Connecting the Tarot with the Hebrew Tradition

URIM AND THUMMIM AND THE ĦOSHEN (HIGH PRIEST’S BREASTPLATE)

THE TAROT as we know it today, with its sequence of trumps and four suits of cards, bespeaks of a practise in oracular inquiry which still bears some resemblance to what we have today in this regard. This particular practise consisted of the use of the Urim u’Thummim (Heb: illuminations and fulfilments, a/k/a, a Divine oracle), which was the oracular device of the Kohen haGadol (High Priest) in the Hebrew tradition.

Torah scholars have sought to make sense of the reference in the biblical text in Shemoth (Exodus), Chapter 28, which only vaguely refers to these objects, and many theorists have interpreted their existence in various ways through the years. Previously, this reference has been regarded (probably erroneously) as only one of allegory, wherein the words Urim u’Thummim refer to intangible spiritual assets, such as Grace and Truth, &c. But scriptural analysis distinctly tells us that the Urim u’Thummim were not intangible abstracts, but rather concrete objects, which were physically placed by Mosheh within (or behind) the Ħoshen. Unfortunately, the Levitical text is no more revealing than this regarding the nature of the Urim u’Thummim.

The rabbinical and kabbalistic traditions, however, dictate that the Urim u’Thummim were related to two Divine Names. The Urim was associated with the 22-letter Name (the Alef-Taw), while the Thummim was associated with the 42-letter Name (numerologically reduced to the Hebrew word אלוה, Eloha, ‘God’, as well as the first expansion of the Divine Name uei, namely uu ee dui). While it is not certain just what form the Urim u’Thummim were given or precisely how they were used in oracular inquiry, it is apparent that they bear a distinct resemblance to the modern Tarot deck, which can be used in similar fashion as an oracle or means of counsel.

The correspondence of the Urim with the 22 Hebrew letters would seem to support a parallel relationship with the Major Arcana of the Tarot, which also shares this 22-letter correspondence. The Thummim, on the other hand, might have related to another set of associations based on sefirah-realm correspondences, as well as some sort of typifying astrological (planet/sign) definition. This would correlate well with the Minor Arcana of the Tarot, which consists of four archetypal suits, each populated with cards which represent the ten sefiroth as expressed in one of the four spiritual realms (Atsiluth, Beryah, Yetsirah, and Asiyah). The advent of court cards probably came about later with the permutation of the Tetragrammaton upon itself, yielding a set of 16 unique element-to-element combinations. Ten ranks of four suits makes 40 cards, so what about the 2 remaining letters of the ‘42-letter Name’ mentioned above? The inclusion of two extra tokens or chits to represent polarised opposites (good & evil, light & dark, yea & nay?) might have been present to make a total of 42, which would neatly align the Thummim with the numerological significance attributed it.

In summary, the important thing to consider is the idea that the modern Tarot is in fact not identical to the oracular Urim u’Thummim of Judaic lore, but rather is most likely descended from that same tradition.