| CHAPTER II |
The great name of the God of Israel occurs more than five thousand times in the Bible. Qabalists call it the
Tetragrammaton, or quadrilateral name. Other divine names, such as ADNI, AHIH, and AGLA, also contain four letters,
but there is only one Tetragrammaton. It is spelt Yod-Heh-Vau-Heh- in English letters, I-H-V-H.
The Bible ascribes peculiar power to this name; and tradition says that to pronounce it is to possess. a key to all
wisdom.2 In the occult sense, to pronounce the name is to -rasp its inner meaning. It is really a cipher, which conceals
the profoundest mysteries of Qabalistic doctrine.
The Tarot of the Bohemians gives a brief interpretation of this name and shows how the four letters correspond to the
occult meaning of numbers. To it I am indebted for my first knowledge of these matters; but in considering how Yod-
Heh- Vau-Heh unlocks the mysteries of the Tarot, I hope to bring to light facts that have not been published before.
My object is neither to prove the accuracy of the Qabalistic interpretation of the Tetragrammaton, nor to defend the
doctrines that have been deduced therefrom. I merely seek to show how the inventors of the Tarot used Qabalistic
ideas as the basis for their alphabet of symbols.
The student should understand that the implicits of each letter of the name in the various lists that follow are
connected by links of association present in every human mind. The knitting together of apparently unrelated ideas
which results from diligent search for, and prolonged meditation upon, these hidden connections, will be found to be
one of the principle benefits of this study. In this work a dictionary and a thesaurus will be found useful; but the
indispensable feature must be attentive examination of the cards. One might as well try to learn music without singing
or playing as to understand to interpret the Tarot without using the pack itself.
As a beginning, let the student trace the connecting links in the following lists of ideas represented by each letter of
the name:
Yod
A hand; creation, executive, realization; Mexican, Hindu, Persian, and Christian symbol of God. In the Zohar, divine
royalty, typified by the rod of Moses (Eliphas Levi) ; the active principle of all things (Papus) ; Spirit, Ruach, Prana, or
Pneuma, the “life-breath”; inmost principle of man the Ego, termed Purusha by Hindus.
Heh
A window; suggests (1) admission of light and air into a building, and a means of outlook, which ' enables those within
to see what happens outside. The first implicit represents movement from a circumference to a center, or involution;
the second stands for motion from within outward, or evolution. Qabalists call Heh “the Mother,” and say creation took
place therewith. It is a sign of instrumentality, of the universal passive principle, the Non-Ego, which is the Prakriti, or
Great Mother, of the Hindus.
Vau
A nail, or hook; fastening, junction, binding, suspension. In the Tetragrammaton, that which joins Yod to Heh. The link
between Essence (Purusha) and Substance (Prakriti) i. c., Motion or Force. According to Papus, Vau denotes the
universal, passive-active, formative power.
Heh final
In the Tetragrammaton the second Heh represents the second implicit of the letter-name. It is a sign of evolution, of
transmission from one cycle, or plane, of activity to another. Papus compares it to a grain of wheat relatively to the ear,
and calls it a Yod in germ-a synthesis of the first three letters, a concentration of their potentialities. It is a sign of
Form, which combines Essence, Substance, and Activity.
After digesting the foregoing interpretation of the letters the student will have no trouble to understand the following
table:
Tetragrammaton, or quadrilateral name. Other divine names, such as ADNI, AHIH, and AGLA, also contain four letters,
but there is only one Tetragrammaton. It is spelt Yod-Heh-Vau-Heh- in English letters, I-H-V-H.
The Bible ascribes peculiar power to this name; and tradition says that to pronounce it is to possess. a key to all
wisdom.2 In the occult sense, to pronounce the name is to -rasp its inner meaning. It is really a cipher, which conceals
the profoundest mysteries of Qabalistic doctrine.
The Tarot of the Bohemians gives a brief interpretation of this name and shows how the four letters correspond to the
occult meaning of numbers. To it I am indebted for my first knowledge of these matters; but in considering how Yod-
Heh- Vau-Heh unlocks the mysteries of the Tarot, I hope to bring to light facts that have not been published before.
My object is neither to prove the accuracy of the Qabalistic interpretation of the Tetragrammaton, nor to defend the
doctrines that have been deduced therefrom. I merely seek to show how the inventors of the Tarot used Qabalistic
ideas as the basis for their alphabet of symbols.
