The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus) · 105 of 134 · tr. A.P. Morton
Page 46 (part 8)
The first E, the celestial Mother (arcana II.), is found in the arcana VI., X., XIV.
and XVIII., that is to say, Beauty, Form, the Angel of Temperance, which balances the movements of life, and the aurora of the divine Sun; Diana the Moon.
The V, the Son, is characterized upon the various planes by the arcana III., VII., XI., XV.
and XIX.; Love, the fertile power; the Ruler over Matter, Force; then Typhon, the mysterious Baphomet of the Templars, which collects the superior forces to spread them over the Earth; and lastly, the central Sun.
In a word, the Christ of the Gospel, the Spirit of Love, the Master of the Elements, the Word made flesh to spiritualize the flesh; the divine reflex of the Universal Sun.
Lastly, the second E; the terrestrial Mother is seen in the arcana IV., VIII., XII., XVI.
and XX.
The realization of the divine virtualities, and also Mercy, absolute Justice, Sacrifice, the overwhelmed and suffering Spirit, and finally Resurrection; the head of the Serpent crushed beneath the woman's heel, by the force of abnegation and resigned faith.
We need only follow these various arcana upon the sphere, to see once more that the Yod has 3 superior arcana (northern hemisphere), and 2 inferior; That the V (ו) has only 2 superior and 1 medium (upon the Equator); And that the E has 4 superior, 2 inferior, and 2 medium.
Let us close these remarks, already too lengthy, by a simple observation upon the general effect of our arrangement.
The three worlds, Divine, Intelligible, and Physical, are found not only in the three zones of the sphere, but they are again reproduced in the whole arrangement; the Divine is in the centre, through the Foolish Man of the Tarot, and the cross of four colours; this we have already pointed out.
The Intelligible and its developments are provided by the sphere ( Fig.
1 ), or the circular distribution of the 21 great arcana ( Fig.
2 ).
The physical is seen in the external plane of the Equator ( Fig.
1 ), with the distribution of the 56 minor arcana, representing the Zodiac and the various degrees of the multiplicity of Force through substance to the extreme pole, the negative unity 10.
Moreover, the whole ( Fig.
1 ) reproduces the form of the planet Saturn, with its ring, a form which in itself, according to the theories of our positive sciences, is the clearest manifestation, the demonstration of the great laws of the formation of the Universe; namely, the concentration of the substance in a radiant state around a point of attraction, producing with a progressive condensation a rotatory movement, particularly accentuated at the Equator, and giving birth to the stars, planets, and satellites, thus descending from the ethereal nébuleuse to the atom, to the solid ultimate; from living nothingness to inert nothingness, from the unit to an infinite multiplicity.
Thus the Tarot, the secular fruit of the genius of our ancestors, can represent not only the creation in its actual state, but its history even in details, and its future.
with that of the human creature, even to their principles; yet avoiding, by the combination of its analogical symbols, borrowed from natural life, the rock upon which all philosophy breaks--namely, the definition of words, the clear, full expression of the Word in the sublunar world.
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 entire passage is built on the Hermetic principle of correspondence, mapping letters to arcana, worlds to zones, and cosmic laws to planetary forms.
The Stoic and Plotinian doctrine that all parts of the cosmos are bound by hidden affinities, so that a movement in one part resonates through the whole; the metaphysical basis for astrology, magic, and divination.
The arrangement implies hidden affinities between the letters, arcana, and cosmic zones (Divine, Intelligible, Physical).
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 details the formation of the universe from 'ethereal nébuleuse to the atom' and claims the Tarot represents creation's history.
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 being 'in the centre' and reproduced in the whole arrangement, suggesting presence within the structure of reality.
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 descending order from the Divine to the Intelligible to the Physical worlds, and mentions creation descending from ethereal nebulae to atoms.
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 Tarot is described as the 'secular fruit of the genius of our ancestors', implying a transmission of wisdom through time.
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 structures principles around masculine (Son/V) and feminine (Mother/E) poles across different planes.
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 states the Tarot represents creation and history 'with that of the human creature', implying a reflection of cosmic structure in the human or symbolic system.
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 description of 'rotatory movement' and condensation from ethereal to solid implies a change in state or density consistent with vibrational theory.