The Correct Attributes of the Major Arcana
July 17, 2018
G.D.O'Bradovich III
An Overview of Modern Efforts to Understand the Trumps
Early researchers, upon noticing that the number of the Trumps is identical to the number of letters of the Hebrew alphabet, have attempted various schemes to correlate each card to a specific letter.
The difficulty of assigning twelve simple letters, seven double letters, and three mother letters [totaling 22] to the twelve signs of the zodiac, seven planets, and four elements [totaling 23] is the first difficulty of implementing the idea of the correspondence between the Trumps and the Hebrew letters. The second difficulty is that the Hebrew letters have a numerical value, so that only the numbers from one to ten and number twenty will be equivalent to the numbered cards. The Fool, traditionally the unnumbered card, cannot equal any letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This fact is an indication that the Trumps may not correspond to the Hebrew letters.
In “The Pictorial Key to the Tarot”, A.E. Waite provides no reason for exchanging the eighth Trump and the eleventh Trump, i.e., Strength and Justice:
The difficulty of assigning twelve simple letters, seven double letters, and three mother letters [totaling 22] to the twelve signs of the zodiac, seven planets, and four elements [totaling 23] is the first difficulty of implementing the idea of the correspondence between the Trumps and the Hebrew letters. The second difficulty is that the Hebrew letters have a numerical value, so that only the numbers from one to ten and number twenty will be equivalent to the numbered cards. The Fool, traditionally the unnumbered card, cannot equal any letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This fact is an indication that the Trumps may not correspond to the Hebrew letters.
In “The Pictorial Key to the Tarot”, A.E. Waite provides no reason for exchanging the eighth Trump and the eleventh Trump, i.e., Strength and Justice:
For reasons which satisfy myself, this card [Strength] has been interchanged with that of justice, which is usually numbered eight. As the variation carries nothing with it which will signify to the reader, there is no cause for explanation.”
The exchange of Justice, Libra, for Strength. Leo, results in the signs being assigned to their correct astronomical order, where the Emperor, as Aries, begins the series.
The Thoth Tarot deck incorporates Waite’s changes and, additionally, it exchanges the Emperor for the Star. Therefore, the Star, an unmistakable representation of Aquarius, is inexplicably assigned to Aries, the ram.
Waite thinks “that more may be gained by individual reflection on each of the Trumps” and we agree. He continues:
The Thoth Tarot deck incorporates Waite’s changes and, additionally, it exchanges the Emperor for the Star. Therefore, the Star, an unmistakable representation of Aquarius, is inexplicably assigned to Aries, the ram.
Waite thinks “that more may be gained by individual reflection on each of the Trumps” and we agree. He continues:
I have also not adopted the prevailing attribution of the cards to the Hebrew alphabet... because nearly every attribution is wrong.
We will be more forthcoming: if the researcher attempts to apply the Hebrew alphabet, then all the attributes will always be incorrect.
Finally, I have not attempted to rectify the position of the cards in their relation to one another; the Zero therefore appears after No. 20...
Of course, Waite has rectified the positions of Strength and Justice and this action indicates that he does not believe that the traditional numbering of the Trumps is sacrosanct. The odd result is that the unnumbered card is placed between numbers twenty and twenty one; it seems that the natural, or mathematical, location of the Fool should precede number one.
Our Initial Research into the Trumps
We were fortunate to have acquired “The Key of It All: The Western Mysteries” by David Allen Hulse. It is our pleasure to recommend this book, generally, and to direct the Gentle Reader to the section on the Tarot, specially, for an erudite analysis of the Waite Tarot.
As we were not familiar with the Kabbalah, we proceeded along more conventional lines of inquiry. By not being bound to the one to one correspondence between the Trumps and the Hebrew letters, the possibility that Strength was not only Leo, but also Virgo, presented itself. This speculation is supported by the infinity sign found above the woman and above the Magician. If the Magician is Mercury, then Waite has indicated the ruling planet of Virgo, Mercury, by the infinity sign.
By assigning Virgo to Strength, the Hermit can be assigned to the element of earth, the missing element, as the Fool is assigned to air; the Hanged Man, water; and Judgment to fire.
Two concentric circles of evlene cards can be formed. One circle is the Zodiac and the other circle is the planets and elements. The Fool, air, is with Justice, Libra; the Hanged Man, water, is with Death, Scorpio; Jugement, fire, is with Temperance, Sagittarius; and the Hermit, earth, is with the Devil; Capricorn.
