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Page 1 of 31944 · PDF PAGE 170
PRINCE OF DISKS The Prince of Disks represents the airy part of Earth, indicating the florescence and fructification of that element. He rules from the 21st degree of Aries to the 20th degree of Taurus. The figure of this Prince is meditative. He is the element of Earth become intelligible. Clothed in light armour, his helmet is crowned with the head of a bull; and his chariot is drawn by an ox, this animal being peculiarly sacred to the Element of Earth. In his left hand he holds his disk, which is an orb resembling a globe, marked with mathem…
1944 · PDF PAGE 197
THE ROOT OF THE POWERS OF WATER ACE OF CUPS This card represents the element of Water in its most secret and original form. It is the feminine complement of the Ace of Wands, and is derived from the Yoni and the Moon exactly as that is from the Lingam and the Sun. The third in the Hierarchy. This accordingly represents the essential form of the Holy Grail. Upon the dark sea of Binah, the Great Mother, are Lotuses, two in one, which fill the cup with the Life‐fluid, symbolically represented either as Water, as Blood, or as Wine, according to the…
1944 · PDF PAGE 75
… The Temple of Solomon the King.) On this word alone a complete volume could, and should, be written. Cancer is the cardinal sign of the element of Water,2 and represents the first keen on‐ rush of that element. Cancer also represents the path which leads from the great Mother Bi‐ nah to Geburah, and is thus the influence of the Supernals descending through the Veil of Wa‐ ter (which is blood) upon the energy of man, and so inspires it. It corresponds, in this way, to The Hierophant, which, on the other side of the Tree of Life, brings down the…
1944 · PDF PAGE 212
But, it will instantly be asked, what of the status of this Element in the light of other attributions? In the Yetziratic World, is not Air the first element to follow Spirit? Is not Vayu the first emergence of the phenomenal from the arcane obscurity of Akasha? How may one reconcile the doctrine of Mind with the fact that Ruh, or Ruach, actually means Spirit itself? “Achath Ruach Elohim Chum” (777) means “One is the Spirit (not Air) of the Gods of the Liv‐ ing”? And is not Air, the element attributed to Mercury, also most properly the Breath o…
1944 · PDF PAGE 83
…careful description. In the Hindu system are three Gunas‐Sattvas, Rajas and Tamas. The word “Guna” is untranslatable. It is not quite an element, a quality, a form of energy, a phase, or a potential; all of these ideas enter into it. All the qualities that can be predicated of anything may be ascribed to one or more of these Gunas: Tamas is darkness, inertia, sloth, ignorance, death and the like; Rajas is energy, excite‐ ment, fire, brilliance, restlessness; Sattvas is calm, intelligence, hicidity and balance. They cor‐ respond to the three pri…
1944 · PDF PAGE 184
THE ROOT OF THE POWERS OF FIRE ACE OF WANDS This card represents the essence of the element of Fire in its inception. It is a solar‐ phallic outburst of flame from which spring lightnings in every direction. These flames are Yods, arranged in the form of the Tree of Life. (For Yod, see Atu IX su‐ pra.) It is the primordial Energy of the Divine manifesting in Matter, at so early a stage that it is not yet definitely formulated as Will. Important: although these “small cards” are sympathetic with their Sephirotic origin, they are not identical; n…
1944 · PDF PAGE 176
IV THE FOUR ACES The Aces represent the roots of the four elements. They are quite above, and distinct from, the other small cards in the same way as Kether is said to be symbolized only by the topmost point of the Yod of Tetragrammaton. In these cards is no real manifestation of the element in its material form. They form a link between the small cards and the Princesses, who rule the Heavens around the North Pole. The Meridian is the Great Pyramid, and the Ele‐ ments rule, going Eastward, in the order of Tetragrammaton, Fire, Water, Air, Eart…
1944 · PDF PAGE 268
…or those who are suffering from the illusion of imperfection; it enables them to make their way to the i1limitable Light. DIAGRAM 7. THE ELEMENTAL WEAPONS This diagram shows the attribution of the four Suits of the pack to the four Elements. The fifth Element of Spirit is represented by a lamp, and this in the Tarot refers to the Twenty‐ two Trumps. The interplay of the symbols should be noticed, for the whole of the planetary, zodiacal, and elemental symbols are themselves all contained in the rays of the Lamp. Note that this and the following…
1944 · PDF PAGE 89
…ndition of progress. In this inferior darkness of death, the serpent of new life begins to stir. In the former Aeon, that of Osiris, the element of Air, which is the nature of that Aeon, is not unsympathetic either to Water or to Fire; compromise was a mark of that period. But now, under a Fiery lord of the Aeon, the watery element, so far as water is below the Abyss, is definitely hostile, unless the opposition is the right opposition implied in marriage. But in this card the only question is of the “redemption” of the submerged element, and t…
1944 · PDF PAGE 180
…ftness, as one might expect from its attribution to Mer‐ cury and Sagittarius. This is an etherealization of the idea of fire; all gross elements have dis‐ appeared. (Let there be a short digression with regard to the signs of the Zodiac. In the case of each element, the Cardinal sign represents the swift, impulsive onrush of the idea. In the Kerubic sign, the element has come to its full balance of power; and in the other signs the force is fading away. Thus, Aries represents the rush of fire, Lightning; Leo, its power, the Sun; and Sagittariu…
