The high priestess
The High Priestess , and sometimes Pope Joan , is one of the also major arcana -called trump cards of the Tarot . In the sequence of trumps, the card bears the number II.
presentation
Older decks
The Popess appears in the Visconti Sforza Trionfi cards, the oldest surviving examples of tarot cards from Italy in the 15th century. In the so-called Pierpont-Morgan she is shown as a nun sitting on a chair or a throne in the brown habit of the Franciscans with a white cingulum and a white veil, who wears the papal tiara on her head . In her right hand she holds a staff or a scepter and in her left a closed book, perhaps a breviary . Over her habit she wears a wide cloak that falls over her feet, as is worn by some mendicant orders .
Although these early Trionfi cards have no titles, the name La papessa appears in the Sermones de Ludo cum Aliis , an Italian manuscript from the second half of the 15th century that contains the earliest known list of names of the Tarot's trump cards. The pious author of these "sermons about the dice game" notes next to the name of the Popess: "O you wretched people who deny the Christian faith", he marks the Popess as a particularly unchristian card in what, in his eyes, is the most unchristian of all games: "No game in the world is as an abomination to God as the game of trumps."
Marseille deck
The portrayal of the Popess in the Marseille Tarot , to which the modern forms of Tarot all go back, shows some changes compared to the Trionfi cards: The Popess now holds the book open in her lap. She holds it with her left hand, sometimes with both hands, for example in the deck by Jean Dodal from 1701. The coat and habit are not brown, but colored, the coat is usually red, and instead of the zingulum it wears over her chest crossed a stole often embroidered with crosses . The figure is no longer shown frontally, but sitting in half profile from the left. Behind her is a veil or part of a canopy . This form of representation has remained largely unchanged on traditional decks to this day. Variations concern the position of the hand and the colors of clothing, for which no tradition has been established, which is why attempts to give these colors an esoteric meaning are in any case without historical basis. This far-reaching constancy of the iconography can be seen overall, but there may well be deviations on individual decks. In the so-called Rosenwald Sheet, for example, the Popess is depicted without a veil and instead with long, flowing hair; she holds the book in her right hand and a large key in her left, whereby one has to think of the key of Peter .
There is, however, a strong and widespread deviation in tarots of the so-called Besançon type , which were produced and distributed in southern France, Switzerland and southern Germany from 1750 to 1850, in these tarots the Pope was named by the Roman goddess Juno and the Pope by the God replaces Jupiter . Presumably this was done for religious reasons, because the representation of a pope and even a popess in a card game was considered particularly outrageous, as has been seen above. Out of even more consideration, the disreputable cards of the so-called Papi (Pope, Pope, Empress and Emperor ) in the Bolognese Tarot were eliminated and replaced by neutral images.
Court de Gébelin
An essay by Antoine Court de Gébelin in his Le Monde primitif analysé et comparé avec le monde modern from 1781, in which he formulated the thesis of an Egyptian origin of the tarot and the traditional images of the trumps based on this thesis, marked a turning point in the history of the tarot reinterpreted. This essay marks the beginning of the development towards the modern esoteric tarot. Court de Gébelin writes about trumps II and V:
“Numbers II and III show two wives and numbers IV and V their husbands: they are the worldly and spiritual leaders of society. […] Number V represents the supreme hierophant or high priest, number II the high priestess, his wife: it is known that the Egyptians' chief priests were married. If these cards were a modern invention, there would be no “high priestess” and certainly no “Popess”, as the German card manufacturers ridiculously call them.
The high priestess sits in an armchair and wears a long robe with a kind of veil behind her head that crosses over her chest. She wears a double crown with two horns, similar to that of Isis , on her knees she holds an open book and two crossed sashes decorated with crosses, which form an X there. "
As you can see, Court de Gébelin essentially stays with the traditional iconography, the papal crown is no longer a papal crown, but a horned crown of Isis, whereby the headdress of Hathor is more likely to be thought of. It should be noted that the ideas of the headdresses of Egyptian deities in France in the year 1781 were rather blurred, as can be seen from contemporary engravings.
