fibonacci proportion of 1.618.
As we might expect, this "divine" or golden proportion is present in the great Toccata in F itself. In fact, here in the middle of the heart chakra, just as its second half begins, we reach 271 bars out of 438 (438 divided by 271 equals 1.616).
Also, the length of the liberating and manifesting sections in each of the first 5 chakra sections are related according to the divine proportion; but only in the heart chakra, and in the 2nd chakra (where Venus is exalted),
are these proportions close to exact. (HERE is a footnote describing all the mathematical proportions I have so far discovered in the Toccata).
As the snake theme returns again in the second or manifesting half of the fourth chakra section, the left hand leads the way this time, representing again the yin polarity; whereas
the right hand had come in before the left in the third section. A new passionate, "heart-felt" and tender phrase is also added to the start of the theme in bar 271, a short but powerful motif that anticipates the crown chakra.
Then, after a similar upward climb as before, the same rapid "downward" movement in the pedals is heard as in the previous section, but this time it is imitated by the higher notes in the right hand, with the left hand in the
middle accompanying with the slower notes. As we move higher, so do the notes. The key of this manifesting section is A minor, which is related to the C major in which the previous yin section, the 2nd chakra, started.
"Related" keys have all the same notes on the keyboard; the minor key just starts the scale two notes below the related major key. Remember we saw this also with the first two yang chakras, d minor being the related key to F major.
Opens with the third uplifting arpeggio; more insistent now
The third-chakra’s "uplifting" and liberating theme then enters again to start the fifth section, and this time we sense greater urgency as we continue our
climb. We realize now we are in another yang or masculine chakra, the fifth or throat chakra. We can’t rest now; we are attacking the summit! We are ready for the most difficult challenges now. So there’s
no messing or whirling around with the liberating theme this time, as the 4 modulations and their concluding chords all end on an upward tonic note; and the tone is getting darker
and more urgent. Things are stated clearly and unambiguously, since this is the chakra of communication and purification. As we enter the chakra ruled by Mercury,
or Hermes the Magician himself, we feel about to be transformed by the magical work, and we face the dark demons within. This time, in the manifesting
or second half of the 5th chakra section, the "downward" movement that once was laboriously played out with the feet on the pedals and imitated
with one hand, has now been transferred upward to both hands alone. The pedal plays the slower accompanying notes. This not only represents the manual dexterity of Mercury, but indicates that
we are opening up our higher mental faculties. At the same time, we feel less grounded, even as we feel higher and closer to the climax. Some listeners
begin to feel strained at the anxious repetition of similar themes we’ve heard before. We begin to wonder, and to ask our Master Hermes/Bach, "will
we ever get to the top?" Will our great work ever end? Is this the darkness before the light?
The uplifting arpeggio sounds a fourth time; but now it introduces a breakthrough
Soon though, as the "uplifting" theme sounds again, we have entered into the sixth chakra section, at the brow or third eye.
Suddenly a breakthrough occurs, as the entire landscape stretches down before us. This is a truly visionary moment, as we realize for the first time just how high we have climbed. It is like revelations are occuring.
The original snake theme and the 12-chord column figure (chariot theme) are blended together in counterpoint, just as the yin and yang of our two eyes and two sides of our brain are united in our third eye.
Our vision breaks all boundaries as we soar upward into the exalted key of B-Flat, accompanied by Om-like bass pedal points. The music now seems graceful and poised again, since
we are now in a yin chakra, and our chariot has carried us into the sattva level of higher consciousness. Once again, as in the 2nd and 4th yin sections, the chariot theme ends on a peaceful tonic chord.
The uplifting arpeggio is stretched out into a new theme of bliss and glory
Then the music readies us for the final leap. The "uplifting" liberating theme enters again twice,
in two fragments, and then we are hurled exuberantly into the glorious final section.
A totally-transformed theme is sounded triumphantly over a huge new C-major Om-like pedal point. It is a simple theme crafted from all the
preceeding elements of the music. You can also see it as stretching and extending the chords of the liberating theme. We feel the bliss in which everything
seems perfect, even if only for a moment. We have arrived at the radiant golden summit; the top of the head; the crown chakra! The kundalini energy
then is fully unleashed, as the uplifting, liberating theme rushes up and down the keyboard and is turned upside down and back again with seemingly
reckless abandon. Light and sound flushes through us, and we are connected to the cosmos. Notice how when descending the theme's first 3 notes are pointed upward (manifesting), and when ascending they are pointed downward (liberating).
Then the 12 chord-columns of the chariot theme sound again, this time descending from the heights.
Finally, in an amazing stroke, Bach brings back the passage of tortuous ascent that he had cut from the heart chakra, and attaches
it here to the end as the final coda. Now however, it seems like a theme of conquest and resolution, one that also connects the cosmic energy of
the crown chakra back down to our own heart center; and back into the earlier struggles. We are invited to return downward through the chakras again on the current of manifestation; to bring our new realization back into the world.
Before the final chord, this is represented by the shift downward in the notes that carry the theme; from hands to pedals.
We are back again in the original key of F major now too, as if ready to begin the entire adventure again-- perhaps on another
level. Indeed, the final chord is exactly the same as the chord that boldly introduces the second chakra, as if introducing the first section
again and allowing us to start the whole Toccata over.
Chakra Seven
Sahasrara (1000-petalled lotus)
crown of head
Spiritual Knowledge
1000 petals
Sun/Neptune
But if the listener chooses, (s)he can move on instead into the Fugue in F that follows the
Toccata, in which the new serenity and peace you have gained moves smoothly through two entirely new main themes, as if floating in glowing clouds
of glory; each theme entering successively, one radiant and the other more quiet and serene, and then combined together at the end like an alchemical
marriage of Sun and Moon in the 7th chakra. During the first theme, the glorious crown theme of the Toccata is alluded to often, and the second theme in places resembles the Toccata's second theme, the "liberation" theme of upward arpeggios.
It is a fun exercize to visualize the colors of each chakra,
and pay attention to each center’s location in your body, while listening
to each section of the Toccata in F. For which color corresponds to which
chakra, see the chart below (or Judith, p.46). For those more dedicated,
listen more intently with a quiet mind, and practice this often, and the Toccata can release the kundalini energy and unblock your chakras.
It's powerful stuff, so prepare yourself!
The whole musical image of the Toccata in F so clearly represents the chakras and
kundalini, that we have to ask, how could the devout Christian J.S. Bach
have been aware of the Hindu system of Tantra yoga, or even of astrology,
the Tarot, or alchemy-- sometimes called the kundalini of the West? Well,
we know that the symbol of the caduceus, and similar alchemical and astrological
symbols, are found all over cathedrals, on Christian crosses, and on other
forms of Christian art, even though some American Christians today might consider
these subjects to be the work of the devil. They are embedded in Western
tradition nontheless. Bach was certainly well-exposed to the Western tradition
in all its richness, and we know (as Albert Schweitzer has pointed out)
that he used musical symbolism in composing his organ works (his Prelude
and Fugue in E Flat is clearly a symbol of the Trinity, for example; and the wedge ("wedge fugue") is a masonic and kabbalistic mystic symbol). But
maybe this kind of esoteric knowledge wasn’t necessary to Bach. He simply
opened himself to whatever came to him from divine inspiration. Perhaps
God just spoke through him, and a universal pattern unfolded. The Toccata certainly is a mystic meditation on the soul's heroic journey to fully-embodied enlightenment through seven levels, which
Robert Place says is a venerable ancient tradition.
And I have realized an interesting little fact. Have you noticed? The word "toccata" has 7 letters! And it is entirely made up of 4 "elements", the letters t,o,c,a. Substitute r for c, and you have the same 4 letters appearing in the word tarot! They are also used in the anagrams for the esoteric traditions: rota, tora, taro, etc. This acronym is often shown on the Wheel of Fortune tarot card, and "tora" is sometimes written on the scroll which the High Priestess holds. This links "toccata" with "tarot" in a quite literal way. I explore the link of tarot to Bach's Toccata in F
below.
It might even be that Bach anticipated discovery of the double helix of DNA. The Toccata's initial motif, stated in the first measure and repeated thereafter in varied
forms, although it contains 6 notes, is built from 4 different notes (FEFCAF), like the 4 elements, and the 4 molecules of DNA. The single strands of the following pedal solos are even like RNA. The double helix of DNA lies coiled in the first and second chakra areas, in the sperm and ovum which when released transmit our genetic code, just as the helix-double snake of kundalini rises from our base to unleash our own spiritual rebirth. We hear its transforming power in the two helix-like canons of Bach's Toccata in F. Life is created through two intertwining strands bringing genes from two lives together. The two strands or snake themes twirl around each other, swinging and dancing together in sexual union as they generate new life. Bach's themes are perfect symbols for DNA, and of the first two genital chakras and their corresponding organs that reproduce and transmit it. Once again, the 4 letters of the DNA code (T,G,C,A) resemble the 4 letters that make up the word "toccata;" in this case G is substituted for the "o" (just "flip the switch" and they are the same letter).
(DNA illustration from Goin & Goin, Man and the Natural World, p.263, MacMillan, 1970) ("toccatatoccatatoccatatoccatatoccatatoccatatoccatatoccatatoccata......")
Another idea illustrated by the Toccata in F is Spiral Dynamics of Integral Philosophy, which proposes that life, people and history develop in stages, and that each stage
"transcends and includes" the previous stage. The toccata theme itself is spiral-like as it oscillates back and forth, and in the first two sections of the toccata, we hear the snake-like theme twirling around itself; also spiral-like.
Integral Philosophy also carries the same image illustrated in the Toccata in F of the two great currents moving up and down the entire spiral. At each of the 7 levels of the toccata, we move up in spiral fashion; first a yang
chakra section and then a yin, as in Spiral Dynamics. The next level also "transcends and includes" the previous one. For example, the second chakra section shows how the first can be included and transcended by
keeping all the same notes, but reversing the direction (left-hand leading instead of the right) and shifting to the dominant key. The third chakra adds a whole new theme based on the original one, yet brings back the
original one too. In the fourth and fifth chakras, new themes are added to the start of the recurrance of the original theme (in the manifesting sections), and the fifth section retains the theme introduced in the fourth.
At each level, all the themes are transferred to higher notes on the keyboard. Finally at the 6th chakra, the themes begin to be condensed and combined together, in a way that seems to expand our vision.
The chariot and snake themes are played in counterpoint. In the final section all the themes are synthesized into one seamless expression of bliss.
Some other proposed traits and correspondences for the chakras
In astrology, planets not only "rule" two signs each, they are also "exalted" (or raised to their highest expression) in another sign. This table shows how the planet that is exalted in a zodiac sign
associated with a chakra, helps determine the corresponding rainbow color of each chakra, as well as further illuminates the traits of each chakra. In this table, notice that I have exchanged the positions of the elements air and ether from the most usual positions. Since air is a yang element, I don't agree with correlating it with the heart, a yin chakra. Associating air instead with the 5th yang chakra indicates its "sky blue" color and traits. Instead of air, I correlate ether, space, or spirit, known as the 5th element or quint-essence, that is central to the others, and includes and combines all of them together, with the heart chakra, which is the center and authentic core of our being. I also include the highest, most spiritual elements (fire/energy and spirit/thought) twice in the table, one each in yang and yin form.
According to Robert M. Place, creator of The Alchemical Tarot, "it was believed that the philosopher's stone would transform any substance into its highest form." (The Tarot, p.47) Since the alchemist's quest is like the process of kundalini in which we move up the chakras to enlightenment, the planet exalted (raised to highest expression) in a chakra has an important connection to that chakra. Most obviously, the first chakra is red because the red planet Mars is exalted in Capricorn, a first-chakra sign; and the 3rd chakra is yellow because the yellow Sun is exalted in Aries, a 3rd-chakra sign. Notice that Mars is exalted in an earth sign (Capricorn), thus indicating the earth element of chakra 1; Venus in a water sign (Pisces), thus the water element of chakra 2; and Sun in a fire sign (Aries), thus the fire element of chakra 3. Saturn is exalted in an air sign (Libra); thus the air element of chakra 4-- except that the Moon is also exalted in chakra 4 (Taurus, earth sign), the heart being the only chakra in which two planets are exalted; which complicates the issue! The table shows how I have resolved it. For example, notice how two planets of such opposite natures (Moon and Saturn) being exalted in the heart, accents its role as the central point of balance. Also included in this table are some New Thought categories, and how I correspond them to the chakras and the signs. Note that Fillmore's
12 Powers correspond not only to the chakras and the zodiac, but to Jesus' 12 disciples. This latter meaning of 12 may be how the 12-fold pattern entered Bach's mind as he wrote his Toccata in F.
Lest you think that correlating air with the 5th chakra, instead of the 4th, is somehow "out of order," remember that (symbolically, in terms of physics), the correlation of elements to chakras is already out of order. True, just as the 2nd chakra is located above the 1st, and represents a higher or faster vibration, the element (or state of matter) known as earth (solid) "melts" into the next higher, less dense element of water (liquid). But water does not, in turn, evaporate into fire, but into air (gas). So corrrelating the 3rd chakra with fire instead of air is already out of order! Bumping air up to the 5th chakra is therefore not inconsistent. It may be thought that correlating air with the 4th chakra accords better with Hindu or tantric tradition, but I have seen websites where authorities speak of both the 3rd and 4th chakras as "gaseous." In any case, the chakras are not an exclusively Oriental tradition, since, as Robert Place has pointed out, they were known in Western esoteric philosophy since Pythagoras, who called them the 7 "soul centers" that corresponded to the 7 visible planets and 7 musical tones (the music of the spheres). These correlations are still very much a part of new age chakra tradition today.
