by A. T. Mann

The symbols of Tarot are combined within each Major Arcana card to present a meaning which is directly perceived by the unconscious and has a powerful effect there, whether or not the conscious mind can understand the meaning of the symbol.

The relative position of the specific symbols of each card is also very important in the Mandala Astrological Tarot. The primary geometric divisions of the cards describe the area in which a particular symbol is active, as is the case in all Mandala diagrams. The primary divisions are a reflection of the places around the astrological horoscope as seasons of the year and times of the day.

The primary division is into upper and lower halves. The upper half is the conscious, objective and masculine domain of the Sun, while the lower half is the unconscious, subjective and feminine domain of the Moon. The symbolism of the Sun traveling across the sky and down through the underworld at night is led by myths of the Sun as a charioteer, and the yearly cycle of vegetation apparently disappearing into the earth was at the core of the ancient mysteries of life and death.

The secondary division of the circle is into right and left halves. In Mandala symbolism the right side is instinctive, artistic, intuitive and holistic, while the left side is linear, logical, analytical, mathematical, verba, and concrete. Astrologically, the left side is the domain of the personality and the right side is the not-self or the outside world. Modern brain research has proved that there is a crossover: the left side of the brain governs the right side of the body, and the right side of the brain governs the left side of the body. This is symbolized esoterically by the rainbow bridge or the caduceus symbol of Mercury, which governs the corpus callosum or neural bridge crossing over from one half to the other.

*This material is excerpted from the book, The Mandala Astrological Tarot by A.T. Mann.