The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus) · 121 of 134 · tr. A.P. Morton
Page 55 (part 1)
FIFTH LESSON.
FORTUNE-TELLING BY THE TAROT.
I.--RAPID PROCESS: What must we do if we wish to draw out the horoscope of any matter?
1.
You should take the minor arcana and separate the suit of cards that refers to the kind of consultation you require.
If it is some business you are about to undertake , you must take the Sceptres or Diamonds.
If it is a love affair , take the Cups or Hearts.
For a law-suit , or any struggle, take Swords or Spades.
In a money matter , the Pentacles or Clubs.
2.
Shuffle the cards selected, then ask the Inquirer to cut them.
3.
Take the four first cards from the top of the pack, and without looking at them place them in a cross in the following way, from left to right, as shown by the numbers.
4 1 3 2 4.
Then take your major arcana (which should always be separated from the minor arcana), shuffle them, and let them be cut for you.
5.
You then ask the Inquirer to draw out seven cards from the major.
arcana by chance, and to give them to you without looking at them.
6.
Shuffle these seven cards, and when the Inquirer has cut them, take the three top cards, and without looking at them arrange them in a triangle, in the following order-- I.
II.
III.
You thus obtain the following figure-- 7.
Take up the cards so that you can see them and read the oracles, noticing that the card placed at number 1 indicates the commencement .
The card placed at number 2 indicates the apogee , at number 3 the obstacles , lastly, at number 4 the fall .
The major arcanum placed at I.
indicates the influences that have weighed in the affair during the Past .
The major arcanum in II.
indicates the influence exerted over the Present .
The arcanum at number III.
shows the influence which will affect and determine the Future .
These cards can be very rapidly deciphered when the habit is once acquired.
But one important point should be noted, that when the rapid process is used for fortune-telling, the figures do not exclusively represent persons of especial complexion.
The King represents a man, without any other distinction, the Queen a woman, the Knight a young man, and the Knave a child.
II.--A MORE ELABORATE PROCESS: 1.
Shuffle all the minor arcana together and let them be cut for you.
2.
Take the twelve first cards from the pack, and place them in a circle thus-- 10 11 9 12 8 1 7 2 6 3 5 4 3.
Shuffle the major arcana, and let them be cut by the Inquirer, who will then choose seven cards .
4.
Take the four first of these cards from the pack, and arrange them opposite the cards placed at numbers 1, 10, 7, 4, thus-- II.
I.
III.
IV.
5.
Then place the three others in a triangle in the centre of the figure, thus-- V.
VI.
VII.
You thus obtain the following general figure, which we have already given.
Place the Inquirer in the centre of the figure, unless it has been drawn amongst the other cards.
If the Inquirer has been drawn you must place it in the centre, and replace it by another major arcanum chosen by the person whose fate is being studied.
The 12 minor arcana indicate the different phases through which the individual life will pass, or the evolution of the event during the four great periods: Commencement , indicated by the major arcanum I., which displays its character; Apogee (arc.
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 implies a correspondence between the suits of cards and types of human affairs (business, love, law, money), reflecting the Hermetic principle that specific symbols map to specific domains of reality.
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 entire practice of fortune-telling described relies on the assumption that shuffling and drawing cards can reveal information about future events or hidden influences, presupposing a sympathetic link between the cards and the querent's fate.
The ritual practice of discerning hidden knowledge — future events, concealed causes, or the will of higher powers — through a structured technique applied to cards, lots, astrological configuration, entrails, oracle, or other sortilege, rather than through direct unmediated insight. Distinct from gnosis_direct_knowledge (unmediated inner apprehension of ultimate truth, not a technique applied to an external medium) and cosmic_sympathy (the underlying doctrine of hidden affinity that many divinatory techniques presuppose, rather than the practice of consulting it).
The entire passage is a manual for fortune-telling by Tarot, detailing methods to predict future events and understand past/present influences.
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 gendered archetypes to the court cards (King represents a man, Queen a woman), reflecting a structural principle of masculine-feminine polarity in the symbolism.
Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality.
The layout instructions rely heavily on specific numbers (four cards in a cross, seven cards from major arcana, three top cards in a triangle) and positional numerology to derive meaning.
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 interpretation of the minor arcana cross includes phases like 'Commencement,' 'Apogee,' 'Obstacles,' and 'Fall,' describing a cyclical rhythm or pendulum motion of events.