Somehow the creators of tarot understood that the middle chakras resonate to this "reverse order" of the elements-- as indicated when they put the card for the highest Platonic virtue Justiceearliest in the trump order and the lowest virtue Temperancehighest, with Strength in the middle. Robert Place says "the creators of this order were suggesting that the virtues are coming to us as a divine gift (the liberating current and liberating theme), and that they are proceeding in the opposite direction as time and fate" (the manifesting current and theme) (The Tarot, p.106). Then the Golden Dawn reversed the positions of the Justice and Strength cards. In the table above you see that Strength now corresponds to chakra 3 (navel/fire), Justice to chakra 4 (heart/ether), and Temperance to chakra 5 (throat/air). Justice is perfect balance; in the 4th chakra it shows the presence not only of air (for the first time in the ascent), but of ALL the elements, brought together in harmony within the authentic core and spiritual center of our being. The physical heart, in fact, has 4 chambers on 2 sides, for the 4 elements (2 yin and 2 yang). Temperance means "finding the right mixture," which is similar to the sanskrit name of the 5th chakra, which means "purification." The 5th chakra is the gateway (and guardian) between the higher and middle soul. It's planetary spirit Mercury, exalted in Virgo (sign of purification), is the purifier, of metals, morals and minds. More about tarot below. As further "proof" that the 5th chakra is air, note that the thyroid gland in the throat has the richest and purest blood in the whole body, and blood carries air (and is linked to air in Greek medicine's humor theory).
Note also that there are some secondary associations of colors with chakras: white or gold with the crown chakra, pink with the heart (and also yellow, white, purple with the sacred center), etc. Remember that correlations of elements, colors, planets, etc. to chakras (or to sephiroth on the Tree of Life), are not physical formulas designating one thing exactly equal to another; they are more like rhythms, which illuminate and bring the parts of our being together like instruments playing in a symphony, the "music of the spheres." Like a hologram, each chakra is specialized, yet contains the whole.
What about that other Toccata? (The famous one in D-Minor, S. 565) What does it represent?
Hint: I think the "name of God" in Hebrew-- YHVH-- forms the basis for its famous 4-part fugue theme; and it’s also like a cross with the 4 directions.
Briefly, the first four notes come down from above (like Y), the second four notes move upward from the middle
register (like H), the third come up from below (like V), and the final four notes repeat the second four (like the second H. The 2 Hs could also stand for "Horizontal", and the V for "Vertical").
Each note, of course, is preceeded by the same high A note
(at the dominant), creating "oneness" through the theme. This theme is the basis for everything in this great Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, which is also known as "The Phantom of the Opera"
and is said to have been Bach's symbol for a cosmic storm. It is a mainstay of the Bewitched Genre of music, and the cross
with the four directions is used in many pagan, occult and shamanic traditions, as well as being a symbol of Christianity and "the throne of God" (c.f. The World tarot card below)
The Tarot Triumph and Bach's Toccata in F: more thoughts
The tarot is a set of 78 playing cards designed in the Renaissance in Italy and France to play a game that is the forerunner of bridge. Like a regular deck, it has 4 suits of 10 cards each, plus 4 kinds of royal face cards instead of 3. Plus it has 22 extra cards (the 5th suit) called trump cards, numbered 1 to 21 with an extra wild card. Nowadays in bridge, one of the regular suits is designated the trump suit, but originally it was a separate suit. By painting images on them, Renaissance artists used these trump cards numbered from 1 to 21 to tell a mythical spiritual story, based on the neo-Platonic mystical philosophy that was all the rage at the time. Since 1781 occultists, magicians and fortune tellers have used tarot cards as tools to guide us on our own spiritual journey.
Robert M. Place has clearly demonstrated in The Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination, that the sequence of 22 trump cards (now also called the Major Arcana)
is a triumph parade. In a triumph parade, an elaborate live event from ancient and renaissance times (which was always accompanied by music I might add), each character in the procession triumphs over or "trumps" the
one before, thus telling a story or "moral" allegory revealing a journey from lowest to highest. The Renaissance artists imitated this parade when they created the tarot cards. In the tarot's triumph parade, each card
"trumps" the one before it, thus describing a journey of the soul, represented by The Fool, to enlightenment or "back to God." It represents a stairway or ladder from lower to higher consciousness.
The "trump card" series of the tarot, numbered from lowest to highest, starts with the Magician (trump one) and ends with the World card (trump 21). Each tarot card in the trump suit of Major Arcana represents a stage in the spiritual journey that trumps the one before.
Here is a good introduction to the Tarot story (The Fool's Journey) as shown on You Tube, with music by Stewart Copeland.
So why did the occultists of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) align these cards with the Kabbalistic Tree of Life in a descending sequence?
The Tree of Life (see diagram at right) is the symbol in the Kabbalah (or Qabala, Cabalah), the Jewish mystical tradition, for divine creation and its reflection within us. See the Tree of Life as depicted by BOTA HERE and HERE. The Tree of Life represents the process of creation according to the Platonic theory of emanation. The goodness of God emanates down the Tree, from Kether, meaning crown or knowledge of God
(usually linked to the crown chakra), through 10 phases (represented as circles or "fruits" on the Tree), to the lowest in Malkuth, or the worldly kingdom (usually linked to the base chakra). The Tree symbol's 10 circles are arranged on 7 levels, with 22 pathways connecting the circles.
But the story told by the tarot trumps is the journey of the soul back up to God (or enlightenment, the mystic realization) from worldliness, so it must be a journey UP the Tree of Life from Malkuth to Kether.
They do not represent God’s descent into form. They represent evolution, not involution. Although the currents of the chakras in the caduceus run both ways, if Place’s research is correct that the trumps are a ladder
or "stairway to heaven" that starts with worldliness and moves toward the spirit, then the tarot trumps describe the upward or liberating journey. So the famous poster of the
Tree of Life created by the Builders of the Adytum, is clearly incorrect in aligning the tarot cards with the paths in the tree of life numbered from the top downward.
Remember, the Golden Dawn tarot tradition is not so venerable; only 100+ years old, compared with the actual tarot tradition that stems from the Renaissance, about which the Golden Dawn apparently knew little. So there is nothing wrong with making changes to it. Even Arthur Edward Waite, co-creator of the first modern tarot deck, and a Golden Dawn member, said that "the wrong stories have been told about the tarot."
As Joseph Campbell has pointed out, most of the great myths and stories of the world refer symbolically to OUR personal spiritual journey, more than to God's. They are about your inner demons,
your quest for liberation, the lessons you need to be a whole person. Clearly the Tree of Life is one of these significant mystic symbols and stories. Yet the Golden Dawn tradition numbers the 22 pathways on the Tree from the top down,
as if they are the path God takes. They start with path number 11 (not #1), which represents the Fool. Path number 12 represents the Magician, and both paths are connected to Kether (Crown, the highest circle or "sephiroth #1" on the Tree). The other paths are numbered down the Tree from there; making 32 "paths" in all (10 Sephiroth plus 22 pathways). Here is a diagram of the 32 paths, and
Here is one showing the tarot cards on the paths.
Place says, however, that this way of numbering the paths was not the only one within Kabalistic tradition; just "the one which influenced the occult tarot tradition." So there is nothing sacrocanct about this
order, even within the Kabalah. The first ten "path" numbers, of course, represent the Ten circles or sephiroth, the fruits on the tree of life. This is the sequence of emanation downward followed by God in creating the World. The pathways are lines connecting these circles. But once one has reached the Worldly Kingdom, (Malkuth), at sephirah #10 at the bottom of the Tree, why not continue the numbers again from where you are, and number a path connecting
these circles at the bottom of the tree as number 11, and move upward from there? The Fool would remain path #11, and The Magician path #12, but both would be placed on one of the paths
connected to Malkuth at the bottom of the Tree. Then the Tree of Life would be aligned with the other great myths and symbols of our mystical tradition. My diagram at the right shows this way of numbering the paths #11 to 32 UP the Tree of Life.
The colors used in my version of the Tree (and even more in the BOTA version) are also reflected in one version of Paradiso's logo (see Summer Solstice Essay), which mirrors the central circles on the Tree. These are also the colors of the Medicine Wheel and the 5 elements.
That the path numbers should be reversed is clear from the nature of the story told by the Tarot.
The allegory told in the tarot trumps moves through 3 sections, representing
the 3 parts of the soul. Most interpreters, such as Paul Foster Case of Builders of the Adytum, acknowledge this three-fold division of the Tarot,
in which each division contains 7 cards each, with the Fool as an extra card usually numbered zero. What they miss is the importance of the direction of the Tarot’s story.
The first section of the trumps (I to VII) is definitely worldly, revealing that we are starting from Malkuth, the kingdom of the world, and the first chakra, and moving
upward. The Magician guides us through divination to bring God's beauty into the world; unless he appears in his lower guise as the trickster or gambler
bent on beguiling us out of our money. Two sets of worldly imperial rulers, one secular (The Emperor and The Empress) and one sacred, but just as worldly (The Female Pope or High Priestess, and the Pope or Hierophant/High Priest), show the temptations of power and ambition, and the often-troublesome moral and spiritual authorities which confront any seeker of truth.
Remember also that in the Renaissance, when tarot was created, the Pope was both a king who ruled territory, and a kind of powerful emperor whom many others respected and bowed to.
The Lovers card appeals to our 2nd chakra sensuality, lust and romance, but also reminds us that love is the driving force of
our lives. Fueled by this Love, we then mount The Chariot and drive off, now ready to ascend further up the tree.
If this first section of the trumps is worldly, and we are not deceived by the apparent stature of the four powerful rulers
of Malkuth’s Kingdom into placing them at the top of the tree, then it clearly aligns with the lower four circles on the Tree of Life, with the
lower sensual, worldly and appetitive part of the soul recognized by the kabbalah (Nefesh), as well as by Plato (appetite), Freud (id), and the Hindus (tamas); with
the subconscious part of the soul recognized in metaphysical philosophy, and also with the lower two chakras, the base and the sacrum, corresponding
to the first two levels on the Tree. And in the Toccata in F by Bach, S.540, clearly another great esoteric thought structure representing the
7 levels of the hero’s journey to enlightenment or victory over death, this worldly section of trumps corresponds to the first two bright, joyous, snake-like and sensuous
canons (with the held pedal note strongly grounding them) followed by foot-pounding pedal solos. Symbolically we hear the
two corresponding lowest notes C and D on the 7-note scale; we see the slowest-vibrating colors red and orange on the spectrum; and we resonate with the two lowest metals
lead and tin on the alchemical ladder, corresponding to faint and distant Saturn and Jupiter on the ladder of planets.
The second section of trumps (VIII to XIV) clearly represents the valiant struggle of the soul with the limits of time and fate, in the course of which the
3 cardinal virtues are developed or given by grace to the soul on its upward journey. It is a difficult and arduous ascent up the tree of life, which
the soul has chosen in order to triumph over death in enlightenment and liberation. If the soul stays on the pleasant and comfortable worldly level,
it cannot develop the strength and wisdom to rise up the tree to spiritual immortality, but instead will be forever subject to the world’s kingdom
and ruled by its appetites and compulsions. In the third chakra the virtue of Strength at the solar plexus gives us the power and will to conquer
the obstacles of fate, and we enter the ascetic path of The Hermit to learn the discipline and patience of spiritual practice. We learn from the Wheel
of Fortune, representing Fate, that the rewards of the world come and go with time, and we develop the virtue of Justice at the heart chakra to
give us the sense of form and balance within to make our choices from the Heart instead of just reacting to what Fate brings. We undergo the sacrifice
of initiation with the Hanged Man in order to remain true to our heart’s guidance despite the world’s opposition, and we learn to hang loose and unleash
ourselves from our social "hang-ups" so that our heart energy can flow compassionately outward to meet the world’s needs. At the throat chakra we even stare face
to face into the abyss of Death, so that we can let go of our egos in order to change and grow more easily. We develop the virtue of Temperance or adaptation to
interpret and deal with all these challenges with greater equanimity.
Clearly then, we are in the middle of the tree of life, aligned with its three central levels; as well as with the "moral" part of the soul recognized by the kabbalah
(Ruah) in which the "virtues" are developed; with the "spirited" or wilful, courageous, passionate part of the soul recognized by Plato, with the conscious part of the soul understood by
metaphysical philosophy, with the ego of conscious choice described by Freud, and with the passionate, ambitious rajas of the Hindus. We move through the third, fourth and fifth
chakras, and in Bach’s Toccata we ascend through the vast uplifting themes and soaring columns and chords of its three-part central section, where we feel the challenge and struggle
of our climb up the tree. On the scale we hear the powerful E, the radiant and pastoral F and the clear and noble sounds of G, and we see bright yellow,
soothing and life-giving green, and calm but passionate blue. The metals get ever more radiant and colorful, as we climb through iron, copper and
mercury and the corresponding planets Mars, Venus and Mercury.
