The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus) · 108 of 134 · tr. A.P. Morton
Page 48 (part 1)
EXAMPLE OF THE APPLICATION OF THE TAROT TO THE KABBALAH.
THE HIEROGRAM OF ADAM, BY STANISLAS DE GUAITA.
In asserting that the hierogram of Adam conceals the most profound arcana of the living Universe, we shall not astonish those who have made a serious study of the Sepher Bereschit .
By comparing the admirable translation of Fabre d'Olivet with the pentacular revelations of the Book of Thoth , it is not impossible to strike out the supreme light of truth.
Here are a few data which will aid us to reach it.
Adam אדמ is written in Hebrew, Aleph , Daleth , Mem .
א (1st key of the Tarot: The Juggler).
God and man; the Principle and the end; the Equilibrant Unity.
ד (4th key of the Tarot: The Emperor).
The Power and the Kingdom; the verbal Quaternary; the Multiplication of the cube.
מ (13th key of the Tarot: Death).
Destruction and Restoration; Night and Day, moral and physical; Eternity and the Ephemeral; feminine Passivity; at once the gulf of the Past, the matrix of the Future.
The ternary analysis of the fathomless principle that Yod manifests in its inaccessible and synthetic unity, Adam is, in fact, very analogous to the hierogram Aum , which is so famous in the sanctuaries of India.
In אדמ, Aleph corresponds to the Father, the source of the Trinity; Daleth to the Son (whom the Kabbalah also names the King); and Mem to the Holy Spirit, whose ethereal body, devouring yet fertilizing transitory forms, causes life (inexhaustible and unalterable in its essence) to blossom upon the changing hot-bed of Growth .
I have said that אדמ is the cyclic analysis of the principle, of which י (Yod) is the inaccessible synthesis.
A simple calculation of the numerical Kabbalah confirms my assertion.
Let us translate the letters into numbers (Tarotic method).
א 1 ד 4 מ 13.
1 + 4 + 13 = 18.
In 18, 1 +8= 9.
In Kabbalistic absolute numericals the analytical number of Adam is then 9.
Now we obtain 10 by adding, to 9 the specific unity which leads the cycle back to its starting-point, and closes analysis in synthesis, and 10 is the number which corresponds to the letter Yod: this we were anxious to prove.
The hierogrammatic vocable אדמ (Adam) then represents the ninth evolution of the cycle, which emanated from י (Yod), and which closes in 10 by returning to its starting-point.
Principle and end of all, the eternal Yod, revealed in its expanded form tertriune .
Let us go further still.
We have then the right (noting, however, that Adam differs from Yod, or from Wodh, as the totality of the sub-multiples differ from the Unity),--we have the right to say, pursuing our analogies, If Adam be equal to 1, Adam-ah = I-ah ; and Adam Eve = I-eve .
He (ה) represents Universal Life, natura naturans ; יה then represents Yod united to Life, and אדמה (Adamah), Adam united to Life.
This is the union of the Spirit and of the Universal Soul at two different degrees (always remembering the distinction noticed above).
The doctrine of the periodic restoration or recurrence of all things to their original state after vast cycles.
The text describes a cycle where analysis closes in synthesis, returning to the starting-point (Yod), implying a return or restoration of the principle.
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 an exercise in establishing correspondences between Tarot keys, Hebrew letters, Christian Trinity, and Indian Aum, illustrating the 'as above, so below' principle.
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 describes the Holy Spirit (Mem) as causing life to blossom upon the 'changing hot-bed of Growth,' indicating divine presence within the process of creation.
The reunification of complementary divine principles (male-female, spirit-matter) as a symbol of wholeness and salvation.
The passage discusses the union of Adam and Eve (Adamah) as the 'union of the Spirit and of the Universal Soul,' symbolizing a reunification of principles.
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 text describes Adam as a cyclic analysis emanating from the inaccessible synthesis of Yod, representing a flow from divine unity to expanded form.
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 assigns masculine and feminine principles to the letters (Father/Son vs. Holy Spirit/feminine Passivity) as structural features of creation.
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.
Adam is presented as a hierogram concealing the 'arcana of the living Universe,' suggesting the human figure reflects cosmic principles.
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
Yod is characterized as the 'inaccessible and synthetic unity' and 'Principle and end,' functioning as the undivided source from which Adam's multiplicity flows.
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 mentions 'Night and Day' and the cyclic nature of Adam returning to Yod, hinting at cosmic oscillation.
Divine names or formulas that carry ontological power, used in prayer, liturgy, or magical practice.
The Hebrew letters and the name Adam are treated as possessing ontological power and revealing divine attributes through their numerical and symbolic values.