The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus)

The Preface states that the Tarot pack, transmitted by the Gypsies, is the primitive book of ancient initiation, demonstrated by Guillaume Postel, Court de Gébelin, Etteila, Eliphas Levi, and J. A. Vaillant, and that the key to its construction remains unrevealed; the writer offers an accurate guide to Initiates, promises ladies methods for divining in Chapter XX, and signs "PAPUS." A table of contents follows, listing septenaries, cards, summaries, applications, authors, and lessons. Chapter I, "Introduction to the Study of the Tarot," opens with an epigraph attributed to Rabelais. The text declares materialism exhausted and synthesis necessary, locating ancient synthesis in India and Egypt. It explains that knowledge was transmitted secretly in temples as mysteries, giving the name occult science, and that three methods preserved it: secret societies, the cultus, and the people. Under "The Secret Societies," it traces the Western chain from Alexandria through Gnostics, Arabs, Alchemists, Templars, Rosicrucians, to Freemasons, and states Freemasonry lost its doctrine, excepting Ragon. Under "The Cultus," it asserts one religion underlies all creeds, cites the Jewish High Priest receiving Alexander the Great, names Fabre d'Olivet's work on the Bible, and lists various Bibles. Under "The People," it names Moses and the Hindu Initiates, then identifies the Gypsies as depositories. Under "The Gypsies," it identifies the Tarot as the Bible of Bibles, the book of Thoth Hermes Trismegistus, cites Raymond Lulle, Cardan, Postel, and Saint-Martin, and addresses Masters, Rosicrucians, and Kadosh regarding Hiram, INRI, and YOD-HE-VAU-HE. Under "Our Work," it outlines study of the Kabbalah, Tarot construction, applications, and divination, dedicating the work to philosophers of Unity.

Chapter II treats the sacred word Yod-he-vau-he (יהוה). The text states that, according to the Kabbalah, the oral tradition of the Hebrews, a sacred word exists giving its discoverer the key to all sciences; the Israelites never uttered it, the High Priest pronounced it once a year, and it appears in initiatory ritual, Freemasonry, and on cathedrals. It is formed of four Hebrew letters used in the Sepher Bereschit to designate divinity. Numerical values are assigned: Yod=10, He=5, Vau=6, second He=5, totaling 26. Each letter is studied: the Yod represents the Unity-principle, origin of all things and of all other letters; the aleph is composed of four yods. The He, equal to 5 (10 divided by itself), represents the passive, the Non-Ego, the feminine. The Vau (15=6) signifies link or affinity between Ego and Non-Ego, the third term of the Trinity. The second He marks transition from one world to another, representing the complete Being. A summary and representations of the word by circle and figures follow. Chapter III treats the esoterism of numbers, describing two lost operations: theosophic reduction (adding a number's figures to one figure) and theosophic addition (adding all figures from unity to the number). Through these, 1, 4, 7, 10 all reduce to 1; numbers reproduce the four first, and 4 represents unity at another octave. Meanings are assigned: Unity active, Duality passive, Three neuter, Four a new active. Chapter IV establishes analogy: 1=Yod, 2=He, 3=Vau, 4=2nd He. The text states Pythagoras, initiated in Egypt, replaced the word with the tetractys, 1, 2, 3, 4, which equals Yod-he-vau-he, symbolized by the Cross, before turning to the Tarot pack.

Chapter V opens by stating the Tarot comprises 78 cards: 56 minor arcana and 22 major arcana, the minor formed of four series of fourteen, the major of 21 numbered cards and one un-numbered. The text directs arranging packets accordingly and grounds the whole in the tetragrammaton Yod-he-vau-he. Studying one colour, the text names the four suits—Sceptres (clubs), Cups (hearts), Swords (spades), Pentacles (diamonds)—and takes Sceptres as example. The four figures king, queen, knight, knave correspond to Yod, first He, Vau, second He, the knave serving as transition. The ten numbers are arranged into series 1–4, 4–7, 7–10, each repeating the law. Numbers are grouped: 1-4-7 as Yod, 2-5-8 as first He, 3-6-9 as Vau, 10 as second He; 10 acts as transition between colours. The figures and numbers are linked across three Kabbalistic worlds (divine, human, material), each colour forming body, vital force, intellect, and reproductive organs. The four colours as a whole again express the tetragrammaton; the text cites Guillaume Postel and Eliphas Levi on this analogy, and maps Sceptre to crosier, Cup to Chalice, Sword to Cross, Pentacles to Host. Pentacles marks transition between minor and major arcana. Chapter VI applies the law to the major arcana, where figures and numbers unite. Using number as guide, the text builds ternaries (1-2-3, 4-5-6), septenaries (first, second, third), and a ternary of transition (19-20-21), assigning the three septenaries to Divine, Man, and Nature worlds. Chapter VII connects major and minor arcana through the tetragrammaton's affinities, listing card-by-card dominations of each septenary over kings, queens, knights, knaves and their numbers, and explains the +, -, and ∞ signs defining each card's value.