The last seven tarot cards in the third section of trumps (XV to XXI) complete our ascent back to the spirit. First we meet the Devil, who administers the final
temptation. The last layers hiding our demons and illusions are stripped away and we meet them face to face. Then the lightning flash strikes them
down along with the worldly Tower of Power, as the Devil and the lower two parts of the soul are overthrown and no longer rule us. The obstacles
now cleared away, the glories of spiritual realms are suddenly revealed to us in The Star, and the two halves of our being are integrated. Our inner vision is opened at the 6th chakra, and we see the light. We climb
the stairway to heaven through planets of ever greater radiance, from the Star and the 7 planets to
The Moon and The Sun, and we transcend the time
they keep and consummate the alchemical divine marriage of male and female within. In Judgement we are released from our graves and attain spiritual
immortality, the mystical goal; and we achieve enlightenment and union with the universe at The World (crown chakra). We dance upon the throne of God. Without
a doubt, the Tarot has taken us up to the top of the tree, not down to the bottom! We have rejoined God (the mystic truth) in the highest three sephiroth,
and have aligned with the highest part of the soul, called Neshemah by the Kabalah, reason and wisdom by Plato, the super-conscious by metaphysics, the super-ego
by Freud, and sattvas by the Hindus. We have reached the visionary third-eye or 6th chakra, the crown or 7th chakra of spiritual knowledge, and the
glorious two-part final synthesis in Bach’s Toccata. We hear the bright high tones of A and the compelling, exotic sounds of B-flat and B. We see the unworldly,
psychic and spiritual colors of indigo and purple or violet. We have transformed lead into the radiant metals silver and gold, and reached the top of the
planetary ladder with the corresponding brightest celestial bodies, the Moon and the Sun.
Here is a table of the 7 levels and 3 parts of the soul, listed from the highest:
3 parts of soul: Plato
Kabbalah
Hindu gunas
Freud's psychology
metaphysics
chakra
Toccata in F section
tone
color
metal
planet
Tree of Life
reason/wisdom
Neshemah
sattvas
super-ego
super-conscious
7=crown
synthesis: crown theme
B
violet/purple
gold
The Sun
Kether (crown)
reason/wisdom
Neshemah
sattvas
super-ego
super-conscious
6=3rd eye
synthesis: breakthrough
A
indigo
silver
The Moon
Hokmah (wisdom) & Binah (understanding)
passion/will
Ruah
rajas
ego
conscious
5=throat
uplifting chords, urgent and clear
G
blue
mercury
Mercury
Hesod (mercy) & Gevurah (severity)
passion/will
Ruah
rajas/sattvas
ego
conscious
4=heart
uplifting chords, calm and centered
F
green
copper
Venus
Tipareth (beauty)
passion/will
Ruah
rajas
ego
conscious
3=navel
uplifting chords, strong and fiery
E
yellow
iron
Mars
Netzah (victory) & Hod (glory)
appetite/worldly
Nefesh
tamas
id
sub-conscious
2=sacrum
joyous canon, left hand leads
D
orange
tin
Jupiter
Yesod (foundation)
appetite/worldly
Nefesh
tamas
id
sub-conscious
1=base
joyous canon, right hand leads
C
red
lead
Saturn
Malkuth (kingdom)
Given this clear direction of the Tarot up the tree of life, what should we make of the 22-letter Hebrew alphabet to which occultists link the 22
paths on the tree of life, and the 22 trumps of the Tarot? Each Hebrew letter represents a concrete image, starting with "ox" for the first letter aleph, and "house" for beth,
and so on through "cross" or "mark" for the last letter tau. Occultists generally link the first letter aleph or "ox" with The Fool (trump zero), the second letter beth or "house" to
The Magician (trump one), the third letter gimel or "camel" with The Priestess (trump two), the fourth letter daleth or "door" with The Empress (trump three), and so on.
The complete list of correspondences can be found on page 81 of Place's book The Tarot, and also at the BOTA web site,
as well as included in my table below.
Arthur Waite and Robert Place make the good point that depending on the Hebrew letters and their simple symbols to understand the Tarot can rob the rich images on the cards of their symbolic power.
Clearly the correlations don’t always make a lot of sense by themselves anyway. The sword, for example, is not a good symbol of the lovers card (trump six), and doesn’t tell us
what it means. The Priestess does not much resemble a camel! What does a fish have to do with Death, or the Tower with the human mouth? Perhaps
the Tower of Babel? Speaking truth to power? One may discover intriguing and illuminating hidden links between the letters and the cards, but such
speculations may not resonate with our experience in a powerful way.
Even so, some of the correspondences make some sense. Religion (as in The Pope)
means to bind, and so does a nail (the letter corresponding to The Pope, or 5th trump). Occultists and thus "Magicians" named their Masonic orders after housebuilders.
The eye (the Hebrew letter linked to The Devil card) can be a prime source of satanic temptation. The cross represents the four corners of the world depicted on the World card. And so on.
The Hebrew alphabet can be seen as yet another system of spiritual knowledge describing the journey to virtue and enlightenment, and is used thus in the Bible. If the Hebrew
alphabet contains 22 letters, and the Tarot 22 trumps, it is logical to seek a correspondence between these two spiritual systems; even if one
sees that the Tarot was not historically based on the Hebrew alphabet, as some authors allege. Even the simple images associated with the letters can work the same way as the tarot images.
And it is quite a coincidence that Tarot cards have 10 numbered cards in each suit (same number as the Sephiroth of the kabalah's Tree of Life), as well as 22 trumps (same as the number of pathways);
and that 10 planets plus the 12 signs of the zodiac = 22.
Here is where I see something that has not been pointed out elsewhere to my knowledge. If we align the Hebrew alphabet with the journey UP the
Tree of Life diagram, instead of Down, as is usually done, we can see that, just like the Tarot, the Hebrew alphabet falls into three distinct groups of seven letters each.
We can even join the first letter "ox" with the first group to make eight letters in the first section.
Furthermore, the obvious meanings of these three groups of letters coincide perfectly with the meanings of the three groups (low, middle and high) in the
Tarot, the Tree of Life, Platonic and Hindu philosophy, the chakras, the toccata, and all the other systems, where there is a lower worldly or sensual part, a middle moral or passionate part, and a higher
rational or spiritual part. And yet on the BOTA Tree of Life, the higher letters and cards are placed on pathways at the bottom of the tree, and the lower letters and cards are
placed on pathways at the top of the tree. From the evidence of the meanings of the cards and letters themselves, this order needs to be switched!
In the first group, from aleph to cheth, we see no less than five letters that mean a house and parts thereof: house, door, window,
nail (or hook) and fence. Two of the other letters represent heavy beasts of burden: the ox (or bull) and the camel. The remaining letter stands for a weapon used to defend
all this property, the sword. The first group of letters represents worldly concerns: the need to survive and prosper in the world by building and
defending a physical house and a yard (the "Emperor's domain"), and using beasts of burden there to meet your needs. They thus could not correctly coincide with the upper
three sephiroth that represent knowledge of God, God the Father in heaven,
and the great Mother goddess of celestial love and understanding! Instead they correspond with Malkuth the worldly kingdom, with life’s Foundation or fertility, its sensuous
Splendour, and its Victory (perhaps victory in fending off threats to worldly acquisition): the lower four sephiroth.
Another interesting coincidence appears when we compare the first 8 letters to the Joyful Mysteries among the Christian Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries
we discussed before. If beth (the Magician) and most of the first eight letters represent a house, and if therefore these letters represent the first or worldly part of the journey shown in the
tarot and the toccata, then these symbols also correspond to Christ's early life (the Joyful Mysteries) when Jesus was a carpenter (house-builder). Also corresponding to this is the 2nd chakra, whose Sanskrit name means "my own dwelling". All this shows how the tarot and the Hebrew alphabet represent the spiritual mystic journey from worldly pursuits UP THE TREE to spiritual liberation, as this is reflected in the Christ story as well as other
similar storys such as Buddha's life and Plato's myth of the cave, where we start in a position of being immersed in the world and its concerns and trappings of power.
8. teth = serpent
9. yod = open hand
10. kaph = closed hand
11. lamed = ox goad
12. mem = water
13. nun = fish
14. samekh = tent peg
In the second group from teth to samekh, which would coincide
with the middle sephiroth whichever direction (moving up or down the Tree) is chosen, we see another interesting fact. Two of the letters represent the human hand. The occultists
seemed to have forgotten Adam Kadmon. This is the kabalistic doctrine that the tree of life aligns with the perfect Man-- Adam-- and symbolically
with the human body of everyone. If this is so, it is logical that the middle group of Hebrew letters should have symbols for the hands in the middle of the body. It also contains two symbols for tools used by the
hands; an ox goad, and a tent peg-- linked to the virtue cards Justice and Temperance respectively. The peg or prop indicates that we are less focused on permanent shelter and security in the
world and more willing to "camp out" and thus adapt, move and grow (and "adaptation" is what the word Temperance, linked to this symbol, originally meant). This middle section also contains two
animals, like the first; but they are not beasts of burden, but symbols of powers or "virtues" in the human soul: the serpent (representing Strength) and the fish (representing Death, or the ability to swim
with the currents of change). Finally there is water, a symbol of passion often associated with the heart, the center
of our being. Water is in the middle of the elements too; less stable than earth, but more substantial than air and fire.
15. ain = eye
16. pe = mouth
17. tzaddi = fish hook
18. qoph = back of head
19. resh = head
20. shin = tooth
21. tav = cross
In the third group, from ayin to tav, the correspondence with Adam Kadmon is made crystal clear. No less than five of the seven letters
are named after parts of the human head: eye, mouth, back of head, front of head, and tooth. The head is the seat of the higher chakras, and thus
the spiritual parts of the soul. This is known to all occultists, and yet they link these letters to the groin, the genitals and the stomach! The
other two symbols are a fish hook, the means of spiritual discovery within the sea of life; and the cross of the 4 elements, which symbolizes the throne (or crown)
of God, linked to The World card where this throne is pictured; and also to the cross of the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus the Christ.
Further support for reversing the order on the Tree is shown by the astrological correlations made to the letters and cards. The signs run from pioneering Aries for The Emperor near the start of the letter order, to
spiritual Pisces for Moon near the end. Paul Foster Case, founder of BOTA, goes on to link these signs to a "spectrum" of colors and tones, starting with red and C for Aries and Emperor and ending with purple and B for Pisces and the
Moon card. But we know that the lowest chakra corresponds with red and C, and the highest chakra with purple and B. Taking the chakras into account, clearly an order in which the cards move UP the Tree (and thus up the soul levels of "Adam"),
instead of down, fits better with BOTA's own correlations.
Clearly, the Hebrew letters take us up, not down the Tree of Life; and if they correspond to Tarot trumps, the same direction is shown. The Tarot triumph is thus also a journey UP the Tree.
Here is a table showing how BOTA lined up 12 Tarot cards, zodiac signs and Hebrew letters with 12 colors and tones, verifying that in fact the cards and letters reveal a journey UP the chakras and soul levels.
Tarot trump
Hebrew letter
Zodiac sign
color spectrum
tone
chakra
soul level
Moon
Qoph=back of head
Pisces
red violet
B
6 or 7
Reason
Star
Tzaddi=fish hook
Aquarius
violet
A#
6 or 7
Reason
Devil
Ayin=eye
Capricorn
blue violet
A
6
Reason
Temperance
Samekh=prop
Sagittarius
blue
G#
5
Will
Death
Nun=fish
Scorpio
blue green
G
5
Will
Justice
Lamed=ox goad
Libra
green
F#
4
Will
Hermit
Yod=open hand
Virgo
yellow green
F
3
Will
Strength
Teth=serpent
Leo
yellow
E
3
Will
Chariot
Cheth=fence
Cancer
orange yellow
D#
2 or 3
Appetite
Lovers
Zain=sword
Gemini
orange
D
2
Appetite
Hierophant
Vav=hook
Taurus
red orange
C#
1
Appetite
Emperor
Heh=window
Aries
red
C
1
Appetite
For those interested in a more detailed correlation of the 12 notes, colors and signs with the 12 chakras (7 major and 5 minor) along the spine, they are depicted in the picture above
(posted on flickr by Jai MA). Right now I agree pretty much with the picture, but I would adjust the correlation to correspond better to my other charts. This is how I see it now: In my table above, the Moon and Star cards and their associated symbols are designated "chakra 6 or 7". This is only because the Golden Dawn and BOTA made a correlation between the Moon card and the sign Pisces, as shown in their table. In our system the Moon is chakra 6, but violet is chakra 7. Following the suggestion of Robert Place, however, I have correlated the Moon with the Moon card and Pisces with World, violet and chakra 7 (see my own table below). So also, the Star card and its sign Aquarius correspond to violet (7th chakra) in the BOTA order, but are in the 6th chakra in my table. In the picture above, Aquarius, A# and violet are attributed instead to the Pineal gland, which is a good idea. This gland governs the brain's relationship to the soul and the cosmos, and corresponds to the 7th chakra, but is actually located in the center (not the top) of the brain. So the pineal gland can be considered a minor chakra that bridges the 6th and 7th chakras. Further down in the above picture, Capricorn/Devil corresponds to the 3rd eye, A and indigo (and to the Hebrew letter for eye). That makes some sense, although Capricorn/Devil is also 5th chakra; but Sagittarius and blue/G# are linked in this picture to the "zeal point" behind the throat (seen therefore as a minor chakra), and Scorpio (blue-green/G) corresponds to the throat. Some authors have also alluded to a "high heart" chakra located at a nub just above the heart. Here it is attributed to the thymus gland and Libra/F#. I would place Scorpio/Death and the blue-green sea color/G there instead of Libra (making it also a "lower throat"), and delete the "zeal point" from my spinal order, leaving Sagittarius/Temperance and blue/G# to correspond to the throat chakra proper (and also to the "zeal point"). That would return Libra/Justice and green/F# to correspond with both the heart and corresponding thymus gland. I like keeping the 7 glands and the 7 chakras aligned as much as possible. In the picture Virgo and yellow-green/F are attributed to the heart chakra, and it looks more like green proper. But I think there is a "lower heart" minor chakra between the heart and navel where we feel fear and sometimes romance. I would attribute this to Virgo (the Hermit) and yellow green, a color sometimes associated with fear. This way both F and F# remain associated with "the heart." The Solar plexus corresponds to Leo/Strength and yellow/E, and Cancer and D#/yellow-orange (which here looks beige) is attributed to a minor "duality" chakra just below it. This could be the navel and the Chariot card, the transition point or portal from the 2nd to 3rd chakra, where we receive our original vitality and perhaps also our merkabah vehicle of ascension. The first hearing of the chariot theme represents it in the toccata. Going further down, we see in the picture that the sacral or sexual chakra is attributed to Gemini (The Lovers card) and orange/D, but this chakra is actually in the lower abdomen, while the sex organs themselves are located below it. Thus here in this picture they are recognized as a minor chakra corresponding to sexy sign Taurus and red-orange/C#. For obvious reasons, in this case Taurus corresponds to the Empress, not the Pope/Hierophant or High Priestess. The root chakra and the testis "ejaculation muscle" in men corresponds to Aries/Emperor and red/C.
