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In today's show we will be talking about Leonardo Da Vinci, the history and the tarot. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

So, let's get started and move into our main topic today.

Leonardo Da Vinci, the Mona Lisa Mystery and the Salvador Mundi Fraud

Now before we really get into it all, Brandon had a question he had asked me on the matter of art.

Brandons' Question:

What is your take on the idea of art being subjective or collective? What is the value and meaning of it?

My Answer:

Art is a subjective expression (that I would say is coming from an objective understanding of reality) in which to articulate a message through the visual senses.

It's only subjective because all expression is subjective. It can only be from the perspective of the individual. Every individual is a different expression of Spirit (which is done on purpose) to get as much expression out into reality (both physical and non-physical).

Since every person is a unique, individual this means that an expression of Truth will come out of that individual differently. It will all be the same Truth only in a different format. This is under the condition that the individual is allowing the natural flow of the Universal Mind, High Self and Spirit to operate through them.

It's done this way (by Spirit) because we are all different (on purpose) and must learn the Truth about reality in ways that fit with us. We are not meant to be carbon copies of each other and we are all meant to take in Truth the way Spirit sees' fit. Nothing operates outside of Gods' will.

Example:

• Some people can read the Truth about reality by observation or practicing painting.

• Some people can experience the Truth about reality through pain and suffering.

• Some people can come to know the Truth about reality by reading, science, faith, nature, or being taught by educators such as those who have gathered on the One Great Work Network as well as many other resources that are available.

People need the objective Truth about Law and reality within their lives, however they will all eventually get this Truth only through the capabilities that are being granted…or that they allow. Everyone is different so everyone needs a personal path to experience. Otherwise we would be living in a world where we all looked, acted and spoke the same. We would be soulless golems operating mechanically. A parasites wet dream. Lucky for us this is not what Spirit wants so this is not how we operate.

The value of art is also subjective because of personal perspective. Even though the society as a whole (who are not fully awake to Truth) sees' art in a financially valuable way this is not actually the value of art. This is a false value placed on art by those who see themselves fit to judge such things. The value of art is the message that the art contains. However, the catch to really being able to see the value of a piece of art one must allow the natural flow of Universal Mind, High Self and Spirit operating through them.

History of the Mona Lisa:

Leonardo (di ser Piero) da Vinci (April 15th 1452 – May 2nd 1519) was an Italian polymath of the Renaissance period who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested on his achievements as a painter, he also became known for his notebooks, in which he made drawings and notes on a variety of subjects, including anatomy, astronomy, botany, cartography, painting, and paleontology.

He was born out of wedlock to a successful notary and a lower-class woman in, or near the town of Vinci (where he gets his name from). He was formally educated in Florence by the Italian painter and sculptor Andrea del Verrocchio.

Da Vinci is said to be one of the greatest painters in the history of art and is used as the prime example of the most excellent work ever created. Despite having many lost works and fewer than 25 attributed major works (including numerous unfinished works) he created some of the most influential paintings in Western art. What is seen as his magnum opus is the Mona Lisa and is regarded as the world's most famous painting. He also painted The Last Supper (the most reproduced religious painting) and created the Vitruvian Man drawing (a modern day cultural icon).

Da Vinci was also an inventor and conceptualized flying machines, armored fighting vehicles, concentrated solar power, a ratio machine that could be used in an adding machine, and the double hull (a method for more of a water tight ship). Very few of his designs were constructed in his lifetime as science was not as advanced as we have it today.

Some of his smaller inventions were able to be realized such as an automated bobbin winder and a machine for testing the tensile strength of wire used for many things including on sewing machines. He made substantial discoveries in anatomy, civil engineering, hydrodynamics, geology, optics, and tribology, but he did not publish his findings.

It is agreed that da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa between 1503 - 1506 but it is speculated by some that he continued working on this painting up toward the end of his life (around the year 1517). Officially, the modern art experts say that the model for the Mona Lisa is the wife of a silk merchant, Lisa del Giocondo and had added elements to remind people of the Virgin Mary though there is controversy on this matter. It was a typical practice that painters would paint whatever was in the background or something of a real location as the scenery, however, in the Mona Lisa the background is an entirely fictional background. This was an unusual thing to do and is said to be the first time anyone has done this. 

