
In many more recent Tarot decks not only are the engimatic "B" and "J" inscribed on the pillars of the High Priestess card missing, but so are the pillars! Most obviously, pillars operate as a support structure. In the High Priestess the structure, we can surmise, is the legendary Temple of Solomon. This we can ascertain from the initials "B" and "J" inscribed on each; they refer to Boaz ("in him is strength") and Jachin ("God establishes/founds"), the names of the brass or bronze pillars at the entrance to the Temple of Solomon. That they are only initials rather than the full names reflects back into the general meaning of this card. The High Priestess doesn't give anything away. She is an initial. We are the initiates. To access her closely guarded secrets and hidden knowledge we must go where she is, do what she does - we must access our deepest subconscious, swim through our emotions, feel our way around, explore that which is resistant to conceptualization and as yet unthought. She is associated with what can be learned from intuition; that hunch, that gut instinct, that "inner voice", that sudden and unaccountable piece of knowledge which seemingly comes out of nowhere. The structure lacks a roof: there is no limit or ceiling to her higher connection, the idea here is that she is also divinely inspired; the Divine Feminine.
Perhaps the most obvious significance of the two pillars is their very duality. This is not card number 2 by accident. But this is not so simple in the High Priestess. She is never simple! Yes, it's about balance - the two pillars are black or dark, and white or light - two terminological counter-parts used as metaphors for a whole host of historical attributions. Already we can guess from traditional assignations of gender temperament that the dark pillar is going to be the feminine (the unknown, the hidden, the mysterious, Freud's "dark continent") and that the white pillar is going to be associated with the masculine, just as it has been ever since Plato argued that reason is the privilege only of men. And, since light is a metaphor long since associated with intellection and the "light of reason", that the light or white colour is no accident for the "male" pillar. Straight away we can tell that the separateness of these principles is something of an illusion - the High Priestess is on neither side. She is bang in the middle. The idea is that she not only works with or balances both opposites but brings together what seemed to be apart and distinct. The sun and cresent moons
are also realized in form of her crown. In this guise she is also the two Egyptian mother goddesses: Isis ("she
of the throne"), and Hathor. Hathor was usually depicted wearing a cow-horned headress with a solar disc. The High Priestess nicely brings the two goddesses together, at various times both Isis and Hathor were said to be the Mother of Horus.
Intrigued with the Boaz and Jachin, mentioned in the Bible and elsewhere (there is plenty of further information online in scattered contexts), I delved a little deeper into the history and came across this 18th Century German Rosicrucian engraving.
Jachin
represents the elements of fire and air (Wands and Swords) whereas
Boaz symbolizes water and the earth (Cups and Pentacles). Recalling the
traditional gendered renditions of light and dark, above the pillar of
Jachin we have a little sun, and correspondingly a moon over the Boaz
pillar. In between we have the other five planets of astrology,
partaking of both the sun and the moon, the light and the dark (there were only five astrological planets at that time). The rays
are refracted through prisms of the cosmic alchemical principles of
sulphur and mercury (also found, together with salt and water, in the Wheel of
Fortune). These rays influence everything that lies below. The important
aspect of this is not, as we may have thought, in the opposition or
even intermingling of the male and female "principles" but rather in
what is generated through the dynamic interaction of the two. For the
Rosicrucians the concept of polarity is magical because in the union of
the opposites it is transcended, giving birth to a new polarity on a
higher level. They called it "Conjunction". This also tells us something
about the "Threes" in the Tarot: they signify birth or the creation of
something new, a third factor. The Two gives birth to the Three. If you
are familiar with the philosophy of Hegel, this will also recall his
notions of Thesis, Anti-thesis, the opposition and finally marriage of
which gives rise to Synthesis. In his 1807 Phenomenology of Spirit,
we have a kind of bare metaphorical figure or character resembling the
Tarot Fool, who, as simple "consciousness", is only sure of what its senses
tell it, like a baby. As the figure develops it then becomes
"self-conscious" and meets other people and objects which the character
considers to be external and in opposition to itself. It then realizes
that this is mistaken, these objects are also a
part of itself and how the mind constructs the world. And so this little
character undergoes a journey of determinations and overcomes or
transcends (aufheben) these "differences". The differences are
retained but internalized as part of who the character is. That's a
simple gloss missing many complex steps but you get the general
trajectory. And so back to the Rosicrucians (Hegel was partly influenced
by Rosicrucian thought): they believed the Conjunction also applied to
the union of subject and object (brilliantly illustrated in Hegel). All
polarities, that is to say, are false "takes" on the world. This also
includes the ultimate union of Heaven and Earth, the holy and the
profane, within and without - you can come up with entire taxonomy of
binary oppositions here, all of which the High Priestess speculatively
conjoins. This is another aspect of the "hidden knowledge" or secret of
the High Priestess. The
Three is also highly significant in Freemasonry: the triangle
represents the two sides of a duality and the third is the reconciling
force or balancing power. Look out for how often the triangle appears in or appended to
the clothing of the figures in the Major Arcana. It a ppears that Arthur Edward Waite (in The Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross, 1924) considered Rosicrucianism to be the superior discipline in reviving the truths of the past and ancient knowledge whereas Freemasonry he seems to have viewed as a more preparatory level.
