The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus) · 40 of 134 · tr. A.P. Morton
Page 16
THE EMPRESS. THE EMPRESS. 3. ג 3rd Hebrew letter (Gimel). ORIGIN OF THE SYMBOLISM OF THE THIRD CARD OF THE TAROT. The hieroglyphic meaning of the letter Gimel is the throat, the hand of man half closed in the act of prehension. Hence it signifies all that incloses, all that is hollow, a canal, an inclosure. The throat is the spot where the words conceived in the brain are formed, or I might almost say embodied, therefore the Gimel is the symbol of the material envelopment of spiritual forms, of organic generation under all its forms, of all the ideas springing from the corporeal organs or their actions. Generation is the mystery by which the spirit unites itself to matter, by which the Divine becomes Human. The signification of Venus-Urania, to which this card corresponds, is easily understood by the above explanations. THE THIRD CARD OF THE TAROT. The Empress . This symbol would therefore signify ideas of generation, of embodiment in all the worlds. A woman seen full face . The human being becomes corporeal in the womb of a woman. This woman is represented with wings, or in the centre of a radiating sun. The idea of the spirituality of the vivifying Principle of all beings. She holds an eagle in her right hand. The eagle is the symbol of the soul and of life (Holy Spirit). In the left hand she bears a sceptre forming the astrological sign of Venus. The sceptre is held in the left hand to indicate the passive influence, which Nature, Venus-Urania, or the woman exercises in the generation of beings. She wears a crown with twelve points, or twelve stars. The sign of the diffusion of the vivifying Principle through all the worlds and of the sun, through the Zodiac. The third card of the Tarot shows the result of the reciprocal action of the two first terms neutralizing each other in one principle. It is the Neuter Element of Wronski, the basis of every system of reality. The absolute creative force, or Osiris, and the absolute preservative force, or Isis, neutralize themselves in the equilibrist force, which contains in itself the two very different properties of the two first forms. In God this would be the equilibrium of the Father and of the Son, or-- God the Holy Ghost HORUS The universal vivifying force. In Man this would be the equilibrium of the Adam-Eve-- Adam-Eve Or HUMANITY. In the Universe this would be the equilibrium of Natura naturans and of Natura naturata -- THE WORLD Conceived like a being. 3. ג The Empress . AFFINITIES SIGNIFICATIONS Hieroglyphic Primitive: The hand in the act of prehension Kabbalah: BINAH Astronomy: Venus Day: Friday Hebrew letter: Gimel (double) God the Holy Ghost Horus THE UNIVERSAL VIVIFYING FORCE yod of vau vau-vau __________ Adam Eve HUMANITY he of vau vau-vau OBSERVATIONS THE WORLD vau of vau vau-vau __________ 2 nd he of vau vau-vau The creative principle and the receptive principle, having, by their mutual action, given birth to the transforming principle, a complete entity is created. The term which now follows will correspond with the second he of the sacred word, and will consequently indicate the passage from one series to the other.
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 extensively details correspondences between the Tarot card, Hebrew letters (Gimel), Kabbalah (Binah), Astronomy (Venus), and cosmic principles (God/Man/Universe equilibrium).
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 explains the origin of symbolism and the creation of a complete entity from creative and receptive principles.
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 states the vivifying Principle diffuses through all worlds and that the Divine becomes Human in generation.
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 discusses the passive influence of Nature/Venus/woman in generation and the equilibrium of Adam-Eve as Humanity.
The balance of two contrary forces as the structural law of cosmos and operation — Lévi's equilibrium, expressed in Kabbalah by the senary: the will of God in its first cause, liberty in man, mathematical equilibrium in matter; the twofold vibration required to direct the Astral Light safely.
The core explanation of the card is the neutralization of two opposing forces (creative/preservative) into an equilibrist force or Neuter Element.
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 parallels the divine equilibrium (Father/Son/Holy Ghost) with human equilibrium (Adam/Eve/Humanity) and universal equilibrium (Natura naturans/naturata/World).
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 passage describes the reciprocal action of two first terms (creative/preservative) neutralizing each other in one principle.