Divination
If we understand physical and psychical phenomena as two aspects of the underlying Unus Mundus, then Jung's idea of synchronicity becomes clearer. A synchronous event can be defined as a meaningful coincidence, that is, a coincidence that has symbolic significance to someone experiencing the event. "By a synchronistic phenomenon Jung understands the coincidence in time of two or more psychic and physical events which are connected, not causally, but by their identical meaning" (von Franz 6n2). The meaning is revealed in an image constellated by an archetype manifesting simultaneously in the physical and psychic realms. Synchronistic phenomena are important because they provide a glimpse of the Unus Mundus in its wholeness; the eternal archetypes break through into the world of ordinary time, and inner and outer aspects of experience move in harmony. (von Franz 199, 242-3)Synchronistic phenomena are usually spontaneous, but in divination we arrange for a synchronistic event to take place. This is not a simple mechanical matter, for synchronicity usually requires that an archetype be "activated" in the unconscious, which in turn presupposes an emotion-laden, tension-charged situation. Thus divination is most successful when undertaken for a serious purpose; under these conditions divinatory techniques can "draw archetypal material into the center of the field of observation" (von Franz 223-4).
The method of science may be contrasted with that of divination. In science one makes a conscious "cut" in the world, separating the phenomenon of interest from the rest of existence. In divination, on the other hand, one makes an unconscious "cut," by isolating a qualitative moment in time, which retains the fullness of its participation in both the physical and psychic aspects of all existence. Numerical procedures, such as cutting a tarot deck, rolling dice, or dividing yarrow stalks, are used to determine the kairos, the "key moment," for the constellation of a unique synchronous phenomenon. With proper preparation, so that an archetype is already activated by a sufficiently high "charge" of psychic energy, the divinatory act can create a "hole" in the "field of consciousness through which the autonomous dynamism of the collective unconscious can break in" (von Franz 227). (von Franz 44, 199)
By bringing the eternal archetypes into temporal consciousness, the divinatory act creates a "hole in time," the alchemical Fenestra Aeternitatis (Window to Eternity). The alchemists also called this hole though which autonomous spirit passes the Spiraculum Aeternitatis, or Airhole to Eternity; it corresponds to the smokehole in the top of shamans' tents, through which they ascend to the heavens and return to the mundane world. (von Franz 260-1)
Throughout history there have been many ways of using numbers for divination. For example, the I Ching is a well-known Eastern method of divination, which was studied by Jung and his colleagues, and is now quite popular in the West. In a fundamental sense it is based on numerical archetypes since, as many have observed, the hexagrams (composed on Yin and Yang lines) correspond to binary numbers (composed of 0s and 1s). Similar binary divination systems have been used in the West since ancient times, including geomancy in Europe and Arabia, and the related Ifa divination system in Africa. (In an appendix, Tarot Divination Without Tarot Cards, I describe a similar binary method of selecting Tarot cards.)
Some of the most common numerical divination systems use dice: the combination of pips in the roll, or in some cases their sum, is used to consult a table of "oracles." Such methods were common in the ancient world (many temples had a dice table for consulting the gods) and are still in use today. Divination with dice is especially relevant to tarot, since there is some evidence that when playing cards were introduced into Europe from the Orient in the fourteenth century, methods of dice divination were transferred to cards. (See the "Introduction to the Major Arcana" for more on this.)
So much for the theory of divination; see the appendix
("Divinatio")
for practical suggestions (spreads, etc.) on the use of the
Pythagorean Tarot for divination, meditation and other purposes, as well
as for the use of dice casting and similar methods with the Tarot.
According to ancient biographies (Diogenes Laertius 8.1-15) - which
might not be entirely factual - Pythagoras, when a young man, became
an initiate of all mysteries in Greece; he studied with the
Phoenicians, learned Egyptian and studied with the priests there,
and then went to be initiated into the mysteries on Crete. He
claimed that in a previous life he was a son of Hermes, and that his
divine father had granted him the gift of keeping his memory from
one incarnation to the next. Pythagorean doctrine was kept secret
until Philolaus (born c.470 BCE) published three books of it. It
has many connections with Orphism, although their exact relation is
not clear. (For a scholarly study see Walter Burkert's Lore and
Science in Ancient Pythagoreanism.)
