Chapter 36
CHAPTER XIII.
GENERAL TRANSITION. ARCANA 19 TO 21.
The Qoph and the Sun — The Resh and the Judgment — The Shin
and the Fool — The Vau and the Sun.
The Ternary of Transition.
GENERAL TRANSITION.
179
THE SUN.
THE SUN.
19. p
19th Hebrew letter (Qoph).
ORIGIN OF THE SYMBOLISM OF THE NINETEENTH CARD OF
THE TAROT.
Hieroglyphically the Qoph expresses a sharp weapon,
everything that is useful to man ; defends him ; makes an
effort for him.
The Qoph is therefore a particularly compressive, astrin-
gent, and cutting sign ; it is the image of agglomerative,
restricting form, and this gives rise to the idea of material
existence.
This letter represents the letter 3 (Kaph, 11) entirely
materialized, applying itself to purely physical objects.
Here is the progression of the sign —
180 THE TAROT.
H (He, 5). Universal life.
n (Cheth, 8). Elementary existence. The efïort of
nature.
3 (Kaph, 11). Assimilated life, tending to material
forms.
p (Qopb, 19). Material existence, becoming the medium
of forms.
This is a simple letter ; it corresponds with the sign of
the Gemini.
NINETEENTH CARD OF THE TAROT.
The Sun.
Two naked children are shut into a walled enclosure.
The sun sends down his rays upon them, and drops of gold
escape from him and fall upon the ground.
The spirit resumes its ascendancy. It is no longer a
reflected light, as in the preceding arcanum, which illumines
the figure, bat the direct creative light of the God of our
Universe, which floods it with his rays.
The walls indicate that we are still in the visible or
material world. The two children symbolize the two
creative fluids, positive and negative, of the new creature.
1. Awakening of the Spirit. Transition from . the
material world to the divine world. Nature accomplishing
the functions of God —
The Elements.
2. The body of man is renewed —
Nutrition. Digestion.
3. The material world commences its ascension towards
God-
The Mineral Kingdom.
GENERAL TRANSITION.
181
19. p
The Sun.
AFFINITIES
SIGNIFICATIONS
Primitive f Axe, sharp-edged
Hieroglyphic ( weapon
THE ELEMENTS
Astronomy The Gemini
Month February
Hebrew letter Qoph (simple)
NUTRITION
Digestion
OBSERVATIONS
THE MINERAL KINGDOM
182
THE TAKOT.
THE JUDGMENT.
THE JUDGMENT.
20. -i
20th Hebrew letter (Eesh).
ORIGIN7 OF THE SYMBOLISM OF THE TWENTIETH CARD OF
THE TAROT.
The hieroglyphic meaning of the Resh is the head of man,
and it is therefore associated with the idea of all that
possesses in itself an original, determined movement. It
is the sign of motion itself, good or bad, and expresses the
renewal of things with regard to their innate power of
motion.
The Resh is a double letter, and responds astronomically
to Saturn.
GENERAL TRANSITION. 183
TWENTIETH CARD OF THE TAROT.
The Judy ment.
An angel with fiery wings, surrounded by a radiant
halo, sounds the trumpet of the last judgment. The
instrument is decorated with a cross.
A tomb opens in the earth, and a man, woman, and
child issue from it ; their hands are joined in sign of
adoration.
How can the reawakening of nature under the influence
of the Word be better expressed ? We must admire the
way in which the symbol answers to the corresponding
Hebrew hieroglyphic.
1. Return to the divine World. The Spirit finally
regains possession of itself —
Original Determined Motion.
2. Life renews itself by its own motion —
Vegetable Life.
Respiration.
3. The material world progresses one degree in its
ascension towards God —
The Vegetable World.
184
THE TAROT.
20. -i
The Judgment.
AFFINITIES
SIGNIFICATIONS
Primitive j The Head of
Hieroglyphic | Man
Astronomy Saturn
ORIGINAL AND
DETERMINED MOTION
Day Saturday
Hebrew letter Eesli (double)
RESPIRATION
Vegetable Life
OBSERVATIONS
THE VEGETABLE
KINGDOM
GENERAL TRANSITION.
185
THE FOOL.
THE MATE.
21. W
21st Hebrew letter (Shin).
ORIGIN OF THE SYMBOLISM OF THE UNNUMBERED CARD OF
THE TAROT.
The Shin 1 expresses the same hieroglyphic meaning as
the Zain (7th arcanum) and the Samech (15th) : this is an
arrow, an object directed to an aim. But the movement
which was direct in the Zain (*), and which became circular
in the Samech (p), here takes the form of a vibration from
one pole to the other, with an unstable point of equilibrium
in the centre. The Shin is therefore the sign of relative
duration and of the movement relating to it, whilst the
1 This letter is derived from its vocal ** ( Yod), become a consonant ;
and it adds toits original meaning the respective significations of the
letters T (Zain) and D (Samech). — Fabre D'Olivet.
186 THE TAROT.
Samedi expresses cyclic movement, and therefore absolute
duration.
Shin is one of the three mother letters.
TWENTY-FIRST (UNNUMBERED) CARD OF THE TAROT.
The Foolish Man.
A careless-looking man, wearing a fool's cap, with torn
clothes and a bundle upon his shoulder, goes quietly on
his way, paying no attention to a dog which bites his leg.
