Tear drops? Water? Yod?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 01 Feb 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

TemperanceAngel	01 Feb 2004
I am not sure if I am in the right Forum, so please feel free to move this if that is the case :) It was only yesterday that I really thought about this, The Moon card in RWS has 'drips' falling from it, what are they? When I looked at an earlier version of the Sun in the History Forum, the same 'drips' appeared and I have read a few references to them being symbolic of Yod. (I mainly read this in 78 Degrees of Wisdom - Racheal Pollack) I think that someone talked about it in the History Forum, sorry can't remember who.... Well it intrigued me, firstly because I have looked at the Moon in RWS for 15 years and not really thought about those 'drips'. Secondly, if earlier versions have the Sun depicted this way, why was it changed to the Moon in RWS? I notice that three Aces in RWS have them too and last night I dreamt that Strength had them as well. Do any other decks feature them? Yod is the first letter of God in Hebrew, yes? It initiates and is associated with the Fire element? Maybe Waite thought it was our unconscious not conscious that intiates? Please excuse my ignorance I don't really know much about the Hebrew alphabet :|.... The only reference I find in Waites Pictorial Key to the Tarot re: The Moon is ' the dew of thought falls.' Any thoughts graciously welcome :) XTAX

Thirteen	02 Feb 2004
Yod is indeed the first letter in God's "name" (Yaweh) or YHVH. It is: "...the smallest letter in the Hebrew aleph bet and the only one that is suspended in midair. It is comprised of a small vertical line extending downward from a crown. The forms of all the letters begin with and contain the form of the yud...." The Magician's Dictionary further notes: "...it is the number of the creative fire. Out of this primeval iota, all further letters evolve, thus it parallels that out of which the entire plenum derives....Its value is ten, but its tarot number is 9, The Hermit, which reminds us that, after all, there is only one being and that being can only be oneself, alone in the universe, surrounded by the mirrors of the illusion of many....Each yod is itself the divine spark that originates each separate thing in the world." As for the presence of Yods in The Moon Card, here's what Wang has to say about it in THE QABALISTIC TAROT: "...the path of The Moon is an organizing (formative) one. It is described...as the "Corporeal Intelligence," which Case tells us means "body consciousness." I'm not sure what this means, but I think it relates back to that idea of being self aware. All else might be illuision, but we know we are not. Further, it relates to awareness of our own animal needs and instincts. Awareness of what our body wants--responsiveness to those wants. Mind, that's just my guess on what it means. Wang notes also that the root of the word "corporeal" in Hebrew means "to rain upon"....Yods are shown "raining" down upon the Path. Or, as Pausanius described, these might be the tears of the Moon-Goddess which caused the Nile to rise and fall. There is, in any event, a general agreement that something descends from the Moon to the Earth on this Path as is symboized by the falling Yods." He goes on to say, "In Waite's card there are fifteen yods, a possible reference to the bondage of matter symbolized by the fifteenth key, The Devil. The Golden Dawn card shows four yods, one for the powers of each of the Four Worlds, while Crowley uses nine as a referece to Yesod." What is Yesod? According to the Magician's Dictionary: "Yesod is RAW: 'The first astral plane.' This is the 9th power chakra of the Tree of Life and the link between the Moon and the sublunary worlds. It is called the "Foundation." ...Yesod is....the most secret depth of the personality." Crowley also identifies those drops as menstral blood. Thus the Yods represent a "Raw" or first power. In relationship to the Hebrew divine, they are rays of light, divine sparks, primal light, first light--the light that brings out creatures from the deepest darkest waters to crawl on the land. In the sense that they fall, like tears, they relate to life, again, in that primal sense of childbirth, of menstral blood. This is nature at its most base and pure and scary, uncontrolled by "intellectual, moral or ethical considerations." It is a lone life struggling to survive with no consideration for anything but itself.

