← Home
The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus) · 55 of 134 · tr. A.P. Morton

Chapter XII

CHAPTER XII. THIRD SEPTENARY. ARCANA 13-19. Key of the 3rd Septenary--The Mem and Death--The Nun and Temperance--The Samech and the Devil--The Ayin and the Lightning--struck Tower--The Tzaddi and the Moon. Summary of the 3rd Septenary--Constitution of the Universe. KEY TO THE THIRD SEPTENARY. ARRANGEMENT OF THE FIGURES FOR STUDY. CHARACTER OF THE FIGURES. The first septenary has shown us the World of Principles , or of the Creation. The second has developed the World of Laws , or of Preservation. The third will now show us the World of Facts , or of Transformation. We shall now see how the circulation of the forces of the two first septenaries is established.
§ Ask Guru about this passage →
Themes
Correspondencecosmology

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 mapping of Arcana to Hebrew letters and Worlds implies the Hermetic principle of correspondence between different levels of reality.

All passages →
Cosmogonycosmology

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 discusses the 'Constitution of the Universe' and the 'World of Principles... or of the Creation', touching on cosmic origin structures.

All passages →
Emanation Hierarchycosmology

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 outlines a structured progression from the World of Principles to Laws to Facts, reflecting a hierarchical unfolding of cosmic reality.

All passages →
Letters Of Creationcosmology

The twenty-two Hebrew letters as the building blocks through which God creates and sustains all existence.

The passage explicitly links specific Hebrew letters (Mem, Samech, Ayin, Tzaddi) to the Arcana and the constitution of the universe.

All passages →
Numerical Mysticismtheology

Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality.

The text is structured around 'Septenaries' (groups of seven) and specific Arcana numbers (13-19), emphasizing numerical structure in the occult system.

All passages →
Related passages · 6 parallels
shinto|The Kojiki: The Beginning of Heaven and Earth|Section 1
“p. 15 RECORDS OF ANCIENT MATTERS [SECT. I.—THE BEGINNING OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.] The names of the Deities 1 that were born 2 in the Plain of High Heaven 3 when the Heaven and Earth began were the Deity Master-of-the-August-Centre-of-Heaven, 4…”
Shared concept: Cosmogony — Narratives or doctrines of cosmic origin — how heaven, earth, and the primordial deities first came into being. (derived)
neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 419
“Section 3 3. The Soul once seen to be thus precious, thus divine, you may hold the faith that by its possession you are already nearing God: in the strength of this power make upwards towards Him: at no great distance you must attain: there…”
Shared concept: Emanation Hierarchy — 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. (derived)
neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 299
“Section 12 12. The souls of men, seeing their images in the mirror of Dionysus as it were, have entered into that realm in a leap downward from the Supreme: yet even they are not cut off from their origin, from the divine Intellect; it is n…”
Shared concept: Emanation Hierarchy — 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. (derived)
theosophy|The Secret Doctrine|Page 55 (part 11)
“And if Bath-Kol, in Jewish mysticism, is an articulate praeternatural voice from heaven, revealing to the "chosen people" the sacred traditions and laws, it is only because Vach was called, before Judaism, the "Mother of the Vedas," who ent…”
Shared concept: Cosmogony — Narratives or doctrines of cosmic origin — how heaven, earth, and the primordial deities first came into being. (derived)
theosophy|The Secret Doctrine|Page 54 (part 1)
“The Secret Doctrine by H. P. Blavatsky -- Vol. 2 [[Vol. 2, Page]] 75 THE SECRET OF THE FALL OF THE ANGELS. STANZA III. ATTEMPTS TO CREATE MAN. §§ (11) The Descent of the Demiurge. (12) The lunar gods ordered to create. (13) The hig…”
Shared concept: Cosmogony — Narratives or doctrines of cosmic origin — how heaven, earth, and the primordial deities first came into being. (derived)
neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter VIII-au
“The Pythagoreans, likewise, adorned numbers and figures with the appellations of the Gods. For they called the equilateral triangle, Minerva Coryphagenes, or begotten from the summit, and Tritogeneia because it is divided by three perpendi…”
Shared concept: Numerical Mysticism — Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality. (derived)