It is apparent that Socrates (who also wrote nothing) and Plato
(c.429-347 BCE) were both Pythagoreans, and, according to Diogenes,
Plato bought copies of Philolaus' books for 100 minas (about 100
pounds of silver) as soon as they were available. Certainly some of
Plato's dialogues, such as the Timaeus, are filled with Pythagorean
esoterica.
A Neopythagorean revival began in the first century BCE and
continued until it developed into Neoplatonism in the third century
CE. It remained the dominant Pagan philosophy until the emperor
Justinian ordered the Pagan schools closed in 529 CE. Among its
more famous proponents were Numenius, Plotinus, Porphyry,
Iamblichus, Proclus and Hypatia. It is from these philosophers that
most of the numerology of the Pythagorean Tarot is drawn. (For a
comprehensive collection of Pythagorean writings, see Kenneth
Guthrie's Pythagorean Sourcebook and Library. Two excellent sources
for Neopythagorean numerology are Robin Waterfield's translation of
The Theology of Arithmetic (attributed to Iamblichus) and Thomas
Taylor's Theoretic Arithmetic, which is drawn from many sources.)
(OCD s.v. Neoplatonism, Neopythagoreanism)
The Neopythagoreanism of second century CE Alexandria was also one
of the principal sources of Gnosticism, the group of esoteric
religions that flourished in that society, which also gave us the
Hermetica (the writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus), the
Chaldean Oracles and a number of other esoteric texts. This was
also the cultural breeding ground for Plutarch's theosophical
writings, Zosimos' alchemical work, and Numenius' Neopythagoreanism
(which was, in turn, influenced by Gnosticism). (OCD s.v.
Gnosticism)
Later, in the fifteenth century, when Plato and the Hermetica were
first translated into Latin, a new efflorescence of
Neopythagoreanism nourished the Renaissance at the Platonic Academy
of Lorenzo de'Medici. Indeed, Renaissance art is saturated with
Pythagorean and Hermetic symbols, and this is the cultural context
in which the Tarot was born. A later, seventeenth century,
efflorescence merged with the alchemical tradition, influencing
philosophers such as Isaac Newton, Thomas Taylor and John Dee, and
artists such as Shakespeare, Spenser and Blake, for Hermetic and
alchemical themes are apparent in many of their works. (See Edgar
Wind's Pagan Mysteries in the Renaissance for the influence of
Neopythagoreanism and Hermeticism on the Renaissance. The works of
Dame Francis Yates, such as Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic
Tradition and The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age, are a
good introduction to seventeenth-century Hermeticism.)
Alchemy perhaps grew out of the secret lore of the first
metallurgists. Their view was that metals were born out of the womb
of Mother Earth, and that Nature caused them to develop toward ever
greater nobility (manifested in gold); the earliest alchemists
viewed their work as cooperating with Nature to hasten this process.
Because early alchemists sought their goal through a combination of
technology, magic and divine aid, we find in many cultures stories
of an early generation of smith-gods and divine metallurgist-magicians
(e.g. the Cabiri in Greek myths). Typically, they are
also teachers of ecstatic dance and initiators into sacred mysteries
of transformation. (See Mircea Eliade's Forge and Crucible.)
The doctrine of the four elements (earth, water, air, fire), a
central principle of European alchemy, developed out of Greek
philosophy. They appear first in the writings of Empedocles (c.493-c.433
BCE), who was a Greek shaman (iatromantis - healer-seer - in
Greek). Closely connected is the idea of the opposed qualities
(hot/cold, moist/dry) that give the elements their character, which
was an outgrowth of Pythagorean speculation. Plato and Aristotle
explained the relation of the elements and the qualities, and
refined the theory into the form that it took in all later European
alchemy; they also added the fifth element, the Quintessence, which
is critical to the alchemical process, since it is the celestial
principle that reconciles opposing mundane qualities. (See A. J.
Hopkins' Alchemy: Child of Greek Philosophy.)
