The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus) · 37 of 134 · tr. A.P. Morton
Page 14 (part 2)
The men of the 2nd He , the multitude from which the other classes are continually recruited: the People.
The four great symbols are placed upon the table at random, and Man rules them and must arrange them; in the twenty-first arcana we shall find these symbols arranged in a cross.
We already know that the first card of the Tarot is completed by the twenty-first (21 + 1 = 22), and we see why, if this first card represents Microcosm , the last would represent Macrocosm , and the eleventh card, which serves as the universal link to all the complements of the Tarot, represents the Vital reflex Current , which serves as a link between the worlds.
But we must not anticipate, so we will return to our first arcanum.
This symbol is the first of the whole Tarot, and it bears the Unity as its characteristic number.
The Unity-principle, the origin of which is impenetrable to human conceptions, is placed at the beginning of all things.
We cannot seize the origin of this primal cause, which we are content to assert according to the absolute law of analogies so well expressed by Eliphas Levi-- "Je crois à l'inconnu que Dieu personnifie , Prouvé par l'être même et par l'immensité, Ideál SURHUMAIN de la philosophie, Parfaite Intelligence et Suprême Bonté." If we cannot follow this Unknown in its principle, it is at least easy to us to follow it in its consequences, and therefore our study will be only the development of the Unity-principle in creation, related according to the Cosmogony of ancient initiation.
God , Man , and the Universe are, then, the three meanings of our first card, and we will now say a few words upon the application of these data to all the other cards of the pack.
EXTENSION OF THE THREE GREAT PRINCIPLES THROUGH THE TAROT.
The three meanings of the first card respectively represent-- The Creator or Yod .
The Receiver or He .
The Transformer or Vau .
Lastly, the transition to the second He , which is not under consideration at present.
But the first card of the Tarot, taken as a whole , represents the Creator or Yod , the second card taken as a whole will therefore represent the Receiver or He , and the third the Transformer or Vau .
Each of them will also show the four aspects of Yod-he-vau-he in the idea which it expresses.
But what is true of the ternary, is also true of the Septenary, so that the first Septenary, taken as a whole, will represent the CREATOR.
The second septenary will represent the RECEIVER.
The third the TRANSFORMER.
Lastly, the ternary of transition will.
represent the return of effects to causes, and of consequences to the principle.
Let us condense this all by saying-- 1st septenary represents God.
2nd septenary ---- Man.
3rd septenary ---- the Universe.
Moreover, each of these elements is contained in the two others in all points of their manifestations.
GENERAL RECAPITULATION.
We have now to recapitulate all the acceptations of the first card in a general figure.
As each card in the Tarot will have the same recapitulation, we think it may be useful to explain the scheme followed in this arrangement.
At the head of the figure will be found the Hebrew number and letter of the card.
Below it, the name usually given to the card in the Tarot.
To the right of the figure are the significations in the Three Worlds: Divine, Human, and Natural.
Below these three significations is found the absolute key to each card, according to the figure of the revolutions of the word Yod-he-vau-he .
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 passage explicitly invokes the 'absolute law of analogies' and states that each element is contained in the two others in all points of their manifestations.
The Stoic and Plotinian doctrine that all parts of the cosmos are bound by hidden affinities, so that a movement in one part resonates through the whole; the metaphysical basis for astrology, magic, and divination.
The idea that elements are contained within each other and linked by the 'Vital reflex Current' suggests a doctrine of hidden affinities binding the cosmos.
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 passage mentions studying the development of the Unity-principle 'according to the Cosmogony of ancient initiation'.
The doctrine that the divine is present within all things and the universe itself, pervading creation rather than remaining solely transcendent above it. Distinct from unity_of_being (the general claim that all existence is one substance, agnostic about whether that substance indwells its parts) and from kingdom_within (the divine present specifically IN THE INDIVIDUAL human, accessible without mediation) — divine_immanence is the general pervading-presence claim applied to all of creation, not a human-specific indwelling.
The text asserts that God, Man, and the Universe are the three meanings of the first card and that each element is contained in the others.
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 the 'Unity-principle' as the origin placed at the beginning of all things, with a development in creation involving Creator, Receiver, and Transformer.
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 reference to 'ancient initiation' and Eliphas Levi suggests a transmission of secret wisdom.
The human being as a small-scale image of the entire cosmos; the body, soul, and intellect mirroring the structure of the heavens and the divine — distinct from correspondence in that it makes the human the privileged mirror.
The text explicitly states that the first card represents Microcosm and the last represents Macrocosm.