Although this solution works, it is not satisfactory, as the Fool, the Hanged Man, Judgment, and the Hermit are numbered zero, twelve, twenty, and nine, respectively. Therefore, we conclude the Hermit is not the element earth.
By assigning the World to the element earth, which seems reasonable, then the Hermit is assigned to the planet Saturn.
As we were not familiar with the Kabbalah, we proceeded along more conventional lines of inquiry. By not being bound to the one to one correspondence between the Trumps and the Hebrew letters, the possibility that Strength was not only Leo, but also Virgo, presented itself. This speculation is supported by the infinity sign found above the woman and above the Magician. If the Magician is Mercury, then Waite has indicated the ruling planet of Virgo, Mercury, by the infinity sign.
By assigning Virgo to Strength, the Hermit can be assigned to the element of earth, the missing element, as the Fool is assigned to air; the Hanged Man, water; and Judgment to fire.
Two concentric circles of evlene cards can be formed. One circle is the Zodiac and the other circle is the planets and elements. The Fool, air, is with Justice, Libra; the Hanged Man, water, is with Death, Scorpio; Jugement, fire, is with Temperance, Sagittarius; and the Hermit, earth, is with the Devil; Capricorn.
Although this solution works, it is not satisfactory, as the Fool, the Hanged Man, Judgment, and the Hermit are numbered zero, twelve, twenty, and nine, respectively. Therefore, we conclude the Hermit is not the element earth.
By assigning the World to the element earth, which seems reasonable, then the Hermit is assigned to the planet Saturn.
Justice 11
Death 13 Temperance 14 Devil 15 |
Libra
Scorpio Sagittarius Capricorn |
Fool 0
Hanged Man 12 Judgment 20 World 21 |
Air
Water Fire Earth |
Our corrected order for the planets and their respective signs:
Emperor 4
Hierophant 5 Lovers 6 Chariot 7 Strength 8 Star 17 Moon 18 |
Aries
Taurus Gemini Cancer Leo, Virgo Aquarius Pisces |
Tower 16
Empress 3 Magician 1 High Priestess 2 Sun 19 Hermit 9 Wheel of Fortune 10 |
Mars
Venus Mercury Moon Sun Saturn Jupiter |
As Mercury rules over two signs, Gemini and Virgo, and the Sun only one, Leo, we have assigned the Sun to Strength.
As we are no longer confined by the Hebrew alphabet and their attributes, the planets can be renumbered:
As we are no longer confined by the Hebrew alphabet and their attributes, the planets can be renumbered:
Star 17
Moon 18 Emperor 4 Hierophant 5 Lovers 6 Chariot 7 Strength 8 Leo, Virgo |
Aquarius
Pisces Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer Leo, Virgo |
Hermit 1
Wheel of Fortune 2 Tower 3 Empress 9 Magician 10 High Priestess 16 Sun 19 |
Saturn
Jupiter Mars Venus Mercury Moon Sun |
Interestingly, the Sun remains number nineteen, suggesting that our renumbering of the planets is correct.
As we are no longer limited by the Hebrew alphabet and their attributes, the signs can be renumbered to conform to the renumbered planetary order:
As we are no longer limited by the Hebrew alphabet and their attributes, the signs can be renumbered to conform to the renumbered planetary order:
Emperor 4
Hierophant 5 Lovers 6 Chariot 7 Strength 8 Justice 11 Death 13 Temperance 14 The Devil 15 Star 17 Moon 18 |
Aries
Taurus Gemini Cancer Leo, Virgo Libra Scorpio Sagittarius Capricorn Aquarius Pisces |
Tower 3
Empress 9 Magician 10 High Priestess 16 Sun 19 Fool 0 Hanged Man 12 Judgment 20 World 21 Hermit 1 Wheel of Fortune 2 |
Mars
Venus Mercury Moon Sun Air Water Fire Earth Saturn Jupiter |
Therefore, all signs, planets, and elements are accounted for and each group, the Zodiac, the planets, and the elements, has their own sequence.
For our arduous task, we are rewarded with the realization that “all the attributes are wrong”, as any correspondence to between the Trumps and astrology is of a secondary and contrived nature. We are uncertain if any correspondence exists. This exercise is simply another veil over the Tarot to mislead the persistent researcher. In plain English: we were on a wild good chase.
For our arduous task, we are rewarded with the realization that “all the attributes are wrong”, as any correspondence to between the Trumps and astrology is of a secondary and contrived nature. We are uncertain if any correspondence exists. This exercise is simply another veil over the Tarot to mislead the persistent researcher. In plain English: we were on a wild good chase.
