Joseph submits that the Sacred Tarot was "hidden" in that deck some time after the cabalistic Jewish and Christian mystics, like the Essenes, the teachers of Jesus, were driven underground because they were persecuted by Romans and orthodox Jewish sects. Then they were even more persecuted by the organized, theocratic, militarized, imperialistic Roman "Catholic Christian" church-state during and following the fourth century.
Joseph discusses the history, meaning and purpose of the Sacred Tarot on his page-article titled Another Prophecy, and he focuses on three versions of Key 13 of the Major Arcana, (one version of which is described above), because it contains certain clues not only having to do with the end of any form of monarchy, but also having to do with the dawning of the new age, and with the messenger for the Spirit of truth.
Key 13 has an ironic and misleading title (Death), which is why the number thirteen has been considered unlucky. But the truth is that the key is mostly about motion and growth, spiritual growth, spiritual rebirth, transformation, and imaginative and creative intelligence. And the more you know about the attributions and meaning of the symbolism, the more apparent that becomes.
The Hebrew letter attributed to Key 13 is Nun, a noun meaning Fish (the symbol used by the Essenes and the early Christians) and associated with water and growth. In mythology, Nun is the ethereal water from which creativity springs. In the Bible, Nun is the minister to Moses and the father of Joshua, and Joshua is a different version of the name of Yeshua or Jesus and Jehoshuah. In other words, this key has very much to do with the Christ function, and it also has to do with his messenger.
There is a fallen king in the picture referring to physical death, of course. But the deeper meaning is transformation and spiritual growth. In fact, in one sense, it's about the rebirth of the spirit-soul, which comes only after the "death" or transcendence of the separate-self-ego. Thus the fallen crown represents the discarded egocentric notion of individual, sovereign authority and personal material power and wealth. It is the crown that Jesus rejected, in no uncertain terms, and here it foretells the eventual end of patriarchy and royalty.
In the picture there is a figure praying for mercy is a high-ranking prelate (church dignitary) wearing a fish-head mitre on his head, which is a reference to the nearing end of the Piscean Age and dispensation, which will bring an end to political and religious patriarchy and an end to the oppressive and exploited status of women and children. The woman kneeling at the side of the prelate, along with the child looking up hopefully with a gift of flowers in one hand, signify the imposed inferior and submissive status of women and children, and highlight the need for their liberation from patriarchal rule.
There is a rider on a pale horse, a skeleton dressed in black, the color for what is hidden or secret. His outward appearance is obviously ominous, and in one sense the rider symbolizes actual death, as John described in the Book of Revelation. But the inverted pentagram represents "Satan," or that which has a deceptive appearance, and that which is false, which is the opposite of the Christ.
However, an enlightened person understands that "Satan" is not an actual person or entity that can impose its will on us. Remember, Jesus told Peter, "Get behind me Satan" merely because Peter was thinking of worldly things rather than spiritual things. That illustrates how "Satan" represents our negative, materialistic, self-centered nature. It is epitomized by a self-absorbed, highly egocentric state of mind that manifests in human beings as selfishness, greed, fear, hate, violence, and all manner of maliciousness and destructiveness. Therefore, "Satan" is not something outside of ourselves, and it does not "possess" us. It is generated by our own self-serving, judgmental thoughts, negative ideas and negative emotions, into which we can fall when we deny, ignore, or betray God. At its worst, "Satan" is the lowest state of human consciousness which thinks it's the highest, and can be the cunning evil that masquerades as good and gains or imposes worldly power over others.
On the page on Another Prophecy, Joseph discusses much more of the symbolism, especially that regarding the coming of the "son of man," the messenger for the Spirit of truth, and the new age.
However, since the focus of this article is on the end of monarchy in any form, and the shattering of the image of the "king," I'll focus the rest of this on some of what Joseph says on the page on Partisan Politics. There he gives us good reasons why partisan politics is inherently divisive and corrupt, and why the presidential form of monarchy will end.
Joseph is quite aware that in spite of its inherent problems and drawbacks, American partisan politics has produced some good leaders who were good thinkers. In fact, many partisan politicians were drawn to public service out of a sincere desire to make life better for all citizens, and improve our cities, states, nation and world. And in many respects many of them have made great improvements.
However, many have not. Many have made things worse. Many have served only the wealthiest few who financed and supported them, and only pretended to serve all the people, and some of them have been terribly divisive, grossly inept, and harmful. Most of us are painfully aware of that now, especially after the last eight years during the Bush Regime's reign.
However, Joseph suggests how we can prevent divisive, deceptive leadership from ever gaining power again! After all, even though a relatively good democratic leader, Barack Obama, has won the power of the U.S. presidency, if we do not significantly reform our political-economic system it would happen again, because the partisan political pendulum would swing back to the right. It's happened many times before, and it would happen again. Another hypocritical right-wing demagogic scoundrel could take refuge in patriotism and religiosity, waving the flag, thumping the Bible and rattling his sword, appealing to egotism and prejudices, and succeed in deceiving and misleading enough people to get elected, just as Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush did.
Furthermore, as president, Barack Obama has shown that he is only human, and that is largely because the American partisan political system is inherently divisive and often corrupted by the self-importance and self-righteousness of partisan politicians, and especially by the corporate lobbyists and influences. It has often also been corrupted by greed. It has enabled certain presidents to gain and abuse power to the detriment of the majority of the people, and to the detriment of the environment, the infrastructure, and humanity as a whole, while enabling the wealthiest few Americans to increase their wealth exponentially. That has happened repeatedly, so it's high time that we progress and advance beyond it.
Just ask yourself this: Why should we be divided and fight for power over each other? Why should we follow, support and empower egocentric individuals who seek power over those who disagree with them? Why should we let our fate be determined by one person? Why should we be either winners or losers in a continuous, winner-take-all partisan contest for power? Why should we perpetuate an unstable partisan system that creates, fosters and perpetuates corruption, conflict and division?
Besides that, why should hundreds upon hundreds of millions of dollars be wasted on commercial television for political campaign advertisements that are generally misleading, offensive, and terribly annoying, when all that money could be far better invested in our country and in our people? After all, it is a very sad commentary on our partisan political system when more money is spent on misleading, deceptive, slanderous mud slinging at political opponents than are spent on advocating a positive, constructive political platform.
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