The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus) · 92 of 134 · tr. A.P. Morton
Chapter XVII (part 4)
But since, as our sciences prove to us, the Kosmos itself is in a state of evolutive movement, and since according to their teachings this movement clearly inclines towards a progressive synthesis, which spiritualizes the living being by entering more and more into its composition, the preceding scheme expresses but one half of the Universe, the one which descends.
We must now add to it a second half, which restores the atom, ω, to its opposing principle α, through the progressive synthesis of individual lives.
This is Progress , the sequence of Creation.
Thus the Universe appears to us like a circular current, in which the flow is necessarily inverse in the two opposing arcs: from the positive pole a to the negative pole w the current descends--this is Involution , the descent of the Spirit into Matter; from the negative pole ω to the positive pole α the current re-ascends--this is Evolution , the spiritualization of Matter.
We shall describe it presently.
* * * Let us then infer for man-- The evidence of our sciences shows him to be upon the ascending arc, already far from the negative pole, since he is at the head of the three kingdoms of the terrestrial world.
He thus belongs to the visible world of the Universe; the imposing monument of science is a proof of the position which he also occupies in the intellectual world ; but at the same time his errors, his doubts, the enormous deficiencies in his knowledge, and his passions, sufficiently prove that he is no longer master in this sphere, as he is in the inferior world.
As to the divine world , he conceives it, presses towards it; but if be attain it, it will be by faith rather than by science.
Man is then a being who in his re-ascension has reached the middle region, and even the centre of that region; his place is in the centre of the ascending are, between the superior and the inferior beings of creation, ruling the one, ruled by the others, midway between the Angel and the Beast.
A situation inevitably painful through the equality of the two opposing forces, which retard his ascension; he has come to a dead stop, which must be overcome by a special effort.
At the present time Initiation is the instrument which facilitates the development of the human butterfly.
We shall soon understand of what it consists.
* * * The Ancients, with the usual force of their synthetic genius, have symbolized the whole of Involution and Evolution by a sequence of twenty-two figures, full of hidden significations, which the occultists name the Twenty-two Great Arcana .
Taking the ten first as a description of Involution, we find in the others the successive phases of Initiation, such as they are depicted in the twelve hours (or sentences) which form the Nuctemeron attributed to Apollonius of Tyana.
These we shall now enumerate.
To be perfectly clear we must first return to Evolution for one moment.
In fact its analysis is not completed by the ten terms which have led us to the Kosmos, the dynamic equilibrium of Force and Matter.
This Kosmos can be analyzed in its turn as two principles which, according to all the sciences, are conflicting in every movement of matter: the Active and Passive (male and female of organizations, acid and basis of chemistry, the opposing poles of electricity, &c.).
Completely inert matter is only found in their absolute equilibrium in the unsiezable pole exactly opposed to the α--the ω of the Universe.
The occultists have represented this 4th tetractys, of which the Kosmos is the first term (the tetractys of the inferior world, infera, hell ), by the 11th, 12th, and 13th arcana, the Kosmos being its first term.
The arcanum which bears the generally dreaded number 13 requires further notice.
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 infers man's state from cosmic sciences and describes the Kosmos as reflecting principles like Active/Passive found in chemistry and electricity.
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 narrative of Creation involving Involution (descent) and Evolution (ascent) as the sequence of the Universe.
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 spiritualization enters more and more into the composition of the living being, suggesting divine presence within matter.
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 a cosmic structure involving descent (Involution) from Spirit to Matter and ascent (Evolution), positioning man between Angel and Beast.
A historical or mythical chain of transmission for secret wisdom from master to disciple across time and cultures — the credential of the teaching, not merely its content. Distinct from oral_tradition (the spoken-not-written modality of transmission, which a lineage may or may not use) and hidden_sayings (the concealment-for-readiness of a teaching's meaning, independent of who transmitted it or in what unbroken chain).
The passage references 'The Ancients' and the 'Nuctemeron attributed to Apollonius of Tyana', implying a transmission of synthetic genius.
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 passage explicitly lists 'male and female of organizations' as examples of the Active and Passive principles conflicting in every movement of matter.
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 text discusses the 'dynamic equilibrium of Force and Matter' and the conflict between Active and Passive principles as fundamental to the Kosmos.
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 infers man's position based on cosmic sciences and describes man as ruling the inferior world while ruled by superior beings, mirroring the cosmic structure.
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 passage centrally defines the Universe as a circular current between opposing poles (α and ω, positive and negative, Active and Passive).
The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.
The text describes Evolution as the current re-ascending from the negative pole ω to the positive pole α, restoring the atom to its opposing principle.
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 text describes the Universe as a 'circular current' with inverse flows in opposing arcs (Involution and Evolution), indicating a rhythmic oscillation.
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 mentions 'dynamic equilibrium of Force and Matter' and 'conflicting in every movement', implying a vibrational or energetic basis to reality.