As alchemy developed after the Renaissance, alchemists became
increasingly explicit in stating that their goal was not so much the
transformation of metals as the transformation of the alchemist;
they sought a "higher gold" than the common metal. This view has
been confirmed by the well-known investigations of Jung, who has
shown that the symbolical literature, emblems and procedures of
alchemy are manifestations of the archetypal structure of the
process of psychological individuation. Thus the alchemical
worldview, which is closely allied with the Neopythagorean, becomes
a valuable perspective from which to understand our growth and
development as materially embodied spirits. Since at least the time
of the Golden Dawn (late 19th cent.), alchemy has been a basis of
tarot design, which effectively transcends the dualism of the
Neopythagorean tradition. (Aside from Jung's own works, e.g.,
Psych. & Alch., Mys. Con., Alch. Stud., Aion, which are quite
readable, there are now numerous selections and explications of his
alchemical writings, e.g. von Franz's Alchemy and Edward Edinger's
books.)
Another Qabalistic idea, which has been important in esoteric tarot
interpretation, is the doctrine of the paths between the Sephirot on
the Tree of Life, a symbolically rich structure relating ten divine
emanations, connected with the numerology of the numbers 1 through
10. However, historical scholars of the Qabalah, such as Gershom
Scholem (Kab. & Sym. 167) have said that the Sefer Yezirah, one of
the principal Qabalistic texts, was written by a Jewish
Neopythagorean (3-6 cent. CE) and that much of the later Qabalistic
tradition incorporates a very large dose of Neopythagoreanism; there
is even evidence that some of the specialized terms of Qabalah were
translated into Hebrew from Greek (Scholem, Kab. 27). Therefore I
felt it is less anachronistic, in a Pythagorean Tarot, to go back to
the apparent source of these numerological ideas, rather than to try
to retranslate the doctrine of the Sephirot back into a Hellenic
idiom. Nevertheless, whether Qabalah borrowed from
Neopythagoreanism (or vice versa), or both from a common source, or
whether they are independent developments is, I think, unimportant
from a practical standpoint, for the numbers are archetypes, and
therefore, underneath their cultural trappings, they are the same
for all humanity.
Finally, we have to consider the Qabalistic use of gematria: the
esoteric interpretation of Hebrew words by means of the numerical
values of their letters. This is not a major part of traditional
tarot interpretation, but it is a standard esoteric technique, so I
have used it to reinforce the symbolic analyses of the trumps.
However, since I have used isopsephia ("Greek gematria") rather than
the better known gematria based on the Hebrew alphabet, a few words
of explanation are necessary. There are several reasons for this.
First, an analysis based on the Greek alphabet is more appropriate
to a Pythagorean tarot than one based on the Hebrew alphabet since,
presumably, that is the alphabet Pythagoras would have used for
isopsephia. Second, there is considerable evidence that the Hebrew
practice is later than the Greek and probably derived from it.
We'll consider the evidence briefly.
First, the Greek use of their alphabet for numeration goes back at
least to the end of the fourth century BCE, whereas use of the
Hebrew alphabet for numeration goes no earlier than the end of the
second century BCE (Ifrah, chs. 16, 17). Indeed, Fideler (75)
argues that the standard spellings of the Greek gods' names were
formulated according to isopsephic principles under the influence of
the Pythagorean League c. 500 BCE. He further argues (216-9) that
many Greek temples, such as the Parthenon (447 BCE) and Apollo's
temple at Didyma (300 BCE), were constructed isopsephically. The
Greeks may have learned the idea from the Babylonians, who as early
as the eighth century BCE constructed buildings according to an
isopsephia based on their syllabic writing system.
Second, the only explanation for the word gematria is that it
derives from the Greek word gametria, which is an alternative
spelling for geometria, "geometry," but literally, "land surveying"
(LSJ s.v. gametria, geometria; OED s.v. gematria). This is
suggestive of its use (in Greece, Babylonia and perhaps other
places) for laying out temples and other important buildings.
Third, the archaic Greek alphabet had 27 letters; thus it divided
naturally into three Enneads (groups of 9), which were assigned to
the numbers 1-9, 10-90 and 100-900 in order.
