The assignment of a Hebrew letter to each of the twenty-two Majors in Tarot has
been always controversial among historians and mystery school students. One basic
argument is that the numbers assigned to the letters and the numbers of the Keys
conflict with each other. I personally don’t see it this way, since I work with both
numerical designations (the one given to the card and the one assigned to the
Hebrew letter) with no problem. I believe that this ambivalence of meanings can
provide a rhythmic pattern of nonsensical, ambiguous and amorphous connections
that assist us in swimming the murky waters of the subconscious. Remember that
it's always good to build a psychic field of associations when we do transformational
work with any divination tool.
Each Hebrew letter is a personality, an archetype, just like every Arcanum is. Even
Robert Place, who has written an excellent history of Tarot (2000) as well as being
the author of the Alchemical Tarot, believes that the number - letter correspondence
is quite odd and a bit forced unto the cards. But, he feels similarly about mixing
astrology with Tarot. To each his own; I believe that one should give it a try and
really meditate on these added dimensions before drawing any conclusions. If it
works for you and if it adds another level of understanding to your reading
approach, then use it.
The connections with Hebrew letter symbology, with astrology, numerology and
Gematria serve to add different levels of interpretation that enrich any reading were
we to tap them. We should look at all of these systems as potentialities or
additional layers of information that somehow weave themselves into a reading or
healing ritual whenever appropriate. I don’t even know who makes the call; is it us
or Spirit? Does it really matter? If we are drawn to use any of these combinations
in transformational work might be because, somehow, it makes sense and the
information is being made available to us to help expand an idea, or add another
layer of understanding to a particular message, card or spread. We must remember
that we each access the Source from very different perspectives and that no method
takes precedence over another because it often boils down to what works with one's
personality, level of education, cultural, social or even ethnic background of querent
and reader.
There are several good books available that delve into the mystical dimension of the
Hebrew letters. Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh's The Hebrew Letters: Channels of
Creative Consciousness provides an excellent study that can be used quite effectively
with transformational work and, therefore, it works like magic with any deck that
incorporates the use of Cabala or Kabbalah or Qabalah and the Hebrew letters with
Tarot. The interpretations can become quite uncanny and synchronistic in a reading
when strong correspondences between the cards, the letters and the Paths on the
Tree are explored. I believe that, somehow, the various energies do communicate -
quite effectively- with each other. Ginsburgh notes that letters “build and enliven
reality much as the encoded ‘letters’ of DNA build and define the characteristics of
the living body. In particular, the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet are
reflected in the number of chromosomes in human seed.” Every Hebrew letter
represents a particular form, and is pregnant with other letters that give it a name.
In addition, each letter has a number that relates, through Gematria, to other
mysteries. Creation mirrors the metaphor of speech; numbers help unfold the act of
creation; meaning ‘rests’ (hovers) above individual letters and resides (lives) inside
words. But above all, each letter is a sacred vessel and the Hebrew name of every
single creature is a channel for the Lifeforce to reveal its own divinity. (See pp. 6-12.)
Alchemy plays a pivotal role in the way Cabala has been linked to Tarot since the
19th century. It is difficult to separate the three when using certain decks, like
Crowley’s Book of Thoth or the Golden Dawn Magical Tarot or Case’s B.O.T.A. As
every Major card is interpreted at several levels, from states of consciousness to
archetypal energies, as they are connected to the Hebrew letters, to sounds and
colors, there is a constant alchemical context that sustains the processes within the
magical Tree of Life, the alchemical container that helps us structure our
transformation.
The Hebrew letters can also serve as alchemical vessels of transformation. Physicist
Fred Alan Wolf’s fascinating book Mind into Matter (2000) links alchemy to the
Hebrew letters and quantum physics to show us how “the mysterious doctrine of
alchemy pertains to a hidden, subjective, abstract, and higher order of reality that
forms the basis of all truths and all spirituality (2-3).” What is interesting for our
study is that Wolf uses the Hebrew letters as mnemonic tools that help achieve
higher levels of consciousness through alchemical transmutation of the mind. This is
also how Christian Cabala incorporated the use of the Hebrew letters into the Major
Arcana in Tarot. Wolf’s alchemical connection between quantum physics and the
Hebrew letters demonstrates, once again, the adaptability of these concepts to any
method that cares to incorporate their potentiality and archetypal dimensions. Wolf
calls this approach a new alchemy and calls himself a new alchemist. His imaginal
world is accessible to us through the alchemical transformation of quantum
possibilities into actualities.
Paul Foster Case (1884 – 1954), founder of Builders of the Adytum (B.O.T.A.),
notes in his seminal book The Tarot (1947) that,
… the pictures do agree, without question, to the occult meanings of the letters to
which they are assigned. …The attribution of the major trumps to the Hebrew
alphabet is the crux in Tarot study and we should respect that. Eliphas Levi knew it,
but could not give it, because he received it from a secret order. …Dr. Waite, Manly
P. Hall, and some others have objected that this arrangement makes the numbers of
the Keys and the numbers of the letters conflict. The answer to this is that the
numbers printed on the Keys have one purpose, while those assigned to the letters
have another. (Case, 21-23)
been always controversial among historians and mystery school students. One basic
argument is that the numbers assigned to the letters and the numbers of the Keys
conflict with each other. I personally don’t see it this way, since I work with both
numerical designations (the one given to the card and the one assigned to the
Hebrew letter) with no problem. I believe that this ambivalence of meanings can
provide a rhythmic pattern of nonsensical, ambiguous and amorphous connections
that assist us in swimming the murky waters of the subconscious. Remember that
it's always good to build a psychic field of associations when we do transformational
work with any divination tool.
