Yael R.

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Email: Polaris93@aol.com 4,250 words
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Qaballah and Tarot: A Basic Course in Nine

Lessons

Lesson III: The 22 Paths of the Tree of Life and the

Greater Arcana of the Tarot

C. Notes for Paths 0-93 of the New, English-Language ASCII

and associations with the Periodic Table and Astrological
Assignments

The following is taken from my 4-volume textbook, NEW MAGICKS FOR A NEW AGE, Volume
I: A New Order of the Ages, Part 3: Applications, Chapter 3: The Tarot

1: Notes Toward the Design and Production of a Tarot Pack for the
16-Sephiroth English-Language Qaballah
With reference to the previous chapter, Keys 1-33 should continue to be associated with their
traditional correlates, including the cards of the standard, traditional Tarot pack. It is for the new Keys,
Keys 33+ as well as the non-integral Keys such as ℵ0 and ∅, that we need new Tarot cards. As discussed
earlier, these would include:
(1) a set of 94 new Greater Trumps to represent Keys 33-126 (and more, for any Keys associated
with characters in the extended ASCII lexicon exclusive of the original 94 basic ASCII characters);
(2) a set of m = p × r Lower Arcana, where p, also corresponding to the number of Elements,
traditional and otherwise, of the metaphysics underlying the new Qaballah and its associated Tarot pack,
is the number of Suits in the Lower Arcana and the Court Cards; and
(3) a set of Court Cards, the number of which is n = p × q, where p again equals the number of Suits
in the Lower Arcana and q is equal to q1 × q2 × q3, the last three variables being respectively the number
of generations in a typical family group in the culture that will be using this pack, the number of genders
or reproductive modes recognized by that culture, and the number of sexual orientations recognized and
legitimized by it.
There are 94 new Paths in the extended Tree of Life, as discussed in Lesson 2 of this course. The
chemical elements hydrogen (Z=1) through plutonium (Z=94) could be assigned to these new Paths in
various orders according to different rationales for doing so. Astrological, mythological, or other
symbolism appropriate to the chemical element concerned could be incorporated into the design of the
Trump assigned to that element and the Path associated with it. So could the ASCII character whose
computer-storage number was equal to the sum of the Z-number of that element (the number of protons
or positive charges in a normal atom of that element) and 33, as previously described, as well as any
psychological, esoteric, historical or other associations that went with that character. In this way, the
designs for all 94 Greater Trumps could be worked out.
With 94 or more new cards to play with, some of them could even be used to represent the twenty or
thirty brightest Stars in our skies, the ones which traditionally have been the most important to us
Magickally and Qaballistically as well as astrologically. Other cards might be assigned to the more
important asteroids, to famous comets, or to historically important novae and supernovae, since these do
have real importance in all astrological charts in which they appear, in thus in any events for which those
charts have been erected; or they could be assigned to any other important esoteric phenomena,
processes, or concepts, from Alchemy to modern cryptophenomenology, the science that studies and
analyzes such things as UFOs, crop-circles, Sasquatch, ESP, and so forth. Clearly the intelligent addition
of such cards to traditional packs, like that of their associated Keys and Paths to the traditional Qaballah,
opens up vast arrays of useful possibilities for esoteric research, pedagogy, and practical application.
Nota bene: Geometrical arrangements of these new Paths on the Tree of Life must take into
consideration that the geometry of the original, traditional Tree of Life must not be disturbed or distorted
in any way. This is easy to achieve if all new Sephiroth are added to the Tree of Life in planes
orthogonal to that of the originals, i.e., by adding a 3rd, 4th, or even more dimensions to the Tree. One
easy way to do this is to add six new Sephiroth at a time, these six co-existing in their own plane with the
original central Pillar of Consciousness of the Tree which includes Kether, Tiphareth, Yesod, and
Malkuth. The plane of each such new set of six Sephiroth will always include the Central Pillar of
Consciousness, but lie at right angles to the planes of any other such set. The first such new set of
Sephiroth and its plane, which gives the Tree three dimensions, suggests the world of manifestation, the
solid world we normally live in. The second such set and the 4 th dimension it adds to the Tree suggests
time, history, by which our lives and the changes in us are measured. The third suggests choice and the
exercise of will necessary to making choices, which make our lives something more than absolutely
predestined tracks on which our helpless souls are run. And so on. This method of adding new Sephiroth
to the Tree of Life also adds new dimensions of symbolism to Qaballah, and can bequeath an additional
richness on any new Tarot pack developed for such expanded Qaballahs.