How much significance should be attached to isopsephia? We cannot
fail to be astonished when we discover that a square around Apollo's
temple at Didyma has a perimeter of 1415 Greek feet, and that 1415
is the numerical value of O QEOS APOLLWN (ho Theos Apollon, the
God Apollo); or that a hexagon inscribed in the same temple has a
perimeter of 1061 feet, which is the numerical value of APOLLWN
(Fideler 216-7). But should we consider these facts "mere
coincidences"? Here Jung's concept of synchronicity is helpful, for
we realize that if the coincidence is symbolically meaningful, then
it is a synchronistic event bridging the physical and psychic worlds.
Therefore, if these isopsephic connections are significant to you,
then they are ipso facto meaningful. For this reason the
Pythagorean Tarot includes analyses according to the principles of
isopsephia.
UGIEIA is a common inscription on amulets, frequently in
the points or angles of a Pentagram, thus: U-G-I-EI-A. The
Latin equivalent S-A-L-V-S (salus, health) is also found on
pentagrams, and sometimes both words appear together (one in
the points, the other in the angles). (Schouten figs. 25-7,
30, 32-3, 35-7, 39)
According to Lucian, Pythagoreans greet each other by
saying Hugíaine (Be sound/healthy!) rather than by the
usual greetings Khaire (Rejoice! Be happy!) or Eu
prêsse (Do well! Prosper!), for they consider
soundness of mind and body to be necessary for happiness,
prosperity and all other goods [Lucian, Pro lapsu inter
salutandum ("On Slips of the Tongue in Greeting"); Schouten
15-7]. This is because "health," for Pythagoreans, means
balance: first, a balance of the four elements (fire, water,
earth, air) and their qualities (hot, cold, dry, wet),
especially as they manifest in the four humours of the human
body (yellow bile, phlegm, black bile, blood); second, but
more importantly, a harmonious union of body and soul
(represented by the fifth element, Aithêr). Thus the
Pentagram Hugieia (the Salus Pythagorae) represents the
perfect equilibrium of the five elements. Pythagoreans
maintain this harmony by a variety of physical, aesthetic,
intellectual, intuitive and spiritual exercises
(corresponding to Earth, Water, Air, Fire, Aithêr
respectively). (Schouten 15-18)
(For the last few hundred years it has been conventional to
make the Pentagram with an upward point, symbolizing the
subjugation of the body to the mind, but the ancients do not
seem to have attached any significance to the orientation of
the Pentagram.
See 14.Devil
for more on the inverted Pentagram.)
We have seen how the Pentagram symbolizes soundness and
wholeness in the Microcosm, the individual mind-body. By the
Hermetic Principle "As above, so below," it similarly
represents in the Macrocosm the harmony between the spiritual
and physical worlds. Further, Agrippa (De Occulta
Philosophia, 1531, II.xxvii) says it symbolizes the harmony
between Macrocosm and Microcosm, that is, between the
external world and the world within.
For more on the Pentagram as a symbol of balance and the
union of opposites, see the
Fives in the Minor Arcana (in Part
II)
.
(Ou ma ton hameterai geneai paradonta Tetraktun,
According to a legend, Y was called "the Pythagorean
letter" (littera Pythagorica) because he himself had been
responsible for adding it to the Greek alphabet
(Persius/Conington 61n56; Persius/Gildersleeve 130-1nn56-7;
Persius/Koenig 81nn56, 240n56). Aside from being the first
letter of Hugieia (`UGIEIA) (Hadot 9), it was given a
specific meaning, as explained by Isidore of Seville
(c.560-636 CE, Etym. I.iii.10-16; tr. in Heninger, Touches
269):
[Stanley tr. (Stanley 565) with modernized spelling and
punctuation. Latin text of Maximinus (pseudo-Virgil) in
Anthologia Latina, 652 Riese; Panofsky, Hercules 66-7.
Chapman (Bartlett ed., 234-5) has translated it in "Virgil's
Epigram of this Letter Y." Petrarch (Epist. III.32) and the
famous Meistersinger Hans Sachs also paraphrased it
(Panofsky, Her. 66-7).]
Pythagoras was probably the first to use the archaic y to
symbolize this "parting of the ways" (Bivium).
The right-hand path is straight, and in this sense natural
(i.e., in accord with Nature), but it is narrow and ascends
steeply. The left-hand path, in contrast, is a deviation
from "the straight and narrow," and therefore against Nature.
