Hebrew letter Tarot correlations

Huck

filipas said:
Hi Huck,
First, let me reassure that these works are indeed referred to as kabbalistic precisely by the Hebrew and Italian bibliographers which I consulted to create this list. It is not me but the bibliographers and sources listed here:

http://www.spiritone.com/~filipas/Masquerade/Essays/zeta.html

who have identified any particular work listed as "kabbalistic" -- so I must take your objection here with a grain of salt.

Secondly, the larger point is not what term one might apply to these various mystical writings but rather that these writings existed in the region well before Tarot researchers have previously claimed. Therefore, if one wishes to argue that Jewish mysticism could not have influenced the Tarot, one cannot defend that argument by claiming that this influence was unknown to that time and place.

Thanks,
- Mark

Hi Mark, that's not real a problem. The situation in kabbalistic research is similar chaotic like in Tarot.

Although Franco Pratesi wrote his important text about the Michelino deck in 1989 we still have enough to do with making these researched and well documented facts simply known. Enough people in Internet still tell the story as if this research never had been. The same with the Ortalli-article. Mankind is simply slow in such matters.

In kabbalistic matters it's probably even more worse. Gerschom Scholem is already dead a longer time ago, but I guess, a lot of those people who claim to know Kabbala didn't read any book from him. Well ... I may reassure you ... the information that Gabirol, Akiba and Maimonides were kabbalists didn't go through Gerschom Scholem hands.
It's not, that Scholem was right in any point, but he made a lot of kabbalistic texts accessible to the public, and his books are really worth to be read. And it might spare you a lot of energy to read his books first, before you read too much of the others.

Scholem was for Kabbala what was Dummett for Tarot: presenting facts, gathering facts, careful in their interpretations - more or less.
 

kwaw

Beit and Lamed - The Magician and the Guardian Angel

Beit means house and can refer to any type of 'dwelling place' from a tent to a temple, pigsty to palace, to the whole cosmic creation as dwelling place of the divine 'presence'. As the first letter in the Torah it is first in the building of the 'cosmos', creation. Its value is two, the 'first' number. In the Sefer Yetzirah it is attributed to Saturn [there are variations in late redactions], significator of architects, builders, craftsmen.

In kabbalah the builder [BNH - BoNeH] is the 'son' [BN] whose mother is 'understanding' [BN 'son', from BNH - Binah, the third sefirah, to which Saturn is also traditionally attributed]. The son is identified with the 'Prince of the World' YHVAL [YHV/IAO + the divine suffix AL, by gematria BN and YHVAL both =52], which is the first [of seventy] names for the Angel Metatron. Metatron designates the 'Active Intellect', a personification or manifestation of the 'divine intellect' and 'father' of the human intellect or 'son' [BN]. Metatron is called the 'youth who is old', as he is the first of all created things, thus the divine name associated with the letter Beit is 'BChUR', which means 'youth' [but he is an elder, not a lad, thus in keeping with the attribution of Saturn].

The builders building blocks, the atomic elements from whose permutations all things are created, are the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The letters are the'stones' from which the House [beit - cosmos, words, the divines name(s) or logoi] are built or constructed. The 'son' is Shem [BN becomes ShM by means of a cipher], who was the son of Noah who according to tradition taught Abraham the secrets of the letters and sacred names [shem in Hebrew means 'name'] as recorded by Abraham in the Sefer Yetzirah. A practicing kabbalist magician is called a Baal Shem, 'Master of the Name'. A biblical example is Bezalel, builder of the Tabernacle, who 'knowing the combination of letters with which heaven and earth were made' was able to build the tabernacle as an exact microcosm of everything in heaven and upon earth. So great was his magical powers, resulting from his knowledge of the creative powers of the letters, that according to kabbalistic tradition that 'for him it would be a little thing to create a man or any living creature.'

Another example which may relate to the image of Atu I as a cobbler is that of the patriarch Enoch. In a tale that according to Scholem originated with the German Hasidism in the 13th century:

"The patriach Enoch, who according to an old tradition was taken from the earth by God and transformed into the angel Metatron, is said to have been a cobbler. At every stitch of his awl he not only joined the upper leather with the sole, but all upper things with all lower things. He accompanied his work with meditations which drew the stream of emanation down from the upper to lower, so transforming profane action into ritual action, until he himself was transformed from the earthly Enoch into the transcendent Metatron, who had been the object of his meditations." [On the Kabbalah and its Symbolism, p.132].

The prime experience in the initiation of the Baal Shem in their passage to becoming magicians and prophets is the 'encounter with the self.' The Baal Shem has to invoke his 'self made perfect', his higher self or guardian angel, which appears to them in their own image as his 'shadow' or 'reflection'. This personal guardian angel then teaches the Baal Shem all magical knowledge and enables them to prophesy.

As in astrology Aries in the natural order of the zodiac is associated with 'self', so its opposite, Libra, is associated with this 'perfect self' as 'other'. Libra in the SY is attributed to the letter Lamed, which among other things is said to symbolize the power to direct and control the animal instinct.