The student should understand that the implicits of each letter of the name in the various lists that follow are
connected by links of association present in every human mind. The knitting together of apparently unrelated ideas
which results from diligent search for, and prolonged meditation upon, these hidden connections, will be found to be
one of the principle benefits of this study. In this work a dictionary and a thesaurus will be found useful; but the
indispensable feature must be attentive examination of the cards. One might as well try to learn music without singing
or playing as to understand to interpret the Tarot without using the pack itself.
As a beginning, let the student trace the connecting links in the following lists of ideas represented by each letter of
the name:
Yod
A hand; creation, executive, realization; Mexican, Hindu, Persian, and Christian symbol of God. In the Zohar, divine
royalty, typified by the rod of Moses (Eliphas Levi) ; the active principle of all things (Papus) ; Spirit, Ruach, Prana, or
Pneuma, the “life-breath”; inmost principle of man the Ego, termed Purusha by Hindus.
Heh
A window; suggests (1) admission of light and air into a building, and a means of outlook, which ' enables those within
to see what happens outside. The first implicit represents movement from a circumference to a center, or involution;
the second stands for motion from within outward, or evolution. Qabalists call Heh “the Mother,” and say creation took
place therewith. It is a sign of instrumentality, of the universal passive principle, the Non-Ego, which is the Prakriti, or
Great Mother, of the Hindus.
Vau
A nail, or hook; fastening, junction, binding, suspension. In the Tetragrammaton, that which joins Yod to Heh. The link
between Essence (Purusha) and Substance (Prakriti) i. c., Motion or Force. According to Papus, Vau denotes the
universal, passive-active, formative power.
Heh final
In the Tetragrammaton the second Heh represents the second implicit of the letter-name. It is a sign of evolution, of
transmission from one cycle, or plane, of activity to another. Papus compares it to a grain of wheat relatively to the ear,
and calls it a Yod in germ-a synthesis of the first three letters, a concentration of their potentialities. It is a sign of
Form, which combines Essence, Substance, and Activity.
After digesting the foregoing interpretation of the letters the student will have no trouble to understand the following
table:
* Leo is the fifth sign, Scorpio the eighth, Aquarius the eleventh, and Taurus the second 5+8+11+2 = 26, the sum of
the numerical values of the letters of the Tetragrammaton. Mr. Frank C. Higgins, F.R.N.S., is the discoverer of this
interesting correspondence
the numerical values of the letters of the Tetragrammaton. Mr. Frank C. Higgins, F.R.N.S., is the discoverer of this
interesting correspondence
The implicits of the letters of the name are analogous to the implicits of the first four integers. Yod, as a symbol for
the active principle of all things which must be a perfect unity, corresponds to 1. Heh denotes the universal passive
principle; that which reflects the One and seems also to antagonize and oppose it. This principle has long been
identified with the number 2. Vau, sign of the union of Yod and Heh (Yod = 10, Heh = 5; Yod + Heh = 10 + 5 = 15 = 1
+ 5 = 6, the numerical value of Vau), is analogous to 3, which is the sum of 1 and 2. Finally, as the second Heh is a
Yod in germ, so is 4 a potential 1; for by that process of occult mathematics called “theosophic extension”
4=1+2+3+4=10, and by reduction 10--1+0--1.
As a potential 1, the number 4 may be thought of as beginning a second group of integers-4, 5, 6, and 7. In this
quaternary, 7 is the second Heh. Thus it is also a Yod in germ. It returns to unity just as 4 does, for it extends to
28=2+8--10. Hence occultists take it as the initial figure of a third quaternary-7, 8, 9, 10. 10 is like 4 and 7. It returns
to unity at once, by reduction, and its extension is 5'3=5+5=10--1+0=1.
Perhaps these correspondences cannot be justified by ordinary rules of logic; but, logical or not, they form a
recognized part of occult doctrine. As such they are important clues to the meaning of the Tarot.
They give us, in fact, a key to the general plan of the whole pack. In the minor trumps the correspondences are so
obvious that they hardly need to be tabulated; but they are not any more certain than those in the major trumps,
though the latter are not so likely to be noticed by a casual observer.