The chapter opens Part II, introducing the study of symbolism in the Tarot. The text states that its numerical study has provided a general key, and that symbols follow the evolution of numbers. It announces a short introduction on the grouping of symbols before further details and a synthetic recapitulation. The analysis of the word Yod-he-vau-he gives the general law, represented by four primitive terms found in the first four cards: Creator/Divine, Preserver/Astral, Transformer/Physical, Generator/Transitional. Each card possessing three meanings has a Divine, Magic-Astral, and Physical sense. The four first cards correspond to Yod, first He, Vau, and second He. The text explains that all symbols are transformations of the first three, and knowing the first card determines all others. It extends the law to ternaries and septenaries, naming Osiris-Brahma, Isis-Vishnu, Horus-Siva. A figure arranges the 22 arcana into series, and a procedure determines any card's value, illustrated with the 5th arcanum. The tableau is called the key of the Ars Magna of Raymond Lulle. Rules follow for deriving cards by thirds, finding uniting cards, and complementary cards totaling 22. It closes restating the general law.

Chapter IX opens by stating that each Tarot card represents a symbol, a number, and an idea, and that numbers were studied first as the most settled element. The text recommends procuring the Tarot of Marseilles and the twenty-two keys designed by Oswald Wirth. It notes the personages wear Renaissance dress yet bear Egyptian symbols (triple cross No. 5, ibis No. 17), arguing the Marseilles Tarot represents the primitive Egyptian Tarot, held intact only by the gypsies. It cites Chatto, Boiteau, and Merlin, saying Merlin traced the Marseilles Tarot to a Venetian Italian Tarot, then to Mantegna's pack, but the text states Mantegna's pack is a reproduction derived from the Tarot, as was Raymond Lulle's Ars Magna. It lists Mantegna's fifty figures, the Minchiate of Florence, Venetian, and Bolognese packs, and correspondences between the Italian packs and the modern Tarot. The text then discusses Hindu Tarots—the chess game Tchaturanga and the Mussulman Gungeifu—and the Chinese Tarot, referencing Court de Gébelin and J. A. Vaillant. It names modern Tarots: Etteila (dismissed as mutilated), Watillaux, Italian, Besançon, Marseilles, and German (with different minor arcana suits). It describes Oswald Wirth's pack, made on Eliphas Levi's principles with Stanislas de Guaita's advice and Poirel's printing. The text argues symbolism should be derived from ancient science, citing Saint-Martin, Lacour, Barrois, Court de Gébelin, and Fabre d'Olivet on sixteen primitive signs, adopting the 22-letter Hebrew alphabet. It explains the yod generating three mothers, seven doubles, twelve simples, and tabulates the letters. Chapter X presents the scheme for studying each of the 22 major arcana—hieroglyphic sign, ideas, Tarot figure, affinities, summary figure—and the Sepher Yetzirah's astronomical correspondences, opening the first septenary.

The text states that knowing the meaning of the first card of the Tarot allows the signification of all others to be discovered, noting each card has three meanings. It cites Hœné Wronski, who placed three elements at the origin of creation: the Neuter Element, the Element of Being, and the Element of Wisdom. It then cites Fabre d'Olivet, who names three elements—Providence, Destiny, and Human Will—and notes their agreement with Wronski. These are identified with God, Man, and the Universe, confirmed by Hermes Trismegistus, the Kabbalah, Pythagoras, Guillaume Postel (DEUS, HOMO, ROTA), Trithemie, Cornelius Agrippa, Kircher, Claude de Saint-Martin, India's Trimurti, China's Tri-grams of Fo-Hi, Egypt's Osiris-Isis-Horus, Hesiod, and Louis Lucas. The text turns to the first card, the Juggler, tied to the letter Aleph, expressing Man as microcosm. It describes the card's symbolism: the sign of Universal Life above, Earth below, Man at centre, hands raised and lowered corresponding to Jakin and Bohas. The four symbols—Cup, Sword, Pentacles, Sceptre—correspond to the Tetragrammaton and four human castes. It links the first card to the twenty-first and eleventh, cites Eliphas Levi, and extends the three principles (Creator/Yod, Receiver/He, Transformer/Vau) through the ternary and septenaries, then gives a recapitulation scheme and the Juggler's affinities table. The second card, the High Priestess (Beth), expresses Isis, God the Son, Eve, natura naturata—the negative reflection. The third card, the Empress (Gimel), signifies generation, Horus, Humanity, the World. The fourth card, the Emperor (Daleth), expresses active reflection: the Will, the Power, the universal creative fluid, marking transition to the second series.

