I. ; the V. card (the Pope, *)) will be in II. ; the VI. card

(Liberty, FT) will be in III., and this second ^sequence will
form a new zone upon the sphere. A third, a little
inferior, will be formed by cards VII., VIII. and IX., cards
XL, X. and XII. will occupy the Equator, and the 9 cards
from XIII. to XXI. will be distributed like the 9 first, in 3
bands placed upon the lower hemisphere as shown in Fig. 1.

Now our 22 great arcana are placed ; let us pause and
look at their significations. 'Above the Equator we see an
ever-increasing expansion of the North Pole, represented
by the 3 upper triangles, then by the 6 trapezes which
follow, each larger than the one before. Here are the three
planes of the Creation : The Divine, metaphysic (I., IL,
III.), the Intelligible, moral (IV., V., VI.), and the physical,
that of the generative attributes or elements (VIL, VIIL,
and IX.).

The creation is realized upon the equatorial line (X..
XL, XIL), in which the first term, with the preceding cards,
represents the 10 sephiroth of the Kabbalah.

Below the Equator, in the world of material realization,

THE INITIATIVE TAROT. 277

which is quitted by Death (XIII.), this expansion is
retracted and synthetized by an inverse and symmetrical
movement of the above. The arcana which follow
represent Initiation carried to its extreme limits, the
path by which the creature (X.) returns from its multi-
plicity to the unity of the spirit, goes back to the point —
the southern pole — a new reflex of the Absolute, towards
which it reascends by the vertical axis of the sphere.1

The Neophyte, after his preparation (positive science,
magnetism and alchemy, X., XI., XII.), travels through the
sublunar world (XI IL, XIV., XV.), then through the solar
system (XVI., XVII. and XVIIL), and escapes by the sun
in the abyss of the Infinite (XIX., XX, XXL).

We may now end this short explanation of the practical
distribution of our 22 arcana upon a plane (the reader will
do well to imitate it upon a table with a pack of Tarot
cards). The student should imagine that our sphere is
seen from a considerable distance, vertical upon its axis ;
for instance, at the distance of the earth from the sun, the
upper hemisphere only will appear, the other being seen
but transparently ; and it will look like a circle, with the
Equator for its circumference. The limits of the 3 super-
posed zones appear like 3 concentric circles ; the meri-
dional planes, seen by their dividing lines, only look like
3 equally divided radii, making of the 3 sectors 3 equal
arcs. This representation, which geometricians name pro-
jection upon the plane of the Equator, gives the second
figure (the 4 circles of the centre only) ; to it, for the sake
of clearness in the symbols, has been added an equilateral
triangle inscribed in the inner circle, with the points
posed upon the 3 meridians. The Roman figures inscribed

1 The details which justify this assertion will be found in the first
part of this chapter.

278 THE TAROT.

in the circles represent the numbers of the cards placed
as we have said, and, consequently, also indicate their place
upon the table. The arcana of the lower hemisphere are
indicated upon the figure in dotted letters, in the same
circles as the preceding ; since the lower zones, seen only
transparently, might be confused with the upper, through
their mutual symmetry.

Here, in its great features, is already an answer to our
questions : the Spirit descends by three trinities from the
Absolute into Matter (upper hemisphere). It is realized by
the trinity X. (Malchut), XI. and XII. (the Equator), and
it returns to the Absolute by a trinity of growing synthesis,
which constitutes human progress (lower hemisphere).

We will presently explain some of the philosophic
interpretations which this distribution furnishes ; let us
first complete it by our 55 minor arcana. They especially
represent our solar world.

Since we are now in the world of realization, 4 is its
number, its fundamental basis ; it is the Trinity realized ;
the divine name of 4 letters IEVE (mrP). Our cards will
be divided into 4 sections : the 4 colours of the pack,
spades, hearts, clubs, and diamonds, with their hieroglyphic
and far more significant names : the Sceptres, Cups, Swords,
and Pentacles.

Everything is dual in this world, where the equilibrium
is unstable, unable to find any rest, except in the return
to the Trinity, from which it proceeds. Thus these 4
fundamental divisions will divide into 2 duads : the one
spiritual, the other material, each composed of a masculine
and feminine principle, namely —

Spiritual duad, the Sceptre (spades, a full triangle,
masculine) ; the Cup (heart, an open triangle, feminine) ;
religious attributes ;

THE INITIATIVE TAROT. 279

Material duad : the S word (club, a lobed triangle"!
and the Pentach (diamond, double triangle) ; the attributes
of the warrior and of the artisan.

Four other divisions correspond to these 4 colours, those
of the figures which also form 4 duads, namely —

King and Queen ;

Knight or Warrior, and Knave.

