| Synopsis: How the astrological symbolism of the Tarot is connected
to the linked semantic categories of the Sepher Yetsira and the Hebrew alphabet. The
inner formative meanings of the Hebrew letters and Tarot cards. How these levels
are interconnected, preventing arbitrary re-assignment.
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The Levels of the Text
The deepest proofs of the "emergence of the planet from the letter", rather than arbitrary assignment, lie
in the semantic structures of linked categories: for instance, the Hebrew letter that forms the planet, sign or
element and the contrary planetary qualities in their zodiacal environments: Bayt, Saturn, Ayn, Capricorn and
the qualities of life and death.
As a introduction and incentive to look deeper, we can first examine some of the more accessible correlations
to be found in the symbolic structuring of the Tarot, particularly when a trump contains visual clues as to
its native position, as well as its meaning, in the sequence of letters and images. These patterns are
invisible until the Tarot is sequenced in its natural order.
The twenty-two trumps are not just a series of images or arbitrary mythotypes; they are the component squares of a
three-level visual mosaic which must be re-aligned for the pattern to emerge. This pattern has some obvious
structural and symbolic qualities, which again, verify the pattern itself as the root matrix for the images of the
cards. First we look at the basic cosmological structure of the Hebrew alphabet as described by texts like the
Sepher Yetsira and Shi'ur Komah, and compare it to the Golden Dawn system.
The Order and Sequence of the Cosmological Energies
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7 Planetary Double Hebrew Formative Letters |
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| Saadia SY and Classical Placements |
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| Golden Dawn Placements |
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The zodical signs begin with the fifth letter, Hay the archetype of life in the structural-energy alphabet
and the formative of Aries, and proceed in an open sequence ending with the nineteenth letter, Qof, formative
of Pisces, sign of the perfected man.
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12 Simple Hebrew Formative Letters and Zodiacal Correspondancs |
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| Archetypal 1-9 |
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| Existential 10-90 |
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| Cosmic 100-900 |
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Finals |
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From the Saadia Version of the Sepher Yetsira |
Each sign -- Hebrew letter, planet, zodical sign, element, Tarot card -- exists in an over-determined and
interrelated matrix of meaning. Once the primary matrix is seen as the Hebrew alphabet, and the cards
arranged in the natural sequence of the twenty-two letters according to their basic astrological symbolism,
we can find further structural relationships and related visual clues in the symbolism of the trumps.
To make these symbols more accessible, we need to briefly consider the semantic structure
of the matrix. The simplistic keywords used here are general abstract categories and are not to be taken
for the energies they point to; for that the Hebrew letters themselve suffice. Nevertheless, they may be
found to describe rather exactly the concepts conveyed by the astrological and symbolic language of the
Tarot major trumps. Nine basic states of energy manifest in three worlds:
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Semantic Structure of the Hebrew Alphabet |
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Archetypal 1-9 |
Existential 10-90 |
Cosmic 100-900 |
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| Life/Death & Existence |
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| Container |
2 |
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| Movement |
3 |
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| Resistance |
4 |
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| Organic Life |
5 |
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| Fertility |
6 |
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| Indetermination |
7 |
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| Unstructured Energy |
8 |
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| Structure |
9 |
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Nine States of Energy on Three Levels of Manifestation |
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Inner |
Outer |
Move |
Resist |
Life |
Sex |
All Possible |
Possibilities |
Structure |
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| 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
| Air |
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| Existential |
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| 10 |
20 |
30 |
40 |
50 |
60 |
70 |
80 |
90 |
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Water |
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| Cosmic |
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| 100 |
200 |
300 |
400 |
500 |
600 |
700 |
800 |
900 |
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Fire |
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Finals |
We can now begin to see a complex semantic structure emerging in the astrological and formative (numerical)
symbolism of the Tarot. The planetary "attribute" of the Hebrew letter does not exist in isolation, but
is part of a interwoven web of meaning that includes the Hebrew number, its formative or energetic qualities,
the "contrary qualities" (dual values) of the planetary formatives, the astrological sign(s) (aut) of its
home and the sign's corresponding Hebrew formative letter and numercial value. We can briefly compare the first
three double letters and contrast the classical and Golden Dawn perspectives. Included is newly available
phonosemantic data which makes the picture even clearer. All seven
here.
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The indwelling/container of Aleph: physical support without which nothing is, matter |
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| Sepher Yetsira |
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Bayt / Vayt |
Hebrew:
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House |
Golden Dawn |
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House (of God), container, boundary, creation, form |
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mother, man's mouth, interior, virility, interior action |
Phono-
semantic |
two things, one lesser; birth, big bang, border, to be. |
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empty container, vase, vast, veiled, vessel |
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birth, bring into being, bloom, bear, bare, body |
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Alive |
Ghedi |
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Dead |
Deli |
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Organic movement of every Bayt animated by Aleph. Primary seed of space-time |
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| Sepher Yetsira |
3 |
Ghimmel / Djimmel |
Hebrew:
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Camel |
Golden Dawn |
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uncontrolled motion: interaction of contained & container |
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nature, throat, canal, hollow, profound, opening |
Phono-
semantic |
motion to & from a void; too much, too little |
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edge, jangle, jitter, jump, gem, junk, jilt, joke |
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give, get, go, grow, glow, good, grail, gap |
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Peace |
Daghim |
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Evil |
Qoshet |
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Resistance/response to Ghimmel of Bayts containing Aleph: physical existence: root of all things |
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4 |
Dallet / Thallet |
Hebrew:
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Door |
Golden Dawn |
| Formative |
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physical existence as resistance/response to life |
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authority, origin of physical existence, division |
Phono-
semantic |
Door, divides into two parts, energy gate |
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thin thread thrust through thick; think, thing |
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do, don't, down, drown, dull, dance, delay |
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Wisdom |
'Aqarav |
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Folly |
Toleh |
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Next, we look at the patterns revealed within the structure of the Tarot, once you know where and how to look.
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