Major Arcana and the Thelemic Holy Season

[LRichard]

Since there is no standard transliteration of Hebrew into English, the 22nd letter of the Hebrew alphabet is sometimes written Tau, sometimes Tav. I've even seen Tof.

[Always Wondering]

These are the kind of things that thow me off, but on the other hand keep me double checking. I can see picking one and sticking with it. But it gets a little sticky for me when the same person interchanges them.
Wait to you see how I fall apart on the days with Crowley's tarot switches.

Thanks.
AW

[Aeon418]

Originally Posted by Always Wondering

I start with a new attempt this year to make friends with Saturn. I might as well, I am stuck with him.

You and me both. I've got 4 planets in Capricorn - ruled by Saturn. And if that wasn't bad enough I have Saturn and Mars in 180* direct opposition. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Originally Posted by Always Wondering

Discipline seems like an excellent attribute as I begin this commitment.

Are you following the Holy Book reading list? You may have noticed one line from Liber VII, chp.2.

15. I was pernicious drunk, O my God! Yet Pertinax brought me to the bridal.

Pertinax was a short lived Roman Emperor famed for being a disciplinarian. It didn't do him many favours though. His own body guards got sick of it and killed him after 3 months. But the message is a good one. We're all "pernicious drunk" in one form or another. Yet Pertinax/Discipline will bring us to the bridal, if only we stick to it.

One thing you might have missed is that Tav does double duty for Saturn and Earth. It's really heavy.

[LRichard]

Originally Posted by Always Wondering

These are the kind of things that thow me off, but on the other hand keep me double checking.....

When I was taking Hebrew, we pronounced it Tav. I think Tau is nice because the equivalent Greek letter T is also named Tau. I vote for Tau.

[Aeon418]

Originally Posted by Always Wondering

Wait to you see how I fall apart on the days with Crowley's tarot switches.

Last year the site had the Emperor and the Star in the wrong order. That's what seemed to throw Grigori and the rest off. It's been corrected since then. Now all the days, and their corresponding Tarot cards, follow the Hebrew alphabet sequence.

[brightcrazystar]

Originally Posted by LRichard

Since there is no standard transliteration of Hebrew into English, the 22nd letter of the Hebrew alphabet is sometimes written Tau, sometimes Tav. I've even seen Tof.

It's not just standard transliteration issues, there is also the main dialectical families of Hebrew; Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Galacian, Modern, and Yiddish. Ashkenazi is alot different than Modern Hebrew, and Tau is pronounced /s/ instead of /t/ unless there is a diacritic in the center. Sephardi Hebrew is pronounces it /th/ instead of /t/ after following a vowel. Galacian (the most Orthodox) have more complicated rules for its relationship to different vowels. So even if you spell it phonetically, in IPA, you still see variants.

Taw
Tau
Tav
Tov
Tof
Tuv
Tuw
Tua
Tev
Saw

Are all valid transliterations in a case by case basis.

[Aeon418]

It's a good job Probie is not here to see this. He would have hit the roof.

[Always Wondering]

Originally Posted by Aeon418

You and me both. I've got 4 planets in Capricorn - ruled by Saturn. And if that wasn't bad enough I have Saturn and Mars in 180* direct opposition. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

I can't even imagine. I do have some Saturn and Mars opposition myself, but to a lesser degree, if I read my chart correctly.

Originally Posted by Aeon418

Are you following the Holy Book reading list? You may have noticed one line from Liber VII, chp.2.
Pertinax was a short lived Roman Emperor famed for being a disciplinarian. It didn't do him many favours though. His own body guards got sick of it and killed him after 3 months. But the message is a good one. We're all "pernicious drunk" in one form or another. Yet Pertinax/Discipline will bring us to the bridal, if only we stick to it.

Yesterday I kept it simple, but today I will add the readings. I didn't know this about Pertinax, some of this stuff goes right over my head. But I can kind of relate to his guards.

Originally Posted by Aeon418

One thing you might have missed is that Tav does double duty for Saturn and Earth. It's really heavy.

This is helpful. Last night I was wondering why I was seeing so many of these qualities in the earth. Yesterday trees were a big theme. The wind toppled one of our Almond trees. Talk about ridgid extension and the hard facts of nature.

Originally Posted by LRichard

Since there is no standard transliteration of Hebrew into English, the 22nd letter of the Hebrew alphabet is sometimes written Tau, sometimes Tav. I've even seen Tof.

I am afraid it is a bit typical of me to want everyone else to choose one way and then dither myself. I find Tau's relation to the Greek letter T helpful though.

Originally Posted by brightcrazystar

Taw
Tau
Tav
Tov
Tof
Tuv
Tuw
Tua
Tev
Saw

Are all valid transliterations in a case by case basis.

And I was having trouble with two.

Originally Posted by Aeon418

Last year the site had the Emperor and the Star in the wrong order. That's what seemed to throw Grigori and the rest off. It's been corrected since then. Now all the days, and their corresponding Tarot cards, follow the Hebrew alphabet sequence.

Thanks for the tip. I might not have noticed. That could have been a double looped hell.

AW

[Aeon418]

Today was the letter Shin: The Aeon - Fire/Spirit. The suggested reading was Liber LXV, chapter 4. Verse 2 has stayed with me today. I think the imagery is gorgeous.

2. Even as on the resounding wind-swept heights of Mitylene some god-like woman casts aside the lyre, and with her locks aflame as an aureole, plunges into the wet heart of the creation, so I, O Lord my God!

The Angel is represented as the Priestess of Atu II, casting aside her lyre. Like a flame of Spirit she plunges head first down the path of Gimel into matter. Just like the letter Shin descends into the four elements, transforming IHVH into IHShVH.

The letters I and O near the end suggests the same theme using a sexual metaphor. This blends nicely with the Aeon card, where we see the union of Nuit and Hadit creating the child, Horus

[Always Wondering]

2. Even as on the resounding wind-swept heights of Mitylene some god-like woman casts aside the lyre, and with her locks aflame as an aureole, plunges into the wet heart of the creation, so I, O Lord my God!

I didn't catch this as the High Priestess even with it being verse two as a hint. Although I am finding the commentaries helpful, when I read them.

I was relating the flowey Shin on The Aeon with verse 43. “Yea, though the flower wave bright in the sunshine, the root is deep in the darkness of earth.”

But thanks to the commentaries I find myself strangely fascinated with that which lies within the gut of a cow.
I found it rather striking that this holy fire encompasses everything from knowledge and conversation, will, sexuality, thunder, blood, the fire of wine, and even gardens. Closely woven forces of a bezoar stone indeed.

I am struck again how perfectly this card represents The Book of the Law and in turn the laws of the universe. It seems the symbol of symbols to me.


Here's what I don't get. Tooth. I can see a bit of the molar in the symbol of Shin but that is about it.
AW