No doubt the allegory in the Tarot trumps or Major Arcana might need some updating. We don’t live in Renaissance times, and the Tarot’s
moral point of view could be seen to somewhat resemble the reactionary "red-state" attitudes of today’s Religious Right fundamentalists. Male
figures trump female ones, and sexuality and sensuality, often symbolized in the cards by women, is rejected in the Tarot’s 2nd Act in favor of male
discipline. The conservative, punishing parenting style described by George Lakoff might be seen to be preferred over the liberal nurturing style.
All the more reason then (in a "new age" tarot) to change the trump order in the first section to elevate the female rulers over the male ones, as Bach’s Toccata in F and the chakra system indicate. For in the
Toccata, as in the chakras, the first chakra is male, and the second chakra above it is female!
Interestingly, Robert Place noted that the High Priestess card was originally a
picture of a female pope chosen by a heretical 13th-century sect which called itself "the new age." So the order implied by Bach in his toccata was actually a prophecy
of the new age and the feminism of today! And as I noted before, the powerful presence of love, joy and sensuality near the beginning of the journey also shows how much of a motivating factor
it is; we could not make the ascent without it. The discipline of virtue needs to be seen not as inflicting pain or domination on oneself or others.
Rather, it is focusing on our 7 soul centers, and recognizing the power over us of our own uncentered demonic compulsions, fears and habits. By becoming conscious of these "demons," we master them.
This is what Buddha meant, I contend, by his second Noble Truth, in which craving and attachment is named as the cause of suffering; which in turn is healed by Awakening (Nirvana, the 3rd Noble Truth).
Remember also that on the Strength card, a woman tames a powerful lion using love. Notice how in the Toccata the pedal, heard solo in the Lovers card, soon leads the way in the uplifting theme of the
Strength card.
We also know today that our reasoning mind is not always virtuous, but often is chief among our demons. The ancient philosophers did recognize, however, that reclaiming
ourselves and our consciousness from these compulsions is true power and virtue, not the worldly dominance over other people depicted on the lower
trumps. They taught us that our addiction to indulgence, fear or comfort sometimes needs to be sacrificed in order to achieve "the great work." We also notice that the virtues and the highest wisdom are
represented in the cards by females. Perhaps religious liberals and conservatives can find some common ground in the universal symbols of the Tarot trumps. It
is interesting that the "severity" of Justice, represented by the card Justice and by the sephirah circle colored red on the Tree of Life
by modern occultists, and the leniency, nurturance and openness of Mercy, represented by the Hanged Man trump and by the blue sephirah on the Tree, are both
linked and balanced in Tipereth, the kabalistic symbol of the heart. Perhaps in the spiritual journey, then, we can reconcile today’s red and blue states
and their conflicting values in the culture wars. In my order, Temperance is placed between the red and blue circles on the Tree of Life.
According to Robert Place and others, the Tarot moves through three phases, and Place observed that these phases correspond to Plato's three parts of the soul. My claim is that they also correspond to Bach's Toccata in F. Here is a tour through the hero's journey of Tarot and Toccata, trump by trump. Become now The Fool, who is the seeker who takes the journey, and follow along (you can also take the journey at my site called The Tarot Journey).
Remember you can hear
listen to Ton Koopman play it. (click on the links).
Open this toccata page again in a separate window so you can switch back and forth, and use the the pause button at You Tube when you want to stop the music.
(worldly, sensual, joyous; beginning phase of spiritual hero's journey: worship)
The Fool card represents
the basic three-chord or "triad" figure with which the piece ends. But The Fool is called a "wild card" because it can appear anywhere in the story (or played anytime in a game).
The Fool is not just a phase in the journey; (s)he represents the seeker who takes the journey. So, appropriately, this 3-chord figure is ubiquitous throughout the Toccata. In any
case it is hardly unique to this piece of music. The Fool is the symbol of Everyman/woman everywhere who makes the journey, and the basic three-note chord is its symbol in the Toccata.
But The Fool card is also a great symbol of the aspiring and adventurous, idealistic tone with which the Toccata begins. This represents the Fool's spirit of faith as he embarks on his journey to enlightenment,
shown on the card by his willingness to walk joyfully off a cliff, accompanied by his faithful companion (the dog); yet also illumined by the Sun (enlightenment, the end of the journey) shining behind him.
S/he has already experienced an awakening, or some kind of "call," which launches the journey.
Among the places The Fool chord is heard in the Toccata:
It not only concludes the entire piece, it also concludes the first section, after the first pedal solo, and thereby introduces the second section.
It concludes the 12-chord Chariot theme, first heard at the end of the 2nd chakra section. Thereafter it concludes every instance of the Chariot theme.
Thus, it also introduces the third chakra, and appears in every chakra thereafter.
It also appears during the liberating theme, which is repeated often.
It is heard at the beginning of the three "manifesting" themes in the minor key (the return of the initial snake theme), in the middle 3 sections.
That the figure has three chords could represent the three parts of the soul that we all have. It comes at the end, which also can become the beginning too if you start the Toccata over again. In that way it introduces
the first canon, just as it later introduces the second. Since the Fool and its number zero represents what precedes all manifestation, you could say that the chord preceeding the toccata is inaudible and
"unmanifest"-- unless you start the music over from the end. So the Fool’s journey also involves reconnecting with his beginnings, and his discovery that "in my end is my beginning" or that eternity has
"ended before the beginning." The Fool's place at the end and (unmanifest) at the beginning of the Toccata thus also represents the principle, upheld by many, that manifesting any goal happens by imagining
"by faith" that it is "already done" from the end. Thus we can also say that the Fool's virtue, Faith, is found at the top of the scale (and in the head), as well as coiled at the base (as shown in my tables here). It is the
ouroboros principle.
The Magician is represented by the first pedal solo. It is the
first trump, and although it doesn’t come first in the Toccata, it goes the lowest on the keyboard (the lowest pedal notes), leading us as it were into the depths of matter.
So it represents the lowest trump on the journey. In this role the Magician is the conjurer (sleight of hand artist), or maker of illusion (maya). But it can also be seen to be bringing the spirit down to the earth, just as the Magician’s hands point to heaven above and the earth below, symbol of the hermetic phrase, "as above, so below." It thus fulfills its role in the Toccata as representing the "manifesting" current. In fact, just as the Magician in the original game of the Tarot had the lowest rank, but one of the highest scores if you hold it at the end, so the Magician represents the final term and destination of the manifesting current which starts with God or Spirit at the crown. Thus he stands for the full power to manifest spirit into reality
and bring beauty into the world. The Magician wears the ouroboros around his waist, just as kundalini is said to curl around the 1st chakra.
I have assigned the two male rulers The Emperor and
Pope or Hierophant (High Priest) to the first canon or snake theme, and the two female rulers
the Empress and Papess or High
Priestess to the second (both canons clearly have 2 parts, because the theme starts over half-way through). The male rulers line up with the first
male (yang) chakra, and the female rulers with the female (yin) second chakra, as described by Anodea Judith in Wheels of Life. During the second half of each canon snake, which symbolizes
the two sacred rulers Pope and Priestess, the imitating notes are interrupted by a motif that resembles and anticipates the final crown theme (only 1 note is missing), as if the
two sacred rulers are mediating the divine for their subjects. This motif even has 3 notes, as if representing the Pope's tiara (3-pointed crown). By the way these same notes also introduce or
"frame" the chariot theme in the middle chakras, as if guiding our journey.
The planetary rulers of the zodiac signs representing the lower two chakras are Saturn and Jupiter, which could represent the two secular and sacred rulers respectively;
but what’s more interesting is that the planets exalted in these signs are Mars and Venus (in the first and second chakras, respectively). These
again are male symbols for the first chakra, like the Emperor and Pope, and female for the second, like the Empress and High Priestess. The first chakra could thus signify male sexuality, usually
seen to be lower in the male body (near the "ejaculation muscle") than female sexuality is in the female body, and thus female sexuality is represented by the second chakra. The Empress,
of course, is clearly a sensuous symbol, and her Venusian sweetness really shines through in the second canon of Bach's Toccata in F.
If the trump order is changed to reflect the chakras and the Toccata-- and the "new age" order in which female rulers trump males ones, and in which the "esoteric" High Priestess trumps the "exoteric" Pope (since clearly, in the new age, esoteric philosophy is venerated and traditional religion is often scorned)-- we have:
The male Pope is usually assigned to Taurus, a feminine sensuous sign; which makes no sense at all. In this order, on the other hand, the female pope or High Priestess would be trump #5,
and assigned to Taurus, which is ruled by Venus, and is the sign in which the Moon is exalted. Robert Place reports that the High Priestess is probably celebrating the pagan rites of Venus.
In the Da Vinci Code, remember, the number 5 (or pentacle) represents Venus and the sacred feminine. Changing these astrological symbols for the cards would allow us to restore
the Moon (traditionally linked to the High Priestess) to the Moon card-- now usually assigned (without much reason) to Pisces. Then the Tower, representing liberation, would be assigned to
liberating, rebellious Aquarius instead of Mars, and The Star (which, like Pisces, integrates the two halves of experience) would be assigned to Pisces instead of Aquarius. Obviously though,
the Pope is also connected to Jupiter or Pisces.
This dissolves the patriarchal order, but other speculations can be made too. Camel (gimel) could also be switched with fence (cheth), so that camel represents the Chariot and fence represents
The Emperor. Then all 4 rulers in the tarot trumps would correspond to the parts of the house built by the Magician (beth). Emperors build fences between peoples, and the camel is a kind of chariot
(the ship of the desert). But in that case, the Chariot would be trump 2 and the Emperor trump 7, if the Hebrew alphabet's order is maintained. It seems to be the case that the order among the lower
group of trumps can be moved around more than the upper groups. This reflects what Charles Ponce wrote in his book Kabbalah: "About the beginning (God's realm) there is much agreement; about its result, the world, little." (p.112)
Taking suggestions from another web site, I have also thought that, if Jupiter (symbol of organized religion) is the Pope, then Saturn (fate) could represent Fortune, while Pisces could take Saturn's
place as symbol of The World card (universal consciousness). Then The Star (hope) would be Aquarius (11th sign and house of "hopes and wishes") again, but Uranus (rebellion/liberty/discovery) could be The Tower (where authority is overthrown and sudden revelations happen), instead of Aquarius or Mars. Since brave, pioneering Mars, which was my "new age" symbol for The Pope, has here been displaced in that role by Jupiter, Mars could then represent The Fool (instead of Uranus) as initiator of the journey. But Aries could also serve this purpose, with Mars then as a perfect symbol of The Emperor. The signs and planets then all line up in astronomical order as we move through the trumps, but with Sun and Moon still near the top (and Neptune still comes before Uranus).
This order, with Aries as The Fool, has the advantage that (if The Fool is placed first in the order), the virtue tarot cards line up with both the chakras and the Yang signs-- plus Pisces (final yin sign)
as the final virtue Wisdom. I call this the Yang=Virtue order. Although brought to the seeker by women in the hero stories, virtues are yang, since they are energy directed toward a goal, and since in the tarot they are featured in the soul of will section. The final virtue Wisdom, though, is yin (Sophia, the divine feminine).
