Aleph, Mem and Shin:

Jupiter Caelus

Based upon the Formula of Tetragrammaton, I have a query that has arised from contemplating The Fool. Are the elemental attributions given to The Fool, Hanged Man and Aeon -- and by extension, The Universe -- cognate with the Formula of the Tetragrammaton?

Air is attributed to The Fool: Air is the Son. Yet there are some seemingly confusing contradictions which I hope will be absolved in the discussion of this thread.

Crowley writes:

"Be neither man nor woman, but both in one".
"In the King's palace his daughter awaits thee".
"Be silent, babe in the egg of blue, that thou mayest grow to bear the lance and graal!"

From Hermaphroditic blending of innocence, to the natural path the Son must take in completing the formula, to the notion that The Fool is either a fetus or eternally ageless yet eternally fertile as the Holy Ghost, there's an erroneous placement, when focused from this angle, on the Fool's placement on the Tree of Life based on the flow of the Tetragrammaton.
 

Zephyros

If I understand the question, do mean that the Fool should be Fire, fitting the elemental attributions of the Tetragrammaton? I don't think it is erroneous, because the Mother letters and the Tetragrammaton are two slightly different formulas depicting different processes. One cannot completely sever one from the other of, course, but they don't necessarily follow the same "story."

The Fool is special in many respects, not least of which its "air" isn't the same air as the Swords or even Tiphareth. In its placement at the top, the Fool represents a kind of Nothing that "is," the first motion of the infinitely contracted point of Keter. This is in contrast to the negative veils, that deal with a Nothing that is "not." So the Fool represents a kind of vacuum, a clean slate.

There is in fact a connection to the Swords type of air, but it is subtle, and has much more akin to the pure thought of the Ace of Swords.
 

ravenest

If I understand the question, do mean that the Fool should be Fire, fitting the elemental attributions of the Tetragrammaton? I don't think it is erroneous, because the Mother letters and the Tetragrammaton are two slightly different formulas depicting different processes. One cannot completely sever one from the other of, course, but they don't necessarily follow the same "story."

The Fool is special in many respects, not least of which its "air" isn't the same air as the Swords or even Tiphareth. In its placement at the top, the Fool represents a kind of Nothing that "is," the first motion of the infinitely contracted point of Keter. This is in contrast to the negative veils, that deal with a Nothing that is "not." So the Fool represents a kind of vacuum, a clean slate. There is in fact a connection to the Swords type of air, but it is subtle, and has much more akin to the pure thought of the Ace of Swords.

yes, the 'two types of air' , as it were :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneuma ( The Fool , as one of the three 'elemental Gunas' where 'air' is the mediator between the obvious opposites of fire and water - hence Fool can be seen as a ' Daoist bridge' between old and new aeons. )

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_(classical_element) ( As in the suit of swords )
 

Jupiter Caelus

That distinction just wasn't clicking. But reading back on my question, I'm not sure I understand it; this stuff breaks up your mind. I'd disregard it though, this more or less forced me to really get submerged in my studies.

The connection with the Ace of Swords, I have noted, shares a relation also with Adjustment. I'm sure this would have been noted here, but one thing I've never read is that in the yellow background of The Fool, the tiny white dots are actually tiny Thetas (Θ). This of course relates to ΘΕΛHMA, written on the Ace of Swords, and the same sword that is held by Adjustment.
 

Owl Tarot

As both clos and ravenest said above, and if I myself can actually understand the question, it really is a matter of distinction. A way I make this clear to myself, is to think that the qualities of Air as an element of Tetragrammaton are depicted in the suit of Swords. When we are talking about The Fool, however, I think we are referring to the Breath of Life.

Genesis 2:7 said:
Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

The Fool connects Kether to Chokmah, the Prime Mover, God the Father or Hadit or Amoun to the Archetypical Father, the Creative potential itself. It is that very first motion of Kether, who spawns forth from the Veils of Nothing, and that very first motion of Kether as depicted in The Fool gives birth to Chokmah. Kether is depicted as a Point, whereas Chokmah is depicted as a straight line. This may aid one to understand what the Air of The Fool is all about for him/her. You may call him the Life-Giving aspect of God, so it should be pretty obvious why every symbol around him is suggesting fertility and the Path of Aleph is the very first one, the beginning of "The Flaming Sword".
 

ravenest

That distinction just wasn't clicking. But reading back on my question, I'm not sure I understand it; this stuff breaks up your mind. I'd disregard it though, this more or less forced me to really get submerged in my studies.

Still, I think Fool : HM : Aeon : Universe can equate to Y : H : V : H . The view changes when we add a 4th principle (sorry if that is confusing, there is an article I have that expplains it better if you are interested ).

The connection with the Ace of Swords, I have noted, shares a relation also with Adjustment. I'm sure this would have been noted here, but one thing I've never read is that in the yellow background of The Fool, the tiny white dots are actually tiny Thetas (Θ). This of course relates to ΘΕΛHMA, written on the Ace of Swords, and the same sword that is held by Adjustment.

The suit of swords represents air, but the Ace, in 'quintessence', seems closer to pneuma . Remember the primal essence in Platonism is a form of 'mind', even though it equates to 'spirit'. Adjustment is the mediator between the fire and water of Art , so it has an aspect of alchemical 'mercury' (hence air and sword) and the blending in Art is certainly an art of 'adjustment'.

But the whole thing seems stuffed up anyway ( or maybe it is just 'artistic license ' ) as the dagger relates to air and not the sword at all - swords relate to Mars ( and fire ) .... another reason for the air / fire, sword / wand mix up in some systems.
 

foolMoon

The suit of swords represents air, but the Ace, in 'quintessence', seems closer to pneuma . Remember the primal essence in Platonism is a form of 'mind', even though it equates to 'spirit'. Adjustment is the mediator between the fire and water of Art , so it has an aspect of alchemical 'mercury' (hence air and sword) and the blending in Art is certainly an art of 'adjustment'.

But the whole thing seems stuffed up anyway ( or maybe it is just 'artistic license ' ) as the dagger relates to air and not the sword at all - swords relate to Mars ( and fire ) .... another reason for the air / fire, sword / wand mix up in some systems.


Does Platonian mind really equates to spirit? Did he not say that the material world is illusion and false, and true world is the world of idea? So rather than spirit, mind is the epistemological implications, i.e. the conceived world, highest form of true world?
 

Zephyros

I think that's where the concept of Will comes in. It isn't quite air, it isn't quite spirit, but is rather the driving force of all. In that sense the air of the Fool would refer to a kind of "spotless mind," the abstract idea of Presence. Even Force hasn't been "invented" yet, that comes at Chochma. The Fool also exemplifies the idea that you do not necessarily "do" your Will, you are your Will.
 

Parzival

ALEPH, Mem, and Shin

Still, I think Fool : HM : Aeon : Universe can equate to Y : H : V : H . The view changes when we add a 4th principle (sorry if that is confusing, there is an article I have that explains it better if you are interested ).

This essentially makes sense to me and really deepens the thrust of the Thoth Tarot. What does this do to the meditative dimension of this deck?
 

ravenest

I think that's where the concept of Will comes in. It isn't quite air, it isn't quite spirit, but is rather the driving force of all. In that sense the air of the Fool would refer to a kind of "spotless mind," the abstract idea of Presence. Even Force hasn't been "invented" yet, that comes at Chochma. The Fool also exemplifies the idea that you do not necessarily "do" your Will, you are your Will.

Yes! Kabbalistically; 'presence' : Platonically ; 'prescience' *