21st Atu – The Universe – Thoth Tarot

This card symbolises the 32nd path on the Tree of Life, the path associated with the Hebrew letter Tau. This is the path that connects Yesod to Malkuth. It is associated with Saturn. This article is an attempt to analyse the pictures and symbols that appear on The Universe card of the Thoth Tarot Deck.

I believe that the card that Aleister Crowley describes in his “Book of Thoth“, is not this card. He refers to 72 circles forming an ellipse and a Tree of Life in the centre, which do not seem to appear in the card’s design. I think he might be referring to a card which is used in Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn initiations.

Here is a modern approximation from the Golden Dawn tarot:

Yesod

Find more details about Yesod here.

Yesod, which means the Foundation, is the Sephirah that is modernly associated with the moon.

Yesod is often referred to as the astral double of the earth / Malkuth. For me, there’s a slight difference between the Etheric Plane which often acts like a double of the earth, which I would associate with Malkuth, and the Astral plane which I would associate with Yesod. This view is UPG and comes from practising the magic taught by Franz Bardon in his Initiation into Hermetics rather than a good source work of Thelema or Qabalah.

Dion Fortune in her Mystical Qabalah refers to the three higher sephiroth of the middle pillar as the holy trinity, Kether being Father, Tiphereth being the Son and Yesod being the Holy Spirit. In his section on the Fool card in The Book of Thoth, Crowley refers to the Holy Spirit (which we see here associated with Yesod) as the phallus (of YHVH) in its most sublimated form. In his Book of Lies Crowley refers to the Tau path as the Phallus manifested. So this card resembles the manifestation of the power which Crowley called phallic: power which is creative (producing seed), self-sacrificing (the little death after climax) and resurrecting (depending upon the virility of the man involved). I wonder if the triangles I have drawn below indicate this phallus, but maybe. In the section about this card in the Book of Thoth Crowley talks about this path appearing as an emanation from yesod and representative of the reproductive process.

Malkuth

Malkuth symbolises our physical reality, working together as an ordered system, a well-ruled kingdom which is at peace with its king. Let’s think differently from our perspectives on monarchs on earth, this so-called “king” is simply the natural force that keeps the Universe we live in from Chaos so we can live here, its the sort of king that we owe our lives too, rather than a king which has seized our land and forced us to pay taxes. Malkuth is also the virgin earth and the bride in the chemical marriage.

The Hidden Tree of Life

Aleister Crowley says in the centre a wheel of light initiates the form of the Tree of Life, but it is only seen by the pure of heart. It is certainly very difficult to make it out. I wonder if this image I have attempted to make below is it or perhaps simply the snake, which The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn used to symbolise the climb up the Tree of Life. However as I have commented before, it is possible Crowley was looking at a different painting to the one below.

The Woman and Serpent

Here the woman symbolises the the final ‘Heh’ of YHVH. She is therefore the bride of the chemical marriage. When united with her prince, she is to be lifted up from her throne in Malkuth to her thrown in Binah to become the primal Heh of YHVH. Supposedly, this depicts her lifted up to the higher throne perhaps because she stands upon the snake. Therefore, this card shows the Great Work completed when the initiate is returned to the start.

With a woman and a snake, we obviously cannot miss the reference to Eve and the serpent that lifted her upon the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Now the serpent represents climbing another tree and she stands upon him.

According to Aleister Crowley in his Book of Thoth, the serpent is Heru-Ra-Ha which is the Thelemic twin deity which is the two children of Nuit and Hadit. The children are called Hoor-Par-Kraat and Ra-Hoor-Khuit separately and Heru-Ra-Ha as one.

The serpent is said to cross the woman at the point where Swaddisthana is visualized. This is sometimes said to regulate sexual functions and sometimes is seen as the true seat of kundalini.

Limbs of Woman

It is possible that the limbs of the woman are used to form the word LVX which is light in Latin. Her arms form the L, her waist against the body of the snake forms a V and her legs, which form a shape similar to that of the hanged man, spell X and thus the formula LVX is spelt out by her body. She forms the same pose as the children in the Sun Trump card, Atu 19.

The legs of the woman form a cross which is the meaning of Tau, the Hebrew letter associated with the card.

The Eye

Note there are two eyes. The eye at the top ejaculates creative energy into the coils of the serpent and the entire scene is contained within an eye as well. The smaller eye at the top seems similar to the eye which radiates beams upon the tower card and is sometimes called the eye of horus. The shape of the other eye reminds most ceremonial magicians of a lamen worn to protect his heart while he summons various entities.

The eye symbolises the source of divine power in Kether. It is being manifested into physical existence. You might remember that the devil card represents material focus. The devil card is associated with the Hebrew letter ayin which means eye. Note that the space in which the world resides is an eye as well as the eye that is manifesting light into it.

According to Snuffin’s Thoth Companion, the Iris of the larger eye is the earth. Snuffin says the design on the earth is a traditional scarf, however I think it is a form of Mobius strip, but either way the meaning is not perfectly clear. Later I realised he means the cloth that keeps the women’s integrity in the HOGD card. This is not necessary in the Thelemic version as she has fully accepted the power of her body and feels no shame or need to hide it when she does not want to.