The chakras, virtue cards and yang signs are: 1.Fool/Faith = Aries, 2.Lovers/Love = Gemini, 3.Strength = Leo, 4.Justice = Libra, 5. Temperance = Sagittarius, 6.Star/Hope = Aquarius, 7.World/Wisdom = Pisces.
These are incorporated in the table below.
Perhaps each card and letter can have several astrological correlations, each of which adds to our understanding of them. Remember you can see the traditional order at the
BOTA web site. This order is still valid, insofar as the patriarchal order is still and has been the way of the world.
Remember too that all symbols can have several different meanings or correspondences at times, depending on the context. No one definition or picture can exhaust the full
meaning of a genuine symbol, which always holds within it the energy of the infinite divine.
Here is my own table with four of the many possible orders correlating the cards, letters and astrology, so you can see which one you like best. Unlike BOTA's chart, however,
and in keeping with my other charts here, I put the last letter tav on the highest level of the chart, so that the letters and cards represent the journey upward. The first three orders, based on the
Kaballah which attributes one sign or planet to each letter, can be called the direct current running up the chakra tree (symbolized by the Rod of Asclepius, although this would imply 12 chakras).
The final chakra order can be called the alternating current (symbolized by The Caduceus), since there are two simultaneous sequences, one running up from Winter to Summer signs (the liberating current) and the other down from Summer to Winter signs (the manifesting current).
Soul Level
Trump#
Tarot/Virtue
Hebrew letter
Patriarchal (Golden Dawn)
New Age
Yang=Virtue
Chakra
Reason
21
World/Wisdom
tav=cross
Saturn
Saturn
Pisces=Wisdom
7.Leo/Neptune
Reason
20
Judgement
shin=tooth
fire/Pluto
Pluto
Pluto
7.Leo/Neptune
Reason
19
Sun
resh=front of head
Sun
Sun
Sun
6/7.Leo
Reason
18
Moon
qoph=back of head
Pisces
Moon
Moon
6.Cancer/Jupiter
Reason
17
Star/Hope
tzaddi=fish hook
Aquarius
Pisces
Aquarius=Hope
6.Cancer/Jupiter
Reason
16
Tower
peh=mouth
Mars
Aquarius
Uranus
6.Cancer
Reason
15
Devil
ayin=eye
Capricorn
Capricorn
Capricorn
5.Virgo/Mercury
Will
14
Temperance
samekh=tent peg
Sagittarius
Sagittarius
Sagittarius=Temperance
5.Gemini
Will
13
Death
nun=fish
Scorpio
Scorpio
Scorpio
5.Gemini
Will
12
Hanged Man
mem=water
water/Neptune
Neptune
Neptune
4.Taurus/Moon
Will
11
Justice
lamed=ox goad
Libra
Libra
Libra=Justice
4.Libra/Saturn
Will
10
Wheel of Fortune
kaph=closed hand
Jupiter
Jupiter
Saturn
3.Scorpio
Will
9
Hermit
yod=open hand
Virgo
Virgo
Virgo
3.Aries
Will
8
Strength
teth=serpent
Leo
Leo
Leo=Strength
3.Aries/Sun
Appetite
7
Chariot
cheth=fence
Cancer
Cancer
Cancer
2/3.Sagittarius
Appetite
6
Lovers/Love
zain=sword
Gemini
Gemini
Gemini=Love
2.Sagittarius
Appetite
5
Pope
vav=nail
Taurus
3/Mars
Jupiter
1.Capricorn/Mars
Appetite
4
Emperor
heh=window
Aries
2/Aries
Mars
1.Capricorn/Mars
Appetite
3
Empress
daleth=door
Venus
4/Venus
Venus
2.Pisces/Venus
Appetite
2
Priestess
gimel=camel
Moon
5/Taurus
Taurus
2.Pisces/Venus
Appetite
1
Magician
beth=house
Mercury
Mercury
Mercury
1.Aquarius
0
Fool/Faith
aleph=ox
air/Uranus
Uranus
Aries=Faith
1.Aquarius
The first two canons of the Toccata vividly symbolize
two great wheels or spirals moving in opposite directions. It is amazing to behold. The masculine right hand leads in the first canon (first chakra section), and the feminine left hand leads in the second
(see right). On the Tree of Life, the left hand or column means feminine and the right masculine; although this polarity can be reversed: higher voices are feminine and lower voices are masculine. In the Toccata though, the former symbolism seems right, since the lower notes are played by the left hand, which sounds softer (more subconscious).
Each canon creates a musical vortex that moves in reverse order from the other, just as the second chakra (wheel) reverses direction from the first. The glyphs of the planets that rule these chakras also reflect this reversal.
The switch of hands at the second canon, which also switches to the dominant key, represents the duality that Chakra Two introduces, according to Anodea Judith. Robert Place also points out that in many tarot decks, the
Emperor and Empress cards each display shields with birds facing opposite directions (like the 2 canons and the first 2 chakras turning in opposing directions), indicating that at the
beginning of the mystic journey the male and female aspects of the soul separate so they can later be reunited. Even Johann Sebastian Bach's
personal seal shows his ornate initials JSB pictured in opposite
directions on each side (mirror images of each other), and united in the crowned center. Seeing this seal, I have to say that the Toccata in F, which it so clearly resembles, is probably one of Bach's "signature pieces."
Wow; even the letters J and B are used in tarot cards and masonic rituals to represent the male and female forces (Joachim/Jakin and Boaz, often pictured
on the High Priestess card, representing columns in Solomon's Temple, I Kings 7:21), and the S becomes the uniting pillar and pedal note in the center! J for Johann and
B for Bach also refer to J and P from the MBTI Jungian personality test, and to I and P or Ida and Pingala from kundalini (in this case with the polarity reversed). "S" for Sebastian of course also
stands for Sushumna, spine, spiral, spirit, snake, serpent, Shakti, Shekinah, Solomon, etc. etc. The two columns are often pictured as white (J) for male, and black (B) for female. Sometimes (as in The DaVinci Code), this is reversed too.
The cross in the center of the Priestess card is called the "Solar Cross;" representing the cross formed by the Sun's two movements in the sky: yearly (from north to south and back), and daily (from east to west). If S stands for "Solar," then reading on the Priestess card-- in reverse direction, like the 2nd canon & 2nd chakra, from right to left-- we see J S B for Johann Sebastian Bach. It seems Bach was tapped by God to put this universal pattern into music, and he did so in this Toccata.
On page 137 of Robert Place's book The Tarot: History, Symbolism and Divination,
he shows an alchemical illustration from 1617 or 1618 (or is that 1.618!) by Michael Maier showing Zeus letting two eagles fly in opposite directions (East and West) to find the sacred center.
This picture represents the Greek myth in which the eagles flew around the world and later met at Delphi, which then became the sacred center of the world.
Notice one eagle flies from the right hand, and the other from the left.
Place suggests that this image and myth may be the source of the two birds facing opposite directions on the Emperor and Empress cards.
I couldn't help notice the striking resemblance of this illustration to Bach's seal. The text containing this illustration is called "Atalanta Fugiens"
(the word fugue means fleeing, and also flight, and we all know how closely the fugue in music is associated with Bach). The avid and famous alchemist Michael Maier himself was also a musician
who wrote a set of fugues to accompany the text and the pictures of his book. They were also entitled Atalanta Fugiens, and they are also called canons.
(agir3 uploaded all 50 fugues to you tube) Looking at the illustration and the seal, we remember the two canons in the Toccata in F, each played with the opposite hand leading, which I have used to symbolize the Emperor and Empress cards (together with Pope and Papess). The elaborate quality of Bach's seal reminds one of Oriental,
Arabic, Moorish, Celtic and Baroque images full of interwoven rich detail, as is Bach's music. In fact, organist Lionel Rogg refers
in the liner notes from his Bach Organ Works album to the canons or "snake themes" (as I call them) as "arabesques," a term which also means "holographic."
The caduceus symbol originates from Arab lands, and is often depicted on Arab talismans in a style closely resembling Bach's seal (for example,
see page 135 of Alchemy by Titus Burckhardt (a Penguin book).
Compare this picture of a caduceus on an Arab talisman from Burckhardt's Alchemy, to Bach's official seal on the right. On the second row are The Emperor and Empress cards, from Morgan Greer Tarot, and "Zeus letting two eagles fly", from Atalanta Fugiens by Michael Maier, taken from Place's The Tarot.
Atalanta Fugiens is based on the Greek myth of the athletic goddess Atalanta, who is chased by Hippomenes, the only man fast enough to catch her and thus marry her. Aphrodite (Venus) helps him by giving him 3 golden apples to toss in her path to attract her and slow her down. Michael Maier writes ‘Just as Atalanta flees, so one voice repeatedly flees from, and is followed by the other as by Hippomenes. In the third voice the other two are stabilized and anchored. This one is simple and runs in constant note-values as the golden apple’. The 3 voices are related to the meanings of quicksilver, sulphur and salt in alchemy. Given this description of his 50 musical canons in Atalanta Fugiens, it seems unlikely that Bach did not consider this work when he conceived the canons of his Toccata in F. Here is fugue 46 which accompanies Zeus letting two eagles fly. By the way, it would seem Zeus (Jupiter) is letting his eagles fly from the "sweet" second chakra of love, where Jupiter is located on the chart; with the Emperor's yang eagle (Sagittarius) on the left and the Empress's yin eagle (Pisces) on the right (the directions they are facing on the tarot cards). In Chakra Two, remember, the feminine voice (Atalanta) is leading (or fleeing), but Hippomenes is allowed to catch up-- at least in bar 99!
In my article The Tarot Journey, I compare the 16 royal face cards in the tarot deck's Minor Arcana to the 16
Jungian-based MBTI personality types. The four greater imperial rulers (Emperor, Pope, Empress, Female Pope) in the trump cards or Major Arcana,
I think, each represent one of the four Jungian functions individually within all of us: thinking (T), intuition (N), sensation (S) and feeling (F) (see The Tarot Journey). Each also
represents a class in traditional society, and their respective rank (as I see them) corresponds to the traditional, patriarchal trump order (trump #2 Priestess=peasant, trumped by #3 Empress=merchant,
trumped by #4 Emperor=noble, trumped by #5 Pope=priest). Of course, in the "new millennium," the last shall be first and, as Bob Dylan said, "the first one now will later be last!" (referring to Matthew 19:30 and 20:16).
So here is one way of looking at the 4 imperial tarot cards in the context of the four-fold world
(represented by arms of the cross, or *quadrants of the circle, or both), with the 5th element in the center; all placed in toccata order (not cyclic order).
Placed in this chart, it is easier to see some of the more obscure connections between the symbols. With the center included, this 5-fold symbolic arrangement is called a quincunx, and the oriental word for it is mandala.
Of course, in some other schemes these and other correspondences may not all line up in the same way. The 4 Directions, and 4 Seasons (included in the signs/kundalini
table above), can be switched around, for example. I've included the seasonal approach (which is shown on the tarot's World card by the positions of the 4 figures surrounding the Lady) in an extended table, which is presented and discussed in a footnote on the links page. However, please note that in the original revelation of the 4 figures around the throne of God at Ezekiel 1:10, the faces of the figures are presented in toccata order, not seasonal order.
According to Place, the the Lovers represent joining together the
male and female into one stream of energy. Thus it can be represented by
the single stream of the second pedal solo, and the carnal passions trampled out by the feet in this pedal solo represent the next level of the manifesting current that we meet, at the 2nd chakra, as we go up and
it moves downward. First there are 7 upward-moving bars (except the last two are kept lower by "gravity"), then 3 bars played much lower (7 + 3, making 10 bars, for the 10 sephiroth on the Tree of Life),
followed by 22 bars alternating between high and low (for its 22 pathways), which equals 32 bars in all in the second pedal solo, for the 32 paths on the Tree of Life (the first solo has the same pattern, except only 18 bars at the end; some organists
don't play all 22 bars in the 2nd solo though). Recall also that the 2nd-lowest (or 2nd chakra) level on the periodic table has 32 elements.
During these last 22 bars of the 2nd solo, which represent the 22 "paths" to enlightenment, the pedal movement is freer than in the Magician section (first pedal solo), moving upward as well as downward. The upward-moving bars resemble the liberating theme (2 of them almost exactly), which we will soon hear as we move up the tree and learn our virtues. The downward-moving bars closely resemble "sweet" bar 99 of the snake or manifesting theme, in which Hippomenes catches up with Atalanta. This symbolizes the two caduceus currents, moving together like The Lovers; and also represents the choice being presented to the seeker whether to move up the Tree to enlightenment (liberation theme) or stay down on the level of sensuous love (manifesting theme). Our love enables us to make that choice. The choice to move up is thus presented to the seeker.
We are thrust forward, and find ourselves in The Chariot (the warrior in a cart pulled by both a white and a black steed).
This is perhaps the clearest and most important symbol in the
Toccata for a Tarot trump. The series of 6 dual chords (one chord for each astrology sign), each preceeded by a pedal note, can be seen as 6 triangles, and they alternate between higher and lower pedal notes; thus between
triangles pointing downward and pointing upward (see the Chariot theme here). Obviously this represents the 3 figures on the card, the warrior and his 2 horses; repeated 6 times. But it is also said by some occult authors
to be the exact symbol for the Merkabah, the spiritual vehicle of ascension (for example,
Nothing in This Book is True by Bob Frissell, p.26). The two moving triangles combined together is called the Star Tetrahedron or Seal of Solomon, and is a key symbol used in
The Da Vinci Code (p.446). Together the two triangles (or "wedges," as Dan Brown calls them), one pointed up and one down, also combines the symbols for the 4 elements, as well as representing the two chakra currents. See also
this You Tube video, or this one.
