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Page 1 of 41944 · PDF PAGE 25
…er; “Swords”, to Air; and “Disks” (“Coins”, or “Pantacles”), to Earth. The student will notice this interplay and counter‐ change of the number 4. It is also important for him to notice that even in the tenfold ar‐ rangement, the number 4 takes its part. The Tree of Life can be divided into four planes: the number I corresponds to Fire; numbers 2 and 3, to Water; numbers 4 to 9, to Air; and the number 10 to Earth. This division corresponds to the analysis of Man. The number I is his spiritual essence, without quality or quantity; the numbers 2 …
1944 · PDF PAGE 227
choose to interpret the vertical line above 666 as 1, and add it, the number of the Scarlet Woman, 667, appears. (667=Η ΚΟΚΚΙΝΗ ΓΥΝΗ=8 + 20 + 70 + 20 + 20 + 10 + 50 + 8 + 3 + 400 + 50+ 8.) This cipher is enclosed in a Heptagram, as manifestly needful; and this fig‐ ure again in interlaced Pentagons whose sides are extended, so forming a Wheel of 10 spokes whose boundary is a Decagon; and this again within a circular band, upon which is inscribed in full the name ΤΟ ΜΕΓΑ ΘΗΡΙΟΝ, of 12 (6 x 2) letters. About this whirling Disk are its six Wings; …
1944 · PDF PAGE 110
… This beginning was Nothing; the end must therefore be also Nothing, but Nothing in its complete expansion, as previously explained. The number 4, rather than the number 2, was chosen as the basis of this expansion, partly no doubt for convenience, to enlarge the “universe of dis‐ course”; partly to emphasize the idea of limitation. The letter Tau means the Sign of the Cross, that is, of extension; and this extension is symbolized as four‐fold because of the convenience of constructing the revolving symbol of Tetragrammaton. In the case of the …
1944 · PDF PAGE 28
Queen of Disks, Water of Earth Prince of Disks, Air of Earth Princess of Disks, Earth of Earth The Tarot trumps are twenty‐two in number; they represent the elements between the Sephiroth or Things‐in‐Themselves, so that their position on the Tree of Life is significant. Here are one or two examples. The card called “The Lovers”, whose secret title is “The Chil‐ dren of the Voice, the Oracle of the Mighty Gods”, leads from the number 3 to the number 6. The number 6 is the human personality of a man; the number 3 is his spiritual intuition. Ther…
1944 · PDF PAGE 202
…n idea of a totally different Order is necessary to carry on the series. Note also the refold‐ ing4n‐upon‐itself suggested by the “Magic Number” of Four 1+2 + 3+4 which is Ten. i;:. Four is the number of the Curse of Limitation, of Restriction. It is the blind and barren Cross of equal arms, Tetragrammaton in his fatal aspect of finality, as the Qabalists knew him before the dis‐ covery of the Revolving Formula whereby the Daughter, seated upon the Throne of the Mother, “awakens the Eld of the All‐Father”. For the meanings of Via and Populus, r…
1944 · PDF PAGE 262
…IBUTION OF THE TAROT Provided that Diagram 1 has been mastered as it should have been, this figure will pre‐ sent no difficulty. The ten numbers evidently refer to the small cards of the pack, the Aces to the number I, the Deuces to the number 2 and so on. The Court cards are referred to the num‐ bers 2, 3, 6 and 10 in their capacity as representative of the idea of Father, Mother, Son, Daughter. The twenty‐ two Trumps refer to the twenty‐two Paths. The same general remarks made in the description of the first Diagram, apply here also; but this…
1944 · PDF PAGE 87
Here is Wisdom. Let him that hath Understanding count the Number of Our Lady; for it is the Number of a Woman; and Her Number is An Hundred and Fifty and Six. There is a further description in The Vision and the Voice. (See Appendix.) There is in this card a divine drunkenness or ecstasy. The woman is shown as more than a little drunk, and more than a little mad; and the lion also is aflame with lust. This signi‐ fies that the type of energy described is of the primitive, creative order; it is completely inde‐ pendent of the criticism of reason…
1944 · PDF PAGE 3
… Further proofing is needed; no hyperlinks yet; footnotes not at bottom of page. Please report errors to bifrons@live.com citing release number.
