Numerology for the pips

Just in case it may be of any help: I am not a reader, but I do attach a meaning to every card of the Marseilles, and the Pips are especially powerful in my estimation.

I know some shy away from the Sefirot (as with the post about not attaching the 5s to Geburah), but for those who don't, here it is.

The ten Clubs I see as the first ten spokes of the original Wheel (of twelve), since as selves we have only progressed to the tenth one. Based on reason and the book Bahir, they are:
1 Up-Unity-Consciousness or Crown
2 Upandabitout-Motion or Wisdom (i.e. as to where to go)
3 Outandabitup-Substance(Space), Wisdom's 'storehouse'
4 Straightout-Other or Lovingkindness
5 Departingstraightout or Severity's 'Great Fire'
6 Approachingstraightdown, the divine 'Throne' (i.e. God's 'being seated' or descent)
7 Straightdown, the 'Holy Palace'
8 Downandabitin-Desire, our 'Foundation'
9 Inandabitdown-Thought, the first 'Victory'
10 Straightin-Selfknowledge, the second 'Victory'

The ten Swords I see as the spokes in motion, splitting the air. In the Sefer Yetzirah, these are called:
1 Beginning (depth of the first)
2 End (depth of the last)
3 Good
4 Evil
5 Above
6 Below
7 East
8 West
9 South
10 North
. . . which require some explanation (hence I shall return to complete this, when time allows).

Since the explanation for the meanings of the numbers in swords given above is a bit involved, I'll lay it out only if someone's interested. But it will be seen below that there is a relation between the fourth suit (Money) and the lower six directions there, those of the 'cube of space'. (The first pair are the directions of logic -- which manifest in time, one form of logical development -- and the second pair those of morality.)

The ten Cups I see as the triadic Tree normally spoken of in today's Kabbalah, which tends to ignore -- or worse yet re-order -- the sefirot of the first two worlds, and even to a large extent those of the fourth. The triadic Tree ultimately maps the descent of our form from that of Adam Qadmon, who is without sex (meaning not yet divided) and therefore on the central pillar. More importantly (for us), it maps the neutral, masculine, and feminine aspects of the human psyche, which explains how 9 and 10 can be also on the central pillar, since we all (typically) undergo 9 months of gestation and have 10 grasping fingers:
1 Adam Qadmon -- Upright Sentience itself
2 the chaste masculine
3 the chaste feminine

4 the procreative masculine
5 the procreative feminine
6 their conjunction in offspring (manifesting in space, which has 6 directions)

7 the lustful masculine
8 the lustful feminine
9 the months of gestation
10 the grasping digits of the hands
[These last two are the divided offspring of the lustful types, which do not agree on the desired result as the procreative types do.]

The ten Coins represent, then, the physical cycles bridging 10/today, the present, where we are, and 1/eternity, where the Platonic Forms are (actually, the One Form, Upright Sentience, to which lesser forms -- including present-day humans -- have yet to attain) with the present (where we are):
1 Stellar universe (eternal)
2 the great year (cycle of heavens revolving in a forward sense about the zodiac, which therefore undergoes precession relative to the heavens)
3 Saturn
4 Jupiter
5 Mars
6 the year or ecliptic
7 Venus
8 Mercury
9 the moon or month
10 the earth or equator (diurnal cycle)

It can be seen from this last that 9 is south and 10 north in Swords partly because the moon is two-thirds of the tidal pull that creates the equatorial bulge, to our south ('our' meaning man on average), while earth extends all the way north from said bulge. And 7 being east and 8 west may have something to do with reverence for Venus as morning star. And certainly 5 Mars is the discipline to stand erect (above), while 6 the year means the earth's harvest (below).

By the way, it is a mistake to limit the sun to 6: the sun is mainly 2, the great year, since this includes 6 and 10, being the relationship between 6 the ecliptic and 10 the equator. This way, the exaltation of planets in astrology places planets corresponding to male and female types in Cups opposite each other on the zodiac: 2 sun exalted in aries (i.e. at its apex, meaning towards aries-the-head), 3 Saturn in libra (straight down from aries, just as its metal, lead, is one's plumb); 4 Jupiter in cancer and 5 Mars in capricorn; 7 Venus (what the lustful male desires in a woman) in pisces, and 8 Mercury (what the lustful female desires in a man) in virgo.

It can thus be stipulated (carefully based on numerical considerations) that the four elementary layers in Coins or Money are:
1 fire, fiery layer
2-4 air, airy layer
5-9 water, fluid layer
10 earth's crust, solid layer
. . . and that the sun and moon are the airy and fluid layers' receptivity to fire, not themselves the sources of the fire, which is generated in the plasma 'power house' of the expansive heavens and brought into focus by the sun.

The suits, as explicated above, correspond to Kabbalah's four worlds:

Clubs are Atzilut
Swords are Beriyah
Cups are Yetzirah
Coins are Asiyah

Say 'Hi' to the Loop Model

The 4th Century Pythagorean Mystic Iamblichus, on the Monad (1) -

"Just as without the monad there is in general no composition of anything, so also without it there is no knowledge of anything whatsoever, since it is a pure light, most authoritative over everything in general, and it is sun-like and ruling, so that in each of these respects it resembles God, and especially because it has the power of making things cohere and combine, even when they are composed of many ingredients and are very different from one another, just as He made this universe harmonious and unified out of things which are likewise opposed."

