The Cube of Space:

The Evolution of
the Soul as Told by
the Tarot
Agenda
The Cube of Space
Greater Seattle Tarot Meetup Online Workshop
Saturday, June 19, 2021, 9:30-11:30 a.m.

1. Origins: The Sepher Yetzirah

2. Translated to Tarot: Knut Stenring and Paul Foster Case
3. New Dimensions: David Allen Hulse
4. The Evolution of the Soul
5. The Infinity Paths on the Cube
6. The Spiral Wands of Creation
7. What’s Next?
8. Thank You!
Origins: The Sepher Yetzirah
John from the Denver Tarot Geeks will introduce the Sepher Yetzirah and the
construction of the Cube of Space.
Translated to Tarot:
Knut Stenring and Paul Foster Case

Tarot expert and BOTA

founder Paul Foster Case,
inspired by the work of Sepher
Yetzirah translator Knut
Stenring, applied the Major
Arcana cards of the tarot to the
Cube of Space.

It is likely his innovation to

place the Fool, Hanged Man,
and Judgment (the cards for
the three Hebrew mother
letters) as the x, y, and z axes
of the Cube.
New Dimensions: David Allen Hulse
Esotericist and author David Allen Hulse, after
decades of study, writing, meditating, and
working with the Cube of Space, uncovered
the journey around and through it and the
resulting story of spiritual evolution.

He realized that each face of the cube is a

degree or grade of spiritual development.
Furthermore, the edges of each face are the
tasks the seeker must accomplish to complete
the initiation and advance to the next level.

