Tetractys instead of tree of life?

Pythagoras 1/10

Hey everyone! First post here and pretty new to tarot in general. However, I wonder if the tetractys (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetractys) might be an alternative to the tree of life in regard to taort.

If I where t use this system I would associate the four rows with the face cards (four worlds), the ten points with the numbered cards (ten sefirot) and finally the the last row of four points with the suits.

The reason Is that I would views the last four points in the fourth row to be the foundations of the material world. For example from left to right or vice versa you could associate them with the persons animal instinct (being ruled by their emotions), the ability to overcome through sheer passion and determination, their ability to advance based on intellect and skill and final their reliance on logic and reason that can constrain. So you could view it as the four aspects of our reality which we associate with being traced back to their origin. I hope that made sense lol.

One thing to keep in mind though is that the tetractys does not have the "criss cross" of the tree of life. i.e netzah does not have aspects of gevurah. Instead the the points on either side become more extreme as the descend. So all the points essentially make up a matrix; you can judge their properties dependent on there position in the tetractys. The lower they are the closer they are to the material realm and to the left and right, intellect and emotion (restraint and passion).

Sorry for the long post everyone! I hope I was able to explain my theory and would love to hear everyones opinions. If you are not sure on something please ask me; I'm sure I did a pretty crap job of explaining here haha!
 

Cheiromancer

First of all, welcome to the forum!

And I don't think that was a long post at all. :)

I would like some more information on how you would use the Tetractys. People usually use the Tree of Life to hang the Major Arcana on, together with correspondences to astrology and the Hebrew alphabet. Are you proposing to do this with the Tetractys? How?

If you are talking about the minors, well, there are 56 of them. I don't see how you can fit them into such a small space.

So I think I must be misunderstanding what you are about. Could you explain further?
 

Pythagoras 1/10

Sure no problem! I love talking about this! For the minor cards there are ten points in the tetractys. Each point would correspond to a numbered card ace-10. Each face card would then correspond to one of the four rows representing the level the card acts on pre-though and thought ect. As for the suits you could call these the elements. So and number of any suit would represent that element in relation to the assigned point in the tetractys. Or row in the case of the face cards.

Then we have the majors. In the standard tetractys the are 18 (corrected from 27) connections between the points. However you can then connect the three points to the center to make 21 connections; the number of trumps minus the fool which is numberless. In my system the fool would represent the divine all that interacts with everything yet seems to have nothing we can define it by ie the fool.
 

Cheiromancer

Are you sure there are 27 connections? I only count 18.

And as for the assignment. Hmm. If the top point is the Ace, then it is also a whole row in itself. How would you distinguish the Ace and the King? (Or whatever face card is in the top row).

And the bottom four cards - these are the suits? Or are they pips 7, 8, 9 and 10?

I think I'd need to see a chart or diagram to understand what you are talking about.
 

Pythagoras 1/10

Sorry, I meant 18; probably should have proof read haha! This really just an adaption of the system that is already being used for the tree of life Have a look at liber 777 page 5 it shows the correspondences for the number cards.

I would describe it as thought they can be both at the same time. In my view the suits are the last 4 sefirot; the final evolution of the other six. As such they are the metaphorical elements which comprise ourselves and our world or in other words the suits. Thus for the purposes of divination they represent the aspect of ourselves the higher pips are acting on or they them selves are acting on.

As for the king /ace I would describe the ace as as the seed of 10 of that particular suit and the king of the concept of ether. So, all the aces are in the king.

Oh boy this is confusing haha! I am pretty much coming up with the idea of using the tetractys myself so I couldn't find any diagrams online. I did try making one myself but could not figure out how to upload it. As well as that it was rubbish anyway. Like I said though the golden dawn where already using such a system for the tree of life I have merely modified it. I just felt as though the tetractys seem to fit the system better!
 

Zephyros

It is an interesting idea. How would it work with the hierarchy of the Courts, who are generally attributed to Chochma, Binah, Tiphareth and Malkuth? Tiphareth is generally considered to be connected to all other Sephiroth, being the center and mid-balance point; wouldn't putting it on far left on the third row be somewhat imbalanced, since it seems like it would receive influence only from Binah and Geburah?

Or are they arranged not in a linear fashion?
 

Pythagoras 1/10

It is an interesting idea. How would it work with the hierarchy of the Courts, who are generally attributed to Chochma, Binah, Tiphareth and Malkuth? Tiphareth is generally considered to be connected to all other Sephiroth, being the center and mid-balance point; wouldn't putting it on far left on the third row be somewhat imbalanced, since it seems like it would receive influence only from Binah and Geburah?

Or are they arranged not in a linear fashion?

The court association with the sephiroth is one of the things I decided to cut from my system. They are no longer in relation to chochma, binah. tiphareth and makuth. Instead they are associated with the rows of the tetractys. Although I believe the traditional connection could still work if one wishes.

I should mention that I do not envisage this working with astrology and have little knowledge of astrology. It is my belief the golden dawn caused more problems by trying to incorporate so many esoteric system instead of just doing a few to their full potential.

In the tetractys Tiphareth would still be in the middle connected to all the other sephiroth. Third row in the middle. It would correspond with the number 5.

1

2/3 3/2

4/6 5 6/4

and so on.....

Tried to format it into a triangle but it did not come out that way :(
 

Cheiromancer

In the tetractys Tiphareth would still be in the middle connected to all the other sephiroth. Third row in the middle. It would correspond with the number 5.

Code:
                                                            1
 
                                                       2/3     3/2
                                               
                                                     4/6     5      6/4

Use [code] and [/code] on either side of your text.
 

Pythagoras 1/10

Thanks Cheiromancer!
 

Yygdrasilian