The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus) · 41 of 134 · tr. A.P. Morton
Page 17 (part 1)
THE EMPEROR.
THE EMPEROR.
4.
ד 4th Hebrew letter (Daleth).
ORIGIN OF THE SYMBOLISM OF THE FOURTH CARD OF THE TAROT.
The hieroglyphic meaning of Daleth is the womb.
It suggests the idea of an object giving plentiful nourishment, the source of future growth.
The child is the living link, which in its neutrality reunites the opposition of the sexes; the Daleth therefore denotes abundance springing from division.
Like the 1, it is a sign of active creation; but this creation is the result of previous actions easily determinable, whilst the origin of the Unity is inaccessible to human conceptions.
The Daleth expresses a creation made by a created being.
according to divine laws.
The Daleth should be the image of the active vivifying principle of the Universe, Jupiter, the reflex of the Primal cause.
THE FOURTH CARD OF THE TAROT.
The Emperor .
This symbol should express in the active form all that the preceding card expressed in the passive .
A man seated in profile.
The man indicates the active; his position, however, shows that this activity is engendered by a superior term.
The 1st arcanum, the Juggler, the active absolute , was represented standing , looking to the front; the 4th arcanum, active relative , is seated in profile.
This man holds in his right hand the sceptre, the symbol of generation or of Venus ♀.
The sceptre is held in the right hand , to indicate the active influence, which the vivifying principle exercises in nature, by opposition to the formative principle (arc.
3).
The man is bearded and wears a helmet with twelve points (six on each side).
He is seated upon a cubic stone, which bears the figure of an eagle.
The helmet indicates the rule of the Divine Will in the Universe, and its universal action in the creation of Life (eagle).
The position upon the cubic stone indicates realization in all the worlds.
(1st) Realization of the Divine Word by the creation.
(2nd) Realization of the ideas of the Being shared by the quadruple work of the spirit-- Affirmation,--Negation, Discussion, Solution.
(3rd) Realization of the actions conceived by the Will.
The man's legs are crossed, his body forms a triangle .
Domination of the Spirit over Matter.
Considered more attentively, the figure reproduces the symbol of Jupiter 2 +, represented by the fourth card of the Tarot.
The fourth card of the Tarot corresponds to the second He , and therefore bears two, very distinct aspects.
It first expresses a term of transition uniting the first series (active and passive forces, the link between the two forces) to the following series; the passage from one world to the other.
But it also represents this term of transition, itself becoming the first term in the following series.
As the following series taken as a whole is negative relatively to the first, the fourth symbol represents the active influence of the first series 1, 2, 3, in the second series 4, 5, 6.
The 4 therefore expresses the reflections of the first card in all its details.
It acts towards the first series exactly as the second card acted towards the first.
This interprets its meaning-- In the Divine .
Reflex of God the Father-- THE WILL In the Human .
Reflex of Adam-- THE POWER.
In the Natural .
Reflex of Natura naturans-- THE UNIVERSAL CREATIVE FLUID.
The soul of the Universe.
4.
ד The Emperor .
The universal fluid or medium of occult philosophy — Lévi's Great Magical Agent — that transmits will, thought, and magical influence between minds and matter, and preserves the impress of all forms and actions as a book of consciences; cognate with akasha and the anima mundi. Distinct from cosmic_sympathy (a doctrine of hidden affinity) in being a substantival medium that can be charged, directed, and abused.
The text identifies the fourth card with 'THE UNIVERSAL CREATIVE FLUID' and 'The soul of the Universe,' which aligns with Papus's concept of the Astral Light.
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 explicitly structures meaning across three levels: 'In the Divine... In the Human... In the Natural,' illustrating the Hermetic principle of reflection across scales.
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 details the 'Origin of the Symbolism' and describes creation processes like 'Realization of the Divine Word by the creation.'
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 Emperor is described as the 'active vivifying principle of the Universe' and the 'Soul of the Universe,' suggesting divine presence within 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.
The helmet indicates the 'rule of the Divine Will in the Universe,' implying an ordering principle governing creation.
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 chain of reflection from the Divine (Primal cause) to the Human (Adam/Power) to the Natural (Universal Creative Fluid), indicating a hierarchical flow of creation.
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 passage discusses the 'opposition of the sexes,' the child reuniting them, and the sceptre as a symbol of Venus (female) held in the active right hand.
The doctrine that human volition, cultivated by discipline and emancipated from passion and servitude, is the primary instrument of magical operation — will confirmed by persistent acts acquires causal power over self, others, and nature; distinct from faith and from mere desire.
The text emphasizes 'THE WILL' as the Divine reflex and mentions 'Realization of the actions conceived by the Will.'
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 Emperor figure represents the 'Reflex of Adam' and the 'Soul of the Universe,' linking the human form to cosmic principles.
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
The text references the 'Unity' as inaccessible to human conceptions and contrasts it with the created being's creation, implying a singular first principle.
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 discusses the 'opposition of the sexes' and the reunification through the child, as well as active versus passive forces.