The guardian angel is symbolised by an angel closing the mouth of a lion, after the Angel who 'shut the mouths of the Lions' protecting Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, exorcists, Chaldeans and diviners [also known as Daniel] in the Lion's den. According to kabbalisitic texts, possibly influenced by neoplatonic doctrines, this Guardian Angel was Daniel's own 'self made perfect'.

This personal angel is a mediating principle between the magician and the angel Metatron, or the form in which Metatron the Active Intellect can be drawn down. As such another of the names of the angel Metatron is 'one two', symbolising the self and the higher self as other.

Kwaw
 

kwaw

Re: Beit and Lamed - The Magician and the Guardian Angel

kwaw said:

Libra in the SY is attributed to the letter Lamed, which among other things is said to symbolize the power to direct and control the animal instinct.

This is related to the association of Lamed with 'ox-goad' [suggested by the letterform as a 'crooked stick'], a spur to direct the power of the ox, an ancient and biblical symbol of 'Strength'. There is also another indirect correspondence to the concept of 'Strength' in the name Daniel. Daniel means 'judgement' [DN] of 'God' [EL]. DN, Judgement is one of the names of the fifth sefirah, more commonly called 'Strength'.

Kwaw
 

firemaiden

Re: Beit and Lamed - The Magician and the Guardian Angel

kwaw said:
"The patriach Enoch, who according to an old tradition was taken from the earth by God and transformed into the angel Metatron, is said to have been a cobbler. At every stitch of his awl he not only joined the upper leather with the sole, but all upper things with all lower things. He accompanied his work with meditations which drew the stream of emanation down from the upper to lower, so transforming profane action into ritual action, until he himself was transformed from the earthly Enoch into the transcendent Metatron, who had been the object of his meditations." [On the Kabbalah and its Symbolism, p.132].

Fascinating, Kwaw. Fantastic quote. I have been looking on the internet for some time for a correlation between magician and cobbler. In literature and fairy tales, it seems to me the cobbler is often a kind of sorcerer -- the shoemaker and the elves, the red shoes etc., Hans Sachs in Meistersinger...etc. -- there is something magical about fashioning footwear - is it because it houses the sole/soul?
 

kwaw

Re: Re: Beit and Lamed - The Magician and the Guardian Angel

firemaiden said:
Fascinating, Kwaw. Fantastic quote. I have been looking on the internet for some time for a correlation between magician and cobbler.

The tale of a cobbler who brings together heaven and earth is an old one that exists in various versions around the world, the oldest extent version being a Buddhist tale. In Jewish terms the cobbler is a symbol of the Jews wandering in exile (in which circumstance they wear out a lot of shoes!). By unifying heaven and earth the cobbler hastens the return of the Jews to their homeland.

According to Scholem the earliest reference to this is among the German Hasidism in the 13th century. In the same period there arose in Germany a Christian legend that seems to have mixed this tale with that of Aristeos in Greek myth. According to this version Christ, carrying the cross, rested on the doorstep of a cobbler. The craftsmen told him to go away to which Christ responded "I will go, and fast, but thou will tarry till I come again." The cursed cobbler becomes an immortal witness to the Christ, a wanderer through the nations of the Earth until Christ comes again. According to the legend he ages until 100 when he falls into a trance from which he awakes restored to the age of 30. This tale became very popular from the 13th to the 18th centuries with reports of the appearance of the 'wandering jew' appearing in Europe and America under a variety of names. He appears as Buttadeus in Antwerp in the 13th century, in Milan in 1413 and again in 1415 (bagato in modern Milanese dialect means 'cobbler'), a second time in Germany and the low countries in the 15th century and a third time in Germany in the 16th century. He is reported for the last time in 1774 at Brussels but reappears shortly after in Venice under the name of Gualdi. In France he was called Laquedem, other names under which he was reported to have made himself known are Ananias and Ahaseur. The tale of the 'Wandering Jew' has been adapted to numerous poems and novels over the centuries.

I am a magus of laws new,
A madman whom a star's made blind,
Who strayed far wide to bring to you
The stories of my land.

I among you my burden carry,
In dirt befouled and in laugher scorned,
For woe to him bereft of country
That begs his home to be returned.

(part of the poem 'With no Country' from 'songs without a country' by Octavian Goga, 1916).

Kwaw
 

jmd

That legend you refer to, with regards to Christ telling the cobbler the latter is to wander until the former's return, is the story I also referred to in a couple of places - though not in the detail which you so wonderfully give.

For the sake of ease of reference, one of these is in the thread titled The Fool and the Magician.

To my mind, it forms part of three possibly linked aspects: to the wandering Fool; to the Bateleur as cobbler; and to the Hermit.

Wonderful additional reflections, as usual, kwaw...
 

kwaw

jmd said:
For the sake of ease of reference, one of these is in the thread titled The Fool and the Magician.

To my mind, it forms part of three possibly linked aspects: to the wandering Fool; to the Bateleur as cobbler; and to the Hermit.

There is another Hasidic tale of two brothers who are 'holy' jesters (fool and juggler?) who work in the marketplace. They are called 'holy' because they 'bring happiness to those who are sad, peace to those who fight.'

