11. Strength

STRENGTH.

   

STRENGTH.

11. כ

11th Hebrew letter (Kaph).

ORIGIN OF THE SYMBOLISM OF THE ELEVENTH CARD OF THE TAROT.

The hieroglyphic meaning of the Kaph is the hand of man, half closed and in the act of prehension, like the Gimel. But the Kaph is reinforcement of the Gimel, so that we might say that it designates the hand of man in the act of grasping strongly. Ideas of strength are therefore applied to this letter.

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The number 11, the first after the decade, gives a different value to the Kaph, which designates a reflected transitory life, a. kind of mould, which receives and restores every variety of form.

It is derived from the letter Heth, ח (8), which is itself derived from the sign of absolute life, He ה (5). Thus, allied on one side to the sign of elementary life (see the 8th arcanum), it joins to the signification of the letter Heth (ה) that of the organic sign ג (Gimel) (3rd arcanum), of which too it is merely a reinforcement.

The Kaph is a double letter, corresponding astronomically with March and Tuesday.

THE ELEVENTH CARD OF THE TAROT.

Strength.

Only two ideas are expressed by this arcanum--

1. The idea of strength.

2. The idea of vitality.

A young girl calmly closing a lion's mouth without any visible effort.

(First idea.)

This young girl wears the vital sign ∞ upon her head.

(Second idea.)

The 11th arcanum. is midway between the 8th and 14th arcana. In it we find the symbolism of the 8th arcanum. transformed to the physical plane. It is, in fact, the image of the power given by the sacred science (2nd arcanum) when justly applied (8).

The eleventh card of the Tarot shows us all the negative or reflective significations of the fifth, that is to say--

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1. Reflex of the Intelligence (5).

LIBERTY.

2. Reflex of Authority, of Faith.

COURAGE.

(To dare.)

3. Reflex of the Universal Life. Manifestation of the strength of the preceding arcanum.

REFLECTED AND TRANSITORY LIFE.

11. כ

Strength.

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The strength, already potential in its manifestations, has shown its full force in the 11th arcanum; it will balance itself in the following arcanum.