2: General Correspondences of the New Keys of the 16-Sephiroth

Qaballah – the Trumps
As discussed above, at least 94 new Greater Trumps are required for such a new Tarot pack, in
addition to the twenty-two cards of the traditional Major Arcana. The designs of these new Trumps
should be based not only upon the characteristics of the chemical elements, ASCII symbols, and
whatever arithmetic values are associated with them, but also upon the pairs of Sephiroth, old and new,
by which the Paths with which they are associated are defined. Therefore let us examine the possibilities
for design of the new Trumps in somewhat more detail than before.
It has already been determined that the traditional Tree of Life is not to be changed, damaged, or
distorted in any way by its inclusion in this extended version of the traditional Qaballah. This means that
if a given pair of the traditional ten Sephiroth is already used to define a traditional Path, and therefore
the traditional Tarot Trump defining that Path, then that pair of Sephiroth may not be used to define any
of the new Paths or Trumps, though of course either of the two Sephiroth it comprises can, by itself, be
paired with a different Sephiroth with which it is not paired in traditional Qaballah, for this purpose.
For example, Trump I, The Magus, Beth, is traditionally defined by the pair of Sephiroth including
Kether and Binah. Therefore the pair Kether-Binah may not be used to define one of the new Paths and
its associated Trump. However, either Kether or Binah, alone, may be paired with some Sephiroth with
which it is not traditionally paired, thereby defining a new Path and its associated Trump. We only have
to be careful not to pair either of these with some Sephirah with which it is traditionally paired. The
other traditional pairs including these two Sephiroth are Kether-Chokmah (Key 11, Aleph, Trump 0, The
Fool), Kether-Tiphareth (Key 13, Gimel, Trump II, The High Priestess), Chokmah-Binah (Key 14,
Daleth, Trump III, The Empress), Binah-Geburah (Key 18, Cheth, Trump VII, The Chariot), and Binah-
Tiphareth (Key 22, Lamed, Trump XI, Justice*), so we must avoid these. Otherwise we may establish
pairs of Sephiroth which include either Kether or Binah (but not both) in any way that seems to be
appropriate for the Paths and Trumps we want to associated with these pairs.

*In Crowley’s system, as exemplified by the Tarot pack designed by him and executed by Lady Frieda
Harris, The Book of Thoth, this is Key 19, Teth, Trump IX, Lust).

For example, in the case of the metals plutonium and uranium, one member of the pair of Sephiroth
defining the Path that represents each of these two elements could be associated with the Planet ruling
that element. In the case of plutonium, this would be Kether, associated with Pluto, Whose metal
plutonium is. Similarly, in the case of uranium, it would be Binah, associated with the Planet Uranus,
ruler of uranium. On the other hand, for the other member of the pair of Sephiroth defining each of these
Paths, both of these metals are best known by their use in war or war-related capacities, secondarily for
their use in generating electricity. So the second Sephirah of the pair could be, say, Geburah, for Mars,
the War-God, or Hod, for Mercury, Lord of Electricity and the Sciences.
In the case of plutonium, perhaps Kether-Geburah would be more appropriate than Kether-Hod. The
metal of Mars is iron, 26Fe, and chemically—in particular, biochemically—plutonium and iron are very
similar. Unfortunately, the bodies of vertebrates and other fauna with circulatory fluids based on the
haem- or iron-bearing molecule, including the blood in our bodies, can’t easily distinguish between iron
and plutonium. Such organisms are well-adapted to using iron as a major part of the oxygen-transport
mechanism of their bodies; they require iron to support respiration by carrying oxygen in the
bloodstream from the lungs or gills to the other tissues of their bodies. Plutonium, on the other hand, is
egregiously poisonous to all forms of earthly life, and is, in addition, one of the most radiotoxic
substances known. But it will also, like iron, carry oxygen, and the valence properties of its outer
electron orbitals are like those of iron, so that it “looks” just like iron to our tissues. So we and almost all
other forms of life assimilate plutonium almost as readily as iron, storing it in fat or bone, in which, or
emerging from whence, it can eventually produce ghastly cancers or other diseases. By the principle of
“as below, so above,” this tendency of the living body to perceive iron and plutonium as very similar or
identical to each other is mirrored by corollary tendency of the spirit and psyche—the functioning of
which is facilitated by the body and its biochemistry—to do the same for the spiritual analogs of those
metals. So the Path of plutonium might better be represented as the pairing of Kether, whose Planet is
Pluto, Lord of plutonium, with Geburah, associated with Mars, Lord of iron.*

