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Geburah, Strength or Severity, also named justice (Din), or Fear (Pechad), is the Sephirah corresponding to the number 5. This number is the mean term between 1, the beginning of the integral series, and 9, its end. Hence it implies balance, or equilibrium. That this is the root quality of justice needs no demonstration. Equilibrium, moreover, is the Great Arcanum of magic,. The search for it entails trials of the utmost rigor and severity trials which inspire the unprepared with chilling fear., but when they are passed, the seeker finds in balance an exhaustless source of strength. Therefore, in the Tarot is this number and Sephirah represented by The Hierophant, the "revealer of the mysteries" of the Great Arcanum.
From 5 proceeds 6, for the extension of 5 is 15, and by reduction 15 is 6. This number also proceeds directly from 3 by extension; and as 3 is itself the extension of2, the number 6 is really involved in, or implied by, the duad. Of this its geometrical symbol is a reminder, for the hexagram, or six-pointed star, is composed of two interlaced equilateral triangles, a double triad. This is what Eliphas Levi means when he says that in a certain aspect "the senary is only the duad exalted and carried to its extreme power." The corresponding Sephirah is Tiphareth, Beauty; and as all true beauty implies rhythm, harmony, and symmetry, it is not difficult to understand why the hexagram, the geometrical basis of the snow-flake, is regarded by Qabalists as its most appropriate symbol. There Are other, and deeper, correspondences, moreover, between the number 6 and the idea of Beauty. Upon these I hope to be able to dwell at greater length when I come to the interpretation of the sixth major trump, The Lovers.
The union of 1 and 6 'produces 7, which in this aspect is a symbol of the harmonious manifestation of the specializing power represented by 1. But it is as the sum of3 and 4, represented by the figure of an equilateral triangle surmounting a square, that the septenary reveals its deepest meaning. As the sum of the triad and the tetrad, 7 is the sacred number of all religions, and, especially, a summary of the whole secret doctrine of Israel . It corresponds to the Sephirah Netzach, Victory, and is represented in the major trumps by The Chariot.
The number 8 is that of the Sephirah Hod, Eternal Order, or Splendor. Eliphas Levi says: "It represents motion, Yet also, and more than all, stability; it reconciles the opposed laws of nature, explains eternity by time, faith by knowledge, God by man. It is the number of eternal life, which is maintained by the equilibrium of motion." This is the only cube among the integers, formed by the double multiplication of the duad (2 x 2 x 2). Here' for discerning students, is an important clue to the occult significance of 8. Another is that by its extension it produces 36, a number representing the combination of the triad and the senary or Understanding and Beauty. Finally, the Sephirah Hod is the seat of "The Intelligence of the Secret," and the secret is that of the direction of the Great Magical Agent. Even the shape of the figure 8 is a hint of that secret. Far more than a hint is given in the symbolism of the eighth major trump in Mr. Waite's pack, entitled Strength.
In 8, because its extension is 36--3+6=9, is concealed the potency of9, and the nature of that potency is revealed by the fact that in the symbolism of number 9 stands for prophecy and initiation. In occult mathematics, therefore, initiation and prophecy are considered to be manifestations of the power of the duad, because they are expressed by a number which results from the extension of the cube of the duad. That they are so in fact is understood by every occultist who has mastered even the rudiments of the Sacred Science. As the final term of the integral series, 9 signifies completion. Hence it is a symbol of perfection, entirety, and realization; and it denotes those who have reached the heights of attainment-the experts, virtuosi, adepts, and illuminati. It is the number of Yesod, the Sephirah of Foundation, the scat of "Pure Intelligence." In the Tarot it corresponds to The Hermit.
As the last of the integers, the number 9 really completes the series of simple mathematical ideas from which all others are derived; but in the scheme of the Sephiroth the number 10 is included. It is assigned to Malkuth, the Kingdom, declared by Qabalists to be the Shekinah, or divine halo which encircles all the other nine Sephiroth, and encompasses the whole in its presence. The number 10 represents the combination of the Manifest (1) and the Unmanifest (0), the particular and the universal, the Primal Will (Kether) and the Limitless Absolute (Ain Soph). It is a sign of the totality of existence, of the perfection and consummation of all things. As the extension of 4, it is the sum of the monad, the duad, the triad, and the tetrad, ,and so combines all the fundamental mathematical conceptions of the Sacred Science. It is also produced by the reduction of the extension of 7 (28 =2+8 =10). Finally, it is the number which brings all the integers back to unity, since 10 =1+0 =1 ; and its own extension, 55, is not only the double pentad, but is also significant of the eternal self-reproduction of the Divine Kingdom, since 55=5+5=10. Its representative in the major trumps is The Wheel of Fortune.
The student who has read, in Chapter 1, that the twenty-two major trumps correspond to the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, may wonder why I am now assigning them to the Sephiroth. The reason is that each trump has a double significance. For the paths between the Sephiroth, indicated by the twenty-two letters, are really only forms or stages of the activity of the Sephiroth themselves. And the student will find, as he progresses in his study of the cards, that whatever apparent confusion may arise from the fact that each trump has two meanings will disappear when the full extent of each meaning is grasped, simply because the two are really aspects of a single truth.
In conclusion, let me give a simple rule for determining the Sephirotic correspondence of any major trump bearing a number higher than 10. First, reduce the number to an integer; second, find the extension of that integer, and reduce it also.
Example:
What is the Sephirotic value of trump 17, The Star?
17= 1 +7= 8, therefore The Star represents an aspect of Splendor, the eighth Sephirah, and should be compared, for study, with Strength.
The extension of 8 is 36. This may be articulated as 3 and 6, hence we know that The Star represents, in the extension, or development, of the power symbolized by it, a combination of the principles represented by The Empress and The Lovers, or the Sephiroth Binah and Tiphareth.
The reduction of36 is 9. Hence we may study The Hermit for a symbolic presentation of the secret doctrine about what results from the development of the activity represented by The Star.
These considerations, combined with what we shall learn of each card by the analysis of its symbolism in connection with the secret meaning of the Hebrew letter to which it corresponds, will enable us to establish our study of the Tarot upon a sure foundation. In succeeding chapters I shall endeavor to furnish outlines for such study.
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