Inbetween the rise of Rosicrucianism & The Golden Dawn system of Correspondences, adepts organized themselves, forming the Order of the Rosy Cross. In their publications, a proponent of hermetic theosophy wrote that the Tarot purposely hides secret knowledge in its page-like cards that resemble leaves of a book no longer bound.
One secret exchange is said to be the placement of The Star card (Hebrew letter Tzaddi) where The Devil card (Hebrew letter Ayin) is found on the 22 Step Path of The Fool's Journey. I was struck by the alarming change in the meaning of this exchange, if it is a true clue meant to be found by other adepts! What does this have to do with the letter "Y" you ask? These two Hebrew letters REsemble each other. They REpresent REstoration and REvelation. Yes, REad on!!!
Thirty-five years ago, when I was a young sophomore at Mercer University, I used to get these two Hebrew letters mixed up all the time! My professor explained the difference this way: both letters begin & end with a Yod (Yud;Yad) meaning "hand of God" and each resembles the English letter "Y;" however, when drawing the letters, the two Yods at the tops of the branches descend differently! Ayin has a long branch drawn down and left from a Yod on the right, with a small branch emerging from left side of long branch attached to second Yod. Tzadi has its long branch starting at top left, drawn down to the right, then curved left and up as if to create a tail. We get our English letter "Y" from the letter Y in the Hebrew Alphabet! And in Hebrew, Y is the Yod! It also represents our letter "i" and our letter "j," which tells you a lot about the origins of languages! The modern Yod looks like a fat apostrophe.
Before the Yod took its humble shape, it was an ancient symbol depicting an arm and its meanings were "work, throw, make & praise." The early Jewish people took the symbol of a horizontal arm & turned it upwards so that the "hand" becomes vertical, as if reaching 2 fingers towards the heavens. (See pic.below)
1,000 years later, the "Y" looking
Hebrew letter of ancient times, which looks like the English letter "y" with its tail going in the opposite direction, is remade into a different shape that resembles the English letter "z." These letters occur in the middle of the Hebrew alphabet, but in the English version, y and z are at the end of it. Look at the shape of this letter: y
Notice how it resembles the Hebrew letter, Ayin? Ayin is pronounced, "ein" and means "eye." Both words, Ayin and eye, contain the letter "y" in the middle. And the Hebrew letter Tzadi makes the "z" sound, but looks like a "Y" instead of the English letter Z. Go figure!? So, I am.
I figured out that I am on the right path in my investigations. Hidden information is found in the clues left by our ancestors. Layers of data exist with which we can validate our hunches. . . intuition, or perhaps seeds planted in my unconscious mind 35 years ago, when I sat entranced, listening to Dr. Hendricks lecture on the Torah, are growing now, transforming my conscious mind! www.etsy.com/shop/LunataTarot Check out my shop, where you can purchase my deck and/or one of my tarot card readings. Please leave questions and comments here. YL
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