Many people talk and write about the deep mysteries of the Holy Grail, and much of the focus is on discovering both the 'real' Grail and justifying the 'true' Grail mysteries.
Russell's research boldly proposes that the Trumps of the Marseille Tarot were encoded with the mysteries of the Grail.
In his work, Russell claims that the Major Arcana were 'portable stained glass windows'. He proposes that these images portray the most sacred knowledge of the Cathar: the formula for escaping the world of the evil God, and the journey that one had to undertake in order to return to the kingdom of the good God.
Russell's book, The Spiritual Roots of the Tarot - The Cathar Code Hidden in the Cards, explains in detail his research justifying this assertion.
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Continue scrolling to explore the key that Russell discovered within the cards that unlocked wisdom that has been hidden in plain sight for over 800 years.
The Major Arcana of the Marseille Tarot consists of 22 picture cards.
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Each card is numbered except for one: "The Fool". This suggests that each card has an allocated position, but the fool, being without a designated number, is free to move. Russell suggests that the Fool represents each person on their spiritual journey of 'becoming a fool for Christ'.
Although the cards held a wealth of insight in their symbology alone, there was something missing. What did it all mean? How did it all tie together?
On continuing to examine the cards,
Russell observed that two cards had similar hats.
In particular, they both resembled a lemniscate (the infinity symbol).
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He wondered what might happen if he laid the cards out in the form of a lemniscate rather than left to right. But where would he start? A lemniscate has no beginning and no end.
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Russell turned to the cards for the answer. He observed that number 1 was looking down to the left, and number 11 was looking down to the right.
Russell placed each card as close to the centre point as possible. He then placed each consecutive card following the direction of the eyes.
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He placed cards 1 - 10 in the left wing.
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This married perfectly with where he had placed number 11. He then placed cards 12 - 20 in the right wing, continuing to follow the shape of the lemniscate.
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He placed the final card, number 21 'The World' card, in the centre.
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World of the evil god
World of the good god
This new format fit beautifully with the concept of dualism, the core doctrine of the Cathars' theology. Simply put, dualism is the belief in two opposing forces of good and evil.
World of the evil god
World of the good god
Wealth
Power
'Special' Love
Success
Justice, time and chance strip us of unsustainable values
Magician - this is a world of illusion
Birth from spirit world to the physical world
The Cathar believed that our world was not created by a good god, but was the handiwork of an evil god. Anything to do with perpetuating the material world was therefore deemed to be evil.
World of the evil god
World of the good god
Strength - what comes next is going to take unimaginable strength.
Journey through the dark night of the soul; choosing to relinquish attachment to the treasures of the evil god (wealth, power, special love and success).
The test of the flaming sword; will you sacrifice the thing you value most?
Entering the house of god.
Devoting your life to values such as forgiveness, charity, and being a peacemaker.
Freedom from human consciousness meant freedom from this world, and, according to the Cathar, that freedom is where the good God would be found. Given their model of salvation, a conclusion could be made that the Cathar treasure was a template of knowledge that revealed how it was possible to 'become a saint'.
Russell's theories can be confidently made because these medieval Grail mysteries found in the Cathar Code have been successfully formulated into a pragmatic, contemporary program that is healing the lives of those who have engaged the process.
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Having had several hundred people participate in this program, the evidence of the impact of the Grail knowledge in this form has been clearly demonstrated.
This is just one small part of the many discoveries Russell reveals in his book 'The Spiritual Roots of the Tarot - The Cathar Code Hidden in the Cards'.
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You can watch Russell reveal more about the history and symbology of the cards here in this video.