Page 358 - The_secret_teachings_of_all_ages_Neat

Gazing about him, Adam finds himself in a radiant place, in the midst of which stands a
tree with flashing jewels for fruit and entwined about its trunk a flaming, winged serpent
crowned with a diadem of stars. It was the voice of the serpent that had spoken.

"Who art thou?" demands the Adam.

"I," the serpent answers, "am Satan who was stoned; I am the Adversary--the Lord who is
against you, the one who pleads for your destruction before the Eternal Tribunal. I was
your enemy upon the day that you were formed; I have led you into temptation; I have
delivered you into the hands of evil; I have maligned you; I have striven ever to achieve
your undoing. I am the guardian of the Tree of Knowledge and I have sworn that none
whom I can lead astray shall partake of its fruits."

The Adam replies: "For uncounted ages have I been thy servant. In my ignorance I
listened to thy words and they led me into paths of sorrow. Thou hast placed in my mind
dreams of power, and when I struggled to realize those dreams they brought me naught
but pain. Thou hast sowed in me the seeds of desire, and when I lusted after the things of
the flesh agony was my only recompense. Thou hast sent me false prophets and false
reasoning, and when I strove to grasp the magnitude of Truth I found thy laws were false
and only dismay rewarded my strivings. I am done with thee forever, O artful Spirit! I
have tired of thy world of illusions. No longer will I labor in thy vineyards of iniquity.
Get thee behind me, rempter, and the host of thy temptations. There is no happiness, no
peace, no good, no future in the doctrines of selfishness, hate, and passion preached by
thee. All these things do I cast aside. Renounced is thy rule forever!"

And the serpent makes answer: "Behold, O Adam, the nature of thy Adversary!" The
serpent disappears in a blinding sunburst of radiance and in its place stands an angel
resplendent in shining, golden garments with great scarlet wings that spread from one
corner of the heavens to the other. Dismayed and awestruck, the Adam falls before the
divine creature.

"I am the Lord who is against thee and thus accomplishes thy salvation, " continues the
voice. "Thou hast hated me, but through the ages yet to be thou shalt bless me, for I have
led thee our of the sphere of the Demiurgus; I have turned thee against the illusion of
worldliness; I have weaned thee of desire; I have awakened in thy soul the immortality of
which I myself partake. Follow me, O Adam, for I am the Way, the Life, and the Truth!"

p. 129

An Analysis of Tarot Cards

OPINIONS of authorities differ widely concerning the origin of playing cards, the
purpose for which they were intended, and the time of their introduction into Europe. In
his Researches into the History of Playing Cards, Samuel Weller Singer advances the
opinion that cards reached Southern Europe from India by way of Arabia. It is probable
that the Tarot cards were part of the magical and philosophical lore secured by the