Xul Solar: esoteric paintings

Tarot, Astrology, esoterism and several symbolisms in paintings inspired by different places and Ages.

By Julia Pérez Bustamante, in Tres Mancias Consultancy

Xul Solar

Zodiac

He designed a Tarot deck called Tarot with astrological correspondences. And he introduced the first twelve cards in the same order he displayed the signs in his Zodiac painting (1953). The representation starts with Gemini, follows Taurus, then Aries, Pisces and so on until ending in Cancer, in a clockwise direction (which is the orientation of the Sun's translation across its orbit, or the esoteric point of view in Astrology).

Zodiac has not a circular shape but is conceived according to a horizontal axis of two levels. In the upper one, odd signs of Air and Fire (usually represented by tall and thin figures). In the lower level, even signs of Earth and Water (usually represented by small and low figures). About the colors, he assigned blue to Air, yellow to Earth, red to Fire and green to Water.

Astrology & Tarot

Xul's Tarot deck includes 2" x 4" cards painted with tempera on cardboards. The deck is composed by two series of 12 cards each, with the first series representing zodiacal signs, and the second one evoking the Marseille Tarot's medieval style, although leaving aside some of the classic characters. That's why we won't find The Fool, The Priestess, The Empress, Death, Temperance, The Devil, The Star or The World.

Both series are related to each other since the cards hold inside character letters, planets and numbers associated to the zodiacal signs considered across different orientations. We can see different references in the artist's works converging around the astrological distribution of signs. For example, the classic differentiation of positive signs (male, odd) and negative signs (female, even), confluences after folding the wholeness, opposites complementing each other, light/darkness combinations, astrological mystic rectangles, and also the different perceptions we get when changing our position.

Astrology: an alphabet

The following two graphs show the signs associated to letters of the Spanish alphabet, in the two orientations to walk across the Zodiac. The artist dismissed vowels, there's no Air!, and the unfolding (starting) point is not represented. Among several things, it means his system provides a compact and strict ordering which doesn't allow variances for a reading.

Searching for equivalences, then we may gather signs. For example, letters h (t) gather Libra and Sagittarius, and the couple n (c) gathers Aries and Gemini. These four signs are part of a mystic rectangle, and there's three of them in each mandala.

If interested in these symbols and associations, consider the signs of those mystic rectangles and associate them to those of the rulerships mentioned in Esoteric Astrology by A. Bailey (esoteric and hierarchic ones). I don't know the references XS used for his designs or if he had any, either. But those associations to descipher by following the aspectations of the mystic rectangles take to those rulerships. (About them, Bailey mentioned in some of the books that she/he took part in The Secret Doctrine by H.P.B).

An arcane guide

The symbols in XS's cards also refer to different orientations, rulerships, invertions of perspective and letter confluences. For example, an opposite relation associates IX and V cards. The Pope figure (V) wears a crown and is associated to Leo (f letter in even signs), whereas in card IX (reminding of The Emperor of the Egyptian deck), the fingers are turned horizontally. The planet (Pluto) and number 9 are associated to Sagittarius (counter-clockwise orientation, exaltation), and Jupiter (ruler) is the esoteric ruler of Aquarius (Leo’s opposite sign) and hierarchical of Virgo (S letter in the same orientation).

Letter games emphazise a system that is strict and eclectic, at the same time. For example, the figure in the arcane X reminds of the classic representation of Capricorn, the tenth sign in the counter-clockwise orientation. The letter k associates the card to Sagittarius, and the card also displays the astrological symbol of planet Earth (esoteric ruler of the archer). The inverted symbol is Venus, the esoteric ruler of the opposite sign (Gemini), which is represented in the arcane, too. At the same time, Venus (astral ruler of Libra) is included in the arcane for Sagittarius (number 7 in the clockwise orientation) although indirectly. This card includes the Spanish letter elle, although inverted, so it talks about changing the perspective in the orientation (Libra = Sagittarius in the ordering of rectangles for even signs).

Have you found more strange relations? There's many others! Personally, I've never met someone using Tarot with astrological correspondences for an oracular reading. It's quite complicated! But the figures and designs lead to meditate on basic and fascinating esoteric subjects to include in any divinatory practice.