Number Symbolism

Ascending and descending ranks

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:34:13 GMT

The Number Six ~ VI LAMOVREVX ~

Sat, 18 Feb 2006 23:37:26 GMT

Six is a so-called 'perfect' number. A perfect number is one the sum of whose divisors equals itself, i.e. the divisors of 6 [excluding itself] are 1+2+3 = 6.

Six is connected to the concept of the 'cosmos', not only because the creation of the 'world', 'cosmos' or 'universe' was completed on the sixth day, but also through Gematria, 'cosmos' in Greek = 600 = 6;
also 6 is the baseline of the number 21, in tarot the number of the card 'il mundo', also of YHV or IAO, the name by which God 'sealed' space [according to the Sefer Yetzira and Christian Gnostic sources].

A throw of six in dice is called 'the venus throw' and Venus is attributed to the Number 6 in Agrippa. The attribution of Venus brings in the association of 'love', and the geometric figure associated with 6, the hexagram, is also connected with love, a symbol of the communion of bride and bridegroom, that is not only between man and wife, but in mystical language of the sacred marriage or mystical union of man [male and female - who was created on the sixth day] and YHV [21 - the sum of the numbers 1-6].

Placing the numbered Marseille tarot trumps in a 3x7 scheme gives us a 6th triadic column of the cards VI the Lover, XIII Death and XX Judgment:

The Lover [or Love] - Death - Judgement

"Verily, love is death, and death is life to come." Aleister Crowley "The Book of Lies", Chapter 18 'Dewdrops'.

Love and death, Eros and Thanatos, is a common thematic pairing. A quote from Pagan Mysteries in the Renaissance by Edgar Wind:

"....why was it an amorous adventure of Jupiter was chosen to decorate a tomb. He could not fail to notice that the loves of the gods appeared on sarcophagi with remarkable frequency. The love of Bacchus for Ariadne, of Mars for Rhea, of Zeus for Ganymede, of Diana for Endymion- all these variations of the same theme; the love of a god for a mortal. To die was to be loved by a god, and partake through him of eternal bliss.

'As there are many kinds of death,' a Renaissance humanist writes*, 'this one is the most highly approved and commended both by the sages of antiquity and by the authority of the Bible: when those... yearning for God and desiring to be conjoined with him (which cannot be achieved in this prison of flesh) are carried away to heaven and freed from the body by a death which is the profoundest sleep; in which manner Paul desired to die when he said: I long to be dissolved and be with Christ. This kind of death was named the kiss by the symbolic theologians [the mors osculi of the Cabbalists...], of which Solomon also appears to have spoken when he said in the Song of Songs: Osculetur me osculo oris sui.

"Pico in a long excursus on the morte del bacio in his Commento III,viii writes: 'Through the first death, which is only a detachment of the soul from the body... the lover may see the beloved celestial Venus...and by reflecting on her divine image, nourish his purified eyes with joy; but if he would possess her more closely...he must die the second death by which he is completely severed from the body...and observe that the most perfect and intimate union the lover can have with the celestial beloved is called the union of the kiss...and because the learned Cabbalists declare that many of the ancient fathers died in such a spiritual rapture, you will find that, according to them, they died... the death of the kiss: which they say of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Elijah, and several others..."

*Valeriano: Hieroglyphica.

Death and Resurrection [Judgement] another obvious thematic pairing, one also connected with the number 6 [as in this our 6th triad]: Quote from the Zohar, Vol 2 of I. Tishby translation:

"This snake will in the future give birth to these bodies before its time. This is the meaning of 'Before it travailed it gave birth'. The period of gestation for a snake is seven years, and in this case it is six - which is not its usual time. And at the same time it gives birth to them it will die - from the act of giving birth, as it is written 'He will swallow up death for ever' (Isaiah 25:8) and it is written 'Your dead shall live, my dead bodies shall arise (Isaiah 26:19" (Zohar II, 219b-220a).

Of which Tishby's note of commentary and explanation state:

153 When a man dies, the Shekinah takes the soul, and the 'other side', i.e. death, takes the body.

154 When the dead are resurrected they are taken out of the snake's (i.e. death's) jurisdiction. This is depicted here as a snake giving birth, which will happen during the sixth millennium. This is an 'untimely' birth, because the snake usually gives birth seven years after conception.

