In the Name of God

Mouni Sadhu tells us that the great central idea of the whole construction of the Tarot is the Tetragrammaton. Further if we know the meaning of the fixed ideas of the letter-symbols, we can operate as a Mathematician,and employ algebraic formulas to operate the Tarot as a philosophical machine.  In this scheme, the Tarot is neutral; neither good nor evil.  While the Tetragrammaton represents the Name of God, Jehovah and his will, in the Tarot system, this name represents the “Law”, a Universal Principle which manifests itself in every sphere of life. The sister to the Tarot is the Kabbalah, which views the Hebrew alphabet, figures, and numbers as three veils for three worlds.  The Great Law, the Tetrad is the same for all three worlds.

Creation is manifestation in time and space. The four letters of the Tetrad and the Tetragrammaton have as a first element, Yod, as an active power, or Initiator. The second, He’ is passive and serves as a fulcrum for the active.  The third is Vau which is neutral, and the result of One acting on Two.  The first three are as “thesis-antithesis, synthesis.” And the fourth is the second He’. which is active, being the Yod of the next triangle.  Thus the Tarot with 22 cards, each representing a letter from the Hebrew alphabet, can be drawn as a schematic of seven triangles incorporating seven Tetragrammatons.  The highest Initiator moves down each triangle to the lowest realm, the physical.

Observe the schematic of the Tarot on right with 7 interlocking triangles

I examined this layout which is shown as Figure 1 in the Introduction, on page 17 of Mouni Sadhu’s Tarot. (The illustration shown refers to this diagram, but I took this diagram from another source).  Now, I am no occultist, but a follower of Jesus Christ.  So the first thought which came to my mind, is that the Tarot scheme represents an Oath made in the Name of Jehovah God.  Why an oath?  Well the Hebrew word representing the swearing of an oath is based on the Hebrew word for Seven.  Here we see seven triangles each representing Jehovah, the Tetragrammaton.  To swear means “to Seven Oneself”.

The strange thing in Mouni Sadhu’s commentary on this scheme is that Jehovah is the Creator; yet there is a very subtle reference to the Tetrad’s four elements representing Creation, either making both concepts equal or turning things upside down. In Romans 1:22-25, it says, “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four footed beasts, and creeping things.”

How can the Tarot be neutral, and the Tetrad be a Universal Principle or Law, if in fact the Tetragrammaton is God the Creator and Lawgiver? Later Mouni Sadhu admits that the Tetragrammaton is the Name of God in the Bible, and also the Will of God.  The Bible reveals God as a Person, not an impersonal force.  Both Exodus 20:7 and Deuteronomy 5:11 says, “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”  Further, Leviticus 19:12 declares, “And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.  Underlying LORD is the Hebrew word for Jehovah, or the Tetragrammaton.

The Swearing or” Sevening” of Oneself in the Name of the Tetragrammaton is not neutral, for the Tarot is constructed to produce magical powers by blaspheming the Name of Jehovah.  What is this but the Will of Lucifer, who said in Isaiah 14:13-14, “For thou hast said in thy heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God:  I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” The Magician is as God, the Creator, speaking the world into existence.

Jeremiah 7:8-11 sternly warns, “Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.  Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?  In this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes?  Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.”

The Keystone

We begin with Mouni Sadhu’s Introduction to The Tarot: A Contemporary Course of the Quintessence of Hermetic Occultism.  On page 11, he states, “In traditional Western occultism, the Tarot is recognized as the keystone of the whole philosophical system called Hermetism.”

In Architecture, we understand that the keystone is the wedge-shaped stone in the highest point of an arch that locks the other stones in place.  Many occult societies such as the Freemasons employ the symbol of a keystone. An arch allows access to an area, which otherwise would be walled off.

Many writers on the subject of the Tarot have surmised that its symbolism originated in Egypt.  The Bible pictures Egypt as the world system, from which Jehovah ( referred to in the occult as the Tetragrammaton) has delivered his chosen people. Also, “out of Egypt, I have called my Son” is spoken in regard to Jesus Christ.

I consider that what is referred to as the keystone of the gnosis of Egypt, will be that mystery of iniquity which will be revealed shortly.  II Thessalonians 2: 3-4 says, “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”

Mouni Sadhu quotes in his Introduction,  Eliphas Levi, whose book, Transcendental Magic, Its Doctrine and Ritual is of vital importance.  Levi says in part, “… this was the key in question; a hieroglyphic and numeral alphabet, expressing by characters and numbers, a series of universal and absolute ideas…the symbolical tetrad…the four aspects of the sphinx-a man, eagle, lion, and bull-corresponded with the four elements of the old world (i. e. water, air, fire and earth)…Now these four symbols, with all their analogies, explain the one word hidden in all sanctuaries…Moreover the sacred word was not pronounced..Yod, He’, Vau, He’.” (My free website does not allow me to display the Hebrew alphabet font, so when referring to the spelling of Jehovah, which is Yod, He’, Vau, He’, I will shorten it to YHVH.)

Let us interrupt Mr. Levi to note that the aspects of the sphinx resemble the aspects of the faces of the Cherubim which the prophet Ezekiel saw.   Ezekiel 1:10 says, “As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.”

To summarize, this Tetragrammaton, or Tetrad, with four aspects, has the four Hebrew letters which spell Jehovah, the four aspects of the Cherubim, and the four aspects of water, air, fire and earth. Any Bible reader ought to be on high alert at this point, for we know that Lucifer fell from heaven and he was a cherub which at one time covered the throne of God.  In chapter 28:14, Ezekiel quotes the word of the Lord GOD, saying, “Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth;”…and in verse 15, “Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.” Verses 17-18 say this:”Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness:  I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.  Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.”

Why do we not find these occultists giving warning to their students of the dangerous path on which they are about to embark? Rather we hear Levi being quoted as saying, “The Tarot is a truly philosophical machine, which keeps the mind from wandering, while leaving its initiative and liberty; it is mathematics applied to the Absolute, the alliance of the positive and the ideal, a lottery of thoughts as exact as numbers, perhaps the simplest and grandest conception of human genius…An imprisoned person, with no other book than the Tarot, if he knew how to use it, could in a few years acquire universal knowledge and would be able to speak on all subjects with unequalled learning and inexhaustible eloquence…”

Speaking of prisoners, I was startled as a child to read this in my King James Bible, John 3:18-21:  “He that believeth on him  is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.  But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”

No one had ever told me that the members of the human race were as prisoners sitting on Death Row. Of course, at some point children become acquainted with the fact of death.  But initially this reality seems to belong to others, not to us. I was so ignorant, that in college, I remember being asked as to what my opinion was of Original Sin. I did not understand the question for that concept had never been explained to me, and I was unaware of what Genesis 2 and 3 said on this matter. It was only a matter of time until I learned that, like the fallen cherub, there was a day when iniquity was found in me.

As we see in John 3, we are to believe on a Name.  This is a concept that has deeper implications than we first realize, and I will discuss this in the next post.