kwaw
It has been suggested that it was the source of the idea, for example in this post by Kenji:
http://www.tarotforum.net/showpost.php?p=954482&postcount=24
(Maybe message Kenji for his source)
The Major Arcana of the Tarot & Astrology - Article
It has been suggested that it was the source of the idea, for example in this post by Kenji:
http://www.tarotforum.net/showpost.php?p=954482&postcount=24
(Maybe message Kenji for his source)
_R_
Yes, I think it is probably a reasonable assumption. But I also wonder whether this glyph is not, in fact, a stylised rendition of the engraver's initials, C.D., for instance, or something to that effect.
Barleywine
The most interesting thing for me, apart from the fact that he left a couple of the correspondences intact- Leo as Strength, Libra as Justice and Aquarius as the Star, is that he associates Virgo with the World and Saturn with the Hermit (which I connected to Capricorn since Saturn as Satan/Set fits better with the Devil., but close enough). The idea of the diurnal and nocturnal characteristics of the planets has great potential, but I don't warm up to all of the ramifications of bumping some of what I see as the more obvious astrological correspondences (Aries as the Emperor, Scorpio as Death, Sun as the Sun, etc.) I'm going to explore those in more depth and may find a use for the idea beyond direct assignment to the trumps - perhaps as derivative qualities. I do agree that trying to assign the Hebrew letters to the trumps in combination with the astrological factors doesn't seem to be of much practical value, although independent of the astrology I think they have some merit.
Barleywine
To continue in the same vein, I was never enamored of the association of Virgo with the Hermit. If Yod means "hand" and is also (I read somewhere) a euphemism for "penis," it seems badly miscast in its pairing with virginal Virgo. Lusty Capricorn, on the other hand, seems suitably "fructifying" and capable of meeting the expectation. I also see it as an expression of "seeking wisdom in high - that is, super-conscious - places" - Crowley's "goat leaping with lust upon the summits of the earth," imparting "selfhood and perpetuity." You never know what the Hermit is hiding under that robe! 
On the other hand, Virgo and its relation to the "harvest" seems to make perfect sense with the meanings of completion and success ascribed to the World. That frees up Saturn to relocate to the Devil.
On the other hand, Virgo and its relation to the "harvest" seems to make perfect sense with the meanings of completion and success ascribed to the World. That frees up Saturn to relocate to the Devil.
kwaw
If memory serves me right, it more exactly signifies the sign of the covenant inscribed upon the penis ( the circumcised penis )
_R_
Beyond the correspondences themselves, what I find interesting in this article is the mixed approach: on the one hand, we have an intuitive, visual, or mythographical way of drawing analogies between the cards and the deities/zodiacal symbols; and on the other, we find a system within this overall take, namely, the diurnal/nocturnal connection, which is less obvious, but still quite functional, I think. As Rougier points out, most other authors take the opposite course, trying to fit the symbols to the system.
Obviously the value of such a study, to my mind, is in pointing out the personal work of study and contemplation which must be accomplished, rather than accepting wholesale the theories of another, regardless of whether we accept his correspondences or not.
For my part, I could never really reconcile Saturn with XV The Devil, although I accept that this connection can be made under certain aspects. Instead, Rougier draws connections between Saturn and VIIII L'Hermite and XII Le Pendu, and this makes sense, to this reader at least.
Of course, there is a profound connection between Saturn and XIII too. We may return to this in due course.
Obviously the value of such a study, to my mind, is in pointing out the personal work of study and contemplation which must be accomplished, rather than accepting wholesale the theories of another, regardless of whether we accept his correspondences or not.
For my part, I could never really reconcile Saturn with XV The Devil, although I accept that this connection can be made under certain aspects. Instead, Rougier draws connections between Saturn and VIIII L'Hermite and XII Le Pendu, and this makes sense, to this reader at least.
Of course, there is a profound connection between Saturn and XIII too. We may return to this in due course.
Ruby Jewel
The Hermit as Saturn really resonates with me. The clues being the fact that Saturn does not grant freedom from the block of ice until we are old and wise. Saturn represents isolation, time, old age, discipline, and ultimate freedom with the wisdom to guide. I am compelled to see this card as Capricorn, myself.
Philippe
As always a most interesting contribution by _R_.
I didn't know Rougier, he sounds really honest and refreshing to me.
I've noticed 2 correspondences with Etteilla, 5 with Nicoullaud whom Picard endorsed and 8 with Basilide whom I'm not familiar with.
I've also noticed he is from Lyon.
I didn't know Rougier, he sounds really honest and refreshing to me.
I've noticed 2 correspondences with Etteilla, 5 with Nicoullaud whom Picard endorsed and 8 with Basilide whom I'm not familiar with.
I've also noticed he is from Lyon.
_R_
Hello Philippe,
Thank you for your kind words. I should have added that the article was first published in Le Voile d'Isis under the pseudonym Georges Du Valoux. Rougier seems to have been quite discrete in his esoteric activities.
Basilide's 2 works on Tarot are later, dating from the late 1928 and about 1940, if I am not mistaken - I don't have them with me right now. But they are quite 'fantaisiste', generally speaking. Picard, of course, is earlier. I haven't read Nicoullaud.
Rougier lists Wirth, Papus, de Guaïta, Lévi, Bourgeat, Vaillant and Fugairon, along with the inevitable Court de Gébelin as his sources on the occultist Tarot - all the big names. But curiously, no later author ever seems to have cited his work.
I too find his take on Tarot refreshing, both in terms of historiography as well as interpretation.
