The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus) · 119 of 134 · tr. A.P. Morton
Page 53
THIRD LESSON. MAJOR ARCANA. SIGNIFICATION FROM THE DIVINING POINT OF VIEW. WE now know the signification of the minor arcana, and need only study the major arcana. As we have already stated, the major arcana consist of 22 symbolical cards, which we have not yet examined as a means of predicting the future. Their meaning is very easy to remember, if any one will take the trouble to consider them carefully one by one, as their signification is described. One general rule will also aid the memory in this matter, that is, that the seven first cards chiefly refer to the intellectual side of man, the seven next to his moral side, and the seven last to the various events of his material life. We will now give the signification of these 22 cards of our Tarot-- 1. The Juggler signifies MALE INQUIRER. 2. The High Priestess --- FEMALE INQUIRER. 3. The Empress --- ACTION. INITIATIVE. 4. The Emperor --- WILL 5. T he Pope --- INSPIRATION. 6. The Lovers --- LOVE. 7. The Chariot --- TRIUMPH. PROVIDENTIAL PROTECTION. 8. Justice --- JUSTICE. 9. The Hermit --- PRUDENCE. 10. The Wheel of Fortune --- FORTUNE. DESTINY. 11. Strength --- STRENGTH. FORTITUDE. 12. The Hanged Man --- TRIALS. SACRIFICE. 13. Death --- DEATH. 14. Temperance --- TEMPERANCE. ECONOMY. 15. The Devil --- IMMENSE FORCE. ILLNESS. 16. The Lightning-struck Tower --- RUIN. DECEPTION. 17. The Stars --- HOPE. 18. The Moon --- HIDDEN ENEMIES. DANGER. 19. The Sun --- MATERIAL HAPPINESS. LUCKY MARRIAGE. 20. The Judgment --- CHANGE OF POSITION. 21. The Foolish Man --- INCONSIDERATE ACTIONS. MADNESS. 22. The Universe --- ASSURED SUCCESS.
§ Ask Guru about this passage →Themes
Correspondencecosmology
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 structures the 22 cards into three groups of seven corresponding to intellectual, moral, and material aspects of human life, reflecting a microcosmic mapping of human experience.
All passages →Divine Providencetheology
Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.
The Chariot card is associated with 'Providential Protection,' implying a divine ordering or guidance in events.
All passages →Gendercosmology
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 first two cards are explicitly defined by gender ('MALE INQUIRER', 'FEMALE INQUIRER'), reflecting a structural masculine-feminine principle in the system.
All passages →Microcosm Macrocosmcosmology
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 explicitly links the cards to the 'intellectual side of man,' 'moral side,' and 'material life,' treating the Tarot as a map of human existence.
All passages →Numerical Mysticismtheology
Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality.
The passage emphasizes the number 22 and the grouping of cards into three sets of seven as a structural rule for memory and signification.
All passages →Related passages · 11 parallels
theosophy|The Secret Doctrine|Page 46 (part 11)
“They say that what is called collectively Monads by Leibnitz -- roughly viewed, and leaving every subdivision out of calculation, for the present** -- may be separated into three distinct Hosts, which, counted from the highest planes, are,…”
Shared concept: Microcosm Macrocosm — 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. (derived)
platonism|Plato: Timaeus|Section 1ad
“That which yields has a small base; but that which rests on quadrangular bases is firmly posed and belongs to the class which offers the greatest resistance; so too does that which is the most compact and therefore most repellent.
The natu…”
Shared concept: Correspondence — 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. (derived)
hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 11: The Hymn|Section 1b
“It <i.e., Soul> fills it <i.e., the Body of the Cosmos> from within, and from without encircles it, making the All to live.
Without, this vast and perfect Life [encircles] Cosmos; within, it fills [it with] all lives; above, in Heaven, con…”
Shared concept: Correspondence — 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. (derived)
christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 4 (part 4)
“We may say that the world, as we know it, is constituted entirely of forms of heat, or of motion, or of electric conditions, or light, &c., &c.
All this is true in so far as it refers to the relations which it bears towards ourselves.
All…”
Shared concept: Microcosm Macrocosm — 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. (derived)
christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 2 (part 2)
“That Will, by conceiving of its own self, thereby creates a mirror within its own self.
The same takes place in the microcosm of man.
By conceiving of his own self man creates a mirror in which he " feels " his own self, and thereby he be…”
Shared concept: Microcosm Macrocosm — 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. (derived)
neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 161
“Section 5 5. Still more unreasonably: There are men, bound to human bodies and subject to desire, grief, anger, who think so generously of their own faculty that they declare themselves in contact with the Intelligible World, but deny that…”
Shared concept: Divine Providence — Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity. (derived)
neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter XXVII-a
“Moreover, neither is it sufficient to assert, “ that nature, art, and the sympathy of things in the universe, as if they were the parts of one animal, contain premanifestations of certain 188 things with reference to each other; nor that bo…”
Shared concept: Divine Providence — Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity. (derived)
neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 203 (part 1)
“Section 16 16.
But if all this is true, what room is left for evil?
Where are we to place wrong-doing and sin?
How explain that in a world organized in good, the efficient agents [human beings] behave unjustly, commit sin?
And how comes…”
Shared concept: Divine Providence — Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity. (derived)
theosophy|The Secret Doctrine|Page 18 (part 6)
“Starting from this, it becomes easy to understand how nature herself could have taught primeval mankind, even without the help of its divine instructors, the first principles of a numerical and geometrical symbol language.* Hence one finds…”
Shared concept: Numerical Mysticism — Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality. (derived)
neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter VIII-au
“The Pythagoreans, likewise, adorned numbers and figures with the appellations of the Gods.
For they called the equilateral triangle, Minerva Coryphagenes, or begotten from the summit, and Tritogeneia because it is divided by three perpendi…”
Shared concept: Numerical Mysticism — Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality. (derived)
christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 4, Section 1d
“Nay, even the foundation and the boundaries of the heavens (as we forgot to say while 91 thinking of other matters) owe their origin to the Good.
Such is this universe, which lessens not nor grows, and such the noiseless movements (if nois…”
Shared concept: Numerical Mysticism — Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality. (derived)