*It has been suggested to me that another, better arrangement of the new Trumps on the expanded Tree
of Life might be as follows. The first new Trump and Path would go from Sephirah ∅ to Sephirah 0
(Zero), the second to Sephirah i = √-1, the third to Sephirah ℵ0, the fourth to Sephirah ℵ1, the fifth
to Sephirah ℵ2, the sixth to Kether, the seventh to Chokmah, the eighth to Binah, the ninth to
Chesed, the tenth to Geburah, the eleventh to Tiphareth, the twelfth to Netzach, the thirteenth to
Hod, the fourteenth to Yesod, and the fifteenth to Malkuth. Going next to Sephirah 0, the sixteenth
new Path would go from Sephirah 0 to Sephirah i = √-1, the next to Sephirah ℵ0, Sephirah ℵ1, the
next to Sephirah ℵ2, the next to Kether, the next to Binah, the next to Chesed, the next to Geburah,
the next to Tiphareth, the next to Netzach, the next to Hod, the next to Yesod, and the next to
Malkuth. Going to Sephirah i = √-1, the next Path would go from it to Sephirah ℵ0, Sephirah ℵ1, the
next to Sephirah ℵ2, the next to Kether, the next to Binah, the next to Chesed, the next to Geburah,
the next to Tiphareth, the next to Netzach, the next to Hod, the next to Yesod, and the next to
Malkuth. Going next to Sephirah ℵ0, the next Path would go from it to Sephirah ℵ1, the next to
Sephirah ℵ2, the next to Kether, the next to Binah, the next to Chesed, the next to Geburah, the next
to Tiphareth, the next to Netzach, the next to Hod, the next to Yesod, and the next to Malkuth. Going
next to Sephirah ℵ1, the next Path would go from it to Sephirah ℵ2, the next to Kether, the next to
Binah, the next to Chesed, the next to Geburah, the next to Tiphareth, the next to Netzach, the next
to Hod, the next to Yesod, and the next to Malkuth. Going next to Sephirah ℵ2, the next Path would
go from it to Kether, the next to Binah, the next to Chesed, the next to Geburah, the next to
Tiphareth, the next to Netzach, the next to Hod, the next to Yesod, and the next to Malkuth.
Now, however, coming to Kether, we run into a snag. Since Paths already exist on the
traditional Tree of Life to Chokmah, Binah, and Tiphareth, and now on the extended one to Sephirah
 ∅, Sephirah 0 (Zero), Sephirah i = √-1, Sephirah ℵ0, Sephirah ℵ1, and Sephirah ℵ2, the next new
Path would therefore go to the first Sephirah not now connected with Kether by a Path, in this case,
Chesed, and the next would go to Geburah, the next after that to Netzach, the next to Hod, the next
to Yesod, and the next to Malkuth. Going next to Chokmah, we do the same, avoiding Paths already
existing on the both the traditional Tree of Life and the extended one, giving paths from Chokmah to
Geburah, Netzach, Hod, Yesod, and Malkuth. Then from Binah we extend new Paths to Chesed,
Netzach, Hod, Yesod, and Malkuth. From Chesed we extend new Paths to Hod, Yesod, and Malkuth.
From Geburah we extend new Paths to Netzach, Yesod, and Malkuth. From Tiphareth we extend a
Path to Malkuth. Finally, from Netzach, Hod, and Yesod there are no new Paths to be extended;
everything is taken by previously-defined Paths either on the traditional Tree of Life or on the new,
extended one.
In the order listed above, then, the new Paths are associated with the chemical elements
Hydrogen through Plutonium, and the ASCII characters “!” through “~” (see Section C.3, below,
listing those Trumps).
Other arrangements are possible, but this one, which is similar in its logic to that of the
arrangement of Paths on the traditional Tree of Life given, e.g., in Crowley’s Liber 777, has a certain
logical consistency to it that might be more useful than many other possible arrangements.

