Chapter III
More Light on the Tarot Trumps
In the Appendix to "Q. B. L. or The Bride's Reception" I have shown the possibility of arranging the Twenty-two Trumps of the Tarot on the Paths of the Tree of Life so that the Astrological Attributions are in perfect order, and I shall now trace out the Symbolism of the Cards themselves, and attempt to show that this arrangement is the Original one, long lost in the mists of antiquity.
The Diagram of the Tree of Life, with its attributions according to this re-arrangement, forms the basis of our present study.
Kether, The Crown of Light, is called AHIH or Eheieh which means Pure Being, that which Is, prior to "existence" or the "standing out" or "coming forth" of the manifested Universe. It is also call The Concealed of the Concealed, and the Supreme and Concealed One which is therefore Amoun. In Egyptian the hieroglyphic is two feathers, which represent AA. From this we obtain the idea of The One First and the One Last, similar to Alpha and Omega. This sign also represents the inherent idea of possible duality, or the apparent duplication of the One. But again it may be translated IU and is therefore the Root of "The Ever Coming One" of a dual nature. From this idea sprang that of IU- Pater or Jupiter as the Father, and Io, the root of Jove or Jehovah, which also symbolizes the Number Ten, or the Ten Sephiroth inherent in the Being of the One.
Kether is also called the Sphere of the Primum Mobile, the First Whirling Motion. It represents the Living Substance; being potentially both Life and Substance in the Pure form of Light.
From Kether proceed the Ideas of the Father, Mother, and Holy Spirit or Son.
The First ray produced Yod, in Chokmah, the next He in Binah, and the third Vau in Tiphereth, and from this proceeded the final He, the Daughter, in Malkuth.
On the Path from Kether to Chokmah is the Tarot Trump called "The Wheel of Fortune," the Key of Destiny which is one with the True Will, and also, some say, with Chance. This is the Card of Iu-Pater, Jupiter the Father, and it symbolizes the Great Wheel of Life; the Whirling Forces of the Primum Mobile, which resulted in a System of Revolving Orbs, the Star Universe or Sphere of the Zodiac, in Chokmah.
This Card depicts the Three Principles of Alchemy, Mercury, Sulphur, and Salt; the Three Gunas, Satva, Rajas and Tamas; the three forms of Force, Radiation, Conduction and Convection; the States of Peace, Activity, and Sloth. These are symbolized by the Sphinx, Hermanubis and Typhon upon the rim of the Wheel; while the "Centrum in Centri Trigono" is concealed within.
This Life Force is active in the One Substance, which becomes differentiated into the Four Elements as symbolized by the Four Cherubic Beasts at the Corners or the Card. Also this is the birth of Tetragrammaton, the Word of the Elements, coming into Existence, or Becoming, as shown by the Letters Yod, He, Vau, He on the Wheel. On this we also find the letters Taro or Rota and the suggestion of the Beginning of Law as Thora.
This Ray of Light is the Essence of Wisdom, the Higher Will or Purpose of the Universe, and as the Star Universe this becomes apparent in Chokmah, the Sphere of the Zodiac, the Second Sephira. It is the root of the Jupiter-Amoun Tradition of the Fatherhood of God as a Supreme and Concealed Force, which on that account was little comprehended by those who accepted the Tradition of a Mother and Son, with the Son preceding the Father.
This Ray is the Essence of Light, but it becomes represented in Chokmah as Grey, a mixture of colors which partially concealed the Supreme Essence, thus causing the Root of Duality. From this Path cometh the Tradition of the Light as the Word or Logos, who was in the Beginning with God and who was God.
The Path from Kether to Binah is attributed to the Trump called "The Universe" corresponding to Saturn, Kronus, or Time. This represents the early tradition of SUT, who later became identified with Set or Satan. Here we have the beginning of the Tradition of the Fatherless Child and the Mother, the Sut-Typhonian Mystery, as we shall see more clearly later on.
The Card shows a Female Figure as the Mother of All Things, but this conceals a figure of Dual-Sex, or the Idea of the Two-Sexed Son, which afterwards became the Twin Horus, and later the Two figures Sut-Horus, as Darkness and Light, and the Two Horizons. The Ellipse shows the beginning of the Time Cycle, for Saturn or Kronus was the Devourer of his Children, the Hours. It also indicates how the Gods, the Tellers of Time, were to be born from the Elementaries or Elements, under which form the earliest ideas of the gods existed. The Card indicates the essential natures of the Four Elements in the Undifferentiated Substance from which they proceeded; or in the Womb of Time. The Four Beasts at the corners again show this clearly, and the Card itself is called "The Great One of the Night of Time." In this Path "The Light shineth in Darkness but the Darkness comprehendeth it not," for the Children of Time know not the mystery of the Here and Now.
This Card is the synthesis of the Elemental Forces; the Figure in the center directs the Positive and Negative Currents. It is attributed to Saturn and symbolizes the Influence from the Crown which resulted in the formation of the Sphere of Saturn or the Sephira Binah, the Great Mother. The early tradition connected the idea of the Great Mother with Typhon the Mother of Sut.
Binah is the Sphere of the Substance of all things, and it balances that of Chokmah wherein is concentrated the Life Force. Together they represent Living-Substance, the Father-Mother from which all proceeds.
Binah is also called The Great Sea. All is said to have been produced from Water brooded over by Spirit.
Uniting Chokmah and Binah we find the Path attributed to "The Star" and the Sign Aquarius. This Sign is Ruled by Saturn, and it will be noticed that it is connected with that Sphere. But it also represents the mystery of the Star Universe, which symbolism is derived from Chokmah.
The old G.D. Ritual (although attributing this card to the wrong Path, as in the old order) states: "This Key represents a Star with seven principal and fourteen secondary rays, altogether twenty-one, the number of the Divine Name AHIH. (Notice AHIH is the Divine Name of Kether immediately above.) In the Egyptian sense it is Sirius, the Dog-Star, the Star of Isis-Sothis. Around it are the seven planets. The nude figure is the symbol of Isis, Nepthys, and Hathoor. She is Aima, Binah, and Tebunah, the Great Supernal Mother Aima Elohim pouring upon Earth the Waters of Creation. In this Key she is completely unveiled. The two urns contain the influence of Chokmah and Binah. On the Right springs the Tree of Life, on the Left the Knowledge of Good and Evil, whereon the bird of Hermes alights, therefore the Key represents the restored world."
This symbolism is so clear according to the Restored World Plan of the Paths that it would seem to need little comment. But there is much more that might be said.
The earliest calculation of Time centered in the revolution of the Serpent round the Dog Star. The First Mother is said to have given birth to the Seven Elementaries, who became the Seven Gods or Planetary Intelligences, the tellers of Time. I may go into this aspect more fully later on.
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