Rosanne said:
I was under the impression that The Hebrew Letter aleph meant among other things -power.
kwaw said:
As for alef 'means' one therefore corresponds to the card with the roman numeral 'I' on it fine, Aleph also means 'bull', as there is a bull on XXI do we therefore conclude alef = XXI 'Le Monde'.
Moonbow* said:
Why do we need to apply the Hebrew letters to tarot cards? Does it affect the way they are read, or is this for curiosity and to help close a few niggling puzzles in history?
While on one hand such correspondences can be a fascinating aspect of one's personal Tarot metaphysics, there are hints that an alphabet-trump connection may have historical relavance.
Moonbow* said:
I also remember reading this at the time and thinking... WOW! I'm sure you have all read Mark Filipas' Hebrew Alphabet:
http://www.spiritone.com/~filipas/Masquerade/Essays/alpha.html
kwaw said:
anyone with a biblical and rabbinical hebrew dictionary could do the same, according to their own preferences and with a totally different result [and without even making up words like TMPU, and still retain a chain].
With all the synonyms in kabbalistic literature not included in such dictionaries then the skies the limit [unfortunately, neither Mark or anyone else has been able to find the word TMPU in any hebrew dictionary or 'undictioned' use of the word in a kabbalistic text].
Mark says, and I am willing to believe him though he doesn't record his research, that his word list represents the 'best' of the alternatives that he has researched. He then goes on to say that such a 'best' is worthy of further investigation, despite the fact that the 'best' that he can find fits in with that which one would expect from 'coincindence'; which would lead on to think there is no correlation and Marks evidence, if true, disproves any correlation, and is unworthy of any further invesigation..
[As with any language there are many more words beginning with some letters than others. Mark's list reflects this, and is thus within what one may expect by chance, there is no statistical significance whatsover. If as Mark says this is the best fit, then we must conclude there is no 'lexiconical' correspondence between the Marseille and the Hebrew alphabet. Lists, as Mark says, can be made with any series, but having made alternative lists he says aleph-magician yields not only a 'majority' of words but a 'chain' within the series that others don't. Unfortunately when you look at his list his 'chain' depends upon an invented word [Tempu - and this is ignoring the 'stretches']; and statistically his opinion that 'most' equals 'statistically significant' is wrong. It would be far better for his argument if there were a limited number of words applicable to each card {say betqeen 4-6 each card} than 20+ for some and 1 or two for others, especially when this pattern matches the number of words per letter in the language and thus matches what you would expect by chance. If there were even four words for the letter that has the least number of words in the dictionary to match the corresponding card then this may indicate an element of design rather than chance - but according to Mark's 'best fit' there isn't].
The above critique is positing that the Hebrew lexicon -- which indeed presents a huge body of data to apply in correllation with the trumps -- is so large that virtually any correspondence can be made. Such a position can perhaps be attributed in part to the volume of lexicon-to-trump matches I've presented, some of those matches being more or less accurate 'hits' than others. Nonetheless, I chose to present a larger more inclusive body of matches because A) I considered that to abridge my findings would have been to apply too fine a personal screen onto the accuracy/innaccuracy of matches and therefore would have hampered those who wish to examine further for themselves, and B) there happen to be a large body of 'hits' when the two sets are aligned sequentially.
One problem with Kwaw's critique is the fact that focusing on the inherent difficulties in determing accuracy of the *entire* word list distracts from the lexical subsets within that list which form the actual legs of the case. One of those subsets is the alphabetic sequence of trump subjects (a topic best left for another thread); another subset is the Hebrew letter-name meanings. It bears repeating that many of the meanings usually attributed to the letter names are erroneous, and the facts need to be vigilantly stated if serious and objective research is to be invited. It should also be clarified that, from a historical context, our only relavant sources are those which represent that which was available at the time of the early Tarot, such as the Jastrow Dictionary which presents us with the following letter-meanings:
The name of the first letter aleph (ALP) is found in medieval lexicons as meaning 'to train oneself; to practice'. (ALP also means 'ox'.)
The name of the second letter bet (BYTh) was used to denote 'Temple' (Hullin Talmud; Midrash Shir hash-Shirim). (BYTh was also used as a euphamism for 'sexual intercourse' (Palestinean Talmud, IX, 12; Mikvaoth, VIII, 4; Niddah Talmud, 5), indicating a possible allusion to the medieval legend of Pope Joan. The most common translation of BYTh is 'house'.)