An ASCII character is associated with each of these two chemical elements: “|” with Uranus and “~”
with Pluto. Each of these should also be worked into the design of the Trump that goes with its
associated chemical element. In addition, of course, anything else that applies which can be worked into
the finished design without sacrifice or clarity or esthetic balance should also be included.
For example, each of the new Trumps might consist of an illustration contained within some kind of
border, along the bottom of which might be the title of the Trump, printed in suitable characters from an
appropriate alphabet. This label could be overprinted in black, say, across a faint reproduction of an
emission spectrum of the chemical element that is associated with that Trump, or in letters of any desired
colors over a reproduction of an absorption spectrum of that same element. This spectrum would, of
course, be unique to that element and Trump, and would provide one more identifying characteristic for
the Trump and the concepts it was supposed to represent.
Another approach to designing these new Trumps is based on the assignment of Trumps to Paths and
Pairs of Sephiroth in the traditional Tree of Life, as follows.
Since the mythology and symbolism of the Planets can be of help in determining other
correspondences for the Sephiroth and Atua with which they are correlated, the following method of
establishing correlations between new Atua and the new Sephiroth as well as traditional Tarot Trumps
may be helpful.
If Sephirah X1 of the new Sephiroth, on its Pillar and Plane, corresponds to Sephirah Y1 of the
traditional Qaballah, on its, and if Sephirah X2 of the new Sephiroth, on its Pillar and Plane, corresponds
to Sephirah Y2 of the traditional Qaballah, on its, then the Path connecting S. X1 to S. X2 corresponds to
the traditional Path connecting S. Y1 to S. Y2, should the latter exist, or should the existing Path have such
a correspondence.
To see how this works, consider the following:
Sephirah i = √-1 lies at the intersection of the Pillar of Power (the Left-Hand Pillar of the
Transcendental Sephiroth) and the Second Plane of the Sphere of Life, corresponding to Sephirah 3,
Binah, of the traditional Sephiroth, which lies at the intersection of the Left-Hand Pillar of Severity and
the Second Plane of the Tree of Life.
Sephirah ℵ2 lies at the intersection of the Pillar of Grace (the Right-Hand Pillar of the
Transcendental Sephiroth) and the Second Plane of the Sphere of Life, corresponding to Sephirah 2,
Chokmah, of the traditional Sephiroth, which lies at the intersection of the Right-Hand Pillar of Mercy
and the Second Plane of the Tree of Life.
Sephirah 0 (Zero) lies at the intersection of the Pillar of Power and the Third Plane of the Sphere of
Life, corresponding to Sephirah 5, Geburah, of the traditional Sephiroth, which lies at the intersection of
the Pillar of Severity and the Third Plane of the Tree of Life.
Sephirah ℵ1 lies at the intersection of the Pillar of Grace and the Third Plane of the Sphere of Life,
corresponding to Sephirah 4, Chesed, of the traditional Sephiroth, sited at the intersection of the Pillar of
Mercy and the Third Plane of the Tree of Life.
 Sephirah ∅ (Null or Empty Set) lies at the intersection of the Pillar of Power and the Fifth Plane of
the Sphere of Life, corresponding to Sephirah 8, Hod, of the traditional Sephiroth, which lies at the
intersection of the Pillar of Severity and the Fifth Plane of the Tree of Life.
Sephirah ℵ0 has its throne at the intersection of the Pillar of Grace and the Fifth Plane of the Sphere
of Life, corresponding to Sephirah 7, Netzach, of the traditional Sephiroth, which lies at the intersection
of the Pillar of Mercy and the Fifth Plane of the Tree of Life.
Then, for example, since traditional Trump III, The Empress, associated with Venus, Who in turn is
associated with S. 7, connects Sephirah 3 to Sephirah 2, the new Path connecting S. i = √-1 to S. ℵ2,
should correspond to that new Sephirah sited at the same position on the corresponding Plane and Pillar
of the Sphere of Life that S. 7 has on the Tree of Life. S. 7, Netzach, lies at the intersection of the Fifth
Plane and the Pillar of Mercy of the Tree of Life, corresponding to the Fifth Plane and the Pillar of Grace
of the Sphere of Life, the position of Sephirah ℵ0. So the Path connecting S. i = √-1 and S. ℵ2 should
correspond to S. ℵ0 and whatever astronomical body or phenomenon should be associated with it, the
Transcendental equivalents of Netzach and Venus.
If a traditional Path analogous to the new one does not exist, or exists, but has no ready correlate
among the new Sephiroth, as shown above, then the new Path is associated with an asteroid, a fixed Star,
a Constellation, or whatever else is appropriate.
For example, the Path connecting S. 3 , Binah, and S. 5, Geburah, is Trump VII, The Chariot,
corresponding to the astrological Sign Cancer, for which no correlate exists among the new Sephiroth.
So for the Path connecting S. i = √-1 and S. 0 (Zero), which have the same respective positions on the
Pillar of Power as Binah and Geburah do on the Pillar of Severity, there exists nothing corresponding to
that Sign, and some other astrological/astronomical correspondence must therefore be found for that Path.
In the case of the asteroids, possible correlations with new Paths might include, e.g.:

Asteroid Path Connecting

Pallas Geburah-Chokmah
Juno Geburah-Chesed
Vesta Netzach-Binah
Ceres Yesod-Kether
Eros Netzach-Geburah
Sappho Netzach-Kether
Hidalgo Yesod-Geburah
Toro Geburah-Kether
Pandora Hod-i = √-1
Psyche Netzach-Chokmah
Urania Binah-0 (Zero)
Chiron Binah-∅ (Null Set)
Amor Netzach-ℵ0
Diana Yesod-I = √-1
Icarus Hod-Binah
Lilith Geburah-I = √-1