Iamblichus on the Decad (10) -

"Hence the Pythagoreans in their theology called it (10) sometimes 'universe, sometimes 'heaven', sometimes 'all', sometimes 'fate' and 'eternity', 'power' and 'trust' and 'necessity', 'Atlas' and 'unwearying', and simply 'God' and 'Phanes' and 'the sun'."


The well known equating of the 10 with the 1 (1 + 0 = 1), defines the Decad (1 ~ 10) as a cycle, which we can represent as a circle. Both are often referred to by the Pythagoreans as 'God'. Iamblichus calls the 1, "the seed of all" and says it "encompasses everything within itself. On the 10, he says it "brings everything to fulfillment", and calls it a "receptacle", as all numbers return back to it.

As both 1 and 10 represent the divine, the cycle of 1 ~ 10 can also be seen as a process of leaving and returning to the divine. Traditionally this is represented as a decent and ascent. Iamblichus compares the 10 to the starting point of a race in which all the numbers "run their course by wheeling and turning around it"

Loop Model #2

The symbolism of the 4 shows it to be the end of the descent. In The Theology of Arithmetic it says, "Everything in the universe turns out to be completed in the natural progression up to the tetrad (4)."

Hence 1 ~ 4 come to represent the process of materiality's descent from the divine - how matter arises from emptiness. It is showing us how things, situations, develop. We might compare this process to evolution, in the broader sense of the word.



Iamblichus describes the sequence like this:

...it is seen as an eternal continuum or as a created composition -​

• 'the by which'
  
  
• 'the from which'
  
  
• 'the by means of which
  
  
• 'the with what end'
  
  
  that is,
  
  
  
• God
  
  
• Matter
  
  
• Form
  
  
• Result

Loop Model #3

The Pythagoreans say the 4 contains the 10 (1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10). Similarly the 7 is thought be like the 1, and is called Pallas Athena, the Virgin, neither generated nor generating within the decad. So from a certain perspective, 7 ~ 10 is merely 1 ~ 4, but on a higher octave.

From John Opsopaus' Pythagorean Tarot -





This analogy only goes so far though, as the dynamics of an ascent will naturally differ from a descent. This comparison is equally important -











You'll notice, just as the 1 and 10 occupy the same point on the circle, so do the 4 and 7. These four are all centered in the middle of their respective ends of the loop.

Iamblichus explains the relationship of these four numbers -

Melanchollic said:

• 'the by which'
  
  
• 'the from which'
  
  
• 'the by means of which
  
  
• 'the with what end'
  
  

Click to expand...

Now this is one of the most useful things ever for the pips. If you could just give me similar statements for the remaining 6 numbers, that would be practical in reading. I beg you Mel, the blonde, she begs you for these extra 6 active bullet points!!!!!

Thank you, Mel, for these recent posts. I always enjoy them!

I, too, would like to see those other bullet points, especially as the respective roles/activities of the 5 and 6 remain unrevealed in your diagram so far.

I also hope one day to know your nicknames for the pip cards.

We live in hope.

frelkins said:

Now this is one of the most useful things ever for the pips. If you could just give me similar statements for the remaining 6 numbers, that would be practical in reading. I beg you Mel, the blonde, she begs you for these extra 6 active bullet points!!!!!

Click to expand...

Yes, they are useful. But, alas, The Theology of Arithmetic never lists the six remaining numbers in direct reference to these.

But my intention in posting these 'theoretical' posts is to, using the old cliche, not give you a fish to eat, but teach you how to fish yourself. In other words, to go beyond simply a list of meanings, to a true understanding of the inherent symbolism in numbers and their symmetries - arithmetically, harmonically, and geometrically.

The 5 and 6 are called the marriage numbers. They are both produced by a 'wedding' of the first female number, 2, and the first male number, 3 (2 + 3 = 5) (2 x 3 = 6) . Both numbers are praised by the Pythagoreans as being 'means' in various capacities. So they also function as 'marriage' numbers as they bring together the other numbers, and form a 'bond' between the two phases of numbers.

The 5 and the 6 are also the two spherical or circular numbers in the decad. A circular number is one which reproduces itself in its last digit when raised to its powers.

The general geometric symbolism of the decad sees these numbers as a midpoint between the ascent and the descent stages of the decad. I view them as a sort of 'recharging' of energy between the two phases, a chance to pick up momentum before making the ascent. I represent this idea thus:




Imagine a roller coaster car starting at the 1 and rolling down to the 4, then flying into the smaller loop, up past the 5 and 6, and down to the 7 where it goes back on the big loop, rolling up to the 10. ~ 'Wheeeeee'

Melanchollic said:

...it is seen as an eternal continuum or as a created composition -​

• 'the by which'
  
  
• 'the from which'
  
  
• 'the by means of which
  
  
• 'the with what end'
  
  
  that is,
  
  
  
• God
  
  
• Matter
  
  
• Form
  
  
• Result

Click to expand...

You know, I get the diagrams (especially that last rollercoaster bit lol!), but I don't get the above. What does Matter have to do with the "from" which?

frelkins said:

Now this is one of the most useful things ever for the pips. If you could just give me similar statements for the remaining 6 numbers, that would be practical in reading. I beg you Mel, the blonde, she begs you for these extra 6 active bullet points!!!!!

Click to expand...

Perhaps I'm dense, but I don't see how this is useful, frelkins. Can you give an example of how this is useful for *this* blonde??