jmd	02 Feb 2004
In a thread in the Kabalah/Magic Forum (in the subscribers' area) is a thread on letters which I started in June 2002. There isn't much information nor discussion, but it may be a useful resource for at least a list of the letters (in Greek and in Hebrew) and their numerical (cardinal) value. Yod, as mentioned by Thirteen, has a numerical value of ten. It is also the tenth letter in the Hebrew alphabet, and is at times described as a 'seed' (in both its sexual metaphorical sense and as a basic form from which other letters may be formed). Those of the Golden Dawn, and hence in the RWCS (and even more clearly on the BOTA) place it on the Hermit. In the Continental tradition(s), it is associated with the tenth card of the Major Arcana, the Wheel of Fortune. As also mentioned, it begins what may be regarded as the most important form of the name of God - often just simply referred to as the tetragrammaton ('tetra' means 'four' in Greek, so the word simply means 'four-lettered'). As one of the twelve 'single' letters (as opposed to the two other classes of letters in Hebrew, which are the three 'Mothers' and seven 'Doubles'), it is also allocated one of the twelve signs of the zodiac. Most early Moon and Sun cards have droplets, either directed towards or away from, the depicted astronomical body. It is interesting in the context, as Mark Filipas notes in his Alphabetic Masquerade, that Tzaddhi (the letter often associated with the Moon card) and Kof (the one often associated with the Sun card) each begin Hebrew words referring to droplet(s). Of course, these are droplets, not Yods. In more modern Hebrew, 'Yod' (depending on vowel points, of course) refers to Iodine - a trace element which impacts on both the thyroid gland and one's bodily energy levels. Re-linking again the Yod to seminal fluid (as it is at times made by more classical Kabalists), a relation to bodily energy can be analogically made. Personally, in terms of the cards, I tend to prefer to see them as droplets - as dew (ros in Latin - and here a whole new avenue of analogic thinking opens out). With Kabalistic associations, the Yod are more, to me, as droplets of rain upon parched soil, permitting life to arise from the womb of the Earth.

Thirteen	02 Feb 2004
Quote: Originally posted by jmd As one of the twelve 'single' letters (as opposed to the two other classes of letters in Hebrew, which are the three 'Mothers' and seven 'Doubles'), it is also allocated one of the twelve signs of the zodiac. Interesting. Which one? I also found it interesting that the GD assigned to it the #9 rather than #10, even though it's clearly 10. Is this because they relate #9 to the Foundation and/or because they count the Fool, which actually makes the Hermit the 10th card even if its number is 9?

skytwig	02 Feb 2004
hmmmm.... Divine sparks....... Manna?

TemperanceAngel	02 Feb 2004
As I was going to sleep last night I was thinking about the 'drips' or 'droplets' and pondered on them being thoughts (for want of a better word) seeping from the subconscious. To me it appeared that this would be the way 'thoughts' came from our subconscious: slowly, delicately and separated. Once out of the subconscious, perhaps they would then form into a pool of water or waterfall, or body of water into our consciousness, thus forming an emotion(s). Water - Moon - Emotions With the Aces, they could form together to become a beginning or idea or thought, a manifestation or intention. It's nice sometimes to go with the flow of a thought or seed and see what it grows into :) XTAX Edited to add the Moon becomes the Hermit when added together, but is also The Magician and Strength. The Sun is The Magician and Hermit and becomes The Wheel of Fortune and The Magician, that's quite a powerful combo going on there!

Thirteen	02 Feb 2004
Quote: Originally posted by TemperanceAngel To me it appeared that this would be the way 'thoughts' came from our subconscious: slowly, delicately and separated. A very valid way of looking at it. Tears are certainly one of the most visible symbols of raw emotion, of whatever is welling up out of our subconscious to spill down our face. And I can certainly see subconsious ideas/thoughts spilling down like rain or tears or moonbeams. Subtle, sometimes unexpected, pattering down until, as you point out, they form pools of ideas, emotions, dreams. And out of those rise desires? It's also interesting to note that the Moon isn't about deep water--this is the water that either falls from the sky, or water shallow enough for something like a crayfish or lobster to travel along the bottom, to poke out its head. This makes sense in that the moon reflects on the water--it can't be seen down deep (re: the Hermit--the moon is like his lantern, revealing things that only come out at night). Further, it is the top part of the water that is most affected by the moon in tides and waves. In short, feelings, emotions, thoughts and desires that tend to break the surface or come rushing into shore. Which raises a question: which card is emblematic of the deepest, darkest, depths of the ocean or Earth for that matter? Those parts of us that never quite come to light, that not even the lantern of the moon illuminates? Yet they still stir and live, there in the eternal dark of deep sea canyons and underground caves.

