The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus) · 101 of 134 · tr. A.P. Morton
Page 46 (part 4)
outside the sphere)-- We will first separate some of the cards: the Knave of each of the 4 colours (ה), which, as the realization of the Trinity, King (י), Queen (ה), Knight (ו), serves as the transition from the quaternary to the ternary; and the 10 of each colour, the unity of complete realization, the multiple unity 1 and 0--Malchut.
The Knaves, by their participation in the quaternary and ternary, and their return to the Unity by the Trinity, have a universality which connects them with the unnumbered card 0 of the great arcana; we will therefore place them round this card, as a cross, in the centre of our equatorial circle.
In this way the centre will express: By the card 0, the original unity, the source and aim of creation; by its triangle, the primitive Trinity; by its 4 colours, the quaternary in which it is realized; by the character of the 4 Knaves, the return of this quaternary to the ternary; in short, the whole creation assembled in one point, in potentiality, which is the characteristic of the Spirit.
On the other hand the four 10 will be placed at the extremities of the cross formed by the Knaves, outside all our circles, as the expression of the Unity multiple, in its last term of differentiation.
As to the other cards, they include first 3 kinds of figures, which correspond with the 3 terms of the Trinity; it is quite simple to distribute them in the 3 parts of our external equatorial plane, corresponding with the 3 divisions of the sphere-- The Kings opposite to division I (י); The Queens opposite to division E (ה); The Knights opposite to division V (ו); [paragraph continues] and, since there are 4 colours for each of them, 4 subdivisions are naturally produced in each of our 3 principal divisions; these 4 subdivisions, corresponding to the Sceptre (י), the Cup (ה), the Sword (ו), and the Pentacle (ה), also repeat the Divine name of 4 letters (IEVE) (יהוה), and form the passage from the ternary to the quaternary.
Now only the numbers remain to be placed; and we have only to make them correspond with the terms of the Trinity-- .
281 The four 1 behind the Kings; The four 2 behind the Queens; The four 3 behind the Knights.
Then, in a still more external circle-- The four 4 outside the Kings and the 1; The four 5 outside the Queens and the 2; The four 6 outside the Knights and the 3.
Finally, an outlying circle will include the four 7, 8 and 9 in the same order.
As to the four 10, they are placed quite outside, as we have already said.
We thus obtain the distribution represented by the figures 1 and 2 .
Let us now consider their signification.
The living atom descended upon the sphere has reached the point represented by arcanum X., the wheel of Ezekiel, which raises man and lowers the elemental .
From this, the atom falls, so to speak, through the material world, which he has just entered.
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 maps Tarot cards to cosmic divisions (sphere, equatorial circle) and divine names, reflecting the Hermetic principle that microcosmic structures mirror macrocosmic ones.
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 a cosmological narrative where the 'living atom descended upon the sphere' and falls through the material world, describing an origin story.
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 'whole creation assembled in one point' suggests the divine presence permeates the structure of the cosmos and the cards representing it.
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 structured descent from the 'original unity' (0) through the Trinity and Quaternary down to the material world where the 'living atom falls'.
The twenty-two Hebrew letters as the building blocks through which God creates and sustains all existence.
The passage explicitly links the four colours/suits to Hebrew letters (ה, י, ו) and the Divine Name (יהוה), treating them as structural elements of creation.
Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality.
The entire passage is dedicated to arranging cards based on numerical correspondences (0, 1-10), ternary/quaternary structures, and the significance of numbers like 1, 4, and 10.
The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.
The Knaves are described as serving 'as the transition from the quaternary to the ternary' and effecting a 'return of this quaternary to the ternary' towards Unity.