There is also the theory that the Mona Lisa was commissioned by Giuliano de' Medici for his illegitimate son who he accepted as his heir and wanted to create an image of a woman (even a fictional representation) that displays a mother figure for the child to look back on.

Da Vinci was known for only painting people of high-ranking nobility and it was unlike him to paint someone who was of a middle-class status…or fictional for that matter. The only connection found between da Vinci and the merchant was that the merchant used da Vincis' father as a notary. Since he was a highly priced and sought after painter families such as the Medici family would have commission work from artists of his caliber.

During this time period Florence had an advanced tax system and citizens had to claim ALL financial dealings including the commission and payment for art as this was considered something that added to the wealth of the family. Art was also included in wills and passed down from parent to child for many generations. There is no written documentation of a commission requested from da Vinci or a paid for piece of work on point of sale by either the merchant, Medici or in da Vincis' family records. There is also nothing in any will from any of these families that the painting was included in. It is possible the merchant requested a commission and even that Medici requested a commission but then the request was never conceived.

Da Vinci did not really do art as a way to make money (though this was more like a side hustle for him as he did run a school). He used art as a way to study form and composition. It was a way for him to advance his understanding of the human form and the nature of humanity. I think he used this (as art is intended to be used) as a way to observe, heal and spiritually advance. In the majority of his work you will be able to see examples of work that he did that has many, many corrections through the process of creating each piece. This suggests a level of reconsideration on the stance and the message he was trying to display in the final composition of the works he did. This is also evidence of constantly learning a better technique and more natural forms. From this I think he was not so much the painter trying to make it as an artist but rather a man who was using the study of people to understand humanity and the experiences they had. Da Vinci left most of his work unfinished. The official story is that this is because he was a distracted individual and could not complete most of his work due to laziness or a lack of disinterest in the subject. I think this is just because he would work on the piece till he got what he needed or wanted from the project and then would move on. Your typical artist.

The Mona Lisa, however, has very few corrections in the work. The original charcoal design of the piece is of a woman who is quite lavish in appearance (the only evidence that the Mona Lisa may have been originally a commission of the merchants wife) but the work itself ends up being the depiction of a woman dressed in black and a sheer head drape with no lavish apparel of any kind. And as mentioned before the background is entirely fictional. This suggests that the painting is a reflection of something that da Vinci might have been struggling with from a past memory and his connections with the spiritual world. This painting was documented by observers who came across da Vinci in his travels as to be in da Vincis' possession even up to the end of this life.

I believe, and I think this is more practical, that the Mona Lisa is a depiction of da Vincis' mother and what he remembered about her before her death when he was a child. This would explain the black clothing and mournful atmosphere of the image. The background resembles elements of the spiritual realm such as the mountains that represent the principles of the physical world and the river that signifies the stream of consciousness. The painting even has the stream passing through the hills that are to signify the spiritual passing into the physical world. The woman in the painting is on the spiritual side of the border and the mountains are in the physical boundary. There are even (though barely noticeable now) two pillars that frame the sides of the painting that could be representing the pillars of Boaz and Jachin.

Now here I am mentioning elements of what most people would know of coming from sources like the Tarot and Rider Waite, but all the elements in sources like this (which did not exist in its full conception till after da Vincis time, though there was other tarot decks and things like poetry about it) did already exist within human knowledge. It is just how it is understood and recorded. And I have no doubt that how this spiritual knowledge is taught will forever be changing due to the parasite class and how they do not want us to know this information. They do not want us to have a connection with this divine reality or develop into spiritually sound adults. To sum it up, all the elements that we know from the Tarot all have originated in our ancient past and is really nothing new. We are just in a state of constant rediscovery.

Moving on. 

Connections to the Spiritual and Occult Knowledge:

You can see how this may be connected to a knowledge of deep esoteric occult teachings as we see in the more modern Rider Waite Tarot deck (created first in the year 1909) but the inspiration for the Tarot dates back as far as the year 1440s and 50s. You can find many depictions of the these teachings in the earliest decks such as the Visconti-Sforza Tarot and the Tarot de Marseilles so this could be an influencing factor on da Vinci during his life. There are also writings before the first decks were made in the form of poetry and other writing works that the decks were eventually inspired from.