TemperanceAngel	02 Feb 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Thirteen Which raises a question: which card is emblematic of the deepest, darkest, depths of the ocean or Earth for that matter? Those parts of us that never quite come to light, that not even the lantern of the moon illuminates? Yet they still stir and live, there in the eternal dark of deep sea canyons and underground caves. Great question, Thirteen :) And one I almost don't think has an answer, in the sense that cards do have answers... Maybe there isn't a card, but an essence of a card, or perhaps a symbol on a card... I will need another day to ponder your wonderful, thought provoking question.... XTAX

TemperanceAngel	02 Feb 2004
Thirteen, maybe it's the Court Cards: OURSELVES XTAX

jmd	02 Feb 2004
To reply to Thirteen's earlier question, Yod is attributed to Virgo (Cf. chapter VI of the Saadia version of the Sefer Yetzirah as an example). The Golden Dawn used the three mother-letter elemental and single-letter zodiac attributions common in various versions of the Sefer Yetzirah - it is only with the seven double letters in which they departed from the various attributions made by different versions of the Sefer Yetzirah. Hence the astrological associations many make, by the way. The GD places the Fool as first card, places all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet sequentially, notices that astrological attributions to the images would make more sense if VIII & XI are flipped, so does so, and mixes and changes the planetary letter attributions as there was neither consistency in textual tradition, nor obvious image correlation. Hence also why they (and those which follow GD attributions) place Virgo with the Hermit: they allocate it the tenth position (though numbered nine), which is given the tenth letter of the Hebrew (Yod), which is itself allocated Virgo. Simple step by step thinking, though totally confusing if the steps are hidden. Whether the changes are warranted (placing the Fool as first card & swapping VIII and XI) are of course other questions. This is veering towards other discussions, probably better addressed in other threads. Returning to the drops, I tend to think that there is already so much to reflect on by the mere depiction that their 'yod-like-ness' is more peripheral. For example, and to add to what has already been posted, the sense of whether the drops either rise or fall makes for quite different reflections...

TemperanceAngel	03 Feb 2004
Quote: Originally posted by jmd For example, and to add to what has already been posted, the sense of whether the drops either rise or fall makes for quite different reflections... Maybe they do both... XTAX

kwaw	05 Mar 2004
The 'yods' also look very much like the portrayal of dew drops to be found in alchemical iconagraphy, often also portrayed with solar and/or lunar imagery. There is also of course much QBLH symbolism attached to 'dew'. Kwaw

Moongold	08 Mar 2004
Usually it is said that from the moon comes the dew, but the moon is also the aqua mirifica that extracts the souls from the bodies or gives the bodies life and soul.....As the water of ablution, the dew falls from heaven, purifies the body, and makes it ready to receive the soul; in other words, it brings about the albedo , the white state of innocence (Jung, CW 14, 155). Tracey Porter in Tarot Handbook calls these yods droplets of light. Sandra Thompson in Pictures from the Heart - A Tarot Dictionary quotes Waite as defining the droplets as the "dew of thought". In the RWS Moon there are fifteen droplets and in the Fournier Marseilles Moon there are 19. I can't really see any meaning therefore in the numbers of droplets though I wondered about this initially Interestingly, Thompson points out that YODS appear throughout the RWS deck. In the Tower there are 22, representing the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, the 22 paths of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, and the 22 Major Arcana of the Tarot. Yods also in the RWS Aces of Cups as dew, Swords as flames and wands as falling leaves. We could almost have a separate thread on these alone - Yods, I mean.

kwaw	08 Mar 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Moongold [b] [in the fournier marseilles moon there are 19. i can't really see any meaning therefore in the numbers of droplets though i wondered about this initially [/b] Well in the English Hermetic tradition the moon is attributed to the 19th letter Qoph, and according to The Mystical Significance of the Hebrew Letters by Rabbi Ginsburgh: So perhaps in the 19 yods we may see a reference to the hebrew letter Kuf; or the next card the 'Sun', and the 19 year luni-solar cycle. This cycle, which goes back to the Babylonians [and was also discovered early on by the chinese] remains important in Christianity in determining the dates upon which Easter falls. However, in the Camoin Marseille [based upon the conver] there are 20 'yods', and in the 18th century Burdel woodcuts [on which the 'tarot classic' is based] there are 18, the same as the number of the card, its Sun has 9. So if the number was originally symbolically significant, which of these is authentic? 18 by aik bkr is also 9 [1+8=9], and the 9th sefirah yesod is the place of conjunction of Sun and Moon, of Heaven and Earth, the mystical marriage in which the mystical 'dew', the Green Lion from which the volatile salt essential to alchemical transformation, is produced. Kwaw

starsongs	08 Mar 2004
Quote: Originally posted by jmd To reply to Thirteen's earlier question, Yod is attributed to Virgo (Cf. chapter VI of the Saadia version of the Sefer Yetzirah as an example). This is interesting...hmmmmm... And the Moon is the Soul-Centered ruler of Virgo according to esoteric astrologers. starsongs..

The Tear drops? Water? Yod? thread was originally posted on 01 Feb 2004 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.