Court de Gébelin also mentions the veil, which was closely linked to Isis in the imagination of the 18th century, a connection that goes back to ancient reports about an image of Isis in the temple of Sais . Plutarch writes that the portrait of Isis there, whom he identifies with Athena , bears the inscription: “I am everything that is, that has been and that will be. No mortal person has lifted my veil. ”At least that is how the text is reproduced by Schiller. In fact, there is talk of a peplos , a traditional Greek woman's robe. The interpretation as a veil comes from the 17th century. The English philosopher and theologian Ralph Cudworth translated "I be on all that Hath been, Is, and Shall, and my peplum or Veil, No mortal hath ever yet uncovered" and it constructed the concept of a hidden deity, similar to the biblical Yahweh , whose Face himself was not allowed to see Moses . As a result, the garment is completely dropped and a veil is raised, behind which a possibly naked truth or an unknowable wisdom may be hidden. The concept found its way into iconography of the 18th century as the veil of Isis and is often used in allegorical depictions of the science that lifts the veil of Isis; in literature the veiled image of Sais appears in Schiller 's ballad of the same name and also in Novalis ' novel fragment Die It plays a role for apprentices at Sais , later in the esoteric context, for example, in the title of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky's main work Isis Unveiled ("Isis unveiled").
Papus
The French occultist Papus took the next step towards esoteric tarot in 1909 in his book Le Tarot Divinatoire , by adapting the iconography to the esoteric interpretation. Strangely enough, he left it as the title of the card at La Papesse ("The Popess"). The card now shows a seated female figure in a long robe that covers her feet. She is no longer holding a book on her knees, but a scroll. The upper half of the face is covered by a veil, in the background you can see a curtain stretched, behind it, partly hidden by the curtain, two Egyptian columns, the left blue and the right red, which takes up the traditional coloring of older decks. The seated figure is now explicitly identified as a goddess by wearing the headdress of Hathor, the Christian references have melted into a cross worn on the chest.
Waite deck
From this design at Papus it is only a small step to the representation of the high priestess in the Waite Deck , one of the most popular tarot decks today, designed by Arthur Edward Waite , an English occultist and member of the esoteric community of the Golden Dawn and designed by the artist Pamela Colman Smith was executed. In this deck, the card is now also called The High Priestess . As with Papus, the picture shows a seated female figure in a long robe with a large white cross on her chest - Waite speaks of a "solar cross" - in front of two columns, between which a curtain is stretched, which is embroidered with palm trees and pomegranates . On her knees she is holding a scroll with the title TORA , half covered , which on the one hand refers directly to the Torah , i.e. the Five Books of Moses in Judaism, and on the other hand through the well-known anagrams TARO [T] and ROTA ( Latin for "Rad “, See the card The Wheel of Fate ) on the tarot itself. On her head (the face is now unveiled) she wears a diadem that no longer corresponds to the Hathor crown, but is composed of a disc and two crescent moon. The moon is traditionally associated with the element water (think of the tides ) and the water-moon theme is included several times in the picture. At the feet of the high priestess there is the narrow sickle of a waxing moon and the garment that falls over the feet to the ground seems to dissolve there in ripples. In addition, behind the pillars there is a wide expanse of water with a few hills on the horizon or clouds floating flat above the water.
As similar as the portrayal of the heavily Egyptian interpretation of Papus seems to be, this similarity is superficial. Several details of the picture signal the turning away from an “Egyptian” and turning to a Kabbalistic reading. There is the aforementioned Torah scroll, and the two pillars also have the letters “B” (left, black pillar) and “J” (right, white pillar). The letters stand for Jachin and Boas , the two bronze columns at the Temple of Jerusalem , which, according to biblical tradition, King Solomon had the Tyrian master builder Hiram Abif made. These two pillars play a significant role in Masonic legend and are part of the symbolic Masonic temple. The capitals of the two columns have the shape of open lotus blossoms (now again Egyptianizing) . Waite writes about the nature of the high priestess, emphasizing the Kabbalistic references:
“In one way she represents the Great Mother herself - in other words, her luminous reflection. In the sense of reflection, it is ascribed the truest and highest name in symbolism - Shekinah , the presence of Divine Glory. According to Kabbalah, there is a Shekinah both above and below. In the higher worlds it is called Binah , the higher reason, which is reflected in the emanations of the lower worlds. In the lower world it is called Malkuth - it is sufficient for our purposes if we understand this being of the world as a blessed kingdom - it receives the blessing through the glory within. Using the words of mysticism, Shekinah is the spiritual bride of the righteous man, when he reads the law [ie the Torah] she communicates the divine meaning to him. In some respects this card is the highest and most sacred of all arcanes. "
Crowley deck
The card is called The High Priestess in Crowley's Book of Thoth , but the card has the title The Priestess in the deck . Like Waite, Crowley astrologically assigns the moon to the priestess, which is why the astrological moon symbol to the right of the card title and the Hebrew letter to the left ג(Gimel) appears. In Crowley's interpretation, the assignment of the tarot trumps to the paths between the Sephiroth in the cabalistic tree of life is of central importance. There corresponds to the priestess the connection between the highest Sephira Kether and Tiphereth (beauty), the central Sephira on the middle column of the Tree of Life. In the esoteric assignment of the 22 paths to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet , this path corresponds to the letter Gimel ( Hebrew for "camel"), which is why a camel is shown at the bottom of the map. Gimel is the third letter in the Hebrew alphabet, if you start the count with zero (the number assigned to the fool ), it corresponds to the number 2.