155 'the other side' will perish at the end of days, and its death will occur as a result of giving birth to the bodies of the dead at the resurrection. p.740 Vol. II of Zohar by Tishby & Lachower, tr. David Goldstein.

Love and Judgment:

In Augustinian theology salvation and our resurrection is dependent upon the love, grace or caritas of God. The notion of 'Judgement' is not related to any idea of the 'harshness' of God', but upon his grace, love and mercy that we are able of salvation at all and deserve anything other than hell. God's judgement therefore, in Augustinian theology, is the ultimate exemplar of God's mercy and love and forgiveness [caritas].

In the English Hermetic tradition the card ‘Judgement’ is associated with the Hebrew letter Shin:

"Grace is deceptive,
Beauty is illusory;
It is for her fear of the Lord
That a woman is to be praised."

Proverbs 31.30.

Proverbs 31 ends the book of proverbs and the last 22 verses are an acrostic, each verse starting with a word beginning with a letter of the alphabet, aleph to tau. The above paragraph is the letter Shin paragraph, the verse beginning with the word ShQR meaning 'deceitful'. Positing an alphabet sequence starting aleph-fool the letter Shin corresponds to the card 'Judgement'. Some words beginning with Shin which relate to the Judgement card are:

ShVFR - trumpet
ShVF - to blow
ShVFT - judge, judgement

So the words for Trumpet, to Blow and Judgement all share the same three initial consonants shin - vau - pei [Ph or F], which are also the first three letters in ShVFRA, which means 'Grace'.

The root of both ShVFRA [grace] and SHVFR [trumpet] is ShFR - to cleanse, make pleasing, to beautify; conciliate, harmonize. As in Sotah 11b [Talmud]where it says :"The Lord sent an angel from on high who cleansed them and made them beautiful, like a midwife that cleanses a child." So we may say the blow of the trumpet not only awakens, but is simultaneously an act of Grace that like a wind cleanses away the dust of the earth, the stain ofour sins; like a midwife that cleanses the newly [re]born; and makes us beautiful before G-d.

A word for dust, ShChQ, also means heaven, sky, cloud:

Drop down, ye heavens from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.

So we may perhaps see a parallel between the clouds as ShChQ in the upper world in which the Angel (ShNAN) appears and man the sleeping corpses (ShKDA) awakened by the call of the Angel in the cloud (ShChQ) above from the dust (ShChQ) of the earth below. There are a couple of words beginning with Shin that refer to the underworld or the grave:

ShAVL – the underworld, grave, pit:

The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. 1 sam. 2:6

ShQT – pit, grave:

Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.
He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.
To bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living.
Job 33:24 / 28 / 30.

The name of the letter ShYN itself is the root of the word ShYNH - second coming, and of ShYNA – sleep, ShYNAN angel.

ShAVL [and /or ShChVThA] - netherworld, pit, grave [pit, grave];
ShKDA - asleep, corpse;
ShVLL - Naked;
ShV - change, reverse, something bewildering;
ShY - repeat, do a second time; ShYNH - second coming;
ShMYA – heavens;
ShChQ – sky, heaven, cloud, dust;
ShYNAN – Angel;
ShVFR – trumpet;
ShVSThG - a piece of cloth (the flag);
ShShR - Painted red;
ShVF – to blow;
ShVFT – judgement;
ShVFRA – Grace (divine love whereby we are reborn).

*Although Shofar in Hebrew refers specifically to a ram's horn, in the Greek Septuagint, Latin vulgate and vernacular languages it was translated simply as trumpet; and in many pictorial example of the last judgement is shown as a trumpet.

Venus was attributed to the number 6 {Agrippa, Capella}, the highest throw of 6 in dice was known as the Venus throw*. The correspondence of Venus-VI seems an appropriate correspondence with 'The Lover' [TdM], both in subject [love] and the presence of Cupid/Eros. Given the correspondence with Venus perhaps it is possible to interpret the two women of the Tarot 'Love' card as the two aspects of Venus.