The text presents the fifth card, The Pope, corresponding to the Hebrew letter He, whose hieroglyphic meaning is aspiration or breath, yielding ideas of life, being, and reunion. The Initiate of the mysteries of Isis sits between two columns, leaning on a triple cross and making the sign of Esoterism with his left hand; two crowned men kneel before him. It is called the complement of the second card, and its significations across Divine, Human, and Nature are given as Intelligence, Authority (Religion, Faith), and Universal Life, with an affinities table. The sixth card, The Lovers, corresponds to Vau, the eye. It quotes Fabre d'Olivet on this sign. A beardless youth stands where two roads meet, arms crossed; two women, Vice (left, dishevelled, vine leaves) and Virtue (right, gold circle), point to the roads, while the spirit of Justice above aims an arrow at Vice. Significations: Beauty, Love (Charity), Universal Attraction. This closes the First Septenary, Constitution of God. Chapter XI begins the Second Septenary, arcana 7 to 13. The seventh card, The Chariot (Zain, arrow), shows a Conqueror in a cubical chariot drawn by two sphinxes, signifying The Father, Realization, the Astral Light. The eighth, Justice (Heth, field), shows a woman between columns with sword and balance, signifying The Mother, Justice, Elementary Existence. The ninth, The Hermit (Teth, roof), shows an old man with lamp and stick, signifying Human Love, Prudence, the Astral Fluid. The tenth, The Wheel of Fortune (Yod, finger), shows Anubis ascending, Typhon descending, the Sphinx balanced; associated with the Trimurti and signifying Necessity, Magic Power, Force Potential. The eleventh, Strength (Kaph, hand), shows a girl closing a lion's mouth, signifying Liberty, Courage, Reflected Life.

The text presents the twelfth card, The Hanged Man, linking the Hebrew letter Lamed to the arm and expansive movement, the zodiacal Balance, and describing a man hung by one foot from a gibbet on two branch-cut trees; it identifies him as the Juggler again, notes his crossed legs, the Rosy-Cross recognition sign, and names Equilibrist Force, Charity, and Acquired Experience. Chapter XII opens the Third Septenary (arcana 13–19), the World of Facts or Transformation. Death (Mem) shows a skeleton mowing heads and feet, tied to destruction and regeneration, with arithmetic pairing arcana; it signifies the Universal Transforming Principle. Temperance (Nun, Scorpion) shows the genius of the Sun pouring the fluid of Life between vases; it signifies Involution and Individual Corporeal Life. The Devil (Samech, Sagittarius) is compared to the Juggler with inverse gestures, holding a torch, standing on a cube upon a sphere, horned; it references Fabre d'Olivet and Nahash, the Dragon of the Threshold, signifying Destiny and Fatality. The Lightning-struck Tower (Ayin, Capricornus) shows a tower struck by lightning with two falling men, representing the fall of Adam and materialization, signifying Divine Destruction and the Fall. The Stars (Phe, Mercury) shows a nude woman pouring water from two cups under seven stars, with an ibis or butterfly, signifying Immortality and Hope. The Moon (Tzaddi, Aquarius) shows a moonlit meadow, dog, wolf, crayfish, and blood drops, signifying Chaos and Matter, ending involution. Chapter XIII opens the Ternary of Transition. The Sun (Qoph, Gemini) shows two children in an enclosure signifying the Elements. The Judgment (Resh, Saturn) shows an angel trumpeting over a rising family, signifying Motion. The Fool (Shin) shows a careless man walking toward a precipice, with verses by Eliphas Levi, signifying the Animal Kingdom.

The text assigns the World card the 22nd Hebrew letter Tau, comparing its meaning to Daleth and Teth and describing it as the sign of reciprocity and perfection. It describes the card: a nude female figure with a wand in each hand within an ellipsis, legs crossed, surrounded by four animals of the Apocalypse. It correlates these with the sacred name's letters, cites Postel's name Rota, links the centre to Adam-Eve, and states the card recapitulates the whole work.