However, it is wider and an easier slope, and therefore a
more attractive choice (Persius/Conington 61nn56-7;
Persius/Gildersleeve 130-1nn56-7; Persius/Koenig 81nn56,
240n56-7). (We can see this even in our printed Y.)
The same myth of the parting of the ways and the two paths
(upward to the right for the virtuous, downward to the left
for the wicked) also appears in descriptions of the progress
of the soul between incarnations (e.g., Plato's "Myth of Er,"
Rep. X.614b-621d, and Plutarch's Face in the Moon, 943-4).
The good go to the Fields of Elysium, but the wicked to the
Pits of Tartarus.
Closely related to the Pythagorean Y, and often associated
with it in art, is the myth of "Heracles' Choice," which
Xenophon heard from Socrates, who credited Prodicus the Wise
with it (Xenophon, Memorabilia II.i.21-33). The gist of the
story is this: When the adolescent Heracles (Hercules) was
deciding which path to take in life, he was approached by two
goddesses, "Vice" (Kakia) and "Virtue" (Aretê), coming
along the paths. Lady Vice attempts to entice Heracles to a
life of ease, but Lady Virtue encourages him to follow the
more difficult path leading to a blessed life with the gods.
They are the Kakodaimôn (Evil Spirit), the guide on the
Way of Death (Via Mortis) toward misery (dusdaimonia), and
the Agathodaimôn (Good Spirit), the guide on the Way of
Life (Via Vitae) toward true happiness (eudaimonia). [Good
and Evil Spirits, happiness and misery: Stanley 575; Ways of
Life and Death: Chew 176.] Heracles chose to follow Lady
Virtue. It is perhaps not so well known that in the ancient
world (especially among the Stoics), and later in the
Renaissance, Heracles was considered a liberator, savior and
moral hero (Smith 293; Heninger, Touches 271). The image of
"Heracles at the Crossroads" was already common by the third
century CE (according to Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of
Tyana VI.x, Smith 294). Raphael's Dream of Scipio (1500) is
a more recent example. In many tarots (e.g. the Marseilles
deck, but not the Pythagorean), the "Lovers" trump shows a
young man faced with a choice between the Ladies Vice and
Virtue.
We have completed an overview of the exoteric meaning of
the Pythagorean Y, and now will consider its esoteric
meaning, for the Y originally represented the choice faced by
Pythagorean initiates at a certain stage of their
initiations. The choice is between the Active Life (Vita
Activa) of the ordinary person on the left and the
Contemplative Life (Vita Contemplativa) of the initiate on
the right. Clearly, from the Pythagorean perspective, the
right-hand path is preferable, although more arduous. The
choice is between ignorance and enlightenment, between
indulgence of the appetites and development of the mind,
between worldly and spiritual pursuits, between the quests
for earthly success and divine wisdom. [These lives are
dramatized by Mephistopheles and Faust in Goethe's drama;
Homunculus is the naive, primordial union of opposites
(Raphael 156-7).] Thus we may say that the Pythagorean Y
represents the power of choice and the commitment to take
responsibility for, and conscious control of, your life's
purpose and direction (Hall lxvi-lxvii; Drucker 111).
This interpretation of the Pythagorean Y is clearly
judgmental and may seem moralistic: the right-hand path is
the better; this was part of the message the ancient
Pythagoreans offered to their time. Indeed, it is a symbol
of Virtue (Chew 177), for it also represents raising the arms
in celestial invocation (Koch 6-7). However, as previously
discussed
(see Alchemy),
Pythagoreanism developed into alchemy, which offers a more
balanced approach, better suited to our age, which
synthesizes the opposites into a higher unity, rather than
suppressing one for the sake of the other. Already in
antiquity, but especially in the Renaissance, people began to
realize the importance (and difficulty!) of uniting the
active and contemplative lives (Smith 300-3). Therefore we
see the significance of the modern Y: it represents the
union of opposites in a complete life. [Indeed, the forked
stick is a symbol of life in many cultures (Hall lxvii), and
the Pythagorean Y is associated with the Tree of Life (Chew
178).] Recall that Y (Upsilon) is the initial of UGIEIA
(Hugieia), which means soundness and wholeness. In general,
the symmetric Y represents the alchemical principle of the
differentiation of a primordial unity (the stem) into a
consciously discriminated opposition (the arms), which is but
a manifestation of the underlying unity. (See
21.World for more on the Y in this
sense.)
