The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus) · 100 of 134 · tr. A.P. Morton
Page 46 (part 3)
This representation, which geometricians name projection upon the plane of the Equator, gives the second figure (the 4 circles of the centre only); to it, for the sake of clearness in the symbols, has been added an equilateral triangle inscribed in the inner circle, with the points posed upon the 3 meridians.
The Roman figures inscribed in the circles represent the numbers of the cards placed m we have said, and, consequently, also indicate their place upon the table.
The arcana of the lower hemisphere are indicated upon the figure in dotted letters, in the same circles as the preceding; since the lower zones, seen only transparently, might be confused with the upper, through their mutual symmetry.
Here, in its great features, is already an answer to our questions: the Spirit descends by three trinities from the Absolute into Matter (upper hemisphere).
It is realized by the trinity X.
(Malchut), XI.
and XII.
(the Equator), and it returns to the Absolute by a trinity of growing synthesis, which constitutes human progress (lower hemisphere).
We will presently explain some of the philosophic interpretations which this distribution furnishes; let us first complete it by our 55 minor arcana.
They especially represent our solar world.
Since we are now in the world of realization, 4 is its number, its fundamental basis; it is the Trinity realized; the divine name of 4 letters IEVE (יהוה).
Our cards will be divided into 4 sections: the 4 colours of the pack, spades, hearts, clubs, and diamonds, with their hieroglyphic and far more significant names: the Sceptres , Cups , Swords , and Pentacles .
Everything is dual in this world, where the equilibrium is unstable, unable to find any rest, except in the return to the Trinity, from which it proceeds.
Thus these 4 fundamental divisions will divide into 2 duads: the one spiritual, the other material, each composed of a masculine and feminine principle, namely-- Spiritual duad, the Sceptre (spades, a full triangle, masculine); the Cup (heart, an open triangle, feminine); religious attributes; Material duad: the Sword (club, a lobed triangle,), and the Pentacle (diamond, double triangle); the attributes of the warrior and of the artisan.
Four other divisions correspond to these 4 colours, those of the figures which also form 4 duads, namely-- King and Queen; Knight or Warrior, and Knave.
As to the numbers which follow these figures, they lead us to another consideration, which is also essential to the distribution of our cards-- If 4 is the fundamental number of these minor arcana, the symbols of our world, we must not forget that it is also connected with the Trinity, from which it emanates; that it realizes it, and returns to it.
We must then also find the ternary element in it: after the colours and the figures, which have provided the basis of our word, the numbers, which are, as it were, the essence of it, will reflect the sephiroth in it, and by them the act of creation.
They pause, in fact, at 10, including 3 trinities besides the tenth, Malchut, which unites them.
Our distribution must also take the two numbers 3 and 4 into account, by combining them so as to utilize all the elements which we have just enumerated.
This is how we can do this (follow Fig.
1 upon the plane of the Equator, represented as a ring.
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 emphasizes how numbers reflect the sephiroth and how the card distribution mirrors cosmic structures (solar world, trinities).
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 Spirit descends into Matter and is realized through the Trinity within the world of realization.
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 describes the Spirit descending from the Absolute into Matter through trinities and returning via synthesis.
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 explicitly divides the suits into spiritual and material duads composed of masculine and feminine 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 cards represent the solar world and human progress, implying a reflection of cosmic structures in the deck.
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 discusses dualities (spiritual/material, masculine/feminine) and the equilibrium between them.