According to the interpretation of neo-platonic love in the renaissance, Love is the Desire for the Beautiful [which ultimately is the 'good', which is 'god']. The love of the beautiful 'object' [as represented by the girl with the crown of flowers in some Marseille decks, the earthly Venus, on his left, the side of the relatively imperfect and mutable] is converted by reason [represented by the girl with a crown of laurels or flames, the celestial Venus, on his right, the side of the relatively perfect and immutable] to the love of the beauty inherent in all things, and from thence to its return to the 'invisible' and thus 'unseen' source and ultimate object and source of love, God.

This neo-platonic triadic process of emanation, conversion and return was related the three graces, who were neo-platonic symbols of the 'unfolding' of the triadic union 'infolded' in Venus. These three aspects or graces one could also relate to the three ranks of seven cards, the first seven to emanation, the second to conversion and third to the return.

Six is the baseline of the triangular number 21 [1+2+3+4+5+6=21] in which we can see the triumph of the celestial Venus [the Cosmos comes from the Greek for order and beauty] revealed [nakedness being a symbol of revelation]. The celestial Venus and the earthly Venus can also be taken as being represented by card II, the Papesse and card III, the Empress. The lover as card I, the 'bateleur' [the number 1 is attributed to Eros].

"Why is love called a magician?" asked Ficino. Because it unites the lower with the higher, the terrestrial with the celestial, man with the divine. So we have I+II+III=VI. According to Agrippathe Pythagorean name for One is Cupid/Eros. In regards to which what Diotina saysto Socrates in regard to Love being the child of Poverty and Reason [Zeus] may be relevant:

"And as his parentage is, so also are his fortunes. In the first place he is always poor, and anything but tender and fair, as the many imagine him; and he is rough and squalid, and has no shoes, nor a house to dwell in; on the bare earth exposed he lies under the open heaven, in-the streets, or at the doors of houses, taking his rest; and like his mother he is always in distress.

"Like his father too, whom he also partly resembles, he is always plotting against the fair and good; he is bold, enterprising, strong, a mighty hunter, always weaving some intrigue or other, keen in the pursuit of wisdom, fertile in resources; a philosopher at all times, terrible as an magician, wizard, sophist. He is by nature neither mortal nor immortal, but alive and flourishing at one moment when he is in plenty, and dead at another moment, and again alive by reason of his father's nature. But that which is always flowing in is always flowing out, and so he is never in want and never in wealth; and, further, he is in a mean between ignorance and knowledge." end quote from Symposium by Plato.

We may see an allusion I think to both the fool/madman and to the magician. 'Poverty' represents the soul as lover, always in need, wanting and seeking for the beauty and goodness of the beloved' and in relation to the fool or madman we may see him as representing the soul as a pilgrim of love. 'Why is Love called a Magus?’ asked Ficino, "Because" he replied, "all the power of magic consists in love." And what is this magician `love'? The mediating power uniting heaven and earth, gods and men. Or as Diotima replied to Socrates question [in Plato's Symposium]:

"And what is he [love]?”: "He is a great spirit, and like all spirits he is intermediate between the divine and the mortal." "And what is his power?" asked Socrates. "He interprets," she replied, "between gods and men, conveying and taking across to the gods the prayers and sacrifices of men, and to men the commands and replies of the gods; he is the mediator who spans the chasm which divides them, and therefore in him all is bound together, and through him the arts of the prophet and the priest, their sacrifices and mysteries and charms, and all, prophecy and incantation, find their way. For God mingles not with man; but through Love."

The Number Five ~ V The Pope

Sat, 18 Feb 2006 23:38:09 GMT

Five is attributed to Mercury, messenger, intermediary, healer; and 5 "in holy things casts out demons and expels poisons' [Agrippa]. In relation to demons we may also note mercury is god of tricksters and deception, and five is the base of the triangular number fifteen, connected with the witches Sabbath [held on the fifteenth day of the moon], and with the 'Devil' card.