Each Hebrew letter is a personality, an archetype, just like every Arcanum is. Even
Robert Place, who has written an excellent history of Tarot (2000) as well as being
the author of the Alchemical Tarot, believes that the number - letter correspondence
is quite odd and a bit forced unto the cards. But, he feels similarly about mixing
astrology with Tarot. To each his own; I believe that one should give it a try and
really meditate on these added dimensions before drawing any conclusions. If it
works for you and if it adds another level of understanding to your reading
approach, then use it.
The connections with Hebrew letter symbology, with astrology, numerology and
Gematria serve to add different levels of interpretation that enrich any reading were
we to tap them. We should look at all of these systems as potentialities or
additional layers of information that somehow weave themselves into a reading or
healing ritual whenever appropriate. I don’t even know who makes the call; is it us
or Spirit? Does it really matter? If we are drawn to use any of these combinations
in transformational work might be because, somehow, it makes sense and the
information is being made available to us to help expand an idea, or add another
layer of understanding to a particular message, card or spread. We must remember
that we each access the Source from very different perspectives and that no method
takes precedence over another because it often boils down to what works with one's
personality, level of education, cultural, social or even ethnic background of querent
and reader.
There are several good books available that delve into the mystical dimension of the
Hebrew letters. Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh's The Hebrew Letters: Channels of
Creative Consciousness provides an excellent study that can be used quite effectively
with transformational work and, therefore, it works like magic with any deck that
incorporates the use of Cabala or Kabbalah or Qabalah and the Hebrew letters with
Tarot. The interpretations can become quite uncanny and synchronistic in a reading
when strong correspondences between the cards, the letters and the Paths on the
Tree are explored. I believe that, somehow, the various energies do communicate -
quite effectively- with each other. Ginsburgh notes that letters “build and enliven
reality much as the encoded ‘letters’ of DNA build and define the characteristics of
the living body. In particular, the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet are
reflected in the number of chromosomes in human seed.” Every Hebrew letter
represents a particular form, and is pregnant with other letters that give it a name.
In addition, each letter has a number that relates, through Gematria, to other
mysteries. Creation mirrors the metaphor of speech; numbers help unfold the act of
creation; meaning ‘rests’ (hovers) above individual letters and resides (lives) inside
words. But above all, each letter is a sacred vessel and the Hebrew name of every
single creature is a channel for the Lifeforce to reveal its own divinity. (See pp. 6-12.)
Alchemy plays a pivotal role in the way Cabala has been linked to Tarot since the
19th century. It is difficult to separate the three when using certain decks, like
Crowley’s Book of Thoth or the Golden Dawn Magical Tarot or Case’s B.O.T.A. As
every Major card is interpreted at several levels, from states of consciousness to
archetypal energies, as they are connected to the Hebrew letters, to sounds and
colors, there is a constant alchemical context that sustains the processes within the
magical Tree of Life, the alchemical container that helps us structure our
transformation.
The Hebrew letters can also serve as alchemical vessels of transformation. Physicist
Fred Alan Wolf’s fascinating book Mind into Matter (2000) links alchemy to the
Hebrew letters and quantum physics to show us how “the mysterious doctrine of
alchemy pertains to a hidden, subjective, abstract, and higher order of reality that
forms the basis of all truths and all spirituality (2-3).” What is interesting for our
study is that Wolf uses the Hebrew letters as mnemonic tools that help achieve
higher levels of consciousness through alchemical transmutation of the mind. This is
also how Christian Cabala incorporated the use of the Hebrew letters into the Major
Arcana in Tarot. Wolf’s alchemical connection between quantum physics and the
Hebrew letters demonstrates, once again, the adaptability of these concepts to any
method that cares to incorporate their potentiality and archetypal dimensions. Wolf
calls this approach a new alchemy and calls himself a new alchemist. His imaginal
world is accessible to us through the alchemical transformation of quantum
possibilities into actualities.
Paul Foster Case (1884 – 1954), founder of Builders of the Adytum (B.O.T.A.),
notes in his seminal book The Tarot (1947) that,
… the pictures do agree, without question, to the occult meanings of the letters to
which they are assigned. …The attribution of the major trumps to the Hebrew
alphabet is the crux in Tarot study and we should respect that. Eliphas Levi knew it,
but could not give it, because he received it from a secret order. …Dr. Waite, Manly
P. Hall, and some others have objected that this arrangement makes the numbers of
the Keys and the numbers of the letters conflict. The answer to this is that the
numbers printed on the Keys have one purpose, while those assigned to the letters
have another. (Case, 21-23)
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