This brings us to the form of the Y used in the Pythagorean
Tarot back design: three equal arms. In addition to the
preceding meanings, the Pythagorean Tarot Y symbolizes what
Paracelsus called the Tria Prima (Primal Triad), the
alchemical union of (philosophical) salt, mercury and
sulphur, that is, of body, soul and spirit. [Read 27. Note
that Paracelsus reversed sulphur and mercury from the usual
correspondences, which are used in the Pythagorean Tarot.]
It also represents the meeting of three ways (called Triodos
in Greek and Trivium in Latin), a place especially sacred to
Hecate, a very important Goddess for Pythagoreans
(Opsopaus, "Anc. Grk. Eso.
Doctr. Elem.," part IV;
Kingsley, APMM chs. 16-19). (For more on the Pythagorean
Y, see
21.World
.)
In summary, the card back design represents the first five
Pythagorean numbers. The card back as a whole is the primal
unity, the Monad. The two opposed pentacles are the primary
duality, the Dyad. The three-armed Pythagorean Y represents
the unified Triad. The Tetractys, built as it is on 1, 2, 3,
4, is the elementary Tetrad. Finally the pentagram
represents the Pentad, and, together with its surrounding
pentagon, it represents the Decad, the Pythagorean number of
Perfection. Many other relationships will become apparent if
you look for them, but that is enough for now.
In general, words of the form XVII.Moon or 17.Moon represent trumps
in the Major Arcana. They may be numbered by Roman numerals,
which tend to exhibit their Pythagorean meanings, or by Hindu-Arabic
numerals when I want to stress the arithmetical properties of the
number, which are more easily seen in the Hindu-Arabic notation.
I have transliterated all foreign words into the Roman alphabet,
except those Greek words subject to isopsephia, for which the exact
Greek spelling is required. Long vowels in Greek (eta, omega),
Sumerian, Babylonian and Sanskrit are represented by a circumflex
accent (e^, o^, etc.). The Greek chi has been translated kh to
forestall any tendency to pronounce it as English ch; similarly
upsilon is written u rather than y (except when the word is already
anglicized with the y) and should be pronounced like German u:. In
general Greek names are transliterated (approximately) phonetically,
unless they are already well known by a conventional English
spelling; thus I write 'Circe' rather than 'Kirke^', which is more
accurate. Occasionally I will use several spellings, for example,
'Circe' for familiarity, but 'Kirke^' when discussing the connection
to kirkos. I have not distinguished the Akkadian and Sumerian
emphatic consonants p and t from the usual ones, nor the laryngeal h
from the usual h. Determinatives are written in capitals, thus:
ILU-shamash. Sanskrit words are spelled more or less phonetically
(thus chakra rather than cakra); retroflex consonants are written t.,
d., n., etc. (and may be pronounced like t, d, n, etc.); n~ is the
palatal n. In all these languages I have used the spelling sh for
the sound that it normally represents in English, even though
scholarly transliterations often represent this sound by an s with a
diacritical mark.
Pythagoreanism
Pythogoras, who was born in Samos (an island of the coast of Asia
Minor) and lived in the sixth century BCE, is the fountainhead of
most later Greek philosophy, both esoteric and exoteric. Although
it is difficult to separate fact from legend, we may say that he
believed in metempsychosis (reincarnation) and that numbers are the
foundation of the universe. Further, he founded in Kroton (mod.
Crotone, Italy) a religious society (open to women as well as men),
which taught a way of life devoted to escape from the wheel of
reincarnation through knowledge. Their practice included self-examination,
vegetarianism, purity and silence, as well as the study
of esoteric mathematics and music. He is thought to have written
nothing down, but his followers did, and they attributed their works
to him. (OCD s.v. Pythagoras)
Alchemy
From a modern perspective, one of the weaknesses of Pythagoreanism
is its one-sided exaltation of the mind and knowledge and its
corresponding denigration of the material world and body. In this
respect the alchemical perspective, which sees spirit embodied in
matter and matter as a means of purifying and ennobling the spirit,
is more balanced. This is expressed in the well-known alchemical
maxim, "as above, so below." The masculine knowledge, Logos and
spirit - the dry solar consciousness - requires its complement,
feminine compassion, Eros and soul - the moist lunar consciousness.