It is one of the three 'spherical" numbers that make up the letters in the name of God [a spherical number is one which multiplied by itself retains itself in the product, that is 5 [as in 5x5=25] which is the letter Hei in Hebrew, 6 [6x6=36] which is the letter Vau and 10 [10x10=100] which is the letter Yod; thus three spherical numbers/letters = YHV or as it was transliterated in Greek IAO, the symbolism of which letters in either Hebrew or Greek allude to that being 'which was, is and will be' without end, as in a circle, a geometric figure composed of one line without beginning or end]. It is connected with marriage, but may also be connected with any ceremony in the liturgy of life, baptism, confirmation, marriage, death [five of swords, for example, may symbolise a funeral].

Five in the square of nine is the 'bridge' (pontiff) of the digits, at the centre, the mean.

1 2 3

4 5 6

7 8 9

Geometrically the number 5 relates to the pentagram, the construction of which enformulates the Golden Mean, the 'creed of simplicity' that is the measure of Virtue. The two golden triangles of the pentagram are called Castor and Pollux, the dioscuri (sons of zeus/jove), one of whom is mortal the other immortal. They are also called Apollo and Hercules, both types of Christ who like the twins is both human and divine.

Thus perhaps we may see in the number V, the Pope as representative of Dios (the card we may note is actually replaced by Dieu Pater in later decks) and the two kneeling figures of the children of dios, an allusion to the to the creed of simplicity, the golden mean, as the measure of virtue.

In a 3x7 grid layout the Pope in the lower world mirrors the Sun in the upper, that has two children in front of a wall of bricks, the two children are reminiscent of the sign Gemini, the twins, one of the names of which is also bricks, in relation to the twins Romulus and Remus as the builders of Rome. As the Pope in the Microcosm is representative of God the Father, so the Sun in the Macrocosm is a symbol or representative of the Son.

Ascending and Descending Ranks

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 20:55:14 GMT

HIGH

♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣ ♥ ♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠ ♦

♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣ ♥♥ ♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠ ♦♦

♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣ ♥♥♥ ♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠ ♦♦♦

♣♣♣♣♣♣♣ ♥♥♥♥ ♠♠♠♠♠♠♠ ♦♦♦♦

♣♣♣♣♣♣ ♥♥♥♥♥ ♠♠♠♠♠♠ ♦♦♦♦♦

♣♣♣♣♣ ♥♥♥♥♥♥ ♠♠♠♠♠ ♦♦♦♦♦♦

♣♣♣♣ ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ♠♠♠♠ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

♣♣♣ ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ♠♠♠ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

♣♣ ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ♠♠ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

♣ ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ♠ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

LOW

These can also be modeled as 220 gates on the concentric circle model mentioned elsewhere; which we can relate to the symbolism of Jacob's ladder, with its ascending and descending Angels, and also the (ptolomaic) celestial spheres through which the soul was said to descend and ascend on its journey and which we can find numbered in the middle ages from both outside in and inside out:

Sphere of:

Prime Mover 1 - 10

Fixed Stars 2 - 9

Saturn 3 - 8

Jupiter 4 - 7

Mars 5 - 6

Sun 6 - 5

Venus 7 - 4

Mercury 8 - 3

Moon 9 - 2

Sub-lunary elements / Earth 10 - 1

Positive and Negative Suits

Tue, 09 Jan 2007 23:56:26 GMT

Vives' Ludus Chartarum, 1545 - In the two red suits, cup and coins, the numeral cards reverse their values and the six captures the seven, the seven captures the eight, etc.(Kaplan Encyclopedia of Tarot Vol. I p.28)

This rule, which appears overly complicated for the purposes of a game, is possibly indicative of a scheme to be used for instructional purposes, or a structure rooted in a model irrelevant to the sole purpose of gaming [and thus, by and large, subsequently ignored and dropped then from the rule books]. We may model this in several ways:

The 'Ledger' model:

Credit – High - In the Black
10
09
08
07
06
05
04
03
02
01
----00----
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
Debit - Low - In the Red

The earliest record we have of black and red being connected to positive and negative numbers is Chinese. However, it is reversed, black negative and red positive. Given the earliest western records of Hindu numbers listing zero last rather than first, that is:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0

rather than

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

And the connection with Chinese suits [via the accepted link between Italian / Spanish suits and Mamluk, and via a same named suit of Mamluk with the Chinese 'ten thousand, myriads'] we may do a 'Chinese Ledger' as follows:

Red - Positive Number - High
Diamonds / Coins / Wealth - Hearts / Cups / Love
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
--- 00 / 10 ---
09
08
07
06
05
04
03
02
01
Black - Negative Number - Low
Clubs / Batons/ Labour - Spades / Swords / Strife

We could also relate it to the neo-platonic triadic process of emanation [1-9], conversion [10] and return [9-1], related to the three graces, neo-platonic symbols of the 'unfolding' of the triadic union 'infolded' in venus.

Or to the 'two forms of motion' and 'rest', the first form of motion being 'away from the one' and called 'strife', the second form 'towards the one' and called 'love'.

Arithmetic, and accounting, was open to interpretation and representation on various different levels beyond the literal and utilitarian, and the rise and fall of economy or personal finance was as open to allegorical, moral and anagogical interpretation as the scriptures or the rise and fall of stars. The ledger for example, was open to moral interpretation and the concept of penance, and thence to an anagogical interpretation leading to the concept of purgatory [where one clear's one's ledger].

An example of a Moral Model of this rule is to be found in the text of Martiano da Tortona from ca. 1425:

Quote:
And subordinated to these are four kinds of birds, being suited by similarity. Thus to the rank of virtues, the Eagle; of riches, the Phoenix; of continence, the Turtledove; of pleasure, the Dove. And each one obeys its own king. However, the order of these Birds is, although none of their type has right over another, yet this arrangement they have alternately – Eagles and Turtledoves lead from many to few: that is to say it goes better for us when many cultivate virtue and continence; but for Phoenices and Doves, the few rule over the many, which is to say that, the more the followers of riches and pleasure are visible, the more they lead to the deterioration of our station.

End quote from http://trionfi.com/0/b/11/index.php

I suggest this fits in with the ledger model [interpreted morally], in that they are both rooted in economics, whether financial economics, economics of state or economics of body, they are thematically related [eg, 'bodily' economics, as Joyce Goggin points out, think not 'I am drunk' or 'I have come' but 'I am spent'].

Trouble reading non-scenic pips?

Sun, 07 Jan 2007 18:09:07 GMT

One method is to relate the numbers to the trumps. At least some of the trumps I-X do seem to correspond with traditional number symbolism, as found for example in agrippa, for example 6-venus-love, 7-the vehicle of life, 8 - justice, 9 -the end of all things that have a beginning [ie time, or old man of hermit], x - tetractys - see number 10 below.

As well as trumps I-X you can include the other trumps, either by additive method [10=1+0=1], or discarding the X [XI = I, XII=II, etc].

Neither of these two methods I find personally particularly satisfactory. Being my usual perverse self I devised a different method I call 'squaring the circle':

divide a square into 9 cells:

7 8 9
4 5 6
1 2 3

Discard the fool and I goes in 1, II in 2, etc; discard X then return so XI goes in 9, XII in 8, etc and discard the last two [XX and XXI].

The two cards in each square hence add up to XX:

1 = I Bateleur and XVIIII Sun
2 = II Papesse and XVIII Moon
etc.

Each row and each column thus adds up to 60, and 6x60=360, hence 'squaring the circle'.

The ascending trumps you can use with the ascending suits, swords and staves; the returning trumps with the descending suits cups and coins [though you can obviously swap them around to your own preference]. The three discarded trumps and fool with the 4 X's [again, choose as you feel fits best]. Note the 9 cells of the square you can also number 1-9 in any sequence you prefer, as each cell adds up to XX in this method the order makes no difference [you could for example number it as a magic square].

I also highly recommend the system for reading playing cards, which can easily be adapted to tarot cards pips, here:

http://www.hedgewytchery.com/cartomancy.html

Kwaw

The Number One

Sat, 18 Feb 2006 23:44:13 GMT

One, unity, monad, first, beginning, birth, in front, at the head, source and summit [think of it as the peak of the triangle/pyramid of number], the unification of the many, ace [as in best, the greatest, without competition], leader. One and Many, for as the Gnostics said, "this monad is likewise, as it were, a certain musical harmony, which comprises all things in itself.", wholeness.

