You can watch my video on IcaroTarot YouTube Channel
The Tree of Life is a map of the Universe, God, and the Self, and in it we can find the bisexuality and transgenderism of our soul. On the Tree of Life, we have Sephiroth, or worlds, that correspond to different stages of manifestation and planets in the Universe. We also have paths on the tree connecting each Sephiroth. There are 22 paths corresponding to the 22 Major Arcana in the tarot.
The names and titles of the Sephiroth and paths are in Hebrew, and Hebrew has gendered words, much like Latin languages like my first language, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and others. For example, let’s take the Fool card. In English “The Fool” can be anyone of any gender, but in Portuguese, we would translate that to “O Loco” or “A Loca”. Notice the O and A, O being masculine and A being feminine.
Let’s talk about the Tree of Life and I’ll bring the Hebrew as we go.
The Tree consists of 3 columns. Left Column is called The Pillar of Severity, and the Feminine Pillar. The Right Pillar is called The Pillar of Mercy or the Masculine Pillar. Now here is where we start seeing the hermaphroditic nature of our soul. The Middle Pillar is called the Pillar of Balance or Equilibrium, and it is the combining forces of both the Left and Right Pillars.
Think of the Yin Yang symbol. The Black aspect is the Feminine and the White aspect is the Masculine, however, one does not exist without the other, and we find each aspect inside the other. The Yin Yang symbol, much like the Tree of Life, is in constant movement, creating a mixing of the black and white, a combining of the opposing forces to create balance in our Universe, and since the Universe is a mirror of the Self, that alchemy of forces happens within us as well.
Let’s take the Left Feminine Pillar. The top Sephiroth is called Binah. A word ending in -AH is usually considered feminine. Binah is ruled by Saturn and represents the Divine Dark Mother. The energy from which all life emerges.
Now let’s take a step down the same column and arrive at Geburah, the red Sephiroth. Geburah is ruled by Mars, which most of us associate with Masculine energy, war, and chaos. Mars is represented by The Tower card and we can see a lot of chaos in this image. However, notice that Geburah also ends in -AH, which makes this a feminine name. This makes me think of warrior Goddesses like Kali, Freya, and Oyá. Fierce Divine feminine Goddesses. Lioness mothers that will draw blood to feed and protect their young. So far everything is fitting nicely in the Feminine PIllar.
Now we get to the bottom Sephiroth in the Left Feminine Pillar, Hod. Now Hod is a traditionally masculine word ending in -OD. And Hod is ruled by the planet Mercury, also traditionally associated with a male deity like Mercury, Hermes, and Thoth. So now things don’t fit so nicely in the Feminine Side of the Tree. What does this mean? Could this add a queer aspect to not only Mercury, but the Pillar as a whole?
Let’s travel to the Right Pillar of the Tree, maybe this will make things right.
Right at the top of the Masculine Pillar we have the Sephiroth called Chokmah. Which also ends in -AH making it a feminine word. Chokmah is the benevolent father figure. So now we have conflicting ideas. Chokmah is a feminine word used to represent the Supernal Father. Ok, things aren’t looking do neat already on the Right Pillar.
Going down one Sephiroth on the Right Pillar we have Chesed, ending in -ED making it a masculine word. Chesed is ruled by the loving and forgiving planet Jupiter.
Going down one more Sephiroth we’re met with Netzach ruled by Venus, a traditionally feminine planet, and ending in -ACH. Now notice that this is not -AH, it has a C in the middle making this a masculine word.
And that’s the beautiful complexity of the Cosmos reflected within the self as a rainbow spectrum of gender and sexual expressions.
Much of our understanding of gender and sexuality is still influenced by the Victorian era. When sex was considered unnatural and shameful. Sex was best not discussed in public. In contrast, today the conversation around sex, gender, and the sexual spectrum is much more open.
The views of the past have caused much sexual repression and discomfort, along with depression and low self-esteem. We’re finally talking about what the Cosmos has been telling us all along. We are all of it. God is sex, and God is queer. The idea of the male bearded God is still very present in our minds, and yet we know that Spirit has no gender. Perhaps queer people, really anyone on the spectrum, from cisgender gay people to non-binary, non-conforming, to trans people, are physical manifestations of the gender fluidity of God. They are the physical representation of the Divine Self Alchemy.
One of the Hermetic Principles is the Principle of Gender. That everything has its feminine and masculine aspects, which sounds a lot like the Principles of Polarity, which states everything is dual, everything has its opposite, which in turn sounds a lot like the law of Correspondence which states as above, so below, as within, so without.
Sidenote: The truth of the 7 Hermetic Laws is that they’re all the same Law.
So it seems to me that queer individuals are wanting to have their outside reflect how they feel inside, “As within, so without”, and in turn they are showing the outside world that people, and by extension God, are much more complex and intricate and fascinating that we initially believe, “as above, so below”
This isn’t to leave out cisgender straight people. They are also a part of the alchemy of the Cosmos. As we saw on the Tree of Life, some things do fit neatly on the Tree, but some things are rebellious and some things are meant to move and shake, shape and reshape the Universe. Embrace the Divine Self Alchemy within you, however you identify.
So to my trans and nonbinary friends, to anyone who identifies in the queer spectrum, the Tarot and the Tree of Life are proof that your presence matters and that you are divine self-alchemists.
The Map of The Universe and the Soul (Tree of Life) shows that you’re the physical manifestation of the teachings of the bisexuality and gender fluidity of our soul.
You are divine!
with so much love,
Icaro
Tarot Merch at icarotarot.com