Chapter XIV presents a general summary of the symbolical Tarot under three headings: Theogony, Androgony, Cosmogony, framed as involution and evolution. The text states that three primary principles—the Universe, Man, and God—are considered throughout their evolution, tracing a progression from God the Holy Ghost to Matter (INVOLUTION) and from Matter to God (EVOLUTION). It credits CH. Barlet's study of this double current. Under Theogony, the text places the Absolute undetermined at the origin. Unity manifests through three terms: Absolute activity (God the Father: Osiris, Brahma, Jupiter); Absolute passivity (God the Son: Isis, Vishnu, Juno); and Absolute Union, the synthesis (God the Holy Ghost: Horus, Siva, Vulcan). Following advice attributed to Claude de Saint-Martin, the text uses Man—body, life, will—to explain synthesis, noting Wronski names the third principle the Neuter Element. The text quotes Lacuria (Vita, Verbum, Lux) and Wronski (Apodictique, on the absolute, Wisdom, and Being) as agreeing with the Tarot. It lists Egyptian (Amen, Ptah, Osiris, per Jamblique), Hindu (Parabrahm; Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, with a Rig-Veda cosmogony passage), and Kabbalistic (En Soph; Chocmah, Binah, Kether) theogonies. Under Androgony, the first ternary reflects into Adam (Will/Brain), Eve (Intelligence/Heart), and Adam-Eve (Humanity), citing Jacob Boëhm. The text concludes the Universe is God's body, Humanity his soul, God his Spirit, correcting Pantheists, Schopenhauer, and Hartmann. It discusses the human family, Emanation, and the Septenary. Under Cosmogony, Natura naturans, naturata, and the Fatal Force of Destiny are named, with Death, Corporeal Life, the Fall, and Matter. The chapter closes with instructions and a Tableau recapitulating all Major Arcana symbolism and yod-he-vau-he revolutions.

The text states the twenty-first card is the key to every application of the Tarot. It offers an example from physics: the prism decomposing white light into colours, then reinterprets the same figure via Louis Lucas's unique force acting on varying quantities of matter, then via physiology, where blood acts on organs producing saliva, gastric juice, and bile. It states only the words change, not the figure. It describes the card's four corner animals, central woman (Humanity), and elliptic crown, then applies it to the year, the month, the day, and Human Life, naming Providence, Fatality, and Human Will.

The chapter opens by proposing to demonstrate the Tarot's principles through astronomy. It states that the Egyptians divided the year into four seasons of three months each, each month holding three decani of ten days, totaling 360 days, plus five Epagomenes placed after the 30th degree of the Lion. The text sets out to locate in the Tarot the four seasons, twelve zodiacal signs, and thirty-six decani, each ruled by a planet. The four figures correspond to the four seasons, illustrated by the twenty-first card's four corner figures, elliptic zodiac space, and central planets. The twelve signs are assigned to King, Queen, Knight, and Knave across Sceptres (Spring), Cups (Summer), Swords (Autumn), and Pentacles (Winter), with the Knave as Epagomene transition. The thirty-six decani are mapped onto the minor arcana numbers, each governing ten degrees and a fraction of the year, forming the basis of an astrological Tarot. The major arcana represent the septenary of planets acting on three worlds (3×7=21), summarized in a tableau referencing Christian and Ely Star. Two extracts from La Vaillant (Les Rômes) follow, describing the 21st card as the Universe or Time, its four heads (Eagle, Lion, Bull, Man), the nude woman Eve, and etymologies linking Athor, As-taroth, Henoch, Sephora, and the Hebrew Thora. The chapter then reproduces Oswald Wirth's essay. Following Christian, Wirth arranges the twenty-two arcana in two rows of eleven (North and South) matched to Hebrew letters, describes their groupings into quaternaries and framing pentacles, and divides initiation into masculine (Dorian) and feminine (Ionian) paths. He concludes with a tableau correlating each arcanum with constellations, promising a planisphere and a double-hexagram pentacle.