That which unifies the many into one is called the 'baton bearer' [bateleur], like the conductor of an orchestra for example [to retain the analogy with 'musical harmony']. It is one 'tithe', 'tittle', 'jot', 'bagattelle', smallest unit of the iota. Iota is the tenth Greek letter, value 10, meaning jot, small thing and one is also in a manner the decad, for it is from the power of the one 'tittle' that "the duad, and tetrad, and pentad, and hexad, and heptad, and ogdoad, and ennead, and decad are produced" and to which they return [10=1+0=1] according to the early Christian Gnostics [as related by their Christian opponents for example in Against Heresies by Irenias and Refutation of all heresies by Hippolytus].

Therefore they say that "when Moses mentions that the rod was changeably brandished for the introduction of the plagues throughout Egypt - now these plagues, he says, are allegorical expressed symbols of the creation [in the beginning was the word, and Elohim, it is said, created all that is in 10 sayings] - he did not for more plagues than ten shape the rod. Now this rod constitutes one tittle of the iota, and is both twofold and various.... Conformably with that one tittle, the law of Moses constitutes the series of ten commandments, which expresses allegorically the divine mysteries of those precepts. For all knowledge of the universe is contained in what relates to the succession of the ten plagues and the series of the ten commandments." [Hippolytus].

So the rod of Moses symbolises the monad, the one 'tithe' of the iota, from which the ten 'emanate' in succession. And in the middle ages in both Christian and Jewish literature we may find Moses described as a magician. He taught his disciple in magic by writing letters on pieces of bread which they ate [a common magical formula/technique], a magical technique which perhaps we may relate to the 'cake' on the magicians table in the early painted decks? It may also be relevant that some early writers describe the 'deniers' suit not as coins but loafs of bread. Sort of edible talismans [or pantacles].

We may note that in relation to the correspondence of the symbolism of 'one' with beginnings, birth, that from which all other numbers spring or are 'born', that the name Moses is Egyptian for 'born from', as in the name Rameses [born of the sun, or of Ra]. Moses raises his rod and the waters divide, and his people emerge the other side and in allegorical fashion it is thus he gave birth to a nation. Note again the parallelism with Genesis, when God divided the upper waters from the lower waters in the act of creation. Here we see the Baton Bearer not just as the unifier, but the seperator.

One, the monad, was considered not an `odd' or `even' number, but both; and thus the source in potentia of not just Unification [Love] but of Seperation [Strife]:

"According to the theologians", Plutarch writes, "both prose writers and poets, God is eternal, but yet, under the impulsion of some predestined plan and purpose, he undergoes transformations in his being...When the god is changed and distributed into winds, water, earth, stars, plants and animals, they describe this experience and transformation allegorically by the terms 'rending' and 'dismemberment'. [Wind]

In the symbolism of neoplatonic ritualism the image of dismemberment is used to convey the act of divine creation; the divine being singular and simple, the creation of many from the one is conceived as an act of breaking or division [thus the one becomes two through division]. Pico de Mirandola describing the ascent and descent of the 'ladder' of reason as the steps upon which:

"we shall sometimes descend, with titanic force rending the unity like Osiris into many parts, and we shall sometimes ascend, with the force of Phoebus collecting the parts like the limbs of Osiris into a unity." [Wind]

The division of the One ritualistically or mythologically symbolised as dismemberment is graphically illustrated in the noblet Bateleur, who appears to be holding a dismembered penis:

http://tarot-history.com/Jean-Noblet/pages/ll-bateleur.html

Among the neoplatonist of the renaissance another favoured figurement of this was that of the 'mystery ofthe birth of Venus'. Venus Urania, identified with the celestial virgin, is born from the sea foam that was produced from the castration ofUranus:

'being the god of heaven, Uranus conveys to formless matter the seed of ideal forms, according to Pico "and because ideas would not have in themselves variety and diversity if they were not mixed with formless nature, and because without variety there cannot be beauty, so it justly follows that Venus could not be born if the testicles of Uranus did not fall into the waters of the sea". [Wind]

