The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus) · 34 of 134 · tr. A.P. Morton
Page 13 (part 1)
THE FIRST CARD OF THE TAROT.
ORIGIN OF THE SIGNIFICATION OF ALL THE OTHERS.
We see from our preceding work that if we know the exact meaning of the first card of the Tarot we can, from that, discover the signification of all the others.
We cannot approach this subject without great hesitation.
The hope of ascertaining the truth is, in fact, troubled by the possibility of making a mistake which might have very serious results.
The work which we have already accomplished will, however, enable us to decipher the meaning of the symbolism of the first card of the Tarot almost mathematically, but the general meaning only; whilst we know that each card must have not one, but three meanings.
We must discover three sufficiently general principles to be applied to every order of human knowledge; for this should be the object of the Tarot.
In this case we will, as usual, resort to those eminent authors who have treated these questions from different points of view, and the agreement between their teachings will give us new light to illuminate our path.
The Pole HŒNÉ WRONSKI, who died of hunger in the suburbs of Paris, was perhaps one of the most powerful intellects produced by the 19th century.
He asserted that he had discovered the formula of the absolute, and his works are unquestionably a summary of one of the most elevated syntheses that we have ever seen.
We need not discuss the doctrines of Wronski, but will only say a few words upon the three primitive elements which enter into his law of creation.
Wronski places at the origin of all creation three elements, which he designates by the names-- Of Neuter Element (E.
N.) Of Element of Being (E.
B.) Of Element of Wisdom (E.
W.) The Neuter Element represents the Absolute, Reality resulting from the total neutralization of the two other elements by each other.
The Element of Wisdom represents the CREATIVE FACULTY with its especial characteristics, autogeny and spontaneity.
The Element of Being represents the PERMANENT FACULTY with its characteristics, autothesis and inertia.
Principle of the Creation or Element of Wisdom.
Principle of Preservation or Element of Being.
Principle of Neutralization or Neuter Element.
These are the three terms upon which Wronski establishes the foundations of Reality, and, consequently, of all the systems of creation.
We must remember these conclusions.
FABRE D'OLIVET, in his researches upon the first principles which direct everything, determines the existence of three elements, which he names Providence, Destiny, and Human Will.
Providence is the principle of ABSOLUTE LIBERTY, of the creation of beings and things.
Destiny is the principle of ABSOLUTE NECESSITY, of the preservation of beings and of things.
Lastly, the Human Will is a neuter principle intermediate between the two: the principle of mobility and CHANGE, in all their forms.
Now it is not necessary to be very learned to perceive the absolute agreement which exists between the two authors; the one, Wronski, reached his conclusions by mathematics, the other, d'Olivet, attained his by profound study of antiquity and its mysteries.
The words used may vary, but the idea is fundamentally the same.
Wronski's Element of Wisdom (E.
W.), the principle of the creation , is the same thing as the Providence of d'Olivet, who thus places it as the principle of the creation.
Wronski's Element of Being (E.
B.), the principle of the permanent faculty , exactly represents what d'Olivet calls Destiny, and which he concludes to be the principle of preservation.
Lastly, d'Olivet's human Will corresponds in all points with Wronski's Neuter Element.
Here then are two very different systems, which lead to the same signification.
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 text asserts that knowing the first card reveals the signification of all others and seeks principles applicable to 'every order of human knowledge,' reflecting a structural mapping.
Narratives or doctrines of cosmic origin — how heaven, earth, and the primordial deities first came into being. The Kojiki's deities born alone on the Plain of High Heaven, Voluspo's Ginnungagap, Genesis's tohu wa-bohu, the Timaeus's Demiurge fashioning the Receptacle, the Hesiodic Theogony, the Kalevala's egg-cosmogony, Egyptian Nun-and-Atum. Distinct from emanation_hierarchy (structural-ontological cascade), letters_of_creation (mechanism of creation), and apocatastasis/frashokereti (end-state restoration); cosmogony is temporally-narrative beginning.
The text explicitly details Wronski's and d'Olivet's theories regarding the 'origin of all creation' and the 'three primitive elements which enter into his law of creation.'
Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.
Fabre d'Olivet's element of 'Providence' is explicitly defined as the principle of absolute liberty and creation, directly matching the concept.
A historical or mythical chain of transmission for secret wisdom from master to disciple across time and cultures — the credential of the teaching, not merely its content. Distinct from oral_tradition (the spoken-not-written modality of transmission, which a lineage may or may not use) and hidden_sayings (the concealment-for-readiness of a teaching's meaning, independent of who transmitted it or in what unbroken chain).
The author references specific authorities (Wronski, d'Olivet) whose teachings provide light, implying a chain of wisdom transmission.
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
The passage discusses Wronski's 'Neuter Element' which represents the Absolute and serves as the origin of all creation, aligning with the concept of a first principle.
Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality.
The passage emphasizes the number three ('three meanings', 'three sufficiently general principles', 'three primitive elements') as foundational to reality and the Tarot.
The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.
The text discusses the 'Absolute' and the agreement between different systems leading to the 'same signification,' hinting at a unified underlying reality.