Library Angels as Indispensable Resources for Successful Research
Circa 2004, we were flipping through Faulkner’s Concise Dictionary when, on page 217, we read “arrow” and beneath it, “perish”. We immediately recalled that in the Tower card the end of the lighting bolt in the Waite version is stylized as a arrow. A few entries later, “tower” was listed and we suspected that the correct understanding of the Trumps was through the Egyptian glyphs.
As there are twenty five Egyptian phonemes and only twenty two Trumps, either three Egyptian glyphs are omitted, which correspond to the missing “Father Letters” of the Hebrew alphabet, or three cards must correspond to two Egyptian glyphs. From our realization that Strength 8 is both Leo and Virgo, we presumed that no Egyptian phonemes are omitted.
The woman is holding the lion’s mouth and there are two pertinent glyphs, the lion and the mouth:
Therefore, Strength 8 represents these phonemes, “l” and “r”.
We concluded that Waite had access to an early hieroglyphic dictionary when he created the details to his Tarot deck, particularly the Minor Arcana or Pip cards.
We will not weary the Gentle Researcher on the trial and error method of allocating the Egyptian glyphs to the cards. However, the missing information was the correct correspondence between traditional transcription of the hieroglyphs and the International Phonetic Association. We believed that the placement of the glyphs on the IPA chart would provide additional evidence for our various ideas regarding the Tarot deck. For example, any bilateral or trilateral glyphs that are used to describe the Trumps are to placed in the Pip cards, i.e. the flag on the Sun would be depicted as on a Pip card,
We concluded that Waite had access to an early hieroglyphic dictionary when he created the details to his Tarot deck, particularly the Minor Arcana or Pip cards.
We will not weary the Gentle Researcher on the trial and error method of allocating the Egyptian glyphs to the cards. However, the missing information was the correct correspondence between traditional transcription of the hieroglyphs and the International Phonetic Association. We believed that the placement of the glyphs on the IPA chart would provide additional evidence for our various ideas regarding the Tarot deck. For example, any bilateral or trilateral glyphs that are used to describe the Trumps are to placed in the Pip cards, i.e. the flag on the Sun would be depicted as on a Pip card,
Interestingly. both the mouth and lion are voiced alveolar sounds.
The twenty five phonemes as:
The twenty five phonemes as:
Gardiner Glyph Translation McD IPA Description Sound
Code
Code
Q3 p mat p voiceless bilabial stop pep
D58 b leg b voiced bilabial stop bib
X1 t loaf of bread t voiceless alveolar stop stop
D46 d hand d voiced alveolar stop dad
I10 ḏ cobra D palatalized [dʸ]; can be pronounced [ǰ] or spirantized [d] judge
V31 k basket k voiceless velar stop kick, cake
W11 g jar stand g voiced velar stop gag
V13 ṯ cattle hobble T palatalized [tʸ]; can be pronounced [č] Egyptian
N29 ḳ q hill q voiceless uvular stop; same as [q] Arabic Qatar
G1 ʔ vulture A glottal stop; also written ’ or ʾ medial sound in uh-oh
G17 m owl m voiced bilabial nasal mom
N35 n water n voiced alveolar nasal none
D21 r mouth r voiced alveolar trill Spanish perro
I9 f horned viper f voiceless labiodental fricative fife, laugh
S29 s bolt of cloth s voiceless alveolar fricative sit, hiss, rice, cent
O34 z door bolt z voiced alveolar fricative fizz, his, rose
N37 š pool S voiceless postalveolar fricative; IPA [ʃ] same as [š] ship
F32 ẖ animal body X voiceless fricative; probably palatal [ç]
Aa1 ḫ χ placenta x voiceless uvular fricative; same as [χ]
V28 ḥ twisted flax H voiceless pharyngeal fricative; IPA [ħ] Arabic hummus
D36 ʕ arm a voiced pharyngeal fricative; also written ‘ or ʿ Arabic ‘ayn
Q4 h house scheme h voiceless glottal fricative hit
G43 w qual chick w voiced labial-velar glide witch
M17 y reed i voiced palatal glide; IPA [j] yes
E23 l lion l voiced alveolar lateral liquid lip
Temperance d T “Control temper”, dAr, pg 309 “Man, male”, TAy, pg. 303. “Soul of foot”, Tbw, pg. 304. The angel is barefoot, with one foot on the shore and one foot in the water. “Head”, tp, pg. 296; “Dawn”, tp dwAyt, pg 298. “Illumine”, tkA, pg. 302. “Commander”, Tzw, pg. 308; “Trot” of horses and sphinxes?, TiTi, pg. 304; “Male, man”, TAy, pg. 303. |
We have utilized Faulkner's dictionary as it has fewer, and hopefully more significant, entries than Budge’s extensive dictionary. Our detractors may note that we cherry picked the entries, and we agree. Our intention was to provide not overwhelming evidence, but a guide to the Gentle Researcher.
