The Fool and 0
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So I was studying my thoth tarot deck and checking the correspondences and it got me thinking.
The Fool = 0 but Aleph is the 1st letter, the Father, why doesnt it correspond with the Magus 1?
The 0 would be the Ain Soph, or one of the Ains, so whhy does it get a correspondence at all? If it is the entire material universe contained in the 0?
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@Frater Kephri said
"The Fool = 0 but Aleph is the 1st letter, the Father, why doesnt it correspond with the Magus 1? "
These are thoughts most people have. It's a reasonable line of inquiry or reflection.
Tarot has a more subtle symbolism, though. Every card has two numbers - the number of its letter and the number of the card itself. In one sense, the number on the card is the more popular or superficial number, while that of the letter is the deeper, more occult meaning. In a different sense, there is simply a mystery to be found in the relationship of the two numbers, and this needs to be discerned by meditation in each case.
To give one example: The Emperor has the number 4, and corresponds to Tzaddi which is 90. What is the relationship of 4 and 90? One relationship is in the square, which has four sides and 90° at each corner, and the square then has important symbolism for The Emperor.
The line of thought you were following would break down rather fast as you went through the deck. If the number of the Hebrew letter were that of the card, then what do you do with the card that comes after 10? In Tarot, the next number is 11, but in the Hebrew letters the next value after 10 (Yod) is 20 (Kaf).
"The 0 would be the Ain Soph, or one of the Ains, so whhy does it get a correspondence at all? If it is the entire material universe contained in the 0?"
Alef is 1. In geometry, if you have only 1 point, you have 0 dimensions, no extension, no distinctive characterization. Zero is a commentary on the philosophical meaning of 1, which is not unity but, rather, is nothing distinctive at all.
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Book if Thoth, that U already cited.
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@Jim Eshelman said
"Book if Thoth, that U already cited."
Master whips chela.
Chela winces.
Master whips chela.
Chela winces.
Master whips chela.
Chela asks "when are you going to stop hitting me?"
Master says, "when are you going to stop me?"
lol