The female figure depicted is - unlike in the older decks and at Waite - now naked, but she is not sitting in front of a veil or curtain, but is half hidden behind a veil of light, which she holds up with both hands, while her hands are touching the columns indicated on both sides.
The veil is formed by a network of bright white curves that condense into a hyperbola with a vertex in the navel of the seated person. Above the hyperbola, the curves form two vertebrae at the position of the elbows. The lines emanating from the vertebrae are linked to the shape of a reclining figure eight, a lemniscate , the mathematical symbol of the infinite, which wraps around the closed eyes of those seated. The headdress corresponds to the shape of the crown at Waite, behind the head there are seven crescent moons lying flat on top of each other.
About the veil of light, Crowley writes:
"This light is the menstruum of manifestation, the goddess Nuith, the possibility of form. This first and most spiritual manifestation of the feminine takes to itself a masculine correlative, by formulating in itself any geometrical point from which to contemplate possibility. This virginal goddess is then potentially the goddess of fertility. She is the idea behind all form; as soon as the influence of the triad descends below the Abyss, there is the completion of concrete idea. "
“This light is the menstruum of formation, the goddess Nut , the forming potential. This first and most spiritual manifestation of the feminine forms in itself a masculine counterpart, in that every starting point of becoming is represented in it. This virgin goddess is potentially a fertility goddess. It is the underlying idea of all form; as soon as the influence of the triad has overcome the abyss, the idea can become shape and object. "
Crowley identifies the figure of the priestess with both the Egyptian Isis and the Greco-Near Eastern Artemis , albeit in their most abstract aspect. It is true that they are mother and fertility deities , but less the mater (Latin for “mother”) than the matrix as the root and origin of all forms. This corresponds to the Sephiroth path between Kether, the highest, still completely formless level of the divine, and Tiphereth, the Sephira, which is already part of the creation that is differentiated in forms. Artemis in particular is traditionally associated with purity and virginity, to indicate this connection, the priestess carries a bow on her lap, the weapon of Artemis. Otherwise the representation of the priestess is strongly Egyptian and based on the appearance of ancient Egyptian seated figures. This is expressed in the wig shape of the hairstyle, in the simple form of the priestess's throne and also in her half-nakedness, which corresponds to the forms of female deities in Egyptian sculptures, which are barely covered by the very thin linen robes.
According to the aspect of the formation and shaping, below the priestess “nascent forms, whorls , crystals, seeds, fruit capsules [can be seen], which symbolize the beginnings of life.” Three of the four crystals correspond - namely tetrahedron (top right), dodecahedron (bottom right) and octahedron (top left) - Platonic solids , representative of basic forms of geometry. The shapes of the octahedron and icosahedron are missing, instead a cube-like shape with pyramids on the sides appears at the bottom left.
Correspondences and Interpretation
The following esoteric equivalents are assigned to the high priestess in the esoteric tarot:
- Numerology : number 2
- Kabbalah: letter ג( Gimel ); Path between the Sephiroth Kether and Tiphereth ; Sephira Binah
- Mythology: Hathor, Isis, Nut, Artemis, Juno, Schechina , Maria Regina
- Attributes : crescent moon, water, bow and arrow, book or scroll, veil
- Astrology: moon
As with the Great Arcana in general, it is difficult to find something like a common denominator among the multitude of interpretations. Even the interpretations relating to a specific deck differ considerably from one another, depending on which path the associations of the respective author follow.
As far as modern esotericism is concerned, the veil, as a symbol of the hidden and at the same time the revelation of the hidden, is a widely received element. The interpretation can then take place on different levels, for example the revelation of the divine and the first emanation of God in the act of creation, which is set very high in the world of forms, or, on the lower level, a simple everyday secret or its disclosure. On a middle level, the priestess is the one who grants or denies enlightenment - or enables a limited view behind the veil in the form of prophetic revelation. Which - again set a little lower - makes the priestess the embodiment of intuition and wisdom.
As in general, the divinatory interpretation will also depend on whether the symbolism represented by the card represents or confronts the questioner. Which in turn can result from the position of the card in the layout system used.
literature
- Angeles Arrien: Guide to the Crowley Tarot. Practical instructions for interpreting the Aleister-Crowley Tarot. 4th edition. Urania, Neuhausen 2001, ISBN 3-908644-78-X , pp. 40-43.
