The Four Worlds of Qabalah and the Minor Arcana of Tarot

The Four Worlds of Qabalah and the Tarot

The Qabalistic Tree of Life is not a flat diagram: it repeats itself through Four Worlds, layers through which energy descends from spirit into matter. Tarot reflects these worlds in its suits and numbers, giving us a way to read that process directly in the cards.

The Four Worlds

• Atziluth : Emanation (Fire)
  The spark of divine will, raw energy before it takes form.
  Tarot suit: Wands.
  Symbolism: Wands stand for drive, inspiration, creativity, ambition, and spiritual fire. They are the torch of purpose, passion that propels us forward, but also the restlessness that can burn unchecked.
  Sephirot included: Kether, Chokmah, Binah (the Supernal triad).
  Role: Source of inspiration, beginnings, pure will.

• Briah : Creation (Water)
  The dream-space where archetypes take shape and vision flows.
  Tarot suit: Cups.
  Symbolism: Cups represent emotions, relationships, intuition, and imagination. They are vessels of the heart, joy, sorrow, love, memory, and longing. They show us how inspiration takes on form through feeling.
  Sephirot included: Chesed, Geburah, Tiferet.
  Role: Emotions, ideals, creative shaping.

• Yetzirah : Formation (Air)
  The architect’s world of thought, pattern, and design.
  Tarot suit: Swords.
  Symbolism: Swords embody the mind, logic, communication, judgment, and conflict. They cut both ways: clarity and truth, or doubt and strife. They show us how ideas clash, refine, and sharpen.
  Sephirot included: Netzach, Hod, Yesod.
  Role: Thought, structure, trial by intellect.

• Assiah : Action (Earth)
  The physical plane, the tangible results of all the upper worlds.
  Tarot suit: Pentacles.
  Symbolism: Pentacles stand for material life, body, work, money, health, craft, and legacy. They are the coins of embodiment, where inspiration finally becomes brick, bread, and blood.
  Sephirah included: Malkuth.
  Role: Grounded reality, results, manifestation.

Numbers of the Minor Arcana

Each numbered Minor (Ace through Ten) links to a Sephirah, showing what happens when that sephirotic energy moves through a suit/world.

• Ace – Kether: pure spark of the element
• Two – Chokmah: dynamic expansion
• Three – Binah: structure, understanding
• Four – Chesed: stability, order
• Five – Geburah: conflict, severity, strength
• Six – Tiferet: harmony, balance, beauty
• Seven – Netzach: endurance, passion, desire
• Eight – Hod: intellect, clarity, analysis
• Nine – Yesod: imagination, reflection, subconscious
• Ten – Malkuth: final manifestation, completion

Examples

Five of Wands – Geburah (conflict) expressed in Fire/Wands: strife, competition
Six of Cups – Tiferet (harmony) expressed in Water/Cups: innocence, nostalgia
Eight of Swords – Hod (restriction) expressed in Air/Swords: mental traps, paralysis

Why it Matters

The Four Worlds are not abstract philosophy: they are a practical key to Tarot. They show which stage of reality a card is speaking from: the spark (Atziluth), the dream (Briah), the plan (Yetzirah), or the result (Assiah). Combine that with the number (Sephirah), and you are looking at a complete address for the energy in play.