I have problems with the correspondences idea.
Well, yes, I have problems with it to ... when I look at it a certain way.
Take the equation of the 22 trumps to the 22 paths in the cabala. Even if you consider both to be maps of reality, you can't just assume they map in the same way.
I rarely 'just assume' things David
... it goes a bit deeper than that.
I am not talking about things mapping in the same way ... I , all along (and have pointed out time and time again) that variant views are valid IF they can show their own logic and internal consistency and pass certain tests ... thats the beauty of different VALID maps - one gets a variant perspective .... that is different from a made up system that is based on one's prejudices other than connections observed with people AND in / through nature.
For example, Aristotelian, Daoist, and Vedanta philosophy all assumed 5 elements, but these do not correspond and serve different functions.
I know ... thats the beauty of it. I wrote somewhere recently how it worked with the Ancient Egyptians through time and location ... they have different ideas of generation . cosmology, etc, they say different things but on a deeper level they are not in conflict, although one system is an Ogdoad, one a Triad and another an Ennead and still another a Quaternary ( not even with the same number of components in each) one is describing natural 'formation' ( Nun / Naunet) while another describes 'augmentation' ( Atum) ... they serve different functions and any valid system should be able to serve different functions .... IMO. The same with my studies with the local indigenous ... their stories are in seeming conflict ... but really they are just different views of valid systems ... the view doesnt make the system valid or not. By studying all of it, one starts to get a picture , like one eventually does from piecing a jigsaw puzzle together... and by 'knowing it' (by learning, travelling to those areas, partaking of those mysteries, enacting the 'myths') one becomes a 'proper man ' (or a high initiate).
The same as an eclectic education broadens one's horizon ... but not if the subjects one studies are rubbish, disconnected or illogical ... especially within their own field or system.
And are the two sets of 22 both maps of reality?
Not sure what you mean there ... but the above should clear up the answer to that ... any two sets (or more) of any numbers can be valid maps of reality; Unity, Duality, triplicity, 4/5 - the elements, 7 the Planets, 12 - astrology, 22 Kabbalah, 64 I Ching.
There isnt ONE reality ... thats a very modern and very western concept.
There is no evidence that the tarot trumps (which actually numbered 21) had any esoteric significance to start with.
I thought I already addressed this ? Maybe it was elsewhere. Did the stars have any esoteric significance to start with ? Did animals, Everyday objects? Its human nature to give things esoteric significance and to see patterns and similarities in things ... the 'Doctrine of Signatures' ? ... stuff like that. Just because someone didnt sit down one day and say "I am going to create an esoteric tool" and create the first tarot deck does not matter.
For what reason was Chess invented ? ... yet :
http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/esotericism_chess.html
As for the Hebrew alphabet, do you really believe Hebrew is in any way special? And which Hebrew: modern, Biblical, or that of Abraham? None of those actually had 22 consonants, anyway, as the alphabet was created for Phoenician.
I believe that any language that used letters as numbers can interchange them and extract values form words and compare them , etc. is 'special' ... more so than alanguage where one cant really do this.
This might be hard to understand ... but it is very special ... again for different reasons ... for me, its utterance has virtually the significance of a 'barbarous language' * while for someone like Closrapexa, the opposite might be true. Hebrew is special because of its outlook ... so are many other languages ... because of THEIR outlook . Hebrew happened to be that one the G. D. focused on (as well as English
) ... crowley also used Greek and Latin. ( English is good for commerce but hopeless for spiritual or esoteric subjects ... evidenced by the fact that we had to incorporate so many other terms from different languages in this field - but I guess thats our karma
... OI! ... I'm no mashugana ... comprendo ? )
* Omari tessala marax,
tessala dodi phornepax.
amri radara poliax
armana piliu.
amri radara piliu son';
mari narya barbiton
madara anaphax sarpedon
andala hriliu.
and
http://books.google.com.au/books?id...v=onepage&q=magical barbarous tongues&f=false