According to the interpretation of neo-platonic love in the renaissance, Love is the Desire for the Beautiful [which ultimately is the 'good', which is 'god']. The love of the beatiful 'object' [as represented by the girl with the crown of flowers in some Marseille decks, the earthly Venus, on his left, the side of the relatively imperfect and mutable] is converted by reason [represented by the girl with a crown of laurels or flames, the celestial Venus, on his right, the side of the relatively perfect and immutable] to the love of the beauty inherent in all things, and from thence to its return to the 'invisible' and thus 'unseen' source and ultimate object and source of love, God.

This neo-platonic triadic process of emanation, conversion and return was related the three graces, who were neo-platonic symbols of the 'unfolding' of the triadic union 'infolded' in venus. These three aspects or graces one could also relate to the three ranks of seven cards, the first seven to emanation, the second to conversion and third to the return.

Six is the baseline of the triangular number 21 [1+2+3+4+5+6=21] in which we can see the triumph of the celestial Venus [the Cosmos comes from the Greek for order and beauty] revealed [nakedness being a symbol of revelation]. The celestial venus and the earthly venus can also be taken asbeingrepresented by card II, the Papesse and card III, the Empress. The lover as card I, the 'bateleur' [the number 1 is attibutedto eros].

"Why is love called a magician?" asked Ficino. Because it unites the lower with the higher, the terrestial with the celestial, man with the divine. So we have I+II+III=VI. According to Agrippa the Pythagorean name for One is Cupid/Eros. In regards to which what Diotina says to Socrates in regard to Love being the child of Poverty and Reason [Zeus] may be relevant:

"And as his parentage is, so also are his fortunes. In the firstplace he is always poor, and anything but tender and fair, as the many imagine him; and he is rough and squalid, and has no shoes, nor a house to dwell in; on the bare earth exposed he lies under the openheaven, in-the streets, or at the doors of houses, taking his rest; and like his mother he is always in distress.

"Like his father too, whom he also partly resembles, he is always plotting against the fair and good; he is bold, enterprising, strong, a mighty hunter, always weaving some intrigue or other, keen in thepursuit of wisdom, fertile in resources; a philosopher at all times, terrible as an magician, wizard, sophist. He is by nature neither mortal nor immortal, but alive and flourishing at one moment when heis in plenty, and dead at another moment, and again alive by reasonof his father's nature. But that which is always flowing in is alwaysflowing out, and so he is never in want and never in wealth; and, further, he is in a mean between ignorance and knowledge." end quote from Symposium by Plato.

We may see an allusion I think to both the fool/madman and to the magician. 'Poverty' represents the soul as lover, always in need, wanting and seeking for the beauty and goodness of the beloved' and in relation to the fool or madman we may see him as representing the soul as a pilgrim of love. 'Why is Love called a Magus?', asked Ficino, "Because" he replied, "all the power of magic consists in love." And what is this magician `love'? The mediating power uniting heaven and earth, gods and men. Or as Diotima replied to Socrates question [in Plato's Symposium]:

"And what is he [love]?" : "He is a great spirit, and like all spirits he is intermediate between the divine and the mortal." "And what is his power?" asked Socrates. "He interprets," she replied, "between gods and men, conveying and taking across to the gods the prayers and sacrifices of men, and to men the commands and replies of the gods; he is the mediator who spans the chasm which divides them, and therefore in him all is bound together, and through him the arts of the prophet and the priest, their sacrifices and mysteries and charms, and all, prophecy and incantation, find their way. For God mingles not with man; but through Love."

So we see in the symbolism of the number One, and of the tarot trump I_Il Bateleur, as being both odd and even, the source in potentia of both Love and Strife [the forces of unification and of seperation, of the principle of the whole and the part]. Remembering that the arrows of cupid enflame not only love, but when dipped in lead, enmity.

Reference:

Wind, Edgar. "Pagan Mysteries in the Renaissance"

Plato "Symposium"

Agrippa, Cornelius. "Three Books of Occult Philosophy" Volume II.

