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1944 · PDF PAGE 175

The Book of Thoth

PART IV THE SMALL CARDS The Four Aces; The Four Twos; The Four Threes; The Four Fours; The Four Fives; The Four Sixes; The Four Sevens; The Four Eights; The Four Nines; The Four Tens. The Root of the Powers of Fire Ace of Wands; Dominion­Two of Wands; Virtue­Three of Wands; Com­ pletion­Four of Wands; Strife­Five of Wands; Victory­Six of Wands; Valour­Seven of Wands; Swiftness­Eight of Wands; Strength­Nine of Wands; Oppression­Ten of Wands. The Root of the Powers of Water­Ace of Cups; Love­Two of Cups; Abundance­Three of Cups; Luxury­Four of Cu…

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1944 · PDF PAGE 7

The Book of Thoth

CONTENTS—Continued PART THREE: THE COURT CARDS General Remarks; General Characteristics of the Four Dignitaries; Summarized description of the Sixteen Court Cards; Knight 0f Wands; Queen of Wands; Prince of Wands; Princess of Wands; Knight of Cups; Queen of Cups; Prince of Cups; Princess of Cups; Knight of Swords; Queen of Swords; Prince of Swords; Princess of Swords; Knight of Disks; Queen of Disks; Prince of Disks; Princess of Disks. PART IV. THE SMALL CARDS The Four Aces; The Four Twos; The Four Threes; The Four Fours; The Four Fives; The Fo…

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1944 · PDF PAGE 201

The Book of Thoth

LUXURY FOUR OF CUPS This card refers to Chesed in the sphere of Water. Here, below the Abyss, the energy of this element, although ordered, balanced and (for the moment) stabilized, has lost the original purity of the conception. The card refers to the Moon in Cancer, which is her own house; but Cancer itself is so placed that this implies a certain weakness, an abandonment to desire. This tends to intro‐ duce the seeds of decay into the fruit of pleasure. The sea is still shown, but its surface is ruffled, and the four Cups which stand upon it…

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1944 · PDF PAGE 216

The Book of Thoth

TRUCE FOUR OF SWORDS The number Four, Chesed, is here manifested in the realm of the Intellect. Chesed re‐ fers to Jupiter who rules in Libra in this decanate. The sum of these symbols is therefore with‐ out opposition; hence the card proclaims the idea of authority in the intellectual world. It is the establishment of dogma, and law concerning it. It represents a refuge from mental chaos, chosen in an arbitrary manner. It argues for convention. The hilts of the four Swords are at the corner of a St. Andrew’s cross. Their shape sug‐ gests fixat…

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1944 · PDF PAGE 268

The Book of Thoth

…; 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 diagrams represent new discoveries by the Master Therion: c…

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1944 · PDF PAGE 177

The Book of Thoth

… the bottom, one immediately comes out again at the top. Hence, the card manifests the symbolism of the serpent of the endless band. THE FOUR THREES These cards are referred to Binah; in each of them is expressed the symbolism of Un‐ derstanding. The idea has become fertilized; the triangle has been formulated. In each case, the idea is of a certain stability which can never be upset, but from which a child can issue. The Three of Wands is accordingly the Lord of Virtue. The idea of will and dominion has become interpreted in Character. The Thr…

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1944 · PDF PAGE 202

The Book of Thoth

… totally different Order is necessary to carry on the series. Note also the refold‐ ing4n‐upon‐itself suggested by the “Magic Number” of Four 1+2 + 3+4 which is Ten. i;:. Four is the number of the Curse of Limitation, of Restriction. It is the blind and barren Cross of equal arms, Tetragrammaton in his fatal aspect of finality, as the Qabalists knew him before the dis‐ covery of the Revolving Formula whereby the Daughter, seated upon the Throne of the Mother, “awakens the Eld of the All‐Father”. For the meanings of Via and Populus, refer to the…

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1944 · PDF PAGE 230

The Book of Thoth

POWER FOUR OF DISKS The Four, Chesed, shows the establishment of the Universe in three dimensions, that is, below the Abyss. The generating idea is exhibited in its full material sense. The card is ruled by the Sun in Capricornus, the Sign in which he is reborn. The disks are very large and solid; the suggestion of the card is that of a fortress. This represents Law and Order, maintained by constant authority and vigilance. The disks themselves are square; revolution is very opposite to the card; and they contain the signs of the Four Elements.…

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1944 · PDF PAGE 199

The Book of Thoth

Of necessity, the realization of the idea in the Four (as the suit develops) will gradually diminish the purity of its perfection.

