Dallas BOTA - Aug 8th, Open Forum on Tarot Key 9, The Hermit, Hebrew letter Yod

Dallas Builders of the Adytum
Schedule for Aug 08, 2026:
9:45 am Open Forum on Tarot Key 9, The Hermit, Hebrew letter Yod
11:00 am Vibratory Attunement
Noon: Potluck Lunch
Location: Edwin Kiest Masonic Lodge, 10210 Hermosa Dr., Dallas, TX

On August 8th, at 9:45 AM, we will have our regular Open Forum meeting to discuss the Hebrew letter Yod and Tarot Key 9, The Hermit.

"The Tarot is a book, disguised as a pack of cards." (The Tarot, Paul Foster Case). In Open Forum, we discuss the story that these cards tell.

Yod (I, J, Y, value 10) means the hand of man. It is the open hand, in contradistinction to Kaph, the closed one, which follows it in the alphabet. Yod indicates power, means, direction, skill, dexterity; but it is the sign rather of tendency, aptitude, inclination predisposition or potency than of actual activity. In the religious symbolism of the world the open hand is everywhere and at all times a type of beneficence, and of the freedom of the Supreme Spirit.

In the Qabalah, this letter has special importance because it is the initial letter of the Tetragrammaton, IHVH, and the initial letter also of the word IChIDH, Yekhidah, the term used in the Wisdom of Israel to designate the INDIVISIBLE ONE. The Supreme SELF, having its abode or seat in Kether, the Crown, is at the top of the Tree of Life. Qabalists, moreover, say that the upper point of the letter refers to Kether, the Primal Will, while the body of the letter represents the second Sephirah, Chokmah, or Wisdom.

The sense of touch is that which is attributed to Yod, and the same letter, in Qabalah, corresponds to the function of COITION, in which the sense of touch is particularly active. Esoterically, the letter Yod corresponds to the experience of union with the Supreme Self, the true I AM of the cosmos. This experience, extremely blissful, is often compared by occult writers, both ancient and modern, to the intense physical ecstasy of the sex embrace. Prudes may quarrel with this comparison. Let them read the Song of Solomon, the mystical poetry of the Sufis or some narratives of the Christian mystical experience, and they will learn that some of the best minds the human race has ever produced have not scrupled to employ intensely erotic imagery in their endeavors to describe the bliss of union with the ONE.

…Furthermore, the experience depends on certain transformations of the Mars-force in the physical body, and these transformations are affected by subconsciousness…Again, mystic experience is the supreme expression of subconscious processes of memory and association…When we most perfectly remember ourselves we experience this blissful merging of personal consciousness with the universal.

The Tarot, Paul Foster Case

A good reference book is the Hebrew Letter Workbook, which we will be using. You may order it at:
https://storebota.org/products/the-hebrew-letters-workbook

Another good reference is The Tarot, by Paul Foster Case.

This meeting is open to the public, and we welcome everyone interested in metaphysics to join us and learn more about the Holy Qabalah and Sacred Tarot.

The Qabalistic Vibratory Attunement is an Aquarian Age form of group meditation. We use techniques of the science of sound and color to send healing energies into the world.

Open Forum meetings are held on the 2nd Saturday of each month. Builders of the Adytum is a teaching and training order in the Western Mystery tradition founded by Paul Foster Case in 1922. BOTA presents the principles of the Ageless Wisdom through the teachings of the Holy Qabalah (Kabbalah, Cabbala), Tarot, Alchemy, Metaphysics and much more.

Read more about our coursework and membership at: https://www.bota.org

For talks on various Qabalistic subjects, you can visit Builders of the Adytum New Zealand at:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF_rcV3IEZEm-q0KkNO186A/videos

For information about Open Forum meetings, please contact Dan at dallasofcoordinator@gmail.com.

Pronaos: Active BOTA members may inquire about our Pronaos ritual work with the Pronaos Coordinator. Please contact Amparo at amparoeamores@gmail.com.

We hope to see you soon!

In Love and L.V.X.,
Dallas BOTA