XIII. ; in Keter, in the Hierophant, in the Wise Old Man;

then it presides over death, which will bring the world from the depths of gloomy Inertia to the resplendent crown of the Magi, by the internal light.
It will be noticed, at the same time, that the Yod is the only one of the four letters which, by its various positions, forms a complete spiral round the sphere, from the north to the south poles ; a symbol which may appear very remarkable to any one acquainted with the mysteries of the life of a planet.
The first E, the celestial Mother (arcana II.), is found in the arcana VI., X., XIV. and XVIII., that is to say, Beauty, Form, the Angel of Temperance, which balances the movements of life, and the aurora of the divine Sun ; Diana the Moon.
The V, the Son, is characterized upon the various planes by the arcana III., VIL, XL, XV. and XIX. ; Love, the fertile power ; the Ruler over Matter, Force ; then Typhon, the mysterious Baphomet of the Templars, which collects the superior forces to spread them over the Earth; and lastly, the central Sun. In a word, the Christ of the Gospel, the Spirit of Love, the Master of the Elements, the Word made flesh to spiritualize the flesh; the divine reflex of the Universal Sun.
Lastly, the second E ; the terrestrial Mother is seen in the arcana IV., VIII. , XII., XVI. and XX. The realization of the divine virtualities, and also Mercy, absolute Justice, Sacrifice, the overwhelmed and suffering Spirit,
THE INITIATIVE TAROT. 289
and finally Resurrection ; the head of the Serpent crushed beneath the woman's heel, by the force of abnegation and resigned faith.
We need only follow these various arcana upon the sphere, to see once more that the Yod has 3 superior arcana (northern hemisphere), and 2 inferior ;
That the V Q) has only 2 superior and 1 medium (upon the Equator) ;
And that the E has 4 superior, 2 inferior, and 2 medium.
Let us close these remarks, already too lengthy, by a simple observation upon the general effect of our arrangement.
The three worlds, Divine, Intelligible, and Physical, are found not only in the three zones of the sphere, but they are again reproduced in the whole arrangement ; the Divine is in the centre, through the Foolish Man of the Tarot, and the cross of four colours ; this we have already pointed out.
The Intelligible and its developments are provided by the sphere (Fig. 1), or the circular distribution of the 21 great arcana (Fig. 2).
The physical is seen in the external plane of the Equator (Fig. 1), with the distribution of the 56 minor arcana, representing the Zodiac and the various degrees of the multiplicity of Force through substance to the extreme pole, the negative unity 10.
Moreover, the whole (Fig. 1) reproduces the form of
the planet Saturn, with its ring, a form which in itself,
according to the theories of our positive sciences, is the
clearest manifestation, the demonstration of the great
laws of the formation of the Universe; namely, the
concentration of the substance in a radiant state around
u
290 THE TAROT.
a point of attraction, producing with a progressive con- densation a rotatory movement, particularly accentuated at the Equator, and giving birth to the stars, planets, and satellites, thus descending from the ethereal nébuleuse to the atom, to the solid ultimate; from living nothing- ness to inert nothingness, from the unit to an infinite multiplicity.
Thus the Tarot, the secular fruit of the genius of our ancestors, can represent not only the creation in its actual state, but its history even in details, and its future with that of the human creature, even to their principles ; yet avoiding, by the combination of its analogical symbols, borrowed from natural life, the rock upon which all philosophy breaks — namely, the definition of words, the clear, full expression of the Word in the sublunar world.