Da Vinci was an avid researcher and seeker of truth. He would have been exposed to some of the greatest spiritual teachings in our history as his father saw him as his legitimate son and would have afforded him any manor of education he required or sought after. Because he chose to be an artist I believe that he must have been somewhat open to the spiritual realm of our reality and this helped to shape the person that he was.  

My personal theory is that the Mona Lisa had nothing to do with the merchants wife and was instead a reflection of his personal spiritual journey through healing and spiritual advancement. Let me explain why by using the history known of the Mona Lisa, of the Tarot and of da Vincis' personal mysterious childhood.

I think the Mona Lisa was a failed commission request (twice over) and was turned into a piece that was used by da Vinci to express his spiritual understanding of reality and displaying the woman who taught him how to achieve this understanding (his mother) over the course of his lifetime.

 The Vitruvian Man:

One of da Vincis' most famous drawings is the Vitruvian Man who was first described in the writings of an ancient Roman architect names Vitruvius. Vitruvius is attributed in writing about a man's body fitting perfectly within a circle (that is meant to be the representation of divinity) and also will fit perfectly in a square (that is meant to be the representation of Earth, or what might just be called the physical realm). This as a whole being a representation of man as the embodiment of the Universe, a microcosm within the macrocosm.

As da Vinci was a scholar in his own right this is the kind of teachings that would have inspired him in both the physical and spiritual realm.

Da Vincis' mindset:

Da Vinci is quoted in saying, "We do not lack devices for measuring these miserable days of ours. In which it should be our pleasure that they not be fritted away without leaving behind any memory of ourselves in the mind of men." and also is quoted in saying, "While I thought I was learning how to live, I was learning how to die." These two statements alone can tell you what kind of person da Vinci was. He was thoughtful, empathetic and had a deep understanding of esoteric knowledge.

He was also a vegetarian. This would have been odd in his time because meat was a big part of most meals. He was noted by others to buy cadged birds from the market and then release them into the wild. On this matter he was quoted in saying, "If you're as you've described yourself, the king of the animals why do you help other animals only so they may be able to give you their young in order to gratify your pallet?" He would study plants and animals alike had come to the conclusion that animals could feel pain, suffering and had a level of self-awareness.

The Art World, its' misuse and it's Corruption:

Art was the avenue of the natural creator and seeker of truth. In the ancient times it was not about fame or wealth, it was about a greater understanding of reality and the truth. It was about a spiritual journey. It was about the development of composition. Today's version of the art world is completely different from this mindset. Art has become about status, fame and wealth accumulation. It is about who you know and what you are willing to give or do in order to reach the top. Where the education of art used to be based on apprenticeship and even the evaluation of a potential student on whether they could be an artist at all (not all young people pursuing this path were accepted to study art), now we have modern day institutions that have turned the education of art into this system of indoctrination and control. Only the official stories behind the history of art are taught and accepted. We now have young artists who come out of art school who create uninspired garbage that has no connection to what art is used for and almost no young artists can give you too much history on any part of the subject. It has created an entire generation of emotionally dead, atheists-materialists.

The tool of art that is meant to be an expression on the Spirit itself, manifesting into the physical has been inverted into to this cold, mechanical industry that is destroying the whole point of it. Due to this, if this pattern continues, we will have a society that does not have any consideration for anything that has to do with creative expression or the spiritual connections that creates as it will be non-existent and those who pop up in the physical expression of reality who DO seek such an expression will be ostracized or worse, murdered for this outsider behavior.

The art world today has two sides that operate.

There is the business of no-name artists selling modern art for many thousands up to millions of dollars which is being used for money laundering purposes and probably many other unethical or even immoral things.

And you have the business of ancient art being bought, traded and sold for millions of dollars and being used as a way to keep the value of financial gain (such as the U.S. dollar) where this cannot be devalued by the fractional reserve system.

This system allows the wealth to remain intact without the impact of economic changes. So, to make sure that the value of works such as the Mona Lisa, the Salvator Mundi and other great works of art keep the value of millions of dollars from now till the end of time, the lies about ancient artwork will be upheld by the powers that be.

Such as the Mona Lisa being a commission for a merchant’s wife rather than an expression of da Vinci inner esoteric journey. Not only does it ruin the narrative of the accepted history (that has no real back up to begin with) but it also displays a message of truth and the elite (or rather the parasite class) that control our world currently is not tolerant to us having an understanding anything close to that on a large scale. So the lies are protected at all costs. If the truth was accepted by the art world ancient art would not hold the financial value it holds today, unless valued for it's true historical value by those who value such things.  

