Meditations on the Tarot – Anonymous (with an Afterword by Hans Urs von Balthasar) (Book Review)

 

Meditations on the Tarot

Meditations on the Tarot by Anonymous, with an afterword by Hans Urs von Balthasar

 

 

At the very beginning of this book, the anonymous author, who left this book behind with instructions that it not be published till after his death, addresses the reader: “Your friend greets you, dear Unknown Friend, from beyond the grave.'” He means it literally, absolutely literally.

That is to say, in my experience, to engage sincerely with this book is to engage with more than a book.

It is to engage with a living spiritual saint, master and genius of the highest order. A very human being, with the warmest of hearts, the most lucid of minds. A profound, profound thinker whose heart, burning with compassion for the world, gave us a manual of practical Christian transformation – a transformation that has undone my neuroses, strengthened my sanity, vastly enlarged my scope of feeling, vitalised my mind, melted my anger, fired my compassion, deepened my calmness. And more, so, so much, much more besides.

But not only this, he has given us a compendium of psychology, sociology, politics, theology, philosophy and hermeticism that could offer the new millennium – in all its potential horror – the wisest of guides.

Some people might find this book hard to read. My advice to such folk would be to try it in the mornings, or whenever one feels freshest and most alert.

Any difficulty will not be because it is dry or abstract. No, this is the most human book I have ever read. Human, human, human – profoundly kind and warm – yet calling us to God. And with God and with Christ and His Church, calling us to heal our lives, heal our culture, calling us with the most rigorous clarity of thought and the most tender of feelings.

For those suspicious of the author’s orthodoxy, I would like to make clear that these Meditations on the Tarot have nothing at all to do with the telling of fortunes. I would also urge them to visit the afterword by no less than Hans Urs von Balthasar – whom St. John Paul II nominated as Cardinal. I would also like to personally record that this is the book that liberated me from the New Age mindset and led me to Jesus Christ and His Church …

And for those suspicious of the author’s traditional Catholicism, I would say the author is arguably more “holistic” than anyone. He recognises the evil in the Church – but refuses a path of polemic. He sees the sin of the members of the Church throughout time, but refuses to cast stones. The book manifests a towering commitment to non-violence, verbal or otherwise …

In this sense, this is a book of profound holistic peace. Like St. John Paul II did, the author honours the world’s great religious traditions, and those called to participate in them. And yes, in the West he affirms the traditional church (Catholic and Eastern Orthodox), whose sacramental life, he considers as having the greatest healing value for our troubled culture. The sacraments can heal our ever more stressed, nervous, fractured psyches in a profound way.

And he also regrets the destruction to the traditional Church by any who have taken up violence – verbal or otherwise. Yes there is a deep affirmation of sacramental and traditional Catholicism here – but not, if you read it carefully, of a Catholicism that destroys, condemns, imposes, or frightens. The author’s heart weeps for a Catholicism of non-freedom.

Such vast realms of insight are here. Single paragraphs can furnish years of meditation. Or a sentence might be read ten, twenty times, before one realises it contains a universe of meaning, not glimpsed before one is ready.

The thought of such thinkers as diverse as Aquinas and Kant, Rudolf Steiner and St Francis of Assisi, Plato and Aristotle, Eliphas Lévi and Carl Gustav Jung and many more is probed, extended, amplified, often purged and regenerated.

And still so much more. More upon more. World upon world upon world … There is supernatural and superhuman inspiration and genius at work in these pages.

No doubt some could find my words excessive. What can I say? They have not experienced the detonation of heart and mind this singular book can produce … after which nothing will ever be the same again.

Oh, what more can I say to you, dear Unknown Friend who left us this book? You have immeasurably enriched my life beyond compare – far, far beyond compare. You have healed and strengthened and succoured me. You have opened my heart and mind to the Christian and Catholic Mystery.

You have taught me about sincerity, about rigour, about non-violence, about tragedy, about courage, about tears, about philosophy and poetry, and about profound, profound human-ness. I can never thank you enough. I believe your masterpiece may be the most important of the twentieth century and is my greatest source of hope for the twenty-first.

Note: This review of Meditations on the Tarot was originally written for Amazon several years ago. If I wrote it today, it would undoubtedly be different, reflecting my continued growth into the Tradition. In time, I could rewrite it from scratch, but for now I post it with a few revisions, but substantially as it originally appeared.

I would simply like to warn readers that the book does contain unorthodox elements. Paradoxically I believe it can serve to defend Catholic Tradition in a truly astonishing way …

Should you wish to know more about this paradox, there is a weblog series about this starting here

Update 2014: For those who remain (understandably) concerned about certain elements in this book, I have a further piece here about the Vatican’s response to Meditations on the Tarot with some fascinating links to St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

If you would like to buy this book from Amazon US, or Amazon UK click on the relevant link below:-

 

From Amazon USA

Here are some important inspirations for this website. Each title also has a review at our site – the links are below. These books can also be found in our Amazon UK Store here.

Links to each Review here: Heart of the Redeemer, Meditations on the Tarot, Puritan’s Empire, Life of St M.M., This is the Faith, Marian Apparitions, The Secret of the Rosary

This entry was posted in Reviews and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

One Comment

  1. Morten Chr. Groth
    Posted 24 October 2012 at 18:26 | Permalink

    Dear Roger! We have much in common:-) It was inspiring to read your review on “Meditations”. I am now in “Letter IX”, and its like returning home – to Divine Fire . . . I was five years old when I dreamt of The Hermit, standing on a “Stairway to Heaven” to the Moon. I was born in 1968, and if you know the departure of Anonymous; that should ring a bell 😉

    I have studied Tarot for 25 years, and that this book should fall into my lap – NOW – is a mystery. Similar to you, I’ve had a very long walk in NewAge-territory. Nine years ago Jesus revealed His love for me, and the gift of Faith was unquestionable. So, I see; without His love, I could never appreciate the wonderful language and Spirit of this glorious Book. True gratitude!