- Hajo Banzhaf : The Tarot Manual. 8th edition. Hugendubel, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-88034-697-6 , pp. 33-38.
- Akron, Hajo Banzhaf: The Crowley Tarot. Aleister Crowley and Lady Frieda Harris's Card Handbook. 7th edition. Hugendubel, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-88034-671-2 , pp. 30-34.
- Bill Butler: Dictionary of the Tarot. Schocken, New York 1975, pp. 117-120.
- Aleister Crowley : The Book of Thoth. A Short Essay on the Tarot of the Egyptians. In: The Equinox III: 5. With Frieda Harris. Reprint: Samuel Weiser, New York 1995, ISBN 0-87728-268-4 , pp. 72-75, hermetic.com
- Paul Huson: The Devil's Picture Book. The Compleat Guide to Tarot Cards. Abacus, London 1972, pp. 146-153.
- Kurt Hildebrand Matzak: Tarok - Rota - Tarot. The secret of the tarok card. Leykam, Graz & Vienna 1976, ISBN 3-7011-7069-X , p. 34 f.
- Belinda Rodik : Tarot Dictionary. Basic concepts and key words for symbolism and interpretation. Schirmer, Darmstadt 2008, ISBN 978-3-89767-612-1 , pp. 137-139.
- Ralph Tegtmeier : Tarot - story of a game of fate. DuMont, Cologne 1986, ISBN 3-7701-1682-8 , p. 42.
- Arthur Edward Waite : The picture key to the Original Rider Waite Tarot. Fragments of a secret lore behind the veil of divination. Illustrations based on drawings by Pamela Colman Smith. Translation by Klaus Lemur-Esser. Urania, Waakirchen 1978, ISBN 3-921960-01-0 , p. 52 f.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ O miseri quod negat Christiana fides and above: Non est res in hoc mundo quod pertineat ad ludum tantum Deo odibilis sicut ludus triumphorum. Quoted from: Robert Steele: A notice of the ludus triumphorum and some early Italian card games with some remarks on the origin of the game of cards. In: Archaeologia or Miscellaneous tracts relating to antiquity. Society of Antiquaries of London Vol. LVII = Second Series Vol. VII (1900), pp. 185-200.
- ^ Antoine Court de Gébelin: Du Jeu des Tarots. In: Ders .: Le Monde primitif analysé et comparé avec le monde moderne. Vol. VIII. Paris 1781, pp. 365-394.
- ^ Court de Gébelin: You Jeu des Tarots. In: Ders .: Le Monde primitif. Vol. VIII. Paris 1781, p. 369 f.
- ↑ Plutarch De Iside et Osiride 9 (354c).
- ↑ Friedrich Schiller: From the sublime. In: Gerhard Fricke, Herbert G. Göpfert, Herbert Stubenrauch (eds.): Friedrich Schiller. Complete Works. Vol. 5. Hanser, Munich 1962, p. 508.
- ^ Jan Assmann : Moses the Egyptian: The Memory of Egypt in Western Monotheism (1997). Harvard University Press 1997, ISBN 0-674-58738-3 , pp. 86 f.
- ^ Papus: Le Tarot Divinatoire. Le Livre des Mystères et les Mystères du Livre. Clef du tirage des cartes et des sorts. Avec la reconstitution complète des 78 lames du Tarot Egyptien et de la méthode d'interprétation. Les 22 arcanes majeurs et les 56 arcanes mineurs. With tarot card designs by Gabriel Goulinat. Libr. Hermétique, Paris 1909.
- ↑ 1 Kings 7 : 13-22 EU and Jeremiah 52 : 21-23 EU .
- ↑ Ludwig Borchardt : The Egyptian plant column. A chapter on the history of plant ornament. Wasmuth, Berlin 1897, online .
- ↑ Menstruum here in an older meaning than the medium that nourishes and forms the embryo. With the alchemists also a solvent for metals in the trasmutation process, later a liquid nutrient medium. See Oxford English Dictionary . 3rd edition 2001, sv menstruum, n.
- ↑ The top three Sephiroth.
- ↑ The barrier or boundary between the upper world of the Triad and the lower world of Hexad and Malchuth.
- ↑ Crowley: Book of Thoth. 1995, p. 73.
- ↑ Crowley: Book of Thoth. 1995, p. 74.
- ↑ See Bill Butler: Dictionary of the Tarot. Schocken, New York 1975, p. 119 f.
- ↑ See for example the interpretations relating to the Crowley deck in the books by Hajo Banzhaf and Angeles Arrien.