(In this respect it has some similarities with Tantric Buddhism.)
The wisdom of the alchemical tradition is especially needed in our
time.
Qabalah
It is certainly suggestive that there are 22 Major Arcana and 22
letters in the Hebrew alphabet, and one of major traditions of
esoteric tarot interpretation is based on the Qabalistic
interpretations of the Hebrew alphabet and the ten Sephirot.
However, it appears that Court de Gebelin (1781) was the first
associate Qabalah and tarot, and so it seems to be a comparatively
new tradition. As we will see, the are historically more plausible
reasons for there being 22 Major Arcana than the alleged esoteric
connection with the Hebrew alphabet. Furthermore, different
tarotists have assigned the letters to the trumps in different ways,
none of which are likely to be very old, since they do not depend on
the oldest order of the trumps. Therefore, I have abandoned
assignments to the Hebrew alphabet (which has no special
significance from a Pythagorean standpoint) and replaced it by
assignments to the Greek letters, which are esoterically
significant in Pythagoreanism. Tarotists will have to judge for
themselves the success of the new assignments. (Hall 129-30; Kaplan I.15-6)
Back Design
The back design of the Pythagorean Tarot incorporates three
important Pythagorean symbols:
The Pentagram
The Pentagram, which is also known as the Triple Triangle
(because of the way it's drawn) or the Pentalpha (because
it's made of five As), is an ancient protective symbol. It
appears in Mesopotamia as early as 3000 BCE and on Greek
shields and coins by the fifth century BCE. Pythagoras may
have become acquainted with it during his pilgrimages to
Babylonia and Egypt (perhaps 554-533 BCE). In any case, the
Pythagoreans adopted it as an identifying sign (sumbolon),
the Signum Pythagoricum, described by Iamblichus
(fl. c. 165-180 CE). According to Lucian (c. 120 CE), they
called the pentagram Hugíeia (`UGIEIA), which means
"health of mind and body," but more generally soundness, and
wholeness; it is also the name of the goddess of health and
well-being, Hygeia, the daughter of Asclepius.
[Schouten 15-28, LSJ s.v. hugieia. The use of the sign is
described in Iamblichus' Life of Pythagoras (XXXIII), which
may be found in Guthrie (57-122); see p. 114 for the use of
the sign.]
The Tetractys
Inside the Pentagram on the card back you will see a
triangular arrangement of ten dots; this is the most sacred
Pythagorean symbol, the Tetractys (or Tetraktus). Rather
than swearing by Pythagoras' name, Pythagoreans use as their
most solemn oath (Burkert, L&S 186):
Nay! By him that gave our family the Tetractys,
The Tetractys shows how the Decad (10), the number of
perfection and of Nature, grows out of the first four
numbers, the Monad, Dyad, Triad and Tetrad. As the
Neoplatonist philosopher Proclus (c.412-485 CE) says,
which holds the Fount and Root of everflowing Nature.
Pagan aenaou Phuseôs Rhizôma t' ekhousan.)
- Sacred Number springs
Pythagoreans also call the Tetractys the "Principle or
Beginning of Hugieia" (Hugieias Arkhê). [Lucian, Pro
lapsu inter salutandum ("On Slips of the Tongue in
Greeting"); Schouten 17; Burkert, L&S 263-4] I will not say
more about the Tetractys here, since it is discussed in
connection with trumps I-IV of the
Major Arcana, with the
numbers Ace to Four of the
Minors, and with the
Tetractys Spread, as well as in
the
More on the Tetractys.
From th'uncorrupted Monad, and proceeds
To the Divine Tetractys, she who breeds
All; and assigns the proper bounds to all,
Whom we the pure immortal Decad call.
