Hebrew Letters: definition

The Hebrew letters form the sacred alphabet of the Hebrew tradition, often associated with tarot in certain modern esoteric and kabbalistic readings.

They do not historically belong to the original structure of the Marseille Tarot: their association with the arcana comes above all from later occultist traditions, from the nineteenth century onward.

In several esoteric systems, each of the twenty-two major arcana has been put in relation with one of the twenty-two Hebrew letters, to integrate tarot into a broader symbolic architecture.

This correspondence, spread above all by Éliphas Lévi, links tarot to kabbalah and to the Tree of Life, giving the arcana an added metaphysical depth.

In a serious approach it is important to clearly distinguish between the history of tarot as a game and the hermetic or kabbalistic constructions added to it later.

Knowing these correspondences is useful for understanding the discourse of esoteric tarot, even if they are not adopted: it helps situate many claims in their historical context and read them with critical perspective.

For the study of the Marseille Tarot, the prudent course is to treat these correspondences as a fascinating but added interpretive layer, and not to project them onto cards that, in their origin, were not conceived in relation to the Hebrew alphabet.

Held with this care, the Hebrew letters remain a rich part of esoteric tarot's history, to be known and appreciated without being mistaken for the deck's original design.