The Tarot of King Nissanka, illustrated during the naps of an angel...
A long time ago, there lived a king of great fame by the name of Nissanka. He was well beloved, with a sense of fairness and justice that had been taught to him by his father. His clairvoyance and his wisdom enabled him to solve quite a great number of enigmas. Thus his kingdom was resplendent with joy and plenitude. The hearts of the people for a thousand miles knew happiness and peace.
His wisdom was also, in part, a gift of Shandra the Mage. She had transmitted it to him by means of a magic book made of hard limestone. It was a book quite different from others because it did not contain sentences. Instead, it was composed of colored images that filled a reader's eyes with wonder and his heart with song. It was magic because it allowed the reader to see visions of the future.
King Nissanka met Shandra the Mage at a "magic opera," where she presented him with the book. The king was immediately enchanted by its beautiful, radiant images. He was consumed by curiosity about its nature. And thus Shandra revealed its first secret to him: the colors.
"The colors that exist only share the radiation of the light from which they result. They are reflected by all things and thus they reveal to us their appearances. But there are only a certain number of them that we are allowed to see and *understand*."
"BLACK was at the beginning, before all things. It was the absence of color, as it had absorbed all matter into it. With black alone, there was only chaos, and nothing was aware of the light. But it was the universal substance upon which the light, which gave rise to life, was built."
"The WHITE, original light was the dazzling revelation which illuminated the world. It carried within it the substance of all the colors, which it projected on the world in order to give an appearance to any material form."
"Then the vital and mysterious RED, secretly hidden in chaos, emerged one great day. It purified the matter of the universe, because within it was the power of the fire which burns in our hearts."
"The YELLOW color of eternity appeared by the word. Matter became understandable then, and indeed, began to think..."
"BLUE was wrapped around the world thus expressed. It was the spirit -- the divine wisdom -- rising above the material world."
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This translation copyright
2000 by Jeannette Roth
Used with permission