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The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus) · 60 of 134 · tr. A.P. Morton

Page 32

THE FIRE OF HEAVEN (lightning). THE LIGHTNING-STRUCK TOWER. 16. ע 16th Hebrew letter (Ayin). ORIGIN OF THE SYMBOLISM OF THE SIXTEENTH CARD OF THE TAROT. The Ayin expresses the same hieroglyphic as the Vau (6), but materialized. It is the sign of Material sense . Again degenerated, it expresses all that is crooked, false, perverse, and bad. Astronomically this letter corresponds with the zodiacal sign of Capricornus. SIXTEENTH CARD OF THE TAROT. The Lightning-struck Tower. This card bears the picture of a tower, with its battlements struck by lightning; two men, one crowned, the other uncrowned, are falling with the fragments of broken masonry; the attitude of the former recalls the shape of the letter Ayin. This card contains the first allusion to a material building in our pack, but we shall find the same symbol reproduced in the 18th and 19th arcana. Here it signifies the invisible or spiritual world, incarnated in the visible and material world. The 16th card represents the material fall of Adam. He will gradually become more materialized until the 18th arcanum, in which he attains the maximum of his materialization. The significations of this figure are all derived from this idea of fall, of the materialization of the spiritual letter (Vau). 1. Materialization of God the Holy Spirit. (See 3rd arcanum.) Entrance of the Holy Spirit into the visible World. The Holy Spirit acting like the God of matter. DIVINE DESTRUCTION. 2. The materialization of the Adam-Eve, who have been spiritualized until now. Entrance of the Adam-Eve into the visible World-- THE FALL. 3. Materialization of the Universe-principle-- THE VISIBLE WORLD. 16. ע The Lightning-struck Tower . AFFINITIES SIGNIFICATIONS Primitive Hieroglyphic: Link (Vau) materialized Astronomy: Capricornus Month: December Hebrew letter: Ayin (simple) DIVINE DESTRUCTION __________ THE FALL OBSERVATIONS THE VISIBLE WORLD
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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 passage links the Tarot card to Hebrew letters, astronomy (Capricornus), months (December), and hieroglyphic meanings, illustrating the Hermetic axiom of connections across scales.

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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 passage references the 'Origin of the Symbolism' and the 'Materialization of the Universe-principle', touching on how the visible world came to be.

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Divine Sparkscosmology

Fragments of divine light or spirit trapped inside material bodies, awaiting liberation and return to their source.

The text discusses the 'spiritual world, incarnated in the visible and material world', implying divine elements trapped or expressed within matter.

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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 describes the descent from the spiritual to the material ('Materialization of God the Holy Spirit', 'Entrance of the Holy Spirit into the visible World'), implying a hierarchical flow from divine to physical.

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Evil As Privationtheology

Augustinian and Plotinian doctrine that evil has no positive being of its own but is a lack, distortion, or absence of the good — denying ontological dualism while preserving moral seriousness.

The text describes the letter as 'degenerated' expressing what is 'crooked, false, perverse, and bad', suggesting evil arises from a fall or degeneration of a higher state.

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Fall Of Sophiacosmology

The Gnostic myth of Wisdom's prolapse from the Pleroma — her unilateral desire or error producing the Demiurge and the entrapment of divine sparks in matter.

While not using the name Sophia, the text describes 'The Fall' of Adam-Eve and the materialization of the spiritual principle, which parallels the Gnostic myth of the descent into matter.

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Letters Of Creationcosmology

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

The text centers on the Hebrew letter Ayin (16) and its relationship to Vau (6), explicitly stating the significations are derived from the 'materialization of the spiritual letter'.

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Numerical Mysticismtheology

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

The passage explicitly links the card to the number 16 and the Hebrew letter Ayin, deriving meaning from this numerical and alphabetic position.

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Separation From Sourcesoteriology

The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive.

The concept of 'The Fall' and the 'material fall of Adam' signifies a separation from the original spiritual state into materialization.

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Related passages · 7 parallels
neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 85 (part 1)
Section 10 10. But if Matter is devoid of quality how can it be evil? It is described as being devoid of quality in the sense only that it does not essentially possess any of the qualities which it admits and which enter into it as into a…”
Shared concept: Evil As Privation — Augustinian and Plotinian doctrine that evil has no positive being of its own but is a lack, distortion, or absence of the good — denying ontological dualism while preserving moral seriousness. (derived)
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)
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 18 (part 6)
Starting from this, it becomes easy to understand how nature herself could have taught primeval mankind, even without the help of its divine instructors, the first principles of a numerical and geometrical symbol language.* Hence one finds…”
Shared concept: Numerical Mysticism — Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality. (derived)
sufism|The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi)|PROLOGUE-a
HEARKEN to the reed-flute, how it complains, Lamenting its banishment from its home: "Ever since they tore me from my osier bed, My plaintive notes have moved men and women to tears. I burst my breast, striving to give vent to sighs, And t…”
Shared concept: Separation From Source — The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive. (derived)
theosophy|The Secret Doctrine|Page 53 (part 1)
The Secret Doctrine by H. P. Blavatsky -- Vol. 2 [[Vol. 2, Page]] 52 THE SECRET DOCTRINE. STANZA II. NATURE UNAIDED FAILS. ------- § (5) After enormous periods the Earth creates monsters. (6) The "Creators" are displeased. (7) They…”
Shared concept: Fall Of Sophia — The Gnostic myth of Wisdom's prolapse from the Pleroma — her unilateral desire or error producing the Demiurge and the entrapment of divine sparks in matter. (derived)