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1944 · PDF PAGE 25

The Book of Thoth

…ode of the being of the System. Difficult as this is, at least one very desirable result has been attained: to explain why the Tarot has four Court cards, not three. It also explains why there are four suits. The four suits are named as follows: “Wands”, attributed to Fire; “Cups”, to Water; “Swords”, to Air; and “Disks” (“Coins”, or “Pantacles”), to Earth. The student will notice this interplay and counter‐ change of the number 4. It is also important for him to notice that even in the tenfold ar‐ rangement, the number 4 takes its part. The Tr…

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1944 · PDF PAGE 76

The Book of Thoth

The canopy of the Chariot is the night‐sky‐blue of Binah. The pillars are the four pillars of the Universe, the regimen of Tetragrammaton. The scarlet wheels represent the original energy of Geburah which causes the revolving motion. This chariot is drawn by four sphinxes composed of the four Kerubs, the Bull, the Lion, the Eagle and the Man. In each sphinx these elements are counter‐changed; thus the whole represents the sixteen sub‐elements. The Charioteer is clothed in the amber‐coloured armour appropriate to the sign. He is throned in the c…

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1944 · PDF PAGE 189

The Book of Thoth

COMPLETION FOUR OF WANDS This card refers to Chesed in the suit of Fire. Being below the Abyss, it is the Lord of all manifested active Power. The original Will of the Two has been transmitted through the Three, and is now built up into a solid system:—Order, Law, Government. It is also referred to Venus in Aries, which indicates that one cannot establish one’s work without tact and gentle‐ ness. The wands are headed by the Ram, sacred to Chesed, the Father‐god Amoun‐Ra, as also to Aries; but at the other end of the wands are the Doves of Venus…

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1944 · PDF PAGE 178

The Book of Thoth

The Four of Swords is called Truce. This seems rather on the lines of “the strong man armed, keeping his house in peace”. The masculine nature of air makes it dominant. The card is almost a picture of the formation of the military clan system of society. As to the Disks, the heaviness of the symbol rather outweighs any considerations of its weakness. The card is called Power. It is the power which dominates and stabilizes every‐ thing, but manages its affairs more by negotiation, by pacific methods, than by any assertion of itself. It is Law, t…

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1944 · PDF PAGE 264

The Book of Thoth

…HE CHINESE COSMOS This diagram has been introduced as an elucidation of the interplay of the ten‐fold sys‐ tem of the Sephiroth with the four‐fold system of Tetragrammaton, because the Chinese sys‐ tem, although based exclusively upon the principle of simple addition and subtraction, is found to harmonize exactly with our own Qabalah. The origin of the Cosmos is thus explained. The Tao is exactly equivalent to the Am or Nothingness of our Qabalah, because equally it must be comprehended as necessarily pos‐ sessing a phase of manifestation. The …

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1944 · PDF PAGE 139

The Book of Thoth

PART THREE THE COURT CARDS General Remarks; General Characteristics of the Four Dignitaries; Summarized description of the Sixteen Court Cards; Knight of Wands; Queen of Wands; Prince of Wands; Princess of Wands; Knight of Cups; Queen of Cups; Prince of Cups; Princess of Cups; Knight of Swords; Queen of Swords; Prince of Swords; Princess of Swords; Knight of Disks; Queen of Disks; Prince of Disks; Princess of Disks.

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1944 · PDF PAGE 176

The Book of Thoth

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…

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1944 · PDF PAGE 267

The Book of Thoth

…ly 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 SYMBOLS This diagram is at first sight very disturbing, for it cannot be attributed in any straight‐ forward way to the Tree of Life. It will be best to state the problems, ab ovo. The Elements are four in number; although they are harmonized and balanced and made to revolve, there is an irreconcilable difficulty in their perfection. It is impossible to arrange four numb…

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1944 · PDF PAGE 234

The Book of Thoth

…e at‐ mosphere of the card is that of Blight. On the background, which represents vegetation and cultivation, everything is spoiled. The four colours of Netzach appear, but they are blotched with angry indigo and reddish orange. The disks themselves are the leaden disks of Saturn. They suggest bad money.

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1944 · PDF PAGE 83

The Book of Thoth

…and salt, already pictured in Atu I, III and IV. But in this card the attribution is some‐ what different. The Sphinx is composed of the four Kerubs, shown in Atu V, the bull, the lion, the eagle and the man. These correspond, furthermore, to the four magical virtues, to Know, to Will, to Dare, and to Keep Silence.1 This Sphinx represents the element of sulphur, and is exalted, temporarily, upon the summit of the wheel. She is armed with a sword of the short Roman pattern, held upright between the paws of the lion. Climbing up the left‐hand sid…

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1944 · PDF PAGE 36

The Book of Thoth

…‐ cussed in the description of the Tree of Life. The description begins with the “small cards”, numbered I to 10. These are divided into four suits according to the four elements. Thus the Ace of Wands is called the Root of the Forces of Fire. It pertains to Kether, and purports to represent the first positive manifestation of the idea of Fire. The 2 pertains to Chokmah. But here is already no more the simplicity of the idea of fire. An Idea in action or in manifestation is no more the pure Idea. This card is attributed to the first Decan of th…

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