Another example of this corruption is the Salvator Mundi. This painting is attributed to Da Vinci, but the evidence does not fully support that this is a da Vinci original. In fact, there is evidence that this painting was most likely the work of a student of da Vinci (where the teacher was teaching through correction methods). There are too many inconsistencies with not just da Vincis' style but also of his skill level. It is the work of an amateur being instructed by a master.

In 2017, the Salvator Mundi, was sold at public auction for US$450.3 million based off the official story that this is a genuine signature da Vinci.

Some brief history on the Tarot, Leonardo Da Vinci and my conclusion. (Part 2)

My general thought process:

I do think that they were first visualized with our ancient writings that go back many, many thousands of years. It may have just been the standard teachings of spirituality in our ancient history and over the course of a few thousand years the teachings of true spirituality had to go into hiding, so to speak. Over the course of several hundreds of years people who have taught true spirituality have been constantly assaulted by the general world using the tools of state and religion to demonize the true teachings. Throughout history people have been persecuted, tortured and murdered over the teachings that bring us closer to God.

Let's go over a working definition for the word Tarot.

Tarot: (TAR-o, ta-RO) noun {French < Middle French < Old Italian tarocco (plural: tarocchi)] a set of cards depicting certain allegories and providing a deck for oracles and games.

What we know of our written history about the Tarot:

Before the Tarot was called the Tarot it was called Trionfi (Italian: [triˈoɱfi], 'triumphs') which are 15th-century Italian playing card trumps with allegorical content related to those used in tarocchi games. Most cards feature the characteristics of a place or abstraction. The tarocchi games used a deck of cards that had specific trumps and numbered cards.

Tarot was originally an allegorical card game based on ancient esoteric teachings and Ancient Christian and Jewish mysticism. 

I believe that our most ancient teachings of spirituality have made its way through history in whatever form it was able to survive in. It is part of Spirits business for it to survive and evolve. The only way for it to do that is to ensure that there is some way for its' physical representation of itself (all physical realm creatures) has a way to create that evolution. To do this it must somehow come to know what true spirituality is. It will never matter, not in the past or future what form the message of Truth shines through…so long as it shines through.

Say for instance, a scholar, artist or minister who knew of the teachings and power of true spirituality and knowing how the world operated, that being the powers at be who are the ruling class and created a way for the information of true spirituality to be taught.

Tarot History Timeline:

Pythagoras introduces metaphysics, including the use of numbers as transcendental realities in 530 BC.

Plato combines his theories about ideal forms with the work of Pythagoras in 350 BC.

Teachings of Thoth-Hermes (an Egyptian moon god) develop into Hermetism in 100 BC.

Traces of Heretic teachings show up in the ancient writings of Christianity in 200 AD.

Astrologers in Harran, before AD 1000, invented the 4-suit deck of cards and used esoteric symbols as suit-signs.

The traditional 56 playing card deck manifested long before the Tarot deck, we have today but it contained a lot of the same allegorical values. The 4-suit deck manifested about 1345 and came from the Muslim Middle East, migrating into Christian Europe.

The first Italian paper mills appeared in 1215, so this opened up a whole new way to get information and create new ways to learn and spread information.

Part of the inspiration for this was a poem that was written in the 14th (between the years of 1351–1374) century by a Tuscan poet named Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) called 'Triumphs' or 'I Trionfi'. The poet took next to 20 years composing a tale of triumph over allegorical figures such as Love, Chastity, Death, Fame, Time and Eternity who vanquish each other in turn. It has the feeling of doing shadow work and the conquest of developing yourself spiritually in the physical realm.

Love is triumphed by Chastity who is triumphed by Death who is triumphed by Fame who is triumphed by Time who is triumphed by Eternity and who all together are triumphed by reality. It is a spiritual journey of an individual that leads from sin to redemption.

Italian humanists, before 1440, supplemented the suits with Egyptianizing trumps, blending Egyptian and Christian motifs.

In 1589 records in Venice in regard to the Inquisition show the Devil card being used as a focus of veneration and prayer. This means that the Tarot itself was not considered evil by association at that time by the Christian faith. In fact, these cards have been used by Christians over many decades and it is only recent time, as in the last couple hundred years that using the Tarot has something to do with evil or demonic purposes. This change in mentality may have something to do with Aleister Crowley and the influence he made on the public.

