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The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus) · 10 of 134 · tr. A.P. Morton

Chapter II (part 3)

The Vau The Median letter, the link , which unites the active to the passive. The Affinity between the Ego and the Non-Ego = 6. These three letters express the Trinitarian law of the Absolute. The 2nd He The second He marks the passage from one world to another. The Transition. This second He represents the complete Being, comprising in one Absolute Unity the three letters which compose it: Ego, Non-Ego, Affinity. It indicates the passage from the noumenal to the phenomenal or reciprocal; it serves as means of ascension from one scale to another. REPRESENTATION OF THE SACRED WORD. The word Yod-he-vau-he can be represented in various ways, which are all useful. The circle can be drawn in this way-- yod י 1st he ה 1st he ה vau ו But since the second He, the sign of transition, becomes the active entity in the following scale, i. e. since this He only represents a yod in germ, the sacred word can be represented, with the second he under the first yod , thus-- yod 1 st he vau 2 nd he Lastly, a third method of representing the word consists in enveloping the Trinity, Yod-he-vau , with the tonalisating letter, or second He, thus-- Now we will leave these data, to which we must return later on, and speak of the occult or Pythagorean conception of numbers.
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Themes
Correspondencecosmology

The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.

The structural representation of the word implies a mapping between letters, numbers, and cosmic scales ('as above, so below' logic).

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Emanation Hierarchycosmology

A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above.

The text describes transitions between worlds (noumenal to phenomenal) and ascension from one scale to another.

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Letters Of Creationcosmology

The twenty-two Hebrew letters as the building blocks through which God creates and sustains all existence.

The passage centers on the Hebrew letters Yod, He, Vau, and their arrangement as the 'Sacred Word' representing divine structure.

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Logoscosmology

The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world.

The 'Sacred Word' (YHVH) functions as the ordering principle and representation of the divine law.

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Monadcosmology

The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.

The concept of 'Absolute Unity' suggests a singular first principle underlying the letters.

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Numerical Mysticismtheology

Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality.

The text explicitly references the 'occult or Pythagorean conception of numbers' and assigns numerical value (6) to affinity.

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Polaritycosmology

The Hermetic doctrine that apparent opposites are identical in nature but differ in degree — two extremes of the same scale (hot/cold, love/hate) — such that one pole can be shifted toward its opposite by a change of degree ('mental transmutation'). Distinct from opposites_transcended (a completion-state marking the path's end, not this doctrine's active technique) and magical_equilibrium (balance held BETWEEN two forces, not identity-by-degree of what looks like two forces).

The Vau is defined as the link uniting the active to the passive, indicating a doctrine of opposing forces.

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Sacred Namestheology

Divine names or formulas that carry ontological power, used in prayer, liturgy, or magical practice.

The passage details the representation and power of the divine name Yod-he-vau-he (YHVH) as a structural cosmic principle.

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Spiritual Ascentpraxis

A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.

The second He serves as a 'means of ascension from one scale to another'.

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Unity Of Beingtheology

The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.

The text refers to 'Absolute Unity' comprising Ego, Non-Ego, and Affinity within the second He.

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Related passages · 6 parallels
neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 448
“Section 16 16. We have, of course, already seen that a secondary must follow upon the First, and that this is a power immeasurably fruitful; and we indicated that this truth is confirmed by the entire order of things since there is nothing,…”
Shared concept: Monad — The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows. (derived)
neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 451
“Section 1 1. Anything existing after The First must necessarily arise from that First, whether immediately or as tracing back to it through intervenients; there must be an order of secondaries and tertiaries, in which any second is to be re…”
Shared concept: Monad — The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows. (derived)
christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 7 (part 4)
“28.) "In Paradise the substance of the divine world penetrated the substance belonging to time, comparable to the power of the sun penetrating a fruit growing on a tree, and endowing it with such qualities as render it lovely to the sight a…”
Shared concept: Logos — The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world. (derived)
theosophy|The Secret Doctrine|Page 3 (part 7)
“Herbert Spencer has of late so far modified his Agnosticism, as to assert that the nature of the "First Cause,"* which the Occultist more logically derives from the "Causeless Cause," the "Eternal," and the "Unknowable," may be essentially…”
Shared concept: Unity Of Being — The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim. (derived)
egyptian|The Egyptian Heaven and Hell|Chapter 6 (part 5)
“The Rubric had, in fact, so far back as B.C. 2600, become a traditional magical formula of a most powerful character, and it must have been composed at the time when the abode of the blessed was supposed to resemble the "great field" in wh…”
Shared concept: Sacred Names — Divine names or formulas that carry ontological power, used in prayer, liturgy, or magical practice. (derived)
platonism|Plato: Timaeus|Section 1ad
“That which yields has a small base; but that which rests on quadrangular bases is firmly posed and belongs to the class which offers the greatest resistance; so too does that which is the most compact and therefore most repellent. The natu…”
Shared concept: Correspondence — The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others. (derived)