The name of the third letter gimel (GML, GYML) literally means 'pointed pole' and 'little yoke' (GYMVL), objects which could be said to correspond literally to the Empress' staff and to the object around her neck. (GML also means 'camel; camel driver; bridge; to wean; to ripen'.)
The name of the fourth letter daleth (DLTh) forms the root of the word DLThVThA, meaning 'conquered land' and 'possession' (Targanum, Proverbs XIX, 14, variant editions). (DLTh also means 'door'.)
The name of the fifth letter he (HA) forms the root of a word for 'faith' (HAMNH: Yalkut, Isaiah 296; Yalkut, Hosea 519; Tosefta, Baba Bathra Talmud, V, 8, variant editions). (It also translates to the exclamation 'Behold!' He (HA) does not mean 'window' as is usually claimed.)
The sixth letter vav (VV) literally means 'hook' (VV), which could be considered literally depicted as the arrowhead on Trump VI.
The name of the seventh letter zayin (ZYN) means 'armor' (ZYN) and 'implements of war' (ZYN), objects depicted literally on Trump VII.
The eighth letter chet (ChYTh) is the root of the medieval word ChYThVK meaning 'judgement, verdict', corresponding easily with the eighth figure of Justice. (Chet does not mean 'field' as is usually claimed.)
The name of the ninth letter tet (TYTh) has no literal meaning. (it does not mean 'staff' or 'snake' as is sometimes claimed.)
The name of the tenth letter yud (YD) literally means 'axle' and 'handle', objects depicted literally on Trump X. (It also means 'power, authority, possession', perhaps corresponding with the enthroned figure with crown and sword. Yud also means 'hand'.)
The name of the eleventh letter kaph (KP) literally means 'hand' and 'the power to subdue', meanings depicted literally in Trump XI. (It is also the root of the word KPP, meaning 'to force', 'to conquer'.)
The name of the twelfth letter lamed (LMD) means 'to be affixed to', which could be considered literally depicted in the image of a hanged man. (It also means 'to teach a lesson', one idea suggested by this allegory. It does not mean 'oxgoad' as is usually claimed.)
The name of the thirteenth letter mem (MM) begins the Hebrew word MMVThA, meaning 'death'.
The name of the fourteenth letter nun (NVN) literally means 'fish'.
The name of the fifteenth letter samech (SMK) means 'prop' or 'support', suggesting the object upon which the devil (STN) stands. It also means 'to join together', suggesting the figures bieng chained to the ring.
The name of the sixteenth letter ayin (OYN) literally means 'eye', as well as 'evil eye' (Baba M’tsi‘a Talmud, 30; 107b; N’darim Talmud, 50), suggesting destruction from an unseen source.
The name of the seventeenth letter peh (PH) literally means 'open vessels' (Tosefta T’rumoth V, II), objects depicted literally on the corresponding Trump. It also means 'mouth' and 'orifice' and was used as a euphemism for 'orifice of the womb' (Sanhedrin Talmud, 100a) suggesting a possible correlation to the vessel placed between the maiden’s legs and to the Fremch title of the card ' Le Tiolle'.
The name of the eighteenth letter tzaddi (TzDY) literally means 'to make desolate', a meaning which suggests the total Solar eclipse which was depicted on so many Marseilles versions of the card. (Tzaddi does not mean 'fish-hook' as is usually claimed.)
The name of the nineteenth letter qoph (QVP) is the root of the word for 'wall' (QVPYA), an object depicted literally on the card. Qoph also means 'turn of the year'.
The name of the twentieth letter resh (RYSh) means 'head', 'chief', 'beginning'. More significantly, a parallel spelling (RYS) means 'to lift up, to raise'.
The name of the twenty-first letter shin (ShN) literally means 'tooth' as well as 'claw', 'horn', and 'hoof', all suggestive of the creatures depicted on Trump XXI.
The name of the twenty-second letter tav (TYV) means 'mark; sign', and begins a medieval Hebrew word for 'wandering' (TYVBA).
What we have in this single lexical sequence is statistically significant: ignoring the more tenuous (yet still significant) correlations,
there are at least 15 literal matches between letter-name meaning and trump iconography (bet, gimel, he, vav, zayin, chet, yud, kaph, lamed, mem, samech, peh, tzaddi, qoph, shin)
when these are paired sequentially. In other words, from a historical standpoint, this single leg of the argument gives enough reason to investigate an early alphabet-trump connection further.
Thanks,
- Mark