Here is an artistic rendering of the Merkabah by Nicolaas Maritz.
The up and down movement of the pedal notes thrusts the Chariot up the tree, not only here, at the end of the lower soul section,
but throughout the rest of the mystical journey, since we hear this theme again so many times. In fact, the journey itself is often symbolized in many stories by the hero in his
chariot, so it is fitting that we hear it on each level from now on. Just as the 3 chords of The Fool (the seeker who makes the quest) is heard throughout the toccata, so now, at card #7, (s)he has climbed into
the chariot to take the rest of the journey; and that's why every time after we hear the Chariot, we hear the 3 chords that represent The Fool. All this shows what a central and basic symbol the chariot is to this whole adventure.
(passion, cultivating virtue, dealing with reality of time and fate; middle phase of spiritual hero's journey: study and practice)
After the first hearing here of the Chariot theme, we begin our conscious
struggle for liberation by discovering our virtue of Strength (a woman taming a lion), and there’s no better symbol
of it than this fiery upward arpeggio. It is repeated here four times in succession, "boldly" moving through 4 different keys; the first two ending on an upward note, and the last two on a downward note.
This shows how strength is really receptive as well as assertive. We need to arouse the fire in our belly (3rd chakra) and strengthen our will to make this journey! The elemental number four is emphasized in all three of the 4-bar long virtue themes of
Strength, Justice and Temperance. Each time the pedal sounds the theme first, then it is imitated three times by the hands (thus 4 times in all), showing that the spiral energy is continuing; while four more strong downward notes in the pedal support the hands. Then the decisive four chords are heard, sounding graceful and grand; representing the World card of the 4th virtue Wisdom, the end of the journey, where the same chords will conclude the entire piece. This shows how the virtues are a divine gift from above.
Soon afterward the Chariot theme is heard again, preceeded or "framed" (in this and each of the 3 virtue card sections) by an altered, more mobile or unbalanced version of the final chord (again representing the World card,
showing how God is setting the direction of our journey, and giving us our virtues by grace). Interpreters of the Chariot card say that initially the two horses are unruly, the black one more unruly than the white, meaning that the seeker
(the charioteer or "soul of reason") needs to learn to direct and balance the energies of the "lower souls" (soul of appetite and soul of will); and by framing the chariot theme Bach is indicating that the
seeker is gaining guidance and learning to direct his energies toward the goal.
Then the arduous struggle or climbing theme is heard. This theme represents the Hermit or ascetic, who stands atop a lonely
mountain to which he has climbed, holding a lantern to guide the climbers below. We feel like mountain climbers here during this passage, as the liberating theme climbs higher three times (through 6 measures);
then the snake theme returns and is transformed into a passionate rush of 7 variations (making 13 bars in all). Thus, the whole journey is represented, and the six-pointed star which shines in the Hermit's lamp
is represented by the 6 measures of the climbing theme. The pedal notes show the chariot's chalice and blade symbols again too. The Hermit guides the seekers below on their journey, and is himself guided by the light of his higher self,
which the seeker will discover at the end of the journey (when the same climbing theme will re-appear).
Then we hear the most powerful chords of the entire Toccata,
representing the great Wheel of Fortune. It indeed sounds like some great wheel in motion.
These chords could indeed stand for the eight spokes of the great Wheel. (these 7 chords can be considered as two succeeding groups of 4 big chords, with the last chord of the first group also serving as the first note of the second group.
This is the 4-note "world chord", about which more later). Another interesting coincidence is that in Kevin Kendle's new age music work on The Tarot,
his theme for Wheel of Fortune is the same as these chords in Bach's Toccata in F. Represented in occult lore by Jupiter, The Wheel of Fortune is presented here with all the fateful power
and flourish befitting the world’s wealth and prestige. We have met again the downward manifesting current, apparently still very powerful, like Fate; though not heard as far down on the scale,
nor played out so long, as were the pedal solos on the first two lower levels. The snake theme returns, now played by both hands and feet with lots of twirls and trills, taking us upward; but this
is followed by a tortured, agonizing descent played out thunderously on the pedals and imitated in the left hand. In this agonizing descent the right hand stands out, providing a slower-moving
up-and-down counter-phrase of high notes, as if representing the descent of a higher virtue into this lower level, where the French Tarot creators deliberately installed it according to Robert Place. In the
next two higher chakra sections of the Toccata, this same downward movement is heard again, but this time it is transferred first to the pedals and right hand, with the left hand in the middle accompanying
(in the Hanged Man portion in the middle 4th chakra), and then to both hands alone, with the pedal accompanying (in the Devil portion, in the higher 5th chakra). The pedal accompanying in the fifth chakra
could represent the lowest virtue Temperance’s placement in the higher section, in accordance with this pattern.
This is the first of three sections played entirely in a minor key. These are not only "manifesting" sections, but have been called meditations on human Fate; the troubles we all share on our journey.
The more "tragic" minor keys symbolize this. This section in d minor in the 3rd chakra represents Fate and Fortune; the necessities of life we must face. The section in a minor in the 4th chakra represents the Hanged Man,
where we deal with society's rejection. The section in g minor in the 5th chakra represents The Devil, where we meet our inner demons-- the ultimate adversary.
The 4th heart chakra section consists of only two cards, Justice
and The Hanged Man. I indicated above how they represent the heart.
Each of the 3 virtue cards (Strength, Justice and Temperance) are represented successively by the liberating theme that lifts us upward on the Tree and the chakras. This time it is repeated in
a leisurely gait through five modulations, dangling like the scales of Justice. Justice represents the side of the heart that can close and defend itself and determine its preferences,
according to its inward wisdom of what is right, just and beautiful. The virtue of Justice, the woman holding the scales and a sword, is linked to Libra The Scales, which is able to take time to weigh alternatives and find balance.
The virtue Justice was considered the highest by Plato. It is the balance among the classes of society that creates the ideal state, and the same balance that creates the authentic soul. It is the balance of body and soul, masculine and feminine which Anodea Judith attributes to the heart chakra. When the Golden Dawn switched the cards to place Justice here instead of Strength, they lined up the highest virtue with the heart-- the central chakra and the center of our
being; the place of love and order where wise people find guidance and inner knowing. This is also why I have aligned the heart with the element of Spirit (or Ether), which is considered central to the others. This fifth element is also shown on the
World card, as the Lady of Wisdom at the center of the symbols of the other four elements (Bull, Lion, Eagle and Man, the four fixed zodiac signs).
The Heart is also called the Sacred Center, and so is the Crown, which I also link to the element Spirit.
The Hanged Man (the man hanging upside down from a cross-beam to which he is tied) represents the heart’s openness, which allows
the soul to sacrifice itself and hang loose, letting the current of life flow down through it,
thus linking it to the flowing power of water. It is also the manifesting half of the 4th chakra, which is aptly symbolized by the downward-pointing position of
the hanging man, and by the sacrifice which he suffers and endures for the good of his fellows and his quest. By being receptive, the Hanged Man (like Jesus on the cross) brings
the current of spirit downward and allows it to flow into the world. Thus,
it is really liberating too. This section of the piece is among its most powerful and poignant. After the chariot theme ends with the basic "fool" chords, at the end of "Justice," the same chords immediately
jump up majestically an octave higher, with the last chord held longer in passionate fashion, and then the following notes (including the new poignant phrase) hang down the scale from it.
It is also noteable that the huge, powerful Wheel of Fortune chords are the geographic center of the Toccata (as many bars before and after), just as they represent the center of gravity in the body used by martial artists (the third or power chakra).
The Hanged Man chords come at the phi proportion, since these chords are heard at bar number 271 out of 438 total, and this bar corresponds to the center of the heart chakra, the core of the soul. More on the Toccata's
proportions on the LINKS and footnotes page. If you are following the toccata on Youtube, watch the knob's place on the status bar during the Hanged Man chords and you'll see the divine proportion.
For the fifth chakra, I placed the virtue Temperance before Death in the order so it could be represented by the liberation theme.
The Temperance card usually pictures an angel (or a woman with wings) pouring water between two pitchers. Like the original creators of the Tarot, I am mixing the order around a little bit, but not departing from what is
essential (interestingly, on page 36 of Place's Tarot book, he shows deGebelin's trump card drawings, in which deGebelin "mistakenly" labeled both Temperance and Death as number 13).
Speaking of mixing, "proper mixture" is what the word "temperance" means. By discovering and learning temperance, we have the inner balance of temperament to face and adapt to the unknown,
"the great abyss" in the next 2 cards. The liberation theme here sounds four times, each time ending with the "Fool" chords. The chords alternate between higher and lower octaves (first the chords are
heard high on the scale; then low), which reminds us of the tarot image of the angel pouring water from one cup above to another cup below it to obtain the correct mixture.
In the BOTA version of this card, water is being poured on fire and fire on water, so as to balance these key yang and yin elements within us. We also remember that in the
Buddha's quest, as Robert Place has pointed out, the hermit's asceticism was replaced by "the middle way" of "temperate" moderation.
Here we also balance our breath (air element, which I link to the 5th chakra) by, according to kundalini yoga practice, alternating between the left and right nostrils.
The nose and ears are closely linked to the throat, and thus the nostrils are where the chakra currents cross just above the 5th chakra. At this point in the ascension up the spine, the right-hand nostril is yang (Pingala) and the left nostril is yin (Ida).
You can determine which current is dominant within you by noticing which nostril is easiest to breath through, and thus which side needs to be strengthened in order to gain balance. To balance Ida and Pingala, breath in through one side, then exhale through the other; using thumb and fingers to open and close each side. Then reverse the process. Notice how this resembles the angel pouring between two cups in his two hands on the Temperance card, and the chord alternation in this section of Bach's Toccata.
All 4 chords in the Temperance section end on an upward note, unlike the previous two sections. This indicates the "sanguine" or optimistic, moderate temperament of the adaptable 5th chakra and the Temperance card, as well as the accelerated drive to move upward. The throat being the place where we take in food and drink, as well as the place where we speak, Temperance, the 5th chakra virtue, is needed to "purify" (vishudda, name of the 5th chakra) not only what we take in, but especially what we give out in speech, so that we are not "defiled" as Jesus said (Matthew 15:11-17).
The fact that the 3 toccata sections representing 3 cardinal virtues in the Tarot (Strength, Justice, Temperance) are all so similar, fully repeating the same strong, uplifting, liberating theme 4 or 5 times each,
followed by the chariot theme of ascension, reveals the fact that these virtues ARE in fact similar. They all have to do with finding this middle way, and of mastering what Buddha identified in his second noble truth as the
cause of suffering, "craving." If we are "temperate," we are no longer ruled by these cravings (addictions, reactions, compulsions, temptations, etc.), and thus create a balanced temperament.
This is also the meaning of Justice, which is balance among the parts of our soul. It also takes Strength to master these cravings, and thus to "tame the lion" of our lower nature. This mastery is also achieved through love. All three virtues are about finding balance through will and spiritual mastery of our cravings (thus, all are placed by the tarot and the toccata in the middle "soul of will" section). By using the same theme to represent each virtue,
Bach implicitly understood that these three virtues are in fact one (and that all are considered to be part of the 4th cardinal virtue, Wisdom, represented by The World card).
Then Death (the grim reaper) is represented by the same anxious phrase (the struggle theme, see left) that represented the ascetic Hermit card in the third section. Clearly there is a similarity here between the suffering of the Hermit and the suffering of Death; though they aren't the same, as repeating the same
passage here might imply. But by facing Death, the seeker has taken the Hermit’s quest further. Indeed, the Hermit is an "old man" (originally Father Time), perhaps on the verge of death, like the old man
the Buddha saw outside his palace when he was a prince. The second time we hear it, this "struggle theme" and the sharp, dissonant "inversion" chord with which it begins, startle us a bit, now sounding more
suspenseful by being played much higher on the keyboard (literally "taking the quest further" by starting one note higher than the last notes of The Hermit's theme). Both Death and the old Hermit are symbols of the seeker's struggle with time and its limitations. But death is not the end; as the small light illuminating both cards shows, transformation awaits at the true journey's end. Both Temperance and Death allow the spiritual seekers to change and grow, adapting and purifying themselves in order to complete the great work.