In 1660 records in Paris show that Jean Noblet published the first deck we know of that closely resembles to the Tarot de Marseille look. The oldest known copies of the Tarot de Marseille were made in Dijon in 1709 by Pierre Madenié.

As a side note, about the mid-1700s was a popular fade called Egyptomania. This was basically a social hobby for all the upper class who were primarily of the Christian faith who became obsessed with Egypt and ancient spiritual teachings coming from Egypt and Jewish mysticism. It was commonplace for Christians to be fully in alignment with the practice of the Tarot reading. They would even use this not just as a card game but a card game that helped to direct spiritual understanding. 

In the 1750s Etteilla (who was the first known professional tarot reader during the time period of 1738-1791) is taught card reading by a man from Piedmont. In 1770 while in Paris Etteilla writes the first book of cartomancy, How to Entertain Oneself with a Pack of Cards. He uses a Piquet deck but mentions Tarot for fortune telling. This is the first manual of card reading and the first explicit written reference to divination with Tarot. In 1783 Etteilla publishes How to Entertain oneself with a Pack of Cards called Tarot, the first how-to-read-tarot manual. It contains an elaborate story of Tarot’s ancient Egyptian origins. In 1789 Etteilla produces the first occult deck illustrating Hermetic teachings.

In 1804-1807 D’Odoucet, a follower of Etteilla, publishes a book on card meanings based on Etteilla’s teachings. This is the basis for about half the meanings of the Minor Arcana cards in the Rider Waite Smith deck.

In 1856 in Paris Eliphas Levi published Dogma and Ritual of Transcendental Magic, a grand synthesis of the western magical tradition that establishes Tarot an important place in history.

In 1861 the english occultist Kenneth Mackenzie visits Eliphas Levi in Paris and is inspired to create the Cypher Manuscript and Book T which becomes the base line for the teachings of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and eventually contributes to the bedrock of Anglo-American Tarot.

In 1864 Robert Chambers writes the Book of Days. A. E. Waite used some of this as the inspiration for his minor arcana.

In 1909 A. E. Waite publishes the Rider Waite deck and the accompanying book the Pictorial Key to Tarot. These become the bedrock of Anglo-American tarot. Pamela Colman Smith is the artist for the Waite deck and was a mystic who was part of the secret occultist society the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

My conclusion:

Now, keep in mind that the Tarot (or at least the teachings of the Tarot) are very ancient and I would suspect that they go back till the beginning of time. That being said there is only so much information we can pull from known history as it is now. Further research on this subject will be done in the future on my part in regard to this but for now this is the cursory information required to move forward. 

Leonardo da Vinci lived during the 14-1500s and would have been able to benefit from the ancient teachings of Tarot, even though at that time they may not have been referred to as this. He did not record a lot of his spiritual understandings or discoveries in his journals, but I contest all his spiritually understandings or discoveries he made through his life are recorded in his art as a form of visual language. And I think the Mona Lisa is prime example of this.

The Tarot, or at least the ancient teaching that we pull from the Tarot, have influenced humanity and humanities culture since the beginning through the form of teachers, writers and artists. It has gone through many transformations throughout history, shaping its form to be able to survive through the ages that has had ups and downs in how it has been received, accepted or prosecuted.

This I would even go so far as to suggest that this is how Spirit (God, That Which Set All Things in Motion, The Universal Truth) has used the Law itself to shape reality in regard to its teachings knowing that these teachings were what was going to be the tool that would help to free humanity on this planet and create ultimate spiritual growth. You may even make a guess that without this preservation humanity would be in severe dire straits and would be worse off than we are now. The teachings of the Tarot are the safety bar that is set into reality to allow people to lean on when necessary. It is a guidebook for the soul to refer to.

So, no matter what form the teachings of the Tarot take shape in the future I know that these teachings will always be there for us as a guiding light keeping the path to true spirituality, truth, love and freedom clear and open to all creatures that exist in this universe. And though God is merely a steward of creation It will still give us Its' hand to show us the way.

Thank you everybody for being here and listening! Message me with any questions or thoughts and I will be sure to address them in the next show! See ya' next time for another rambling on Cross Talk!

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