The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus) · 99 of 134 · tr. A.P. Morton
Page 46 (part 2)
(Love, the fertile Power, the Being, ו); and in order that this Trinity may be repeated in the whole septenary of our distribution we will make it the root of 3 great divisions, representing the 3 terms of the Trinity, which will divide the surface of our sphere by 3 meridians.
We can then continue the distribution of our cards upon this surface in the following way.
The head of each partial Trinity will be in division 1; each second term will be in division 2; each third term in division 3.
Consequently our IV.
card (the Emperor, ה) will be in the L; the V.
card (the Pope, ו) will be in II.; the VI.
card (Liberty, ה) will be in III., and this second sequence will form a new zone upon the sphere.
A third, a little inferior, will be formed by cards VII., VIII.
and IX., cards XI., X.
and XII.
will occupy the Equator, and the 9 cards from XIII.
to XXI.
will be distributed like the 9 first, in 3 bands placed upon the lower hemisphere as shown in Fig.
1 .
Now our 22 great arcana are placed; let us pause and look at their significations.
Above the Equator we see an ever-increasing expansion of the North Pole, represented by the 3 upper triangles, then by the 6 trapezes which follow, each larger than the one before.
Here are the three planes of the Creation: The Divine, metaphysic (I., II., III.), the Intelligible, moral (IV., V., VI.), and the physical, that of the generative attributes or elements (VII., VIII., and M).
The creation is realized upon the equatorial line (X., XI., XII.), in which the first term, with the preceding cards, represents the 10 sephiroth of the Kabbalah.
Below the Equator, in the world of material realization, which is quitted by Death (XIII.), this expansion is retracted and synthetized by an inverse and symmetrical movement of the above.
The arcana which follow represent Initiation carried to its extreme limits, the path by which the creature (X.) returns from its multiplicity to the unity of the spirit, goes back to the point--the southern pole--a new reflex of the Absolute, towards which it reascends by the vertical axis of the sphere.
The Neophyte, after his preparation (positive science, magnetism and alchemy, X., XI., XII.), travels through the sublunar world (XIII., XIV., XV.), then through the solar system (XVI., XVII.
and XVIII.), and escapes by the sun in the abyss of the Infinite (XIX., XX., XXI.).
We may now end this short explanation of the practical distribution of our 22 arcana upon a plane (the reader will do well to imitate it upon a table with a pack of Tarot cards).
The student should imagine that our sphere is seen from a considerable distance, vertical upon its axis; for instance, at the distance of the earth from the sun, the upper hemisphere only will appear, the other being seen but transparently ; and it will look like a circle, with the Equator for its circumference.
The limits of the 3 superposed zones appear like 3 concentric circles; the meridional planes, seen by their dividing lines, only look like 3 equally divided radii, making of the 3 sectors 3 equal axes.
A form of meditation that uses imagery, imagination, or symbolic thought rather than purely empty stillness.
The text instructs the student to 'imagine that our sphere is seen from a considerable distance' and to imitate the distribution with cards, requiring symbolic visualization.
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 distribution of cards upon a sphere reflects cosmic planes (Divine, Intelligible, Physical) and the path of initiation, embodying the principle that the Tarot maps the structure of reality.
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 outlines 'the three planes of the Creation' and how creation is realized upon the equatorial line, offering a structural account of cosmic origin.
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 divine is described as present throughout the sphere's zones, from the Divine plane down to material realization, pervading the 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 describes three planes of Creation (Divine, Intelligible, Physical) arranged vertically on a sphere from the North Pole downward, indicating a structured descent of divine principles.
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 implies the human journey (Neophyte) mirrors the cosmic structure (spheres, poles, equator), suggesting the individual path reflects the universal order.
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
The text refers to the 'unity of the spirit' and the 'point--the southern pole--a new reflex of the Absolute' as the goal of return, implying a singular first principle.
A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.
The passage details the Neophyte's path through sublunar and solar worlds to escape into the 'abyss of the Infinite', describing a staged upward journey.
A vertical structure connecting cosmic levels — a tree, pillar, mountain, or ladder linking heaven, earth, and underworld around which the cosmos is organised. Yggdrasil binding the Nine Worlds in Norse cosmology, the Kalevala's Sampo as world-pillar, the Mayan ceiba, the Vedic Aśvattha, the shamanic central tree of Eliade's analyses. Cosmic-structural in character: distinct from sefirot_tree (a kabbalistic emanation diagram) and emanation_hierarchy (an ontological cascade); world_tree_axis is the cosmos's spine rather than the divine's outflow.
The text describes a 'vertical axis of the sphere' connecting the North Pole (Divine) to the South Pole (Absolute/Point), organizing the cosmos structurally.