The Hook She holds

Some people have suggested that this is the sickle which is associated with Saturn the planetary association of the card.

However, I believe that Daniel Gunther tells us in his Initiation in the Aeon of the Child that a Fish Hook is a major symbol of the initiation that crosses this Tau path. It has been a while since I read this so it might be later.

4 Kerubic Beasts

In the four corners of the card appear 4 kerubic beasts each one representing an element. The eagle is water, the bull is earth, the lion is fire and man is air. We are reminded that the meaning of tau, the Hebrew letter associated with this card, is “cross”. A cross by its nature has 4 sides. Eliphas Levi mentions these creatures and associates the man with Aquarius and then says it is the sign that controls the water elementals. However, Aquarius is an air sign despite meaning the “water-bearer”. He says the eagle represents air and the eagle is believed to be one of 3 symbols associated with the water sign Scorpio. So sometimes these Kerubic beasts are reversed and sometimes not.

Note that the arrangement of the beasts is the same as in the Hierophant, however in the Hierophant the lack of eyes shows these mysteries appear to be nothing but masks. Here, on the other hand, they are fully realised creatures. Snuffin believes that the Kerubic beasts in this card are expelling air through their mouths and their nostrils. However, I believe that the choice of blue colour makes it look like water rather than air so it is not necessarily the element of air and the fact the Kerubic beings resemble the four elements, it does not make sense to me that it should be air. They are potentially the powers of the sphynx fully realised and separated. Eliphas Levi refers to the signs to control the elements as Taurus, Aquarius, Leo and the Eagle (which is associated with Scorpio) and these same beasts compose the Sphinx.

Snuffin points out that each creature relates to a tarot card by some hidden number. The Eagle has 13 scapular feathers which is the number of the Death Trump card which is Scorpio and the man has the number 17 indicated in the design of his inner ears which is the number of the Star which is associated with Aquarius. When Crowley has come across these before he has changed the Kerubic beasts around so that the eagle is air and man is water. This swap makes sense to me in the symbols and matches with the work of Eliphas Levi, but the Golden Dawn ritual where the candidate is brought upon the tau path, the Kerubic beasts remain the previous way around. The Bull has 5 curls on his forehead, indicating the Hierophant which is associated with Taurus (the bull) and the Lion has 11 curls in his mane indicating Lust, a trump which often features a lion (not in the Thoth deck) and is associated with Leo (the Lion).

The Golden Dawn Theoricus ritual mentions that the Kerubic beasts appear on the veil of the tabernacle and as with nearly everything that comes in sets of 4 the Golden Dawn in the same ritual attributes them to the Tetragrammaton or 4-lettered name of the deity.

The “th” of “Eth”

The fool is associated with Aleph and this card with Tau. Together they spell “Eth” which is “essence”. Therefore these cards are considered the Alpha and Omega of essence (the beginning and end of all).

The Quinaries and Shemhamephorash

The strange net-like thing or fence which surrounds the woman in the centre is divided into 72 radial strips each of which is divided into 3 squares. I think this is meant to be a fence around the universe. Crowley mentions an ellipse of 72 circles which does not seem to appear in the card so he might be describing a different card. The number 72 indicates the number of quinaries or 5-degree segments of the zodiac.

Also worth noting is the 72-word name of god which is derived from Exodus 14 verses 19, 20 and 21. Each of these 3 verses has 72 letters and it is believed a certain arrangement will give you 72 3-letter names, which Gikatilla claims can be used to approach the 10 angels who are heads of the 10 spheres. This gives us 72 sets of 3 letters which fits the 75 5-degree segments of the fence each with 3 squares.

This fence guards a starry sky so is it possible that this card hints at a secret that the Shemhamphorash guards us from truly experiencing Nuit the goddess of the starry sky?

The House of Matter

At the bottom of the card in the centre is the skeletal frame of the building of the House of Matter. This might have represented the number of elements known at the time. Naturally, we know a lot more elements now.

Snuffin noticed something that I totally missed. Behind the elements are some pyramids, that are very subtle. Obviously, the Pyramids are associated with Egypt which is the origin of Hermetics. Hermetics carried the tradition of Alchemy to its emergence in chemistry which gives us the chemicals that cover and hide the mysterious pyramids. Perhaps in the same way chemistry hides the mysteries that were known so long ago.

The Serpent Coils – Dark and Light

Between the women’s hands are two coils of the serpent. One is filled with light the other is darkness. Within the astral light is duality. The astral light is not transcendence. It can be used for good or evil, creation or destruction, and all manner of duality because it does not transcend them.

Divinatory Meaning

When seeing this card in a reading it symbolises the time when a project is ending. As the woman dominates the serpent so can the Will manifest its desires. The 4 Kerubs indicate the power to direct and choose one’s own fate.

Inverted the opposite is true. The 4 elements indicate the material having power over the will. Something which perhaps should have ended is not doing so.