Of magician cobblers there is also Asdente from Dante's Comedia (see link in thread on Dante and tarot):

Canto118 "the one with no tooth, Who repents too late that he let dwindle His cobbler's craft;"

The "one with no tooth" is Asdente, a shoemaker of Parma, who was known as a magician and soothsayer in the thirteenth century.


Kwaw
 

kwaw

kwaw said:
The "one with no tooth" is Asdente, a shoemaker of Parma, who was known as a magician and soothsayer in the thirteenth century.
Kwaw

And tooth in Hebrew is ShN. Taking 'no tooth' to imply its opposite (as in 'no light'=dark), the opposite letter to Shin (by Atbash) is Beit.

OK - bit of a stretch that one;)

Kwaw
 

kwaw

Re: Beit and Lamed - The Magician and the Guardian Angel

kwaw said:
The prime experience in the initiation of the Baal Shem in their passage to becoming magicians and prophets is the 'encounter with the self.' The Baal Shem has to invoke his 'self made perfect', his higher self or guardian angel, which appears to them in their own image as his 'shadow' or 'reflection'. This personal guardian angel then teaches the Baal Shem all magical knowledge and enables them to prophesy.

As in astrology Aries in the natural order of the zodiac is associated with 'self', so its opposite, Libra, is associated with this 'perfect self' as 'other'. Libra in the SY is attributed to the letter Lamed, which among other things is said to symbolize the power to direct and control the animal instinct.

The guardian angel is symbolised by an angel closing the mouth of a lion, after the Angel who 'shut the mouths of the Lions' protecting Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, exorcists, Chaldeans and diviners [also known as Daniel] in the Lion's den. According to kabbalisitic texts, possibly influenced by neoplatonic doctrines, this Guardian Angel was Daniel's own 'self made perfect'.

Kwaw

These correlations suggest Lamed - Libra - Strength. In the GD however, this card is swapped with Teth - Leo, on the grounds that it contains a lion, and Justice contains a pair of scales. If we make an attribution of Lamed - Libra - Strength therefore, where does 'Justice' go?

Among other meanings the letter Teth means 'serpent' and is related thereby to the serpent in the Garden of Eden and is said to symbolise the power of judgement. However, as well as the Satanic serpent there is also the Holy Serpent, identified with the Messiah [Messiah and Serpent in Hebrew both have the same numerical value by Gematria]; and is a symbol of both good and evil, of knowledge and falsehood, and the power to Judge between the two.

Among the Ophites ['worshippers of the snake, a Jewish syncretic movement with Gnostic tendencies] the serpent was called 'Michael and Samael', reflecting the dual nature of the symbolism of the serpent. Michael and Samael are two angels of Judgement, advocate and adversary respectively in the court of the Holy King. Leo, ruled by the Sun the significator of royalty, is a symbol of the royal court of Judgement [the House of the Sun]. As Teth means serpent, the symbol for Leo is also said to represent a serpent, possibly a derivation of the royal Uraeus crown of the Pharoes.

Micheal in medieval iconography is portrayed frequently with sword and scales, and fits therefore very well with imagery of the Justice card. Samael in early traditions is called a 'blind angel' [SMY means 'blind' in Hebrew], though in later texts, such as the Zohar, he is merely described as 'cross-eyed'. Possibly this is related to the occasional image of Justice as being blind folded?

I think therefore the symbolism of Teth - serpent - and the attribution of Leo does have a correlation with the card Justice, which along with the correlations of Lamed - Libra to 'Strength' retains the Marseille ordering and one to one letter/astrological correspondence without having to swap them around as in the GD attributions.

Samael 'the wicked, head of all the Devils, chief of the tempters, serpent in the Garden of Eden and chief adversary/prosecutor' is identified with the office/personification 'Satan'. He is the angelic archon of the planet Mars and attributed to the fifth sephirah on the pillar of severity. Mars is exalted in Capricorn, attributed to the letter Ayin in the SY, and to the card 'The Devil' in the GD tradition. Capricorn is also ruled by Saturn [which again, like the serpent, is identified with both Satan and the Messiah in kabbalistic literature], and is thus associated with both the Greater and Lesser 'malefics' in traditional astrology. In another thread it was discussed how the Devil looks 'cross eyed' in one of the Marseille pattern decks, which is an interesting coincidence [there being no established historical relationship between the Marseille and the kabbalah] in light of the fact that Samael is described as 'cross eyed' in the Zohar.

Kwaw
 

jmd

In terms of Hebrew letter correlations, Lamed with Libra also fits quite well with the Hanged Man, and Teth with the Hermit, making, respectively, the twelfth and ninth letters corresponding quite well with the, also correpondingly, twelfth and ninth numbered cards of the Major Arcana as depicted in the Marseille sequence.

The snake of Teth also fits quite well when we consider the rod or staff as depicted on the Hermit card turned to Snake at the Pharaoh's court...

Both the balancing and the very form displayed on the Hanged Man also suggest the Lamed - Libra possible correlation.