He does not look where he is going, so walks towards a
precipice, where a crocodile is waiting to devour him.
This is an image of the state to which unresisted passion
will reduce a man. It is the symbol of the Flesh and of
its gratification. From a moral point of view the follow-
ing verses of Eliphas Levi well explain this symbol —
" Souffrir c'est travailler, c'est accomplir sa tâche,
Malheur au paresseux qui dort sur le chemin ;
La douleur, comme un chien, mord les talons du lâche,
Qui, d'un seul jour perdu, surcharge un lendemain." l
1. More rapid return to the Divine World. Personality
asserts itself —
The Motion of Relative Duration.
2. The intellect roughly appears under the influence of
evolution —
Innervation. Instinct.
1 " Sorrow lessens in work, in fulfilling a task,
Woe to the sluggard who sleeps on his way ;
Like a dog at his heels pain clings to him fast,
If he leave for to-morrow the work of to-day."
GENERAL TRANSITION.
187
3. The matter of the world attains the maximum of its
material progression —
The Animal Kingdom.
21. w
The Foolish Man.
OBSERVATIONS
AFFINITIES
SIGNIFICATIONS
Primitive ) „,, a
\ lhe Arrow
Hieroglyphic J
\ The Shin
Hebrew letter r (one of the 3
J mothers)
THE MOTION
of
Relative Duration
INNERVATION
Instinct
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM
188
THE TAROT.
LEMONDE. o
THE WOULD.
THE WORLD.
22. n
22nd Hebrew letter (Tau).
ORIGIN OF THE SYMBOLISM OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CARD OF
THE TAROT.
The Tau has the same hieroglyphic meaning as the
Daleth (fourth card), the womb; but it is chiefly the sign
of reciprocity, the image of all that is mutual and reciprocal.
It is the si<m of si^ns, for to the abundance of the letter
Daleth 1 (fourth card), and by dint of the resistance and
protection of the letter Teth, ft (ninth card), it adds the
idea of perfection, of which it is the symbol.
In the primitive Hebrew alphabet the Teth was repre-
sented by a cross ( + ). This letter is double, and in
astronomy it represents the Sun.
GENERAL TRANSITION. 189
TWENTY-FIRST CARD OF THE TAROT.
The World.
A nude female figure, holding a wand in each hand, is
placed in the centre of an ellipsis, her legs crossed (like
those of the Hanged Man in the twelfth card). At the
four angles of the card we find the four animals of the
Apocalypse, and the four forms of the Sphinx : the Man,
the Lion, the Bull, and the Eagle.
This symbol represents Macrocosm and Microcosm, that
is to say, God and the Creation, or the Law of the Absolute.
The four figures placed at the four corners represent the
four letters of the sacred name, or the four great symbols
of the Tarot.
The Sceptre or yod = Fire.
The Cup or he — Water.
The Sword or vau = Earth.
The Pentacle or 2nd he = Air.
These affinities can be represented thus —
Sceptre Pentacle
Cup Sword
Between the sacred word that signifies God and the
centre of the figure is a circle or an ellipsis, representing
Nature and her regular and fatal course. From this comes
the name of Rota, wheel, given to it by Guillaume Postel.
190 THE TAROT.
Lastly, the centre of the figure represents humanity,
Adam-Eve, the third term of the great series of the
Absolute, which is thus constructed : —
The impenetrable Absolute, the En Soph of the Kab-
balists, the Parabrahm of the Hindus —
The impenetrable Absolute or God ... 1st septenary.
The soul of the Absolute or Man ... 2nd septenary.
The body of the Absolute or the Universe 3rd septenary.
. This twenty-first card of the Tarot therefore contains
in itself a recapitulation of all our work, and proves to us
the truth of our deductions.
A simple figure will sum up what we have said.
7 ' oci
D
(j HUrf-xNl 1
* 1
Ai V
V au
This symbol gives us an exact figure of the construction
of the Tarot itself, if we notice that the figure in the centre
represents a triangle (a head and two extended arms)
surmounting a cross (the legs), that is to say, the figure
of the septenary thus formed **.
The four corners therefore reproduce the four great
symbols of the Tarot. The centre represents the action
of these symbols between themselves, represented by the
ten numbers of the minor arcana, and the twenty-two
GENERAL TRANSITION.
191
letters of the major arcana. Lastly, the centre reproduces
the septenary law of the major arcana themselves.
As this septenary is in the centre of three circles, repre-
senting the three worlds, we see that the sense of the
twenty-one arcana is once more determined (3x7= 21).
The following figure indicates the application of the
twenty-first card to the Tarot itself.
We shall also see that this card of the Tarot gives the
key of all our applications of the pack to the Year, to
Philosophy, to the Kabbalah, etc., etc.
192
THE TAEOT.
THE TEKJSTAKY OF TRANSITION.
The Elements
Original and
Determined
Motion
The Motion
of Relative
Duration
Divine Reproduction
Nutrition
The Mineral Kingdom
Respiration /.10
Vegetable Life
Innervation
Instinct
The Vegetable
Kingdom
(i\ The Animal
Kingdom
Reproduction of Man Reproduction of the Universe
The Absolute
containing in itself
God
Man
The Universe.