1944 · PDF PAGE 35
numbers, but not by any lesser number, one can arrive at a positive description of any given object or idea. So far, the argument has been erected on a rigid, mathematical basis, with only the slightest tincture of philosophy to give it form. But it is at this point that, for the purpose of describing the objects Thought and Sense, one is compelled to join hands with the astrologers. The problem now is: to assign to Pure Number the moral ideas which go with it. This is partly a matter of experience, partly tradition derived from older experienc…
1944 · PDF PAGE 208
HAPPINESS NINE OF CUPS The Number Nine, Yesod, in the suit of Water, restores the stability lost by the excur‐ sions of Netzach and Hod from the Middle Pillar. It is also the number of the Moon, thus strengthening the idea of Water. In this card is the pageant of the culmination and perfection of the original force of Wa‐ ter. The Ruler is Jupiter in Pisces. This influence is more than sym pathetic; it is a definite benediction, for Jupiter is the planet of Chesed which represents Water in its highest material manifestation, and Pisces brings o…
1944 · PDF PAGE 201
…s from which the water Springs has a multiple stem, as if to show that the influence of the Dyad has gathered strength. For although the number Four is the manifestation and consolidation of the dyad, it is also secretly preparing catastrophe by emphasizing individuality. There is a certain parallelism between this card and the Geomantic figures Via and Populus, which are attributed to the Moon in her decrease and increase respectively. The link is primarily the “Change=Stability” equation, already familiar to readers of this essay. Four is an …
1944 · PDF PAGE 15
… postulate in the obscure past a fantastic assembly of learned rabbins, who solemnly calculated all sorts of combinations of letters and numbers, and created the Hebrew language on this series of manipulations. This theory is plainly contrary, not only to common sense, but to the facts of history, and to all that we know about the formation of language. Nevertheless, the evidence is equally strong that there is something, not a little of something but a great deal of something, a something which excludes all reasonable theories of coincidence, …
1944 · PDF PAGE 267
…ked to his own mind by its position in the Solar system. The tenth Sephira, which refers to Earth, is not shown on this figure. For this number represents the Nephesch, the animal soul of man, the crystallization of the mind, and the Daughter or Hé final of Tetragrammaton. In this edition very little attention has been paid to the immense, vast, overshadowing dogma of the Christian era. This has been variously represented as the doctrine of original sin, of the Fall, of the Atonement; part of this doctrine is given in the legends about the Lost…
1944 · PDF PAGE 26
…there is an equilat‐ eral triangle, which one would think would be a natural basis for the Operations of Philoso‐ phy, consisting of the numbers 1,4 and 5. But there are no lines joining 1and 4, or 1and 5. This is not an accident. Nowhere in the figure is there an erect equilateral triangle, although there are three equilateral triangles with the apex downwards. This is because of the original for‐ mula “Father, Mother, Son”, which is three times repeated in a descending scale of simplicity and spirituality. The number 1is above these triangles…
1944 · PDF PAGE 234
FAILURE SEVEN OF DISKS The number Seven, Netzach, has its customary enfeebling effect, and this is made worse by the influence of Saturn in Taurus. The disks are arranged in the shape of the geo‐ mantic figure Rubeus, the most ugly and menacing of the Sixteen. (See Five of Cups.) The at‐ mosphere of the card is that of Blight. On the background, which represents vegetation and cultivation, everything is spoiled. The four colours of Netzach appear, but they are blotched with angry indigo and reddish orange. The disks themselves are the leaden di…
1944 · PDF PAGE 221
INTERFERENCE EIGHT OF SWORDS The number Eight, Hod, here signifies lack of persistence in matters of the intellect and of contest. Good fortune, however, attends even these weakened efforts, thanks to the influ‐ ence of Jupiter in Gemini, ruling the Decan. Yet the Will is constantly thwarted by accidental interference. The centre of the card is occupied by two long Swords pointed downward. These are crossed by six small swords, three on each side. They remind one of weapons peculiar to their countries or their cults; we see here the Kriss, the …
1944 · PDF PAGE 177
… the Lord of Work. Some‐ thing has definitely been done. THE FOUR FOURS These cards are attributed to Chesed. The connection between the number Four and the number Three is extremely complex. The important characteristic is that Four is “below the Abyss”; therefore, in practice, it means solidification, materialization. Things have become manifest. The essential point is that it expresses the Rule of Law. In the Wand suit, the card is called Completion. The manifestation promised by Binah has now taken place. This number must be very solid, bec…
1944 · PDF PAGE 37
THE ATU OF TAHUTI1 Or: The Twentytwo Houses of Wisdom, Or: The Twentytwo Trumps of the Tarot. Twenty‐two is the number of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. It is the number of the Paths of the Sepher Yetzirah. These paths are the paths which join the ten numbers on the figure called the Tree of Life. Why are there twenty‐two of them? Because that is the number of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and one letter goes to each path. Why should this be so? Why should these paths be arranged on the Tree in the way that the diagram shows? Why s…
1944 · PDF PAGE 36
… is little place for abstract ideas. The subject of the book—the Tarot is called The Book of Thoth or Tahuti—is the influence of the Ten Numbers and the Twenty‐two Letters on man, and his best methods of manipulating their forces. There is therefore no mention of the Three Veils of the Negative, which was dis‐ cussed in the description of the Tree of Life. The description begins with the “small cards”, numbered I to 10. These are divided into four suits according to the four elements. Thus the Ace of Wands is called the Root of the Forces of Fi…
1944 · PDF PAGE 14
…TAROT is a pack of seventy‐eight cards. There are four suits, as in modern playing cards, which are derived from it. But the Court cards number four instead of three. In addi‐ tion, there are twenty‐two cards called “Trumps”, each of which is a symbolic picture with a title itself. At first sight one would suppose this arrangement to be arbitrary, but it is not. It is necessitated, as will appear later, by the structure of the universe, and in particular of the So‐ lar System, as symbolized by the Holy Qabalah. This will be explained in due cou…