The path around the Cube follows the order of

the seven traditional planets from slowest to
fastest. Not only does this sequence logically
start and conclude with the World card in the
center, but it also outlines an infinity sign.
The Cycle of Evolution
Begins and Ends with
the World
The wreath around the dancer is shaped like the number 0, the
Fool. As a circle (and for other esoteric reasons), it represents the
Wheel. The figure-8 red ribbons at the top and bottom of the
wreath are the lemniscate infinity signs, indicating both the
repeated cycles of birth and rebirth, as well as the ultimate
ascension to the Infinite.
The Infinity Path
The Infinity Path
The Evolution of
the Soul The soul proceeds through seven
grades of initiation.
0. Preparation for Incarnation
1. Birth and Rebirth in the West
2. Quest in the North
3. Initiation in the South
4. The Student Becomes the
Teacher in the East
X. The Unnumbered Grade
5. The Master of Light
6. The Master of Darkness
7. Joining the Lower and Higher
at the Center
Preparation: Descent into Personality
1. In preparation for its evolutionary journey, the
soul descends from the realm of Godhead via the
Above-Below axis (the Fool).
2. It stops at the Center (World), the point of the
beginning and end of its journey, where it dons
the mask of the personality it will wear in this
lifetime.
3. It then proceeds along the East-West axis (the
Hanged Man), the path of birth, to the West.
4. After completing the North face, the soul will pass
via the narrow path of spiritual rebirth from North
to South (Judgment).
5. The intersection of the three directional axes at the
center is the both the starting and ending point.
The beginning of the journey as well as the
seventh and final initiation of total enlightenment.
Grade 1: Birth in the West
In the West face of the setting sun and eve of darkness,
the individual is asleep to the spiritual plane. This Sleeper
must endure repeated births and deaths until becoming
aware of the spiritual nature.
1. The Wheel of Fortune represents the ongoing cycle of
death and rebirth.
2. The Devil indicates the soul is bound in material
existence unaware of its own spiritual life.
3. Death stops the soul from advancing until it feels
remorse and compassion for humanity.
4. Temperance is the Holy Guardian Angel. Connection
with the HGA is achieved when the soul becomes
aware of and desires its spiritual nature.
5. Justice evaluates the honesty of the soul’s desire, and
if it is true, grants it the degree of the West face and
allows it to advance to the North.
Grade 2: Quest in the North
The Sleeper, or sleeping soul, is now the Seeker. On the North
face, the midnight direction of greatest darkness, the student is
isolated, completely self-reliant with no community support.
1. Justice will now let the soul incarnate directly into the North-
West edge of the Cube, no longer having to experience
lifetimes born into the servitude to the material world.
2. Following the Hermit, the Seeker looks within, casting light
into the darkest corners to rout out fears, preconceptions,
and misconceptions.
3. The Emperor is a secret teacher, hidden to the student, who
nevertheless watches over him and determines when he is
ready to pass to the next level.
4. Strength represents the practices and techniques, including
meditation, contemplation, and visualization, that the soul
learns. The seeker performs these practices incorrectly or
without result at this stage.
5. Eventually, the seeker has a powerful and personal mystical
experience, symbolized by the Tower. He at last glimpses his
higher self, and from that new perspective, the face of God.
This experience sends him through the Narrow Path of
Spiritual Rebirth, the Judgment card, through the Center
(World) of the Cube, arriving at the South face.
Grade 3: Initiation in the South
The Seeker now becomes the Initiate. While he worked
alone in darkness in the North, now in the bright light of
the noonday Sun in the South, he meets teachers and
friends, reveling in a supportive community. He
becomes a member of a spiritual lodge, fraternal order,
or mystery school.
1. The Sun is the light of wisdom from his teacher.
2. As the Moon, the student reflects that wisdom,
climbing the long but ever rising path of study and
knowledge.
3. Death from this perspective is no longer the cloak of
forgetfulness, but the opening of memory of past
lives and the knowledge gained there.
4. When the Initiate experiences the Star, which is the
light that inspires his teacher, he finds the Divine
within.
5. Then he is admitted to the Hierophant’s inner circle
of the secret tradition where he learns directly from
the teacher’s mouth the wisdom he will need as he
becomes a teacher himself.
Grade 4: The Teacher in the East
1. No longer an acolyte to the Hierophant, the Initiate becomes
the Teacher.
2. The Chariot’s wheels remind him that he values the repeated
incarnations that help him achieve self-mastery. At this time,
the Teacher formulates his own doctrines and teachings,
expressed and documented in words, such as recordings or
writings.
3. As the Emperor, watching over the Seekers in the North, the
Teacher must be strict in his tests and stern in evaluating the
students’ progress.
4. Eventually, as symbolized by the Lovers, the Teacher must
make a choice between the Path of the Saint or the Ascent to
Godhead.
5. If he chooses the Path of the Saint, he passes through the
womb-door of the Empress to be reborn again in the West.
Alternately, choosing the Path of Godhead opens the final
step of the East side, the Empress, as the experience of Divine
love. He then passes through the Lovers at East-Above to
arrive at the Above face, the Magician.
Secret Grade of Saint/Messenger
1. Passing from the East via the Path of the Hanged Man,
the soul is reborn in the West at the Wheel, this time
through his own choosing.
2. In this lifetime the soul lives completely from the
position of Temperance.
3. He helps those laboring under the unfair yoke of the
Devil to experience compassion and see the hidden
spiritual life so they can advance. On this path, the
Devil holds no sway over him.
4. He reaches Death at the time of his choosing.
5. At that point he immediately advances to Grade 7 as
an ascended master, the return to Center (World). As a
disincarnate teacher, his spirit is available on the inner
planes to all who seek his wisdom.
Grade 5: Master of Light
The grade Master of Light grants the height of all
spiritual knowledge. In previous grades, the student
walked step by step through the lessons of the edges of
the face. Now above the vertical sides, the four lessons
of the Lovers, Star, Temperance, and Strength are all
realized simultaneously.
1. The Lovers teach sacred sexuality.
2. The Star endows permanent heightened awareness
and a knowledge of astrology.
3. Temperance allows for continual communication
with the spirit planes.
4. Strength embodies the Master with a charismatic
personality combined with compassion for all
sentient life that will draw students to the path of
initiation.
5. Achieving the level of the Magician, the Master,
through a perfectly focused mind united with a clear
will, has the power to change the world.
Grade 6: Master of Darkness
Descending the Path of the Fool, the adept joins above and
below, uniting the higher and lower selves. The Master of
Darkness is initiated into the deepest and darkest mysteries.
1. The silence of the High Priestess allows the Master of
Darkness to intuit the true nature of God, “which begins
where human knowledge ends.”
2. Overcoming the Devil, the master now settles all karmic
obligations.
3. The Moon opens the essence of lunar magic to the master.
Natural magic, knowledge of how to work in harmony with
the lunar cycles, and angelic language are realized.
4. The Charioteer teaches the Master of Darkness divination,
number systems, and sacred alphabets. The Chariot, 7,
allows the seven chakras to be fully opened and balanced,
allowing the chariot of light to transport the soul throughout
the universe during meditation.
5. The Hermit illuminates the hidden side of God, the revelation
of secret wisdom.
Grade 7: Uniting Higher and Lower
The seventh initiation at the Center is the experience of
total enlightenment. This intersection of the three axes
is the inner sanctuary of the temple where the higher
self comes face to face with God. The soul will no longer
experience reincarnation.
1. The Fool now grants the Master cosmic
consciousness.
2. The Hanged Man no longer provides the experience
of repeated cycles of birth and death, instead
indicating the completion of the Great Work.
3. The spiritual rebirth of Judgment is complete.
4. The World ultimately provides the reconciliation of
above with below, resulting in the permanent union
of the higher and lower selves.
The Fool (air), Hanged Man (water), and Judgment (fire),
combine into the element earth in the World card, the
temple beyond time and space.
The Infinity Path of Evolution