The Significance of the Placement of the Glyphs on the IPA Table
Of the hundreds of commonly utilized hieroglyphs, only twenty five could be chosen, presumably at random, to represent the specific phonemes. The presumption of randomness is not certain. If the glyphs are random, then no pattern to their position on the IPA table would emerge. However, as Apprentice RJ noted, “Mats are for sitting.”
The implication of this passing observation is that the bilabial plosives are intentionally paired.
The implication of this passing observation is that the bilabial plosives are intentionally paired.
Mats are for sitting. Both Mat and leg are Bilabial Plosives
Bread taken by hand and placed in mouth. All are alveolar.
The basket is placed upon the stand. Both are velar plosives.
Water is found in a pool. These two sounds share no characteristics on the IPA chart.
Cloth is made from flax. Both sounds are voiceless fricatives.
The doorbolt is operated by the arm. Both are voiced fricatives.
The door bolt secures the house. Both are fricatives.
The animal skin and placenta [?] are both products of animals. Both are voiceless fricatives.
The cattle hobble and animal skin are animal related. Both are voiceless palatals.
Cobras are found in reeds. Both are voiced palatals.
Hill and sieve [?] both involve dirt. Both are voiceless uvulars.
The vulture eats the viper. Both are voiceless.
The cobra sits on a hill. Both are plosives.
The owl eats the quail chick. Both are voiced.
Mats are for sitting. Both Mat and leg are Bilabial Plosives
Bread taken by hand and placed in mouth. All are alveolar.
The basket is placed upon the stand. Both are velar plosives.
Water is found in a pool. These two sounds share no characteristics on the IPA chart.
Cloth is made from flax. Both sounds are voiceless fricatives.
The doorbolt is operated by the arm. Both are voiced fricatives.
The door bolt secures the house. Both are fricatives.
The animal skin and placenta [?] are both products of animals. Both are voiceless fricatives.
The cattle hobble and animal skin are animal related. Both are voiceless palatals.
Cobras are found in reeds. Both are voiced palatals.
Hill and sieve [?] both involve dirt. Both are voiceless uvulars.
The vulture eats the viper. Both are voiceless.
The cobra sits on a hill. Both are plosives.
The owl eats the quail chick. Both are voiced.
By moving left to right and top to bottom, the is the eleventh card:
Hanged Man
Empress
Temperance
Chariot
Judgement
Hermit
Emperor
Lovers
Justice
Sun
Strength
Empress
Temperance
Chariot
Judgement
Hermit
Emperor
Lovers
Justice
Sun
Strength
By moving top to bottom and left to right, the mouth glyph is the eight card:
By moving top to bottom and left to right, the mouth glyph is the eight card:
Hanged man
Empress
Justice
Magician
Fool
Temperance
Sun
Strength
Empress
Justice
Magician
Fool
Temperance
Sun
Strength
Discussion
The above overview is meant as a general guide to the Gentle Researcher. Whereas some of the allocation of the Egyptian glyphs may be incorrect, we are certain that the Empress is Babylon from the Book of Revelation, the Hanged Man is the baker from Genesis, the Lovers depict the events of the Garden of Eden, and Temperance is the angel from the tenth chapter of Revelation, among others. We caution the reader that not all depections are found in the western Bible. The tradition that Nimrod shot arrows from the tower of Babel into heaven is extra biblical.
We suggest that the Pip cards 2 through 10 are 216 bilateral and trilateral glyphs [(the sum of the numbers 2 through 10) multiplied by 4 suites is 216]. The contrived confusion surrounding the Court cards is resolved by the eight primeval Gods and Goddesses, the four sons of Horus, and the four protecting Goddesses of the canopic jars. The Ogdoad represents four qualities, although not the four elements of western Astrology.
We suggest that the Pip cards 2 through 10 are 216 bilateral and trilateral glyphs [(the sum of the numbers 2 through 10) multiplied by 4 suites is 216]. The contrived confusion surrounding the Court cards is resolved by the eight primeval Gods and Goddesses, the four sons of Horus, and the four protecting Goddesses of the canopic jars. The Ogdoad represents four qualities, although not the four elements of western Astrology.