Aces as roots of the 4 elements

ravenest said:

I think that somewhere in the Book of Thoth Crowley states that the aces are the most difficult to give a divinatory explanation of. This is perhaps because divination is the least important function of the deck and in the cases of the aces ( ) this shows through.

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If you are talking about the major arcana, you might convince me, but the minors are meant clearly for divination, and they constitute half the deck.

Thank you all for your contribution, which shines light on the Aces an sich, and has given me food for thought regarding the practical issue.

Pure, free, alive are some associations I have with Kether (and the fool), and that I like to transfer to the Aces. Another consideration is that the sun is the material expression of Kether. In particular for the Ace of Cups this gives me a possible clue about its meaning. This leads me propose the following correspondences:


wands.............. fire............... victory.................life force
cups................ water............ pleasure...............creative play
swords............. air................ science.................pure intelligence
disks................ earth............ succes..................fertility

All four Aces are a precondition for the sixes.


Feel free to comment and add some things.

yogiman said:

If you are talking about the major arcana, you might convince me, but the minors are meant clearly for divination, and they constitute half the deck.

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How? Why are the minors "clearly" for divination? The Tree of Life, for which the Thoth is a Thelemic working model, would be incomplete without both parts.

closrapexa said:

How? Why are the minors "clearly" for divination? The Tree of Life, for which the Thoth is a Thelemic working model, would be incomplete without both parts.

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They don't offer any special insight to the tree of life.

yogiman said:

They don't offer any special insight to the tree of life.

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?????
They are Sephiroth, equal to if not more important than the paths!

To me the sephiroth are projected on the minors, with astrology in the mix.

yogiman said:

To me the sephiroth are projected on the minors, with astrology in the mix.

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This is only partially true. The astrology is there to illustrate the differences between the Sephiroth in each world. Geburah in Atziluth is attributed to Saturn in Leo. In this case, the cold, hard form of Saturn is greatly at odds with the expansive fire of Leo. Since the material of our suit comes from Chochma, we see how Geburah limits the never-ending fiery expansion, and causing Strife. This is done by an active, dynamlc card (which, incidentally, tells the story of the fall of the Golden Dawn, looked at in the proper manner), perhaps "classic" Geburah's influence on Chochma.

On the other hand, Geburah is Assiah is still the limiting force upon Chochma, but quite differently. In the world of Earth, Mercury has not the strength to animate slow, plodding Taurus, and so the material wholeness of Power (Four of Discs) is slow to change and move. This whole world is something of a stick in the mud, and so we have the grinding, ill-fitted cogs breaking apart by force of Geburah, in Worry.

The interconnection with the paths is seen as the energy of one influencing the other. Lust in Atziluth and Lust in Assiah are similar, and they move the same way, but they move different things. Nothing, not even the astrology, is merely tacked on for the sake of it.

yogiman said:

Thank you all for your contribution, which shines light on the Aces an sich, and has given me food for thought regarding the practical issue.

Pure, free, alive are some associations I have with Kether (and the fool), and that I like to transfer to the Aces. Another consideration is that the sun is the material expression of Kether. In particular for the Ace of Cups this gives me a possible clue about its meaning. This leads me propose the following correspondences:


wands.............. fire............... victory.................life force
cups................ water............ pleasure...............creative play
swords............. air................ science.................pure intelligence
disks................ earth............ succes..................fertility



All four Aces are a precondition for the sixes.


Feel free to comment and add some things.

Click to expand...

disks................ earth............ succes..................fertility
cups................ water............ pleasure...............creative play
swords............. air................ science.................pure intelligence
wands.............. fire............... victory.................life force


wands.............. fire............... victory.................life force
swords............. air................ science.................pure intelligence
cups................ water............ pleasure...............creative play
disks................ earth............ succes..................fertility

If we put your suits in order from either lightest to heaviest, or vice versa, it's easy to see the connection between the suits.

The 6 is the sum of the Divine Triangle 3 + 2 + 1 = 6 and may be considered "a one" for this reason.

If you add a bottom row of four (the Aces? ), and we get:

We get 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 10

The "ten" may be considered "a one" also.

Look for another Thread with more math.

Here is the citation for the numerology system: I have the book somewhere, I believe, if I didn't sell it. I will look for it later.


A Study of Numbers: A Guide to the Constant Creation of the Universe.

Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions International,
1986. Print.​

Iamblichus, and Robin Waterfield. The Theology of Arithmetic:

On the Mystical, Mathematical and Cosmological
Symbolism of the First Ten Numbers. Grand Rapids, MI:
Phanes, 1988. Print.​

closrapexa said:

How? Why are the minors "clearly" for divination? The Tree of Life, for which the Thoth is a Thelemic working model, would be incomplete without both parts.

Click to expand...

This was going OT for me, so now there's a thread about it (in Talking Tarot, since it became very general):

Mathematic Possibilities of Tarot

closrapexa said:

The astrology is there to illustrate the differences between the Sephiroth in each world.

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My apologizes for antagonizing, but I like to be really convinced. As a test I check the 5 of cups, geburah in briah, and Crowley writes: "but as Venus here rules Aquarius, weakness rather than excess of strength seems the cause of disaster. The intellect has been feebled by sentiment. The defeat is due to pacifism." I pick the first meaning I get from the internet:"Women with Venus in Aquarius tend to love new technologies, new ideas, new music and art."

Seems to me that the astrology tries to fit the meaning of the card.