venicebard
There is definite interplay between the two numbering systems (which is even exploited in the order of the runic elder futhark, which displays also a knowledge of the three mothers), and my understanding of this aspect is in its embryonic stage. One very obvious instance of interplay is in the laying out of the pattern of valence-by-height, wherein Hebrew numeration can be substituted for 3 and 4—gimel-dalet—which are the polarity good (3) and evil (4) in Sefer Yetzirah. And Hebrew numbering is invaluable in interpreting the Name (not surpisingly): the hehs are the hands (5s) given in matrimony, vav (6) the space (6 directions) in the female (vav-heh) for the male (who is the divine name Yah or first half of the Name), and yod (10) the idea of conjoined hands (5+5=10) in the mind of the male (Yah). Yet at the same time, bardic numbering identifies the male and female roots yod and vav as yod-19-potassium and vav-17-chlorine, which form the salt that keeps fluids within cells (across the horizontal diameter of the round or Egg).Pelops said:Venicebard, . . . I've been very interested in your bardic angle . . . 4 questions:
1) With the hebrew correspondence to the bardic, do you also challenge the hebrew numerical system also, or does the correspondence support it, or are there no numerical values to the bardic alphabet with which it could conflict?
One would almost think the two number systems were devised as two parts of one whole, yet bardic takes precedence: it is the one connecting letter-symbols directly to atom-types in the periodic table—B-birch of the white bark as 5-boron (borax being a bleach), G-ivy’s (wandering) desire as 10-neon (think Las Vegas), R-elder, to burn which ‘brings the devil in the house’ (an English superstition), as 15-phosphorus (Phosphorus = Lucifer = Venus as morning star), and on and on. Evidently, the Hebrew numbering by 1s, 10s, and 100s was devised during or just after the Captivity, with the advent of square Hebrew, which surely sprang from Aramaic yet whose numbering is related somehow to Greek. But even Phoenician or proto-Canaanite (whence Phoenician) probably made use of ordinal 1-22 numbering (e.g. as chapter-heads in parts of the Bible), so the ‘spell’ or interplay of the two systems arises with the alef-bet order of letters in the first place, the older order evidently being calendar-order, B-L-N-F-S(SS)-H-D-T-K(KK)-M-G-Ng-R, A(AA)-O-U-E-I(II) [beyt-lamedh-nun-peh-shin(tzaddi)-cheyt-dalet-tav-kaf(qof)-mem-gimel-(samekh)-reysh, alef(teyt)-ayin-vav-heh-zayin(yod)].
Tarot of Marseilles. The early alternate form of XXI LeMonde showing a hamlet through the porthole of a corporate jet fits its symbolism of location (old Semitic teyt is the heliport sign, alchemical symbol for the earth), but it lacks the taurus-leo-scorpio-aquarius (bull-lion-eagle-angel) symbolism, which points to its deeper meaning (as the fire breath, since the movable zodiac of a fire unit has its aries or ‘head’ pointed at cancer, the outer horizon, which is symbolically to our left). The Cary Sheet ‘Magician’ has a bridge-like table, for he is the bridge-builder alef (the doer); yet the Cary Sheet ‘Devil’ is just a boogeyman and lacks the subtlety of the Marseilles version linking it to the Junior Warden in the south (in the Masonic Lodge) and the ‘little devil’ or toddler chaining his parents to his needs. Most glaringly, consider the earliest painted form (Bembo) of XI Force: it shows Hercules with a club for slaying the lion, instead of the virtue herself manipulating its jaws: which do you think is more profound . . . or poetical?2) With what deck or combination of decks does the symbolic correspondence between bardic and the trumps make itself most evident?
Look at square-Hebrew lamedh: it is a child’s arms swinging while walking as seen from above—to symbolize learning (to walk), stretching beyond oneself (as the sign following capricorn or self), but also because it is the spine opposite the shoulders, that which converts the hanging shoulders-and-arms of cheyt into work or accomplishment. And that is where the mother (?) acting in the morality play has her angel’s wings strapped on in the Marseilles version of the trump, where you will note also the symbol for aquarius plainly visible in the two wavy lines linking the two vessels.3) Specifically, I consider lammedh and trump XII of the Marseilles deck to have an uncanny resemblence, and lammedh being attributed to trump XIV as you suggest has much less of one. So a third question: how is your case supported in this specific example?
Yes, it begins at:4) Do you have a centralized web page with this information?
http://www.tarotpedia.com/wiki/index.php/Bardic_origin_of_Tarot
I think my speculations there concerning actual geographical origin need refining a bit, but the rest is a fairly complete (if concise) layout of my current thinking concerning tarot, bardic tradition, and Qabbalah.
Appreciate your interest.