As to the numbers which follow these figures, they lead
us to another consideration, which is also essential to the
distribution of our cards —

If 4 is the fundamental number of these minor arcana,
the symbols of our world, we must not forget that it is
also connected with the Trinity, from which it emanates ;
that it realizes it, and returns to it. We must then also
find the ternary element in it : after the colours and the
figures, which have provided the basis of our world, the
numbers, which are, as it were, the essence of it, will
reflect the sepbiroth in it, and by them the act of creation.
They pause, in fact, at 10, including 3 trinities besides the
tenth, Malchut, which unites them.

Our distribution must also take the two numbers 3 and
4 into account, by combining them so as to utilize all the
elements which we have just enumerated. This is how
we can do this (follow Fig. 1 upon the plane of the
Equator, represented as a ring outside the sphere) —

We will first separate some of the cards : the Knave of
each of the 4 colours (H), which, as the realization of the
Trinity, King (*»), Queen (H), Knight (1), serves as the tran-
sition from the quaternary to the ternary; and the 10
of each colour, the unity of complete realization, the multiple
unity 1 and 0 — Malchut.

The Knaves, by their participation in the quaternary
and ternary, and their return to the Unity by the Trinity,

280 THE TAROT.

have a universality which connects them with the un-
numbered card 0 of the great arcana ; we will therefore
place them round this card, as a cross, in the centre of our
equatorial circle. In this way the centre will express : By
the card 0, the original unity, the source and aim of
creation ; by its triangle, the primitive Trinity ; by its 4
colours, the quaternary in which it is realized ; by the
character of the 4 Knaves, the return of this quaternary to
the ternary ; in short, the whole creation assembled in one
point, in potentiality, which is the characteristic of the
Spirit.

On the other hand the four 10 will be placed at the ex-
tremities of the cross formed by the Knaves, outside all our
circles, as the expression of the Unity multiple, in its last
term of differentiation.

As to the other cards, they include first 3 kinds of
figures, which correspond with the 3 terms of the
Trinity ; it is quite simple to distribute them in the 3
parts of our external equatorial plane, corresponding with
the 3 divisions of the sphere —

The Kings opposite to division I (*) ;
The Queens opposite to division E (H) ;
The Knights opposite to division V (1) ;

and, since there are 4 colours for each of them, 4 sub-
divisions are naturally produced in each of our 3 principal
divisions; these 4 subdivisions, corresponding to the
Sceptre Q, the Cup (n), the SAVord Q), and the Pentacle (n),
also repeat the Divine name of 4 letters (IEVE) (n^),
and form the passage from the ternary to the quaternary.

Now only the numbers remain to be placed ; and we
have only to make them correspond with the terms of the
Trinity —

THE INITIATIVE TAROT. 281

The four 1 behind the Kings :
The four 2 behind the Queens ;
The four 3 behind the Knights.

Then, in a still more external circle —

The four 4 outside the Kings and the 1 ;
The four 5 outside the Queens and the 2 ;
The four 6 outside the Knights and the 3.

Finally, an outlying circle will include the four 7, 8 and 9
in the same order. As to the four 10, they are placed quite
outside, as we have already said.

We thus obtain the distribution represented by the
figures 1 and 2.

Let us now consider their signification.

The living atom descended upon the sphere has reached
the point represented by arcanum X., the ivheel of JEzekiel,
which raises man and lowers the elemental. From this, the
atom falls, so to speak, through the material world, which
he has just entered. He first descends through the spiritual
decade (Sceptre and Cup) (see the figure), traversing
numbers of increasing complexity : King, 1, 4, 7, then 10.
By this 10, the multiple unity, limit of materialization,
which unites the two portions of the decade Sceptre-Cup,
he resumes in an inverse sense, as though by a reascending
arc, the road which will lead him back to plate X.,
remounting the 4, 7, 10, and King of Cups and Swords, the
substantial duad.

This is only one-third of the voyage which the living-
atom must accomplish in the real world ; and, in this first
excursion through matter, he has still retained the
spiritual character which he received from Yod p), the
characteristic of plate X. ; he must now lose this character
for that of the following E (n). To this end, he passes

282 THE TAROT.

from plate X., which he has just re-entered, to plate XI. (p),
the Hermit, the veiled Lamp, to pass in the same way as
he has already done through the dual series of the Sceptre-
Cup, through the Queens, the 2, 5, and 8, passing by the
10 of Cups, and remounting by it through the second
series, Sword-Pentacles, to the arcanum XL, the starting-
point of this second excursion.

Finally, from this last arcanum he passes to number