In any event, the pairs of Sephiroth for the Paths appropriate to the other 92 elements and ASCII
characters, and the designs that go with these, could be worked out in ways similar to those described
above. But in all cases care should be taken not to overcrowd a Trump with imagery, however; designs
should be clear and economical, presenting the most information with as few symbols as possible, in the
smallest space possible, a certain elegant austerity being the keynote of their composition. Or, in other
words, their composition should be like that of the best of photographic art: including everything
necessary, nothing that is not, as elegantly as possible.
One other thing: In addition to their strict correspondence with the chemical elements Z = 1-94, and
the basic character-set of the ASCII lexicon, other, similar correspondences also exist. For example,
there are 92 characters in the syllabary for written Cherokee, and 78 characters in the Katakana, one of
two syllabaries for written Japanese. The former, which is shown in the illustration below, could be
associated with the first 92 new Trumps, the latter with either the first 78 of these or with the cards of the
traditional Tarot, of which there are always 78. For more on the Cherokee syllabary, see, e.g., Traveler
Bird, Tell Them They Lie: The Sequoyah Myth (Los Angeles: Westernlore Publishers, 1971), and also
Volume III, Book 9, Part 2 of my textbook New Magicks for a New Age, “The Native-America Sized
Hole in Aleister Crowley’s Map of the World: Liber Al vel Legis and the Ransom of Red Chief.” For an
excellent overview of written Japanese for Westerners, see Florence Sakade, (general editor), A Guide to
Reading and Writing Japanese: The 1,850 Basic Characters and the Kana Syllabaries, revised edition
(Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1961).

[Illustration of Cherokee syllabary, from Traveler Bird’s Tell Them They Lie]

Nota bene: This system is also geared to accommodate the nuances and implications of the
development of the Thelemic school of Magick by Aleister Crowley et al. It is therefore of interest here
that these 94 new Trumps would also have a perfect one-to-one correspondence with the chapters of
Crowley’s The Book of Lies (see Bibliography in the Appendices to this volume for publication
information for that work).
Other uses to which this system can be put include the following.
Since every atom has associated with it a Key from the new 16-Sephiroth Qaballah, and thus an
alphanumeric symbol in the ASCII lexicon and the binary number associated with that symbol, every
molecule thus has a number associated with it, the sum of the Qaballistic values of the atoms which it
comprises. By the same token, every English word, phrase, sentence, paragraph, etc. can be
transliterated via the new Keys, symbol by symbol, into a molecule (though possibly not one which can
exist, given the laws of chemistry). Thus molecules can be used to directly encode information.
As far as biochemistry goes, in the first place, clearly each of the 22 autosomes from the human
chromosome complement can be put into a one-to-one correspondence with the 22 letters of the Hebrew
alphabet, the 22 Paths of the traditional Qaballah, and the 22 Major Arcana of the traditional Tarot. As
for the sex chromosomes, their functions can be associated with the Court Cards. And as for the genes
themselves, since each gene consists of a string of codons, each of which in turn consists of three DNA
nucleotides, genes can be represented in terms of strings of ASCII characters representing the atoms of
which those nucleotides are composed.

3. Extending the Tree of Life

Extensions of the Tree of Life such as the 16-Sephiroth Qaballah can be created according to the
following criteria:
Sephiroth must be added in groups of 6 at a time, the addition of which necessarily adds one new
dimension to the Tree of Life. That is, the traditional Tree of Life, which comprises 10 Sephiroth and up
to 1 + 2 + . . . + 10 = (10 x 11)/ 2 =55 Paths, at least potentially, is two-dimensional; adding six new
Sephiroth to it in a plane that passes through the Central Pillar and is Orthogonal to the plane determined
by the Pillars of Mercy and Severity, we get 16 Sephiroth and up to 1 + . . . 16 = (16 x 17)/2 = 136 Paths
in a 3-dimensional construct; adding an additional six Sephiroth in a plane passing through the Central
Pillar and orthogonal to the two planes containing the side-pillars for the last construct, we get 22
Sephiroth, potentially 1 + . . . + 22 = (22 x 23)/2 = 253 Paths, and a four-dimensional construct, etc. The
addition of each new set of 6 Sephiroth must always be in the form of two new side-pillars which
determine a plane passing through the Central Pillar of Consciousness, and which is orthogonal to the
planes of the side-pillars containing other Sephiroth. Using this operation according to these criteria, the
Tree of Life may be extended indefinitely to contain as many Sephiroth and Paths as desired.