(wisdom, final liberation, climbing the ladder to heaven; final phase of the hero's journey: spiritual unfoldment, experience of enlightenment , bliss and return)
Anodea Judith said the third chakra mediates between the lower chakras and the middle ones. She also says the fifth chakra mediates between the
middle and higher chakras. The final card of the 2nd chakra, therefore, was also the transition to the 3rd (The Chariot). So again, the first card of the highest part of the soul, is also the final card
of the 5th chakra. The Devil performs this role perfectly. Even though we’re entering the highest section of the tarot trumps, representing the soul of reason,
the music still feels like we haven't made it yet. Instead we hear the manifesting or snake theme, and it's like the snake is "tempting" us, just as the Devil does. We won't hear the theme again on the higher levels, because after this stage the original
canon, snake "manifesting" theme will be synthesized with the liberating theme. The Devil thus signifies the last temptation before the soul's return to Spirit. By the same token it represents the Spirit as it first comes down into manifestation, increasingly losing itself in the world, the realm of illusion. Since the 5th chakra represents "purification," and its virtue Temperance means "finding the right mixture," the Devil represents what the 5th chakra is all about. As we enter the upper, more refined realms of the soul, our material drives from the lower chakras must be purified. At the same time, we need to be aware of how the spiritual current from above solidifies into "illusion," primarily through its expression in language and symbols. This too is related to the "mouth," the place where we speak, and which causes us to think too much about (or not enough about) what to speak; the mouth is also related to the 5th chakra, as well as to the "abyss" (Daath) on the kabbalistic Tree of Life.
The Toccata’s tone is at its darkest and most urgent now, befitting the struggle with the Devil; but it also moves higher on the keyboard than ever
before. True to form, in this part of the toccata, the hands do more, and the feet less. The 5th chakra is ruled by Mercury, which
represents the hands as well as the throat and mouth. Mercury is often linked to The Devil card (as well as to The Magician), and Mercury rules
both the hands and the mind-- chief among our demons, as well as a key to higher realms through investigation and research. Mercury is also linked to other cards;
The Devil's companions in the 5th chakra (Temperance, Death), and to the cards linked to Mercury's signs: Hermit (Virgo) and Lovers (Gemini).
The music now feels passionate and heroic; in battling our inner demons, we are developing our souls to their highest level, and we tap our inner powers. The Devil is the guardian of the higher realms. Like all great spiritual heroes, we must battle and defeat his temptations in order to reach the divine levels. I mentioned also that for some listeners this section can seem tedious, and they might start to wonder if the piece will ever end; as if that very repetitiveness (passionate though it is!) stood for the darkness before the dawn, or the dark night of the soul, that can lead some seekers to give up the quest (or a listener to weary of the toccata). On closer examination, the three middle sections (3rd, 4th and 5th chakras)
have many differences between them, and the more you look, the more interesting correlations you discover. So the discerning listener can see beyond this apparent "Devil’s delusion" of repetition as (s)he
listens more carefully to the Toccata.
Indeed, I used to wonder why the three chords that begin this Devil section always seemed a bit sinister to me. While reading Paul Case's description of this card, it hit me.
The Devil (in his and other decks) is standing on a pedestal, which only appears in two dimensions. This represents, according to Case, the superficial, sense or symbol-bound consciousness which the Devil
persuades us is all there is to reality. In the Toccata, this section begins with only treble chords; unlike at the start of the Wheel of Fortune and Hanged Man sections, there is no base accompaniment to the
chords. Thus, they have no depth, just as the Devil's view of the world is superficial and has no depth, and the pedestal he stands on has no depth either. We notice, therefore, that the chords which begin each of
these three manifesting sections in minor keys, describe the tarot card to which they correspond. The Wheel of Fortune is announced by 7 or 8 enormous, powerful chords representing the spokes of the great wheel.
The Hanged Man section is "hung from" three chords played an octave higher. The Devil stands on three chords which have no base notes.
These same chords are also heard earlier, toward the end of the two canon snake themes. In fact, it begins what I called above the 7th (and last or "highest") portion of the long, 54 measure theme.
There the treble-only chords could symbolize the Devil's rulership of the "manifest" realm, represented by the "worldly" section of the trumps and the toccata. Perhaps they may even symbolize the Devil's
rulership of the institutional Church (since the cards linked to these measures in the toccata are the Pope and Female Pope)!
Yet another interesting fact about the three minor movements, which are the three symbols of the "fate" we need to accept or master (Wheel of Fortune, Hanged Man, Devil), is that as they begin, we hear the 2nd, 3rd and 4th measures of the toccata virtually repeated, in which the snake theme leads into a grand jump upward. As I mentioned, these measures are related to the second chakra of desire, the 3rd chakra of strength and the 4th chakra of love. By inserting them into the start of these fateful, manifesting sections, Bach reaffirms our choice to make the spiritual journey, even as we meet the current of fate coming down from the crown into manifestion. We are reminded to "focus on the good," and to remember what originally inspired us, as we meet and experience our challenges. First, in the Wheel of Fortune section, the organist plays these notes with the left hand. Then s/he plays them with the pedal in the Hanged Man section. In the Devil section, they take center stage by being played with the right hand, right after the 3 chords; as if our will is being summoned to meet the Devil face to face, mano a mano.
Then the battle is won. Next we hear the liberation theme one last time, sounding much as it first appeared at the start of the third section.
This time it represents the The Tower, in which the Devil, and the lower souls chained to him, are pictured falling from the Tower as lightning strikes it down .
We have been freed from them, and the liberating theme symbolizes this moment. Prudence or Wisdom, the 4th cardinal virtue, comes later. But this section, played higher on the keyboard than others (like a high tower), sounds clear and powerful,
showing the high place we have reached in our journey. This time the theme only needs to be heard 3 times instead of 4 or 5 (for the 3 now-developed virtues, perhaps;
all contained within the final virtue Wisdom). The three "Fool chords" which here conclude each repeat of the liberating theme,
are all heard in the higher octave. By contrast, only two of the triple Fool chords in the 5th chakra Temperance section were heard an octave higher
(out of 4 total repeats of the theme), and fewer with the earlier virtues-- once in the heart chakra (Justice), and none in the solar plexus (Strength).
We have thus entered the sixth chakra section, high up in our third eye. Discovery, inspiration or revelation follows in
The Star (On the card, a bright star is surrounded by 7 other stars, below which is a woman pouring water on both land and sea).
This is really an amazing moment in the Toccata. We know we’re in the highest soul section now, and the view is clear and spectacular. Hope and guidance are given us after the battle with our demons, and we feel relief after the turmoil.
The snake and the chariot are played in counterpoint here for the first time, representing the water being poured on both land (the snake or manifesting theme) and sea (the chariot that always follows
the liberating theme) by the woman in the card. This combination of the themes, together with the high B-flat tone, is what gives this section its special brilliance. The "fish hook" Hebrew alphabet symbol for this
card, as well as the crustacean and wild wolf on the following Moon card, reminds us that reaching the spiritual heights also depends on plumbing the unconscious depths. The climbing and ambitious
male soul of will (represented here by the chariot theme, played by the right hand, and symbolized on the card by the sea) thus re-unities with the lost female soul of appetite or instinct
(the snake theme played by the left hand, and the land), before spiritual enlightenment can happen. Duality is reconciled and synthesis made. The beautiful lady pouring water represents both Mother Nature and our Higher Self.
7 notes follow in descending order, which seem to represent the 7 planets that surround the Star. By the way, since the "fish hook" is the Hebrew symbol for this card, the sign
Pisces (The Fishes) fits well, despite the apparent correlation with Aquarius suggested by the pitchers pouring water.
The Moon card which follows is represented by only the chariot theme, now repeated again-- this time without the snake.
It sounds calm, scenic and restful, as we prepare for the last part of our journey;
just what The Moon card is supposed to represent. According to Robert Place, "we are entering on the path that leads to the dawn but the Moon is there now. It is a time to rest and to prepare." (The Tarot, p.209)
The Moon is ruled by Cancer, which is also linked to the Chariot. We see the two repeating chords of the chariot theme turned into the two towers on the Moon card.
Another example of the link which the toccata and the astrology correlations reveal between these two cards, Moon and Chariot, is how the two animals on The Moon card (dog and wolf) could be seen as similar to
the two steeds pulling the Chariot (as in Plato's Phaedrus myth, the white one is trained and the black one is wild, like the dog and wolf here). The Moon is also the third eye, gateway to illumination; sitting above and between our two physical eyes, and bringing the two currents of life we saw and heard on the Star card together in our unifying inner vision. Notice how the two horses on the Chariot card are facing outward (or toward the viewer of the card), still leading us outward to conquer the world, while the dog and wolf on the Moon card are facing away from the viewer, or inward and toward the beckoning columns. Aligning with the meaning of the Hebrew letter qopf for this card, we see the backs of their heads, just as the Moon represents the intuition or imagination that is found "in the back of our minds."
One could question, however, why the Moon card is represented only by the Chariot theme here, when this theme is also heard many other times as part of other sections. Perhaps this shows how the Moon, ruler of
Cancer, may be symbolically linked to the Chariot as the vehicle of our entire spiritual journey. We have perfected our Merkabah, our perfect lunar receptivity to Spirit. Thus, it deserves its own section here. And bearing in mind The Da Vinci Code, as well as the cup as symbol of the Moon and of water-sign Cancer's receptivity, we truly are talking about the holy grail.
As in the yin heart section, and the yin 2nd chakra, the chariot theme concludes on a peaceful tonic chord. This contrasts to the yang chakra sections; the first chakra ends on a "dangling"
unresolved pedal note, and in the 7th crown chakra the chariot theme finishes with the same unresolved "inversion" chord that concluded the chariot in the 3rd and 5th sections.
In any case, The Sun’s section follows immediately after the Moon, and there’s little doubt that this correlation works.
It even comes in two parts, two fragments of the liberating theme; representing the two young children in the card, a symbol that could indicate the divine marriage
of male and female (similar to the Lovers card, some say, which is linked to Gemini the Twins). It means we are ready for final liberation. Following Plato, the Sun card represents enlightenment; the real light outside the cave.
The tarot card indeed depicts a victorious, radiant moment, but the victors are leaving the garden and moving on to an even greater experience. That is exactly how the music sounds; very radiant, powerfully liberating;
yet clearly introducing the next section, which is the Toccata’s crowning glory. Or as Lionel Rogg called it, the culmination.
Though there are no trumpets, as on the Judgement card, parts
of this section sound just like a fanfare. It certainly feels like the resurrection and victory over death pictured on the card. And though Bach never saw the Judgement tarot card, he certainly
was familiar with the image it depicts, the Day of Judgement from the Book of Revelation, and may well have been picturing it here in sound.
The grand new "crown theme," heard now for the first time, has been alluded to several times before however, as if the spirit above were influencing events
below. At first glorious and ethereal, the music quickly becomes ecstatic and almost seems blissfully out of control; yet it is an ingeneous synthesis of the
previous themes. Often the notes come from above downward as if from heaven; almost as if this section were a manifesting section that follows the liberating
6th section before it. As I said before, the last two chakra sections can also be considered as two parts of one final section, just as indigo and purple
are two shades of the same color, and as the Sun and Moon are the two rulers of the same final 6th level of signs (Leo and Cancer), while the other 5 planets rule one level each, and both a yin sign and a yang. But almost
as often, the music is leaping upward. This rapid up and down movement represents the two currents of the journey united, and the BOTA web site points out that the trumpet also represents our breath of life,
which this up and down (or in-and-out) movement indicates. The liberating theme, although transformed, is dominant here, and once again the Chariot theme follows
it; but this time it is entirely a descending movement, as if the Chariot were emerging from heaven out of the clouds. This is the Charioteer’s final
"triumph," and we are truly seeing the throne of God. In the final card, we become God.
Remember I said that the sun and crown themes "expand" (or stretch out) the liberation theme. Paul Foster Case associates Judgement with the
kabbalah path entitled "perpetual intelligence," and says this word in Hebrew also means "to stretch," as in stretching out time (to the perpetual, the immortal), or as in how the figures on the card stretch out to receive liberation from their tombs.
Notice too the way the little girl representing the Hebrew letter for "tooth" (see above) is eagerly "stretching" her face to show her teeth ("tooth" represents breaking through the limits of form). Case also points out that Gabriel's trumpet
on the card emits 7 rays, representing the 7 tones "which affect the 7 interior stars (chakras) by sympathetic vibration." (p.201, The Tarot) "Sound is the instrument of final liberation," he says in the same paragraph,
confirming by these words the hidden knowledge here revealed that Bach's Toccata in F (and perhaps some other music too) can be an instrument of liberation through awakening the 7 chakras. Observe too that on Bach's sealthe crown (crown chakra/crown theme) has seven points on top, representing these 7 rays from Gabriel's trumpet on the Judgement card.
Bach then brought back"the struggle theme" from the middle of the 3rd and 5th sections, which was omitted in the 4th or heart section, and inserted
it here in the 7th as a recapitulation/coda to conclude the Toccata, and so
it represents The World or Universe card, the highest trump, which symbolizes the mystical goal of the journey: identification with
The Universe, and Nirvana. This reveals the ultimate state of consciousness as a link between the crown and the heart. It combines, as said before, the Toccata’s two themes, both liberating and manifesting, one
after the other, passionately transformed; thus representing the whole journey. This also ties The World to Death and The Hermit, where the same theme is heard. This theme's link to these 3 cards indicates that Nirvana is essentially the
same as the struggle within the world and time represented by Death and the old Hermit; perhaps you can't have one without the other. And it is by transforming Death that we realize immortality. The Spirit is everywhere, including in all our struggles in the everyday world; it is the whole journey, and knowing this IS real liberation. We become the journey-- and the World. Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.