In the minor trumps the Tetragrammaton corresponds to the suits as follows:
The king represents 10, because 10 is Malkuth, “the kingdom”, personified by the sovereign.
These four quaternaries stand also in a relation to each other similar to that between the letters of Yod-Heh-Vau-
Heh. The first (1, 2, 3, 4) corresponds to Yod, and its members denote activities peculiar to the archetypal world.
The second (4, 5, 6, 7) is to the first as Heh is to Yod, and it belongs to the creative world. The activities of the
formative world, symbolized by Vau, are indicated by the third group. Finally, the synthesis of all these numbers and
planes is the material world, where the abstract powers of the ten Sephiroth, indicated by numbers, assume
personal form, represented by the court-cards, which correspond to the second Heh.
The clue to the attribution of Yod-Heh-Vau-Heh to the major trumps is the fact that each letter of the Hebrew
alphabet represents a number. From Aleph to Teth the letters are signs for units from 1 to 9; from Yod to Tzaddi
they designate tens from 10 to 90, and from Qoph to Tau they stand for hundreds from 100 to 400. Our knowledge
of the correspondences between the letters of the Tetragrammaton and numbers, therefore, leads to the following
attribution of Yod-Heh-Vau-Heh to the Hebrew alphabet:
These four quaternaries stand also in a relation to each other similar to that between the letters of Yod-Heh-Vau-
Heh. The first (1, 2, 3, 4) corresponds to Yod, and its members denote activities peculiar to the archetypal world.
The second (4, 5, 6, 7) is to the first as Heh is to Yod, and it belongs to the creative world. The activities of the
formative world, symbolized by Vau, are indicated by the third group. Finally, the synthesis of all these numbers and
planes is the material world, where the abstract powers of the ten Sephiroth, indicated by numbers, assume
personal form, represented by the court-cards, which correspond to the second Heh.
The clue to the attribution of Yod-Heh-Vau-Heh to the major trumps is the fact that each letter of the Hebrew
alphabet represents a number. From Aleph to Teth the letters are signs for units from 1 to 9; from Yod to Tzaddi
they designate tens from 10 to 90, and from Qoph to Tau they stand for hundreds from 100 to 400. Our knowledge
of the correspondences between the letters of the Tetragrammaton and numbers, therefore, leads to the following
attribution of Yod-Heh-Vau-Heh to the Hebrew alphabet:
The seven quaternaries thus formed are also related to the letters of the name. The first corresponds to Yod, the
second to Heh, the third to Vau, and the fourth to the second Heh. This last becomes the Yod of a second series of
four quaternaries. Thus, although there are only seven quaternaries in the twenty-two major trumps, they include
two distinct groups, of which the first includes the cards from zero to twelve, while the second comprises the trumps
from nine to twenty-one. The first group symbolizes the universal process of involution, the descent of spirit into
matter, through the four worlds as follows:
second to Heh, the third to Vau, and the fourth to the second Heh. This last becomes the Yod of a second series of
four quaternaries. Thus, although there are only seven quaternaries in the twenty-two major trumps, they include
two distinct groups, of which the first includes the cards from zero to twelve, while the second comprises the trumps
from nine to twenty-one. The first group symbolizes the universal process of involution, the descent of spirit into
matter, through the four worlds as follows:
In addition to establishing a general meaning for each card in the pack, this arrangement indicates analogies between
cards that stand in similar relations to the letters of the Tetragrammaton. There is a marked correspondence between
the cards numbered 0, 9,. and 18, for instance, because they are all related to Yod and to the second Heh. The full
significance of these correspondences, however, will not be perceived by the student until he has gained some
knowledge of the esoteric meaning of the Hebrew alphabet. This will be considered briefly in the next chapter.
cards that stand in similar relations to the letters of the Tetragrammaton. There is a marked correspondence between
the cards numbered 0, 9,. and 18, for instance, because they are all related to Yod and to the second Heh. The full
significance of these correspondences, however, will not be perceived by the student until he has gained some
knowledge of the esoteric meaning of the Hebrew alphabet. This will be considered briefly in the next chapter.
|
| GET YOUR OWN beautiful PDF COPY OF all 5 tarot eBOOKs NOW! ONLY $3.99 !!Instant DOWNLOAD!! after your paypal payment complete To get these ebooks USE Buy It now button Below |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Introduction To The Study Of The Tarot: Chapter II