    Let me know your e-mail, and I will give you a gift:-)

11 Trackbacks

  1. By Returning to Life — and Catholic Ireland on 3 March 2013 at 20:27

    […] was only with the grace of a profound interior experience in autumn 1997 and the help of an extremely unusual Catholic masterpiece, that the Catholic Mystery first became visible to me that autumn […]

  2. […] Review: The Portal of Hope Book Review: Meditations on the Tarot Book Review: Marian Apparitions Book Review: The Heart of the Redeemer /* This entry was […]

  3. By Bob Geldof and the Divine Power of Jesus Christ on 23 September 2013 at 16:04

    […] Review: The Portal of Hope Book Review: Meditations on the Tarot Book Review: Marian Apparitions Book Review: The Heart of the […]

  4. […] are here: (Book Review: The Power and the Glory) (Book Review: The Portal of the Mystery of Hope) (Book Review: Meditations on the Tarot) (Book Review: Marian Apparitions) (Book Review: The Heart of the […]

  5. […] Review: The Portal of Hope Book Review: Meditations on the Tarot Book Review: Marian Apparitions Book Review: The Heart of the […]

  6. By Effort. | Unto the Gate on 1 November 2013 at 06:37

    […] “Meditations on the Tarot,” written anonymously and published in 1980 (in French), comes a few words concerning […]

  7. […] With feeling the GIFT of Silence in this church, I find myself thinking of the words of that strange anonymous Catholic book, written in French, Meditations on the Tarot.  […]

  8. By Religion and the Romantic Movement on 22 July 2014 at 10:04

    […] to each Review here: Heart of the Redeemer, Meditations on the Tarot, Puritan’s Empire, Life of St M.M., This is the Faith, Marian Apparitions, The Secret of the […]

  9. […] Review: The Portal of Hope Book Review: Meditations on the Tarot Book Review: Marian Apparitions Book Review: The Heart of the Redeemer Book Review: This is the […]

  10. […] are here: (Book Review: The Power and the Glory) (Book Review: The Portal of the Mystery of Hope) (Book Review: Meditations on the Tarot) (Book Review: Marian Apparitions) (Book Review: The Heart of the […]

  11. […] as in in our Reviews. Links to each review here:(The Power and the Glory) (The Portal of Hope) (Meditations on the Tarot) (Marian Apparitions) (The Heart of the […]

Post a Comment

Your email is never published nor shared. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

*
*

 
  • Books from Roger Buck

    Foreword by Roger Buck

    Support Our Work

  • The Gentle Traditionalist Returns!

    New Book from Angelico Press!

    "The Gentle Traditionalist returns with a vengeance in this stand-alone sequel ... this book skewers the modern malaise with the kind of sanity we have come to expect from this author” — CHARLES A. COULOMBE

    ”Buck’s latest foray is a grand success ... The story features the same singular combination of whimsy and surprise, keen social commentary, and deft argumentation as the first [book]. The Gentle Traditionalist Returns appeals to what is best and deepest in us, so that we will reengage with that which ultimately matters while there is yet time.” — PETER KWASNIEWSKI

    ”A brilliant diagnosis of the spiritual malaise of modern society, written with gentleness, generosity, humour, pathos ... and, above all else, love”— MAOLSHEACHLANN Ó CEALLAIGH

    buy-at-amazon Video about New Book here:

  • Books from Roger Buck

     

    The Gentle Traditionalist

     

    ”Roger Buck ... in the spirit of Chesterton and Belloc ... takes on everything—from the reforms of Vatican II to the New Age ... a wonderful book.”— MICHAEL MARTIN

    ”A tale of whimsical fantasy, melancholy realism, and supernatural joy ... Buck’s deftly-reasoned post-modern apologetic for full-blooded Catholicism—a Syllabus of Errors in narrative form, a rousing hymn to ‘meaning, grace, beauty, life’.” — PETER KWASNIEWSKI

    "As brilliant a guide for the perplexed as this age is capable of producing” — CHARLES A. COULOMBE

    buy-at-amazon

    See Reviews in Full Here!

     

    Read First Chapter Online Here!

     

    Cor Jesu Sacratissimum

     

    cor-jesu-roger-buck

    ”Buck goes to the heart of the problem paralyzing our broken-hearted world ... moving beyond the spirit of the age to the Spirit who moves all ages.” — JOSEPH PEARCE

    ”In this elegant feast of a book, Roger Buck ... expertly skewers the modern world ... without a drop of malice in his compassionate soul ... to reveal the bright, shining love and truth at the center of the universe—symbolised by the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and incarnate in the Catholic Church.” — CHARLES A. COULOMBE

    ”A great service to the Church ... Buck shows that the New Age is an attempt, however flawed, to escape the materialism of modernity, and that it is Catholicism in its traditional forms that can best reveal the immense reality of the suffering and love for all mankind of Christ’s Sacred Heart.”— JOSEPH SHAW

    buy-at-amazon

    See Reviews in Full Here!

     

  • EWTN Interview with Roger Buck here!

    TWO-part “Celtic Connections” EWTN  Interview!

    Part One here.

    Part Two here.

  • First Video from Kim Buck!