[Stanley's 1687 translation (Stanley 512) with
modernized spelling]
The Pythagorean Y
We come now to the Pythagorean Letter Y (Littera Pythagorae
Y), which is perhaps less well known nowadays than the other
Pythagorean symbols, but has been quite influential in
European art, literature and thought. [Panofsky, Hercules
64-8, tafel XXXV, frontis.; Heninger, Touches 269-72; Chew
174-81, figs. 130-1; Smith 293-302. A first century CE
example is discussed by Davidson (Hadot 9-11). For
additional examples see Guthrie 158; Drucker 165. The Y is
also known as the Furca Pythagorica (Pythagorean Fork) and
the Ypsilon Cross (Liungmann 108).] Before discussing its
meaning, it's necessary to explain that our letter Y was
borrowed into the Roman alphabet from the Greek letter Y
(upsilon) in order to spell Greek words (Z was imported for
the same reason). Upsilon was a Greek addition to the
Phoenician alphabet, but based on the Semitic letter waw.
Thus the earliest form of upsilon was similar to the Semitic
letter: a line sloping steeply upward to the right, with a
shorter line or hook going more gradually up to the left from
the middle of the longer (something like our y)
(Jeffery 24-5, 35). Upsilon became the twenty-second
letter of the archaic Greek alphabet (after T), and was the
last letter until Phi, Chi, Psi and Omega were added. All
this is relevant to the proper interpretation of the
Pythagorean Y.
Pythagoras of Samos was the first to fashion the
letter Y into a pattern of human life. The
straight portion at the bottom signifies the
first, uncertain age, which at that point has
been given over to neither vices nor virtues.
The bifurcation at the top, however, begins at
adolescence. The path to the right is
difficult, but it tends toward a blessed life.
The path to the left is easier, but it leads to
ruin and destruction.
The same idea is expressed in an epigram traditionally (but
probably incorrectly) attributed to Virgil:
The Pythagoric Letter two ways spread,
The opposition of "the steep and thorny way to heaven" and
"the primrose path of dalliance" (Hamlet I.iii.47) is an old
theme (it has Sumerian and Norse parallels, West, W&D 229).
As Hesiod (fl. 700 BCE) wrote in his Works & Days (West, W&D
229):
Shows the two paths in which Man's life is led.
The right-hand track to sacred Virtue tends,
Though steep and rough at first, in rest it ends;
The other broad and smooth, but from its Crown,
On rocks the Traveler is tumbled down.
He who to Virtue by harsh toils aspires,
Subduing pains, worth and renown acquires;
But who seeks slothful luxury, and flies
the labor of great acts, dishonor'd dies.
Whereas to take a hold of Vice, in plenitude,
[I have used the conventional translations Virtue and Vice
for Aretê and Kakotês, although the meanings are
closer to excellence, goodness, nobility, merit, success, as
opposed to baseness, wickedness, badness, cowardice, failure.
Hesiod's intent is more concrete and practical than later,
moralistic interpretations (LSJ s.v. aretê,
kakotês; West, W&D 229; Tandy & Neale 80, 82).]
is easy, for the way is smooth, and near she dwells;
yet sweat was placed in front of Virtue by the gods
undying; and the road to her is long and steep,
and rough at first; yet when one has attained the peak,
indeed the way is easy, which was very hard.
Textual Conventions
The Pythagorean Tarot is a creative symbolic synthesis, and is
perhaps more akin to poetry (in content, not form) than to
scientific or scholarly writing. Nevertheless, I have tried to give
citations wherever I have drawn ideas from other authors. In this
way you will be able to tell the source of an idea, and make an
informed decision in deciding whether or not to agree with it. Many
ideas have been synthesized in the Pythagorean Tarot, and specific
interpretations may blend ideas of several authors. Therefore
citations usually come at the ends of paragraphs, and it may be
assumed that the content of the paragraph is drawn from the cited
sources. Occasionally the degree of synthesis is sufficiently great
that I have placed the citations in a paragraph by themselves, in
which case they should be assumed to apply to all the immediately
preceding paragraphs without citations. In other cases, in
particular when I'm quoting directly, I have placed citations in
individual sentences. Where there are no citations, it can be
assumed that, as far as I know, the ideas are original, although I
have often discovered that I have been thinking down paths already
well trod. My purpose is not to claim originality, but simply to
point to sources when I am aware of them.
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Last update:
Mon Apr 17 11:53:41 EDT 2000