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The Tarot of the Bohemians

Papus

Chapter 8

Key to the symbolism of the Tarot.

The four first cards of the major arcana form, symbolically as well as numerically, a complete sequence, which corresponds with the sacred word Yod-he-vau-he.

For the first card expresses the active absolute, and corresponds with Yod.

The second card denotes the reflex of the first, the passive absolute; it corresponds with the first He.

The third indicates the median term, the convertible ransforming term, corresponding to Vau.

Lastly, the fourth card is a term of transformations of the three first, and that the latter will supply us with the general law of symbolism, a law which will enable us to determine mathematically the sense of each card that follows.

But we can go still further.

Since the second card is the reflex of the first, and is formed by the first considered negatively, and since the third card results from the two others, it suffces to be perfectly aquainted with the first cad of the Tarot to determine mathematically the sense of all the others.

Some details upon this subject are necessary.

The general law of the four first cards is as follows-

1. Positive. Creator.
2. Negative. Reflex of the first. Preserver.
3. Neuter, enveloping the two others. Transformer.
4. Passage from one series to another.

We can then represent the series in this way-

And what is true for each of the terms of a ternary is also true for the ternary taken as a whole, and this leads us to new considerations.

For the first ternary would be positive, corresponding to Yod, the active, the creator.

The second ternary would be negative, and would correspond to the first He, i.e. that all the terms of this ternary would be reflections of the terms of the first, just as the second card was the reflex of the first.

This gives us-

We can thus determine the meaningof the arcana 4, 5, 6, 7 in the three worlds, since we know the meaning of the arcana 1, 2, 3, 4.

We need only refer to the study of the Tarot by numbers, to find the symbols, which correspond respectively to Yod, He, to Vau, and to the second He.

But if the second ternary is the reflex of the first, the same rule applies to the septenaries.

All the cards of the second septenary will therefore be the symbolical reflection of those of the first.

All the cards of the third septenary are representative of the thir term, or of transformation.

We have then-

The 1st septenary,

Which represents the active Creation. The Divine Osiris- Brahma, or the Father.

The 2nd septenary,

Which represents Preservation. The Astral, Isis, Vishnu, the Son.

The 3rd septenary,

Which represents Transformation, Physics, Horus, Siva, the Holy Spirit.

The three first arcana will therefore give the sense of all the others according to the following figure:

This figure is very important, for it enables us to see at once the symbolical value of any card in the Tarot by working in the following way-

To Discover A Priori The Symbolical Value Of Any Card In The Tarot.

We must see-

(1st) Which Hebrew letter is written to the left in the horizontal column, which contains the card under consideration.

(2nd) Which Hebrew leter is written at the footof the vertical column, containing the card.

(3rd) Which sign (+ or -) governs the secondary vertical column, containing the card in question.

Example:

I wish to determine the sense of the 5th arcanum.

I look to the left and find the Hebrew letter he.

This shows that the 5th arcanum is the heof what?

In order to know, I look at the vertical column and find yod.

The 5th arcanum is the he of yod, but that is not enough, so I look at the secondary column

which contains the sign (-) negative.

I thus obtain a definite description of the 5th arcanum.

The fifth card of the Tarot is-

The He of Yod considered negatively.

This is a synthetic formula comprehensible to those only who are used to manipulating the sense of the word Yod-he-vau-he.

It is therefore necessary to give further explanations.

He represents the reflex.

We may therefore say, more explicitly-

The 5th arcanum is:

The reflex of yod considered negatively. What what is yod considered negatively?

To find this out, I look in my left column at the letter yod, I seek in the secondary vertical column the sign (-) negative, and at the intersection of these two lines I find the 4th arcanum.

The yod considered negatively is the 4th arcanum.

This leads me to conclude-

That the 5th arcanum is the reflex of the 4th arcanum.

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