Hippolytus. "Refutation of all Heresies"

The Number Two

Sat, 18 Feb 2006 23:40:44 GMT

The Pythagorean number 2, the Dyad, is ascribed to the Moon and Juno by Cornelius Agrippa and he calls it 'Juno's Deuce'. The influence of mediaeval Pythagorean numerology in the TdM trump ordering is apparent by the way in which Juno was substituted for trumps II, the Popesse in later [Besancon, Swiss and Jacques Vievilles] designs. The Juno connection is drawn much earlier than seen in the Besancon, Swiss and Vieville. Ross Caldwell has posted a listing from Andrea Alciato's 1543 "Parergon Juris" over at TarotL in which Alciato calls the papessa card 'Flaminica' which again connects this card with Juno. The Flaminica was part of a high ranking priestly couple, the wife of the Flamen Dialis, Priest of Jupiter, the highest ranking of the Flamens. Among other duties the priestess officiated at ceremonies in honour of Juno every month.

"The number two is ascribed to the Moon, which is the second great
light, and figures out the soul of the world, and is called Juno."

In this quote from Agrippa we see several attributions made with II,
the popess; that is with the Moon and with Juno, and the anima mundi. Showing at least some relation between the numbering of the Popesse or Juno [or in one 16th century listing as a priestess of
juno] to numerical symbolism of the period. She is the bride of god
[1 Jupiter, primal cause of all things sun; 2 juno, moon, soul of all
things] and thus also relates to the image of the Popesse as a
representation of the Church [as Bride of the Lord].

The attributions of the moon, anima mundi and ‘bride of the lord’ has parallels with the kabbalistic concept of the Shekinah, also having corresponding symbolism with the moon, and also representing the congregation of Israel symbolised as a woman dressed as a ‘bride of the lord’, as she does here [in the figure of tarot trump II, the popesse] if taken as an allegorical figure representing the ‘church’.

The Number Three

Sat, 18 Feb 2006 23:40:11 GMT

Three is connected with 'completeness', in narrative time [beginning,
middle, end], in space [length, breadth, width], in family [mother,
father, child].

It is connected with the concept of 'all', 'many', 'and enough'; it
is superlative, greatest, best [and worst]. As one is singularity, two duality, three symbolises multiplicity.

It is attributed to the planet Jupiter, the greater benefic and planet of good
fortune, and the trine the most fortunate of the aspects [360/3 =120 -
the trine], it emphasises the element [trine aspects occur between
planets in signs of the same element].

It is a number of generation, fertility and abundance, connected with
mother earth as 'lady bountiful' and the provider of all our needs. Venus in her aspect as ‘Natura’, the Empress as ‘Lady Bountiful’ we may see as Venus in her aspect as ‘Natura’, also symbolised by the lady with a crown of flowers in the lovers card [TdM pattern].

As the first triangular number with a baseline of 2 it is the
reconciliation or synthesis of opposites in an harmonious, balanced
and productive manner [the base of the triangular number 6, number of
among other things of love; the square root of the number 9, thus the
fertilised egg that grows 9 months in the womb, that which at 9
becomes 'squared, that is to say made manifest, given birth to].
A 'thing' in abstraction, generic, concealed and in the process of
formation and development, without as yet a concrete and specific
identity of its own, as yet to be ‘realized’.

The Number Four

Sat, 18 Feb 2006 23:38:58 GMT

The number four is attributed to the Sun, significator of royalty,
of the king, exalted in Aries [that rules the head, and loves to be
at the head, as the chief, ruler and leader; as an 'emperor' too is
an exalted king, a king of kings]; the king rules through divine
providence, defender and protector of the faith, imposing divine law
and order. Though a king be temporal, the office as divinely ordained
is eternal, "the king is dead, long the king"; the baseline of the
triangular number 10, the end and beginning of a new cycle, the wheel
of fortune upon which kings rise, inherit and fall, as the sun rises
and falls through the day. It is the square root of 16, the
lightening struck tower, empires themselves rise and fall according
to divine providence. In Christian/Judaic interpretation of history
the destruction of empires is taken as the hand of God against those
that have transgressed the rule and order of god, and thus foregone
any divine right to rule.