Exploring the Tarot Pillars: Gateways to Beyond
“I do not doubt interiors have their interiors, and exteriors have their exteriors, and that the eyesight has another eyesight, and the hearing another hearing, and the voice another voice...”
The pillared cards in tarot are among the most fascinating. They act as gateways or portals to elsewhere...but where do they lead? What lies beyond their veil? In what way should we approach them? And how may we be granted access?
When we first decided we would write about the pillared cards in tarot, we did so with the intention of producing one article with our speculations and explorations. But we've realized that there is more to say than can be contained in a single post and so this will be at least a 5 part series, starting with this one, an introduction to the whole scheme.
What are the pillared cards in tarot? Simply put, they are the Major Arcana cards which feature a central figure sitting between 2 pillars. There are 3 which are obvious - The High Priestess, The Hierophant, and Justice. But examining these 3 cards, the set feels incomplete. A reliable structure, after all, is typically defined by its 4 posts. As well, we have only 3 of the 4 elements represented, so it stands to reason we’re missing a fourth. The elements so far accounted for are water, earth, and air - so, where’s the fire?
Besides the elemental imbalance, there is another pattern that emerges in the pillared cards which helps us assume the missing piece of the puzzle. If you look at each one, you will find they all have a different coloured background. The High Priestess is blue, The Hierophant is grey, and Justice is yellow. We now know we’re looking for a fire card with a different colour than what’s so far been established, and that brings us to The Emperor. Not only does The Emperor fill in the fire gap, but we also see a bright red background that sits in contrast to the other three. Why is The Emperor without pillars? We’re not totally clear. Maybe it was depicted without pillars as a blind. Or maybe it was assumed to be obvious. Maybe the jagged rock stands in their place. Or maybe we’re totally off. Any one of these things is possible, but I will say, The Emperor does feel right.
One more clue in this direction is what we see in the numbers. If you add up all the pillared cards (2+4+5+11) you get 22, and as we know, 22 is the total number of Major Arcana cards present in the deck. So not only do these 4 cards fit the colour pattern, they fit the elemental and numerical pattern as well (unless you have a deck that calls Justice 8, then forget the number thing). And as if that were not enough, they even fit the pattern in the way the figures sit/posture!
But what does knowing any of this do exactly? Where does the exploration of the pillars go and how can it help us in our practice or our lives? The reason we feel there is so much to discuss here is that we believe that at their core, each pillared card has a lot to show us in terms of our development; individually and as a collective. Each gatekeeper in this sense symbolically holds the keys to something, and that something, we speculate, can unlock the doors to heightened senses (or at least, can tell us the story of that unfolding). Call is super, union, god, or something else - there is no shortage of words that have been used to describe this greater vantage point. So in this exploration, we will work with the theory that each pillared card tells a story, has something to impress upon us, and provides clues as to how we can approach their gate in order that we may move beyond (and maybe catch a glimpse of something greater).
To set the stage for this series, we will now summarize the above and provide an overview of where we’re headed:
1) There are 4 pillared cards, despite the fact that we can only see pillars in 3 cards. They are as follows - The High Priestess, The Emperor, The Hierophant, and Justice. It would be helpful to lay them out in front of you at this point if you have a deck that depicts them similar to the way in which the Waite-Smith deck does.
2) These 4 cards contain clues, contrasts, and similarities that link them together. It may be worthwhile to try to make your own notes too! Our observations are as follows:
Each card represents one of the 4 elements.
If you add up the numbers of each card, you arrive at 22.
Each figure sits, looks straight on, and occupies the centre portion of the card.
Each figure holds something.
Each figure wears a crown.
Each figure depicts something different happening with their feet. The High Priestess’s are hidden, The Hierophant’s are both slightly exposed, The Emperor’s are more fully exposed and Justice has just one foot out.
Each figure wears a long garment.
The backgrounds of each card showcase a different colour.
3) The background colour, speaking of, is an important clue as to the workings/lessons of that card.
4) Behind each veil, we can link another series of cards that tells the story of the point made above.
5) And finally, the pillared cards represent the opening up of “hidden” faculties within each of us that, if accessed, would give us greater insight into and command over our environments (in a good way, of course).
With this framework established, we will come back to this series with our second part featuring the first gatekeeper, and the subsequent cards in its grouping, The High Priestess. That story is one that explores the underwater, subconscious realm where we began, and trails the path from that state to our current one to then beyond. You can probably already guess which group of cards sit on the other side of this gate, but if not that’s no concern, we’ll be going through all of that when we pick this up!
Until then - happy explorations :)
Juia & Tim