Like a bodhisattva, we return to the struggles of life until every sentient being is enlightened. We go back into Plato's cave to bring light to the captives. Even the Hermit, in the midst of his own quest, helped light the way for others. Now the enlightened Master does the same. THAT is why Bach uses the same passage to represent both the highest consciousness, the goal of the journey (World)--- AND the hardest lessons, deepest struggles and darkest abyss during the journey itself (The Hermit and Death).
The final chords, the very end of the piece, which consists of the 3-part "Fool Chord" preceeded by a slow pedal note, represents the fourfold "throne of God," as seen (for example) in Ezekiel (1:10) and in Revelation (4:6-7). Its four figures are pictured on the World card (Bull, Lion, Eagle and Man), representing the four evangelists, four elements, four fixed signs of the zodiac, etc, surrounding the Lady of Wisdom (representing the 5th element Spirit) dancing in the center. These chords are thus a fitting end of the journey where we reach the throne of God. The same series of 3 chords preceeded by a note (or sometimes a series of 4 chords),
is heard in several other places too, showing a link to other sections (Actually, the 3 chords are often preceeded by two notes, which could represent the five elements). For example, we hear this 4-part "world chord" in these other places:
The 3 virtue card sections. In this way the toccata links the other 3 cardinal virtues to the highest virtue "wisdom," which contains them. Since the uplifting, liberating "virtue" theme always ends with a world cord, it shows that in learning our virtues we are climbing up to God.*
The Tower card section, where it combines the 3 virtues to liberate us from the Devil and lower souls.*
They conclude The Chariot sections, representing our vehicle or merkabah on the spiritual journey, symbolized by a 6-pointed star in motion (the 6-pointed star-- like the chord-- is also an occult symbol of the 4 elements combined).
They conclude The Moon section (linked through the sign Cancer to the Chariot).
It is heard twice to open the dramatic Wheel of Fortune card section.* This is the only other card where the same four symbolic figures (Bull, Lion, Eagle and Man) are often pictured, and
these two sections of the piece (World and Wheel of Fortune) are also the only ones where the "struggle theme" is followed by the same full 4 chords (or 3 chords preceeded by a pedal note).
Most telling of all, perhaps, is the fact that this same chord series that so majestically concludes the piece, also concludes the first chakra section, which as we saw concludes the first pedal solo.
This pedal section represents The Magician, the lowest trump card, where the four magical symbols that represent the same four elements are shown on his table. Since the Magician's hands are indicating
the slogan, "as above, so below," the appearance of the same chord series at the end of both the highest and the lowest trump section of the toccata shows how the same divine principle of four elements represented in the
"throne of God" appears both "above" on the World card and "below" on the Magician's card, just as the Magician brings the divine into full manifestation. Everywhere that the four chords are heard in the
Toccata, we are connected to God as the ultimate end, guiding us as we gain our fortune, develop our virtues, and take our journey. And since within these 4 notes is always heard the 3-chord symbol of
The Fool, we are also given the suggestion that God is indeed always within us, and within "everyman"-- (or that "everyman" is within God). Indeed on The World card itself, Sophia, the divine lady of wisdom
in the center (the fifth element), is surrounded by an oval wreath in the shape of a zero, the number of The Fool.
Robert Place says, that with the World card with its four figures, we return to the world (or the "kingdom") of the four elements (like the four rulers Emperor and Empress, Pope and Papess at the beginning of the quest; or I could say, like the four magical symbols on the Magician's table). The circle is complete, and we return to the start (like the Fool); only now, since the woman representing Sophia/Wisdom is nude, we know the naked truth;
that the world is sacred. The Tarot is the "squaring of the circle," represented by Leonardo's Vitruvian Man, that teaches us that we are Spirit within the physical.
There's another great world symbol in stone that represents the throne of God: The Taj Mahal. This greatest of all monuments was designed by Shah Jahan of the Mughal Muslim Empire of India (completed in 1648), in part to fulfill his most-beloved wife's dying request to build a great Mausoleum for her. But it was also (according to the BBC/PBS documentary "Ancient Voices: The Mystery of Taj Mahal") a model of the throne of God. With four domes surrounding the larger dome in the center, it's structure forms a quincunx or mandala, just like the World card of tarot. The Shah and his designers were apparently well acquainted Sufi mysticism, which links up with the esoteric traditions we have been discussing here, as well as with the Koran where the Throne of God is described. The beautiful dome in the center then, by extension also represents the Lady Sophia, the goddess of wisdom in the center of The World; a fitting tribute indeed to the Shah's beloved. You can see the shape of a zero (the wreath) in the big dome too. It also seems as if the gardens were designed according to a diagram which strongly resembles the Tree of Life, with a pool of abundance at the heart center, and the temple itself in the position of the crown. Like Bach's Toccata in F, there is an "arabesque" holographic or fractiline structure to the building and the gardens, in which design elements are replicated on many levels (as above, so below).
Because the Toccata's final (and recurring) series of 4 chords, or a note followed by 3 chords, moves from high notes to middle to low to middle, it also resembles the 4-letter word YHVH, the tetragrammaton, which is the sacred name of God--
and often linked to the four elements, four directions, four evangelists, four fixed signs, four tarot suits, etc. As we saw, YHVH is also implied by the theme of Bach's other great Toccata and Fugue, the famous one in D Minor S.565.
This theme (the "fugue" theme) is composed of 4 sections of 4 notes each (in counterpoint to a repeated dominant note). The first 4 notes come down the scale, sort of like a Y.
An ascending 4 note sequence follows (H), and then four notes come up the scale from below, sort of like V. The last 4 notes of the great theme are the same as the second four-- thus the second H. By coincidence, in English the letter H stands for horizontal, and V for vertical, indicating the 4 directions of the cross and the medicine wheel.
By the way, I also remembered that Bach's famous Passacaglia has exactly 21 variations; same as the number of
Tarot trumps (minus The Fool, for which the Fugue could stand). According to Marie-Claire Alain, "In the Passacaglia, which is originally a dance-based form, there are very many references to chorale themes which recur every three variations, giving the Passacaglia a rhythm of three. There are 21 variations in the Passacaglia -- three times seven!...Number symbolism was quite common in the music of the period -- you get it in Schutz, in Scheidt -- but in Bach it's much more marked than in his contemporaries." There are also exactly 21 sacred catechism hymns in Bach's Lutheran "Organ Mass," which is framed by the great "trinity" Prelude and Fugue/postlude in E Flat, S. 552 (remember that the trinity is also the 3 parts of the soul of "everyman," which in tarot is The Fool).
You can alsowatch a slideshow on Photobucket of the Tarot Journey to the music of Toccata in F. This version has a few more annotations that might be too advanced for the wider You Tube audience; plus they don't have to be written over the cards!
Here's what to do: first, read the first 3 lines below.
Highlight and copy (control-C) the URL for this website: http://www.sfo.com/~eameece/toccata.htm
Open a new browser window, and paste the URL for this site in the URL window, and hit enter (thus opening this site in a new window).
Scroll down a little to "charts and illustrations," and click on the first link to Watch a slideshow of the Tarot Journey to the music of Toccata in F, to return here.
At the slideshow, Be sure and click "slow" in the lower left-hand corner, so the word slow turns white.
During the show, you can drag your mouse pointer over the words below the images, in order to see my full description of the cards and music as they go by.
Click the back button on either browser to return here.
Feel free to try it a couple of times. If you start the slideshow pretty quickly (but not lightning fast), most of the images should match the music, as described above.
TABLE: The Tarot Triumph and correlations with 3 parts of soul, chakras, Toccata in F, etc
triumph = trump. Each person (image) in the parade trumps the one before. Listed from the highest:
3 Parts of the Soul
Trump Card
chakra
meanings,notes
Toccata in F section
Soul of Reason
World
7=knowledge
prudence,world soul, sophia
coda; struggle ends
(wisdom)
Judgement
7
resurrection, goal of mystics
crown theme, synthesis
The Sun
6/7
3 lights are the time keepers;
intro to crown
The Moon
6=light,wisdom
we climb the ladder of planets.
chariot theme alone, restful
The Star
6
seeks harmony of wet and dry
chariot w/snake theme
The Tower
6
liberation from our lower souls
final liberation theme
The Devil
5=purification,
last hurdle of temptation
darkest manif.(snake) theme
Soul of Will,
Temperance
5 communication.
lower virtue, placed highest
3rd liberation theme
and Passion;
Death
5
facing the abyss
struggle theme (reversed w/above)
time and fate
Hanged Man
4=love
initiation, sacrifice, openness
downward manif. theme, more lyrical
Justice
4
virtue of proper ordering
calmer, 2nd liberation theme
Wheel of Fortune
3=will,power
prosperity, fate, ups and downs
downward manifesting(snake) theme
The Hermit
3
time; the seeker, ascetic
struggle, climbing theme
Strength
3
heroic virtue
powerful 1st statement of liberation theme
Soul of Appetite;
Chariot
2/3
love as driving force, now in control
2 chords & pedal; repeated in each chakra above
sensuality,
Lovers
2=joy,desire
love as conscious choice
2nd pedal theme, up & down
worldly power
Hierophant(Pope)
1=life,survival
sacred male worldly ruler
1st snake canon, 2nd half
Emperor
1
male worldly ruler
1st snake canon, 1st half
Empress
2
female worldly ruler
2nd snake canon, 1st half
High Priestess
2
sacred female worldly ruler
2nd snake canon, 2nd half
Magician
1
trickster, guide
1st pedal theme, downward
Fool
1/7
outsider, performer, everyman
basic 3 chords at end, or start
Here is another table of the 7 levels, which shows the relationship between Bach's Toccata in F and the tarot, chakras and astrology. In this correlation, the yang signs Aries, Libra and Gemini correspond
to the liberating theme in the middle chakras or levels. However, the liberating parts of the lower 2 chakras (the snake canons) correspond to yin signs (Capricorn and Pisces). This represents the dominance
of the masculine/yangsoul of will as Place described it, in the middle or second division of the Tarot journey, while the first part of the story is dominated by the feminine/yin soul of appetite.
Then at the 6th chakra level, in the highest soul of reason, the liberation theme again corresponds to the yin sign (Cancer).
The first "liberating" half of each chakra level of the Toccata is in bold, the second "manifesting" half of each chakra level is in italics. Remember that the 7th level or crown chakra is also considered the second or
manifesting half of the 6th level or brow chakra.
If the rulership of Gemini for the Death card seems strange, remember that in this context Death and Temperance (as well as the Hebrew letters for each card) are both symbols of adaptation, which is what Gemini provides. One of the roles of Hermes (aka Mercury, ruler of Gemini) was to guide dead souls to the afterlife. Note also that here in this table the Sun card is placed on the 7th level, the Devil is in the soul of will, and the Chariot is placed on the 2nd level.
Soul level
Toccata themes
Tarot cards
Exalted Planet
Yang Sign
Planet,Chakra,Color
Yin Sign
Exalted Planet
Tarot cards
Toccata themes
Reason
liberation 5 (extended),chariot
Sun,Judgement
Neptune
Leo
Sun,7,
purple
World
struggle, chord
Reason
liberation 4; chariot/snake
Tower,Star
Moon,6,indigo
Cancer
Jupiter
Moon
chariot
Will
liberation 3, chariot; struggle
Temperance,Death
Gemini
Mercury,5,blue
Virgo
Mercury
Devil
snake 5
Will
liberation 2, chariot
Justice
Saturn
Libra
Venus,4,green
Taurus
Moon
Hanged Man
snake 4
Will
liberation 1, chariot; struggle
Strength,Hermit
Sun
Aries
Mars,3,
yellow
Scorpio
Wheel of Fortune
snake 3
Appetite
pedal 2; chariot
Lovers,Chariot
Sagittarius
Jupiter,2,orange
Pisces
Venus
Empress,Priestess
snake 2
Appetite
pedal 1; chord
Magician,Fool
Aquarius
Saturn,1,red
Capricorn
Mars
Emperor,Pope
snake 1
Virtue tarot cards, chakras, toccata
I have shown in my table above that the traditional 7 virtues (the 4 cardinal virtues of Plato, plus the 3 Christian virtues from St. Paul) are all found in the tarot; either explicitly (Strength, Justice, Temperance) or implicitly (Wisdom, Faith, Hope, Love). The soul develops these virtues (or they are given by grace or by female companions) on the path to liberation. One virtue is linked to each of the 7 chakras, and thus to each of the seven levels on the "ladder to heaven." Therefore, each virtue is also represented by one of the seven chakra sections of the Toccata in F. The tarot card for each virtue not only corresponds to its own tarot card section of the toccata, but shares rulership over an entire chakra section too. So here is a table showing the 7 chakras, 7 virtues and 7 sections of Bach's Toccata in F:
"In conclusion" Make of all this what you will, but I don't think Bach was basing
his Toccata in F or other organ works directly or literally on the Tarot cards, and likely he knew nothing of them. He may well have had some knowledge of esoteric philosophy and alchemy, as his seal seems to indicate;
but we don't know. If anything, the sequence of the Toccata in F teaches us even more about the mystic journey than we could know from the cards alone. I am discovering more all the time; I wonder if I have even barely scratched the surface in finding the meanings of this piece! Just as images say more than words, so does music. We see here a correspondence, a similarity, even in great detail, between two great examples in the arts representing the hero's mystical journey to enlightenment and victory over death. I think that's pretty exciting, and beautiful to behold.
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