The chapter opens by stating that F. Ch. Barlet has written an article on applying the Tarot to the doctrines of Initiation, which the text quotes in full. Barlet contrasts ancient sages, who united science and wisdom, with modern separation, and points to Positivist philosophers who unintentionally cross their own limits. He presents the school of Theosophy as reconciling science and metaphysics through developing human faculties, citing hypnotism and magnetism as evidence that perception can extend beyond ordinary limits. He states that Initiation instructs man to approach transcendent regions while guarding against illusion. Barlet divides Initiation into Theory and Practice, recommends a reading series (Richet, Comte, Du Prel, Spinoza, Aristotle, Wronski, and others), and notes the bibliography in Papus's Traité Élémentaire de Science Occulte. He explains the formula "no matter without force," describing Force sways Matter, Evolution, and Will, then builds hierarchized quaternaries from Α (Divine World) to Ω (Kosmos). He describes Involution (Spirit descending into Matter) and Evolution (Matter re-ascending), placing man midway between Angel and Beast. He identifies the twenty-two Great Arcana as symbolizing Involution and Evolution, with the twelve hours of the Nuctemeron of Apollonius of Tyana marking Initiation's phases. He describes the 10th arcanum as the Sphinx (first hour), then arcana XI (Strength/Magnetism), XII (Great Work/Alchemy), XIII (Death/Necromancy), XIV (the two Urns), XV (Typhon, the Dragon of the Threshold, referencing Lytton's Zanoni), XVI (Lightning-struck Tower/Therapeut), XVII (Star of the Magi/Astrology), XVIII (Twilight), XIX (Resplendent Light), XX (Awakening of the Dead), and XXII (Crown of the Magi/Nirvana). He recapitulates the twelve hours in a table, notes the effort required, and closes with encouragement. Signed F. Ch. Barlet.

The section, titled "The Divine Name in the Tarot" and attributed to Ca. Barlet, states that the Tarot's 78 cards distribute a multiple signification—theologic, cosmologic, psychologic, and divining—and that the Tarot can be made to speak once a combination is arranged. The text poses the question of Creation from man's point of view and answers using the 22 great and 56 minor arcana. It explains that the first three cards form the Trinity, repeated seven times across the great arcana, and that card IV completes the divine tetractys, giving the name IEVE (יהוה); numbers and letters are correlated. It then describes drawing a sphere (Fig. 1), placing card 0 (the Foolish Man or Crocodile) at the centre, and distributing the arcana across three meridians and zones from north pole to equator to lower hemisphere, associating them with three planes of Creation, the ten sephiroth, Death (XIII.), and Initiation. The 56 minor arcana are assigned the number 4, divided into Sceptres, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles, forming spiritual and material duads and figure-duads. The Knaves are placed around card 0 as a cross, the four 10 outside, and Kings, Queens, Knights, and numbers arranged in concentric circles (Fig. 2). The text traces the living atom's descent through arcana X., XI., XII. and death at XIII., maps the twelve Zodiac signs and four trigons, and re-reads the divine Name through sectors and diagonals. It details manifestations of each letter—Yod, first E, V (the Son, Christ), second E—across specific arcana, notes the arrangement resembles Saturn with its ring, and concludes the Tarot can represent Creation's history and future.

Chapter XVIII, "The Kabbalistic Tarot," opens with deductions by Etteila upon the Book of Thoth (the Tarot). The text recapitulates Etteila's conclusions: the book, of Egyptian origin, has 78 leaflets in 4 volumes (12, 5, 5, 56), the 22 major arcana forming three volumes and the 56 minor the last; the 56 divide as 26+17+11+2. The four colours represent Agriculture, Priesthood, Nobility, and People. The book is likened to a living being (78 body, 3 spirit, 1 soul). Numbers are assigned meanings: 78 as Salt, 26 as Jehovah, and the operations yielding 0, 1, 2 as Universe, God, Man. Packets 26, 17, 11 signify Soul, Spirit, Body; 24 is Life. Readers are referred to Etteila's Collection sur les hautes sciences (1780). Next, "The Hierogram of Adam, by Stanislas de Guaita" applies the Tarot to the Kabbalah. Adam (אדמ) is analysed through Aleph (Juggler), Daleth (Emperor), and Mem (Death), compared to the Indian Aum. A numerical calculation gives Adam as 9, then 10 (Yod). Discussion of Adamah, Eve, Vau, and He follows, citing the Lotus of March 1888. Chapter XIX lists and describes authors who studied the Tarot: Raymond Lulle, Cardan, Postel, the Rosicrucians, Court de Gébelin, Etteila, Saint-Martin, Vaillant, Christian, Eliphas Levi, Guaita, Péladan, "The Platonist," Barlet, Wirth, Poirel, Ely Star, Blavatsky, De Sivry, and Mathers. Chapter XX, "The Divining Tarot in Seven Lessons," addresses lady readers, discusses astronomy, astrology, and intuition in fortune-telling, cites Fabre d'Olivet on determined events, will, and Providence, and criticizes Christian's system. The First Lesson introduces simplification of the rules, noting the many card meanings and proposing a simpler method.

