The Tarot of Her

The Tree of Life, the Nightside, and the Tunnels of Set

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The traditional Qabalistic Tree of Life is one of the foundational symbolic systems of Western esotericism. Emerging from Jewish mysticism and later adapted by Hermetic occultism, the Tree presents a map of divine emanation — a vision of spirit descending from the infinite source into material existence and then ascending once more through spiritual realization. Through the work of groups such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and later the writings of Aleister Crowley, the Tree became central to modern ceremonial magic and Tarot symbolism.

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The Tree consists of ten Sephiroth connected by twenty-two paths corresponding to the Hebrew letters and, in later occult systems, the Major Arcana of the Tarot. Traditionally, these paths guide the initiate toward balance, illumination, and union with higher consciousness. The Tree of Life is therefore often understood as a solar and harmonizing system — a map of order emerging from divine intelligence.

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Yet behind this luminous structure lies another hidden dimension: the Nightside.

The Nightside Qabalah explores the shadow regions concealed beneath or behind the Tree of Life. These are the hidden currents associated with dream states, forbidden knowledge, subconscious impulses, primal archetypes, lunar symbolism, and powers traditionally regarded as dangerous or taboo. In older Jewish mystical teachings these shadow realms were linked to the Qliphoth — fragmented shells or residues outside divine equilibrium.

Most traditional occultists regarded the Qliphoth as chaotic or corruptive forces to be avoided. However, twentieth-century occult thinkers radically transformed this interpretation. The most important among them was Kenneth Grant, who developed the concept of the Typhonian Tradition. Grant argued that the Nightside was not merely a realm of evil, but a hidden reservoir of transformative consciousness connected to dreams, sexuality, extraterrestrial intelligence, ancient goddess cults, and the deeper layers of the psyche.

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Central to this reinterpretation was the mysterious text known as Liber 231. Attributed to Crowley, Liber 231 contains cryptic sigils and invocations associated with the twenty-two pathways connecting the Sephiroth. Crowley himself offered little explanation, leaving the work deliberately enigmatic. Kenneth Grant later expanded upon these ideas and linked the pathways to hidden subterranean channels beneath the Tree of Life itself.

These hidden pathways became known as the “Tunnels of Set.”

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The name is deeply symbolic. In ancient Egyptian mythology, Set was not originally a purely evil figure. He was the god of deserts, storms, darkness, isolation, foreign lands, eclipse, and disruptive transformation. Set represented the forces outside ordinary civilization — powers both feared and necessary. In later mythology he became associated with chaos and the slaying of Osiris, yet occultists such as Kenneth Grant reinterpreted Set as a gatekeeper of forbidden initiation and hidden wisdom.

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The Tunnels of Set therefore symbolize the concealed pathways beneath the ordered Tree of Life — the undercurrents beneath conscious reality. While the Tree above represents structured spiritual ascent, the tunnels below represent descent into the subconscious, the dreamworld, the shadow self, and the unknown regions of psychic experience.

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Grant described these tunnels not merely as symbolic pathways but as zones of altered consciousness inhabited by archetypal intelligences. In the Typhonian system, the tunnels connect:

• dream states,

• lunar currents,

• sexual energies,

• atavistic memory,

• spirit communication,

• and nonhuman or transpersonal forms of awareness.

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Thus the Nightside does not oppose the Tree of Life so much as complete it. The Tree represents cosmic order; the tunnels represent the hidden depths beneath that order. One reveals the architecture of consciousness, while the other reveals the forces moving secretly underneath it.

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Later occult artists developed these ideas visually and ritually. Among the most influential was Linda Falorio, whose visionary Shadow Tarot explored the Tunnels of Set through dark initiatory symbolism and Typhonian imagery. Her work helped transform Liber 231 from an obscure magical text into a living visionary system.

The present Liber 231 deck continues this evolution while transforming it through a feminine initiatory lens. Emerging from earlier archetypal projects such as The Tarot of Her, these cards reinterpret the tunnel intelligences not as grotesque infernal entities but as luminous feminine powers — dream priestesses, lunar queens, eclipse bearers, serpent guardians, and psychic gatekeepers. The emphasis shifts away from fear and toward visionary transformation, intuition, embodiment, and inner descent.

Each front card represents the archetypal manifestation of a tunnel current — its living visionary form. Each reverse sigil card represents the hidden psychic circuitry underlying that archetype. Together they form a complete magical polarity:

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Image ↔ Sigil Manifestation ↔ Current Vision ↔ Structure Consciousness ↔ Subconsciousness

To walk the Tree of Life is to seek illumination and harmony. To enter the Tunnels of Set is to descend into the hidden layers of the psyche and encounter the powers concealed beneath ordinary reality. One path ascends toward celestial order; the other descends into initiatory depth. Both are part of the same mystery.