The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus) · 91 of 134 · tr. A.P. Morton
Chapter XVII (part 3)
We must also point out some features of the theory, which are necessary for the comprehension of our principal subject; the reader must only remember that this explanation is entirely due to the author of this article, and he must not impute any of its errors to Theosophy itself.
* * * Our positive sciences give the last formula of the visible world in the following words-- There is no matter without force: no force without matter .
An indisputable but incomplete formula, unless the following commentary be added to it-- 1.
The combination of what we call Force and Matter present, itself in various proportions, from that which is called materialized Force (rocks, minerals, simple chemical bodies), to subtilized Matter or Matter-Force (a grain of pollen, spermatozoid, the electric atom).
Matter and Force , although we cannot isolate them, therefore present themselves as the extreme and opposing mathematical limits (or contrary signs) of a series of which we see only a few medium terms, abstract but indubitable.
2.
The terms of this series, that is to say, the substances of nature, are never stable; Force , which is characterized by infinite mobility, sways essentially inert matter from one pole to the other, as though it were drawn by a continual current, while it retorts by a counter-current, which leads it back to its inert condition.
For instance, an atom of phosphorus borrowed by a vegetable from the mineral phosphates, becomes the element of a human cerebral cellule (subtilized matter), then through disintegration falls back into the inert mineral kingdom.
3.
The movement resulting from this unstable equilibrium is not disorganized; it presents a series of chained harmonies which we call Laws , and which are synthetized in our eyes in the supreme law of Evolution .
One conclusion is forced upon us: This harmonious synthesis of phenomena is the eminent manifestation of what we call a will .
Therefore, according to positive science, the visible world is the expression of a will which manifests itself by the unstable but progressive equilibrium of Force and Matter.
It is represented by this quaternary-- I.
WILL (simple origin).
III.
FORCE (Elements of this polarized Will).
II.
MATTER.
IV.
THE VISIBLE WORLD (The result of their unstable, dynamic equilibrium).
The positive method will not allow us to pause there, we must analyze the Will in its turn.
We will abridge this analysis here, for the reader will easily master it with the aid of the treatises on psychology; it leads through the two opposing terms of affirmation and negation to a new superior, apparently simple cause, the Idea , which analysis again decomposes into consciousness and unconsciousness , gradually remounting to its furthest limit, the absolute term, the One , both conscious and unconscious, affirmative and negative, force and matter, nameless, incomprehensible to man.
Let us designate this supreme term by Α, and the material atom by Ω, we shall then have, according to our analysis, the following series of hierarchized quaternaries as a representation of the Universe + (1) Α --- Divine World (3) Consciousness (2) Unconsciousness (The Transcendent) (4) IDEA Intelligible World (6) Affirmation (5) Negation (Logic) (7) WILL (9) Force (8) Matter Visible World (10) Kosmos (Positive, Science) Ω The extreme terms, α and ω, Spirit and Matter, equally incomprehensible to human intelligence in their infinite grandeur and infinite littleness, are not only linked together by invariable intermediate chains, but they also make an incessantly descending movement from one to the other, in which the Spirit becomes Matter by the successive disintegrations which express the Idea, the Will, and Kosmos.
This constitutes the creation .
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 suggests a structural reflection between the Divine World and the Visible World through the 'hierarchized quaternaries'.
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 outlines a doctrine of cosmic origin where Spirit becomes Matter through successive disintegrations expressing the Idea, Will, and Kosmos, constituting '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 text states that the visible world is the expression of a Will which manifests itself through the equilibrium of Force and Matter, implying the divine pervades 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 movement of the universe is described as 'not disorganized' but presenting 'chained harmonies which we call Laws', implying an ordering will.
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 details a 'series of hierarchized quaternaries' descending from the Divine World (Alpha) to the Visible World (Omega), describing creation as Spirit becoming Matter through successive disintegrations.
The balance of two contrary forces as the structural law of cosmos and operation — Lévi's equilibrium, expressed in Kabbalah by the senary: the will of God in its first cause, liberty in man, mathematical equilibrium in matter; the twofold vibration required to direct the Astral Light safely.
The visible world is defined as the result of an 'unstable, dynamic equilibrium' between Force and Matter, driven by Will.
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 text describes Force and Matter as 'extreme and opposing mathematical limits' of a series, and the One as both conscious/unconscious and affirmative/negative.
The Hermetic doctrine of a measured swing or pendulum motion between poles — action and reaction, flow and outflow, rise and fall — operating in mental, physical, and cosmic-historical registers alike. Distinct from apocatastasis (cosmic-scale eschatological restoration after vast cycles) in naming a constant, ever-present oscillation rather than a singular restorative event.
The passage describes an 'unstable equilibrium' where Force sways inert matter from one pole to the other in a continual current and counter-current.
The Hermetic doctrine that nothing rests — matter, energy, mind, and spirit are a single continuum differing only in rate of vibration, from the grossest matter to the least material spirit. Distinct from cosmic_sympathy (affinity resonating BETWEEN separate things) in being a claim about what constitutes any one thing in the first place, and from magical_equilibrium (Lévi's operational balancing technique, which presupposes some vibration doctrine rather than stating this general principle).
The text implies a continuum between materialized Force and subtilized Matter, suggesting different states of the same substance rather than distinct entities.