The lemniscate outlining the

primary path of evolution:
• from Center (World)
• to West (Wheel)
• to North (Tower)
• to South (Sun)
• to East (Empress)
• and back to Center (World)
The West-North Infinity Path

The lemniscate outlining the

Sleeper/Seeker path:
• from the center of the West face
(Wheel)
• around the West edges (Devil, Death,
Temperance, Justice)
• through the North edges (Justice,
Hermit, Emperor, Strength)
• ending in the center of the North face
(Tower)
The South-East Infinity Path
The lemniscate outlining the
Initiate/Teacher path:
• from the center of the South face
(Sun)
• around the South edges (Moon,
Death, Star, Hierophant)
• through the East edges (Hierophant,
Chariot, Emperor, Lovers)
• ending in the center of the East face
(Empress)
The Inward and Outward Double Spiral
The Spiral Wands of the World
One with the Infinite: Spiral Wand in Space
Headline: Astronomers Spot Largest Rotation In The
Universe
Astronomers were looking at the universe on the
grandest scale, in which there are great filaments made
of galaxies, separated by giant voids. And they found
that these long, thin cylinders of galaxies and matter,
forming the vast cosmic filaments of the cosmic web,
rotate on the scale of hundreds of millions of light-
years.
As the early universe expanded outward from the Big
Bang, and as galaxies began to form – the galaxies
pulled themselves into these vast filaments, creating
the cosmic web.
The galaxies in the filaments funnel on corkscrew paths
https://earthsky.org/space/largest-rotation-universe-cosmic-filament/ into the clusters at their ends. As a result of mapping
this, scientists discovered that the filaments
themselves spin, the largest rotation in the Universe.
What’s Next?
• Please follow our ongoing
exploration of the Cube of
Space, on the first Saturday
of every month, starting in
July, at the Greater Seattle
Tarot Meetup.

• Also, please join the Denver

Tarot Geeks, where we will
pursue philosophies of the
Cube beyond the evolution of
the soul, tying all 78 cards
into the dimensions of the
Cube.
 Thank You
for Attending
“The Cube of Space”
• Please visit my website
JoyVernon.com for more
information, classes or to schedule
a reading
• Remember to stop by my blog,
CompletelyJoyous.com
• Follow all our great events at the
Greater Seattle Tarot Meetup and
the Denver Tarot Geeks!
• And please subscribe to Joy
Vernon Astrology * Tarot * Reiki
on YouTube!
About Your Presenters
Joy Vernon is an astrologer and tarot reader in Burien, Washington. She formerly
served as the Organizer of the Denver Tarot Meetup and Denver Tarot Geeks and
now runs the Greater Seattle Tarot Meetup. Joy brings expertise and practiced
familiarity to her specialty of esoteric tarot, which layers astrological and qabalistic
symbolism onto the traditional images. Over the past ten years, Joy has published
more than 300 free articles on tarot, astrology, qabalah, Reiki, and meditation on
her blog Completely Joyous (https://joyvernon.com/blog/). Schedule a reading to
see her philosophies in action (https://joyvernon.com/).

John Michael Allen has been a practitioner and perpetual student (and occasional
teacher) of tarot for almost 30 years, employing the cards for divination, personal
development, creative work, and magickal applications. While being steeped in the
esoteric aspects, he has a deep appreciation for the intuitive, and continuously
strives to integrate both. He has been a member of Denver Tarot Meetup
(https://www.meetup.com/DenverTarot/) since 2008 and is currently its organizer,
along with DTM’s esoteric sister group, Tarot Geeks
(https://www.meetup.com/Denver-Tarot-Geeks/).