1944 · PDF PAGE 88
XII. THE HANGED MAN This card, attributed to the letter Mem, represents the element of Water. It would per‐ haps be better to say that it represents the spiritual function of water in the economy of initia‐ tion; it is a baptism which is also a death. In the Aeon of Osiris, this card represented the su‐ preme formula of adeptship; for the figure of the drowned or hanged man has its own special meaning. The legs are crossed so that the right leg forms a right angle with the left leg, and the arms are stretched out at an angle of 60° so as to for…
1944 · PDF PAGE 267
…e, and there‐ fore to adjust, means of action to the facts of the case, thus preventing the illusion of catastro‐ phe by eliminating the element of surprise. It is of course also of supreme importance to eliminate that prejudiced desire which is the poison of will, “For pure will, unassuaged of pur‐ pose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect”. It only makes things worse if one wishes that there were no Ten of Swords in the pack, or that the Five of Wands did not follow and upset the Four. DIAGRAM 6. THE ELEMENTS AND THEIR SYM…
1944 · PDF PAGE 210
SATIETY TEN OF CUPS This card represents a conflicting element. On the one hand, it receives the influence of the Ten, Malkah the Virgin. The arrangement of the cups is that of the Tree of Life. But, on the other hand, they are themselves unstable. They are tilted; they spill the water from the great Lotus which overhangs the whole system from one into the other. The work proper to water is complete: and disturbance is due. This comes from the influence of Mars in Pisces. Mars is the gross, violent and disrup‐ tive force which inevitably attack…
1944 · PDF PAGE 140
III GENERAL REMARKS These cards constitute a pictorial analysis of the powers of the four letters of the Name and the four Elements. They are also referred to the Zodiac; but instead of assigning the three decans of each sign to one card, the influence begins with the last decan of one Sign and con‐ tinues to the second decan of the next. There is a further difficulty. It might well be expected that the elemental attribution would harmonize with the Zodiacal attribution; but it is not so. For instance, one might anticipate that the fiery part o…
1944 · PDF PAGE 24
ity of iron is a watery quality.1 The word “element” does not mean a chemical element; it means a set of ideas; it summarises certain qualities or properties. It seems hardly possible to define these terms in such a way as to make their meaning clear to the student. He must discover for himself by constant practice what they mean to him. It does not even follow that he will arrive at the same ideas. This will not mean that one mind is right and the other wrong, because each one of us has his own universe all to himself, and it is not the same a…
1944 · PDF PAGE 179
The four Sixes are thus representative of their respective elements at their practical best. The Six of Wands is called Victory. The outburst of energy in the Five of Wands, which was so sudden and violent that it even gave the idea of strife, has now completely won suc‐ cess. The rule, or lordship, in the suit of Wands is not quite as stable as it might have been if there had been less energy displayed. So, from this point, as soon as the current leaves the middle pillar, the inherent weakness in the element of Fire (which is this: that, for a…
1944 · PDF PAGE 233
SUCCESS SIX OF DISKS The Number Six, Tiphareth, as before, represents the full harmonious establishment of the Energy of the Element. The Moon in Taurus rules the card; and this, while increasing the approach to perfection (for the Moon is exalted in Taurus and therefore in her highest form) marks that the condition is transient. The disks are arranged in the form of the Hexagram, which is shown in skeleton. In the centre blushes and glows the light rose‐ madder of dawn, and without are three concentric circles, golden yellow, salmon‐pink, and …
1944 · PDF PAGE 278
…Water of Earth Fields—quiet, spiritualized to bear vegetable and animal life. In each case the Cardinal sign represents the Birth of the Element, the Kerubic sign its Life, and the Mutable sign its Passing Over towards the ideal form proper to it; i.e. to Spirit. So also the Princesses in the Tarot are the Thrones of Spirit.
1944 · PDF PAGE 82
…ng to another tradition, the fortune of the owner may be read. It would be narrow to think of Jupiter as good fortune; he represents the element of luck. The incalculable factor. This card thus represents the Universe in its aspect as a continual change of state. Above, the firmament of stars. These appear distorted in shape, although they are balanced, some being brilliant and some dark. From them, through the firmament, issue lightnings; they churn it into a mass of blue and violet plumes. In the midst of all this is suspended a wheel of ten …
1944 · PDF PAGE 213
PEACE TWO OF SWORDS This card is ruled by Chokmah in the Element of Air. This suit, governing all intellectual manifestations, is always complicated 1How strikingly this fact confirms the counterchange of IV and XVII, above fully expounded: as a link between Chokmah and Tiphareth, the Emperor would have no great significance, and this exquisite doctrine of the Three Mothers would be lost. and disordered. It is subject to change as is no other suit. It represents a general shak‐ ing‐up, resulting from the conflict of Fire and Water in their marr…