The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus) · 76 of 134 · tr. A.P. Morton
Chapter XIV (part 7)
That the social organization of China has been maintained for so many centuries, is solely due to the principle of basing everything upon the family.
The characteristics of the human Ternary are: Adam, Necessity, the image and reflection of Will and Power; Eve, Liberty, the image and reflection of Intelligence and Authority; and Adam and Eve, Charity, the image and reflection of Love and Beauty given by the constituent terms.
REALIZATION and JUSTICE, balanced by PRUDENCE, indicate the moral constitution of Man, whilst the POSITIVE ASTRAL LIGHT (or OD), the NEGATIVE ASTRAL LIGHT (or OB), and the EQUILIBRATE ASTRAL FLUID (or AOUR), demonstrate the origin of his physical constitution.
Magic Power , Courage , and Hope manifest the moral qualities of man, whilst Force potential in its manifestation, reflected Life , and Force balancing the two preceding qualities, indicate the influence of the Universe in him.
Thus, the law which governs all these manifestations of God in the series of his creations is Emanation .
From the unique but fathomless centre emanates, in the first place, a Trinity of absolute principles which serves as a model for all the posterior emanations of the Being principle itself.
Each element of this Trinity manifests itself in two great principles, of which it is the source: from the first principle, or the Father, emanate successively Adam and Nature creating, naturans , according, to Spinoza; from the second principle, or the Son, emanate Eve and Nature naturata , or recipient; lastly, the third principle, or the Holy Spirit, serves as a model to the similar constitution of Adam-Eve, or Humanity and the Universe.
In this way also the Ternary , emanated from the mysterious Unity, soon constitutes a Septenary formed by the various emanations of these three Principles, like the seven colours of the scale of light formed by the combination of three simple colours , themselves emanated from one single light ; or like the seven notes of the musical scale, formed by the fundamental trinity of sounds.
The Septenary formed of "two Ternaries in the midst of which the Unity upholds itself," is therefore the expression of a being completely constituted.
This is now confirmed by the recent data given by Hindu Theosophy upon the seven principles of Man , and upon the seven principles of the Universe .
We could apply the Tarot to the explanation of these data; but we feel sure that it will soon be done, and we consider it useless to lengthen our work too much.
We will therefore conclude our study upon man by pointing out his constitution as given by the Tarot, which teaches that his body comes from the Universe, his soul from the Astral plane, whilst his Spirit is a direct emanation from God.
ANDROGONY .
COSMOGONY.
As we descend the ladder of the emanations of the Absolute Being, the principles become more material and less metaphysical.
The Tarot teaches us that the Universe results from the participation of the Human in the creative actions of the Divine, a profound mystery, which can throw much light upon the theological theories of the Fall.
Jacob Boëhm, the sublime visionary shoe maker, and Claude de Saint-Martin, his admirer and disciple, give upon this subject some explanations which may be easily understood with the Tarot, and to which we refer curious inquirers.
God manifests himself in the Universe by his third trinitarian manifestation: Natura naturans , realized in the UNIVERSAL TRANSFORMING PRINCIPLE, Natura naturata , in INVOLUTION; and lastly in the mysterious cyclic force which we have analyzed, in reference to the 15th arcanum, and which we name the FATAL FORCE OF DESTINY.
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 passage explicitly details the 'POSITIVE ASTRAL LIGHT (or OD)', 'NEGATIVE ASTRAL LIGHT (or OB)', and 'EQUILIBRATE ASTRAL FLUID (or AOUR)' as demonstrating the origin of physical constitution.
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 establishes structural parallels between divine principles (Trinity), human constitution (Ternary/Septenary), and the Universe (Seven Principles).
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 includes a section titled 'COSMOGONY' and discusses how the Universe results from participation in creative actions of the Divine.
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 that the Universe results from the participation of the Human in the creative actions of the Divine and God manifests himself in the Universe.
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 explicitly defines the law governing manifestations as Emanation, describing a descent from a unique center through a Trinity to posterior emanations and a Septenary.
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 describes a 'Human Ternary' involving Adam (Will/Power) and Eve (Liberty/Intelligence), manifesting masculine-feminine principles on every plane.
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 links the human constitution (Ternary/Septenary) directly to the Universe's constitution ('Humanity and the Universe', 'seven principles of Man... seven principles of the Universe').
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
The text refers to a 'unique but fathomless centre' and 'mysterious Unity' from which the Ternary emanates, fitting the definition of an undivided first principle.