The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus) · 12 of 134 · tr. A.P. Morton
Chapter III (part 2)
The results of this consideration are: (1) That all the numbers in their evolution, reproduce the 4 first; (2) That the last of these 4 first, the figure 4, represents the unity at a different octave.
The sequence of the numbers may therefore be written in this way-- 1.
2.
3 4.
5.
6 7.
8.
9 10.
11.
12 13.
14.
15 16.
17.
18 19 ...........
We may notice that 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, etc., are only different conceptions of the unity, and this may be proved by the application of theosophic addition and reduction thus-- 1 = 1 4= 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10 = 1 7 = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 = 28 = 10 = 1 10 = 1 13 = 4 = 10 = 1 16 = 7 = 28= 10 = 1 19 = 10 = 1, etc., etc.
We see that in every three numbers the series reverts to the unity abruptly, whilst it returns to it progressively in the two intermediate numbers.
Let us now repeat that the knowledge of the laws of numbers and the study of them, made as we have here indicated, will give the key to all occult science.
We must now sum up all the preceding statements in the following conclusion: that all numbers may be reduced, in a final analysis, to the series of the 4 first, thus arranged-- 1.
2.
3 4 THE SIGNIFICATION OF NUMBERS.
But our knowledge of the numerical science of the ancients does not end here.
It also attributed a meaning to each number.
Since we have reduced the series of all the numbers to the 4 first, it will suffice for us to know the meaning attributed to these 4 first.
The Unity represents the creative principle of all numbers, since the others all emanate from it; it is the active principle pre-eminent.
But the Unity alone cannot produce anything except by opposing itself to itself thus 1/1.
From this proceeds duality, the principle of opposition represented by two, the passive principle pre-eminent.
From the union of the Unity and Duality proceeds the third principle, which unites the two opposites in one common neutrality, 1 + 2 = 3.
Three is the neuter principle pre-eminent.
But these three principles all reduce themselves into the fourth, which merely represents a new acceptation of the Unity as an active principle.
The law of these principles is therefore as follows-- Unity or return to unity.
Opposition antagonism.
Action of opposition upon the unity.
Active 1 Passive 2 Neuter 3 Active 4 Etc.
.
.
.
.
Active 1 Passive 2 Passive-Active 4 Neuter 3
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 passage describes a structural unfolding where Unity produces Duality, which combines with Unity to produce the Neuter (3), and these reduce into the Fourth as a new Unity, mirroring an ontological cascade.
The Hermetic doctrine that a masculine-feminine generative principle operates on every plane of being, not only the biological — present at all times as a structural feature of creation itself. Distinct from divine_marriage (a specific reunification event or symbol) and aeons (paired divine beings arranged in syzygies, not a universal structural claim).
The text assigns 'active' (masculine-coded) and 'passive' (feminine-coded) qualities to the principles of Unity (1) and Duality (2), reflecting a generative polarity.
Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality.
The passage is entirely dedicated to the occult significance of numbers, their reduction to the first four, and the claim that this knowledge is the key to all occult science.
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 text defines the second principle (2) as 'the principle of opposition' and describes the interaction between active (1) and passive (2) principles.
The Hermetic doctrine of a measured swing or pendulum motion between poles — action and reaction, flow and outflow, rise and fall — operating in mental, physical, and cosmic-historical registers alike. Distinct from apocatastasis (cosmic-scale eschatological restoration after vast cycles) in naming a constant, ever-present oscillation rather than a singular restorative event.
The passage notes that the series reverts to unity 'abruptly' in every three numbers and 'progressively' in intermediate numbers, suggesting a cyclical pattern or rhythm.