The Second Lesson describes the Minor Arcana from a divining view. The 78-card Tarot divides into 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana, the latter split into four series—Sceptres, Cups, Swords, Pentacles—each of 14 cards. The series represent Enterprise, Love, Hatred, and Money respectively. The four figures are defined: King as Man, Queen as Woman, Knight as Young Man, Knave as Child, correlated to positive, negative, opposition, and absolute neuter. Cards divide into dark and fair, good and bad. The 10 numbered cards are grouped into three packets of three plus a tenth, keyed to Commencement, Opposition, Equilibrium (equated with Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis, and Brahma, Siva, Vishnu). The text then gives detailed significations for each series and card, from Sceptres through Cups, Swords, and Pentacles, and advises writing meanings on cards, noting professional readers avoid this because intuition guides them. The Third Lesson lists the 22 Major Arcana with divinatory meanings, from the Juggler (Male Inquirer) to the Universe (Assured Success). The Fourth Lesson explains arranging cards, describing four periods of life and event, three time-periods with the Inquirer at centre, and a three-circle figure for great readings. The Fifth Lesson gives a rapid process (four minor arcana in a cross, three major in a triangle) and a more elaborate process using twelve minor and seven major arcana. The Sixth Lesson presents Etteila's method. Etteila, whose real name was Aliette, a hairdresser's apprentice at the French Revolution, studied a Tarot pack for thirty years. Four deals are described—dividing into heaps of 26, 17, 11 for Soul, Mind, Body—summarized from his rare work, The Book of Thoth.

The Seventh Lesson conclusion states that intuition and practice are necessities in fortune-telling by cards, now that the art has lost its scientific principles. The text notes it studied the best method of applying the Tarot, learned the meanings of the arcana, and adopted the system used by Etteila, founder of Cartomancy, leaving readers to choose their preferred system. A bibliography lists Mademoiselle Lemarchand, R. Julia Orsini, and Madame Clément. Chapter XXI applies the Tarot to games. The Royal Game of Human Life is described in fourteen numbered rules: players choose a Magian and name a man and woman Osiris and Isis; a fine is set and a basket placed; the Magian shuffles and deals the Book of Thoth; players read oracles and act as interpreters; refusals of presents trigger councils, and the Magian pronounces PAMENES; spectators may buy hands; rules govern reading, fines, the civic crown, and ending the game. "The Unity of Games" asks whether one game underlies others. Consulting a Gypsy's Tarot, the text credits Court de Gébelin with showing its Egyptian origin, and derives the Goose game, Chess, Dice, Dominoes, Backgammon, Draughts, and playing cards from it. A dusty manuscript relates that Egyptian savants, facing invasion, confided their knowledge to vice—a game—so the Tarot preserved their secrets. Chapter XXII, the Conclusion, reviews the work's scope: seeking a synthetic method in ancient wisdom, identifying the Gypsies' Tarot and the Jews' Sepher, revealing Yod He Vau He, and grounding studies in number and the twenty-two Hebrew letters. The text discusses Astronomy, Dupuis, analogy, applications to Kabbalah and Theosophy, its address to Initiates, Etteila's method, and closes appealing to Kabbalists, Theosophists, Martinists, Rosicrucians, and Freemasons.

An alphabetic table of authors and principal works quoted opens the page. Under A it lists Agrippa, Amaravella, Apollonius of Tyana, Arnould, Abbema, Adam, and Adhémar. B covers Barrois, Blavatsky, Boiteau, Boehme, Bertrand, and Barlet. C lists Court de Gébélin, Caillié, and Chatto. D gives Doe. E gives Ely Star and Etteila. F names Franck and Fabre d'Olivet. G lists Guaita, Gary, Goyard, and Goudeau. H covers Hartmann, Hermes Trismegistus, Holmes, Homer, and Hesiod. K lists Kircher, Kabbala Denudata, and the Koran. L covers Levi, Lenain, Lacuria, Lejay, Lacour, and Louis Lucas. M lists Montière, Moses, Merlin, Manoel de Grandfort, and Morsier. Further entries continue through N, O, P, R, S, T, V, W, and Y, ending with Yves d'Alveydre.