The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus) · 68 of 134 · tr. A.P. Morton
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THE WORLD. THE WORLD. 22. ת 22nd Hebrew letter (Tau). ORIGIN OF THE SYMBOLISM OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CARD OF THE TAROT. The Tau has the same hieroglyphic meaning as the Daleth (fourth card), the womb; but it is chiefly the sign of reciprocity, the image of all that is mutual and reciprocal. It is the sign of signs, for to the abundance of the letter Daleth ד (fourth card), and by dint of the resistance and protection of the letter Teth, ט (ninth card), it adds the idea of PERFECTION, of which it is the symbol. In the primitive Hebrew alphabet the Teth was represented by a cross (+). This letter is double, and in astronomy it represents the Sun. TWENTY-FIRST CARD OF THE TAROT. The World . A nude female figure, holding a wand in each hand, is placed in the centre of an ellipsis, her legs crossed (like those of the Hanged Man in the twelfth card). At the four angles of the card we find the four animals of the Apocalypse, and the four forms of the Sphinx: the Man, the Lion, the Bull, and the Eagle. This symbol represents Macrocosm and Microcosm, that is to say, God and the Creation, or the Law of the Absolute. The four figures placed at the four corners represent the four letters of the sacred name, or the four great symbols of the Tarot. The Sceptre or yod = Fire. The Cup or he = Water. The Sword or vau = Earth. The Pentacle or 2 nd he = Air. These affinities can be represented thus-- Sceptre Pentacle Cup Sword Between the sacred word that signifies GOD and the centre of the figure is a circle or an ellipsis, representing NATURE and her regular and fatal course. From this comes the name of Rota , wheel, given to it by Guillaume Postel. Lastly, the centre of the figure represents humanity, ADAM-EVE, the third term of the great series of the Absolute, which is thus constructed:-- The impenetrable Absolute, the EN SOPH of the Kabbalists, the PARABRAHM of the Hindus-- The impenetrable Absolute or God 1st septenary. The soul of the Absolute or Man 2nd septenary. The body of the Absolute or the Universe 3rd septenary. This twenty-first card of the Tarot therefore contains in itself a recapitulation of all our work, and proves to us the truth of our deductions. A simple figure will sum up what we have said. This symbol gives us an exact figure of the construction of the Tarot itself, if we notice that the figure in the centre represents a triangle (a head and two extended arms) surmounting a cross (the legs), that is to say, the figure of the septenary thus formed . The four corners therefore reproduce the four great symbols of the Tarot. The centre represents the action of these symbols between themselves, represented by the ten numbers of the minor arcana, and the twenty-two letters of the major arcana. Lastly, the centre reproduces the septenary law of the major arcana themselves. As this septenary is in the centre of three circles, representing the three worlds, we see that the sense of the twenty-one arcana is once more determined (3 x 7 = 21). The following figure indicates the application of the twenty-first card to the Tarot itself. We shall also see that this card of the Tarot gives the key of all our applications of the pack to the Year, to Philosophy, to the Kabbalah, etc., etc.
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 describes affinities between suits, elements, and letters, asserting the Tarot contains a 'recapitulation of all our work' reflecting cosmic laws.
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.
By placing humanity at the center representing the 'soul of the Absolute', the text implies the divine is present within the human and cosmic structure.
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 three-tiered structure descending from the 'impenetrable Absolute' to 'Man' (soul of the Absolute) to 'the Universe' (body of the Absolute).
The twenty-two Hebrew letters as the building blocks through which God creates and sustains all existence.
The passage heavily emphasizes Hebrew letters (Tau, Daleth, Teth) as symbols of perfection, reciprocity, and the building blocks of the Tarot's construction.
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 passage explicitly states the symbol represents 'Macrocosm and Microcosm, that is to say, God and the Creation' and places humanity at the center.