Here is another Rosicrucian engraving, this time showing the astrological wheel of the Zodiac together with the Four Elements (Earth, Air, Fire and Water). Again, the astrological signs, whilst different from one another, are also parts of the same whole. In the foreground are the steps of wisdom and learning we must ascend in order to reach the higher level of Conjunction.
In the Tarot the birth of the third is illustrated by the separation of the masculine Jachin and the feminine Boaz in the next two cards. Number Three is the Empress, followed by card Four, the Emperor. This is not only because we need to fully understand the opposing principles, but also because the lesson of the High Priestess is not one she will teach or preach: we have to go through the journey ourselves. It is as if the High Priestess configures and transcends dualities - which also, represented as pillars, form barriers - but in order to fully appreciate this wisdom we must undertake this process ourselves and "live" it. In her hands she holds the scroll of the Torah. She knows the Law but we must pull back the veil ourselves in order to enter her Temple and reveal what is behind it.
There is one last twist exemplifying the union or conjunction of opposites. The High Priestess herself. A woman cannot be a Priest. In the older Marseille deck we have the same transgressive theme; she is La Papesse. An impossible female Pope. Could it ever be possible? And that is the even greater secret of the High Priestess - it relates to the opening of a whole cosmos of possibility. But we have to discover and create these possibilities from within ourselves and through our social space.
Feel free to post your observations on symbols in the Tarot! One great book on the general symbols is The Secret Language of Tarot by Ruth Ann and Wald Amberstone (Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC, 2008). You can get a copy at Amazon.co.uk
The Philosopher's Compass |
Here is another Rosicrucian engraving, this time showing the astrological wheel of the Zodiac together with the Four Elements (Earth, Air, Fire and Water). Again, the astrological signs, whilst different from one another, are also parts of the same whole. In the foreground are the steps of wisdom and learning we must ascend in order to reach the higher level of Conjunction.
There is one last twist exemplifying the union or conjunction of opposites. The High Priestess herself. A woman cannot be a Priest. In the older Marseille deck we have the same transgressive theme; she is La Papesse. An impossible female Pope. Could it ever be possible? And that is the even greater secret of the High Priestess - it relates to the opening of a whole cosmos of possibility. But we have to discover and create these possibilities from within ourselves and through our social space.
Feel free to post your observations on symbols in the Tarot! One great book on the general symbols is The Secret Language of Tarot by Ruth Ann and Wald Amberstone (Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC, 2008). You can get a copy at Amazon.co.uk
Engraving Ilustrations courtesy of Francis King, Magic: The Western Tradition (Thames and Hudson, London, 1975)
© Donna at Tarotdon Tarot
© Donna at Tarotdon Tarot
excellent review, thank you for your insight and knowledge of tradition, very good description - love it
ReplyDeleteThank you, Simon, although I certainly don't know as much as some do about the nuances of the tradition.
DeleteShouldn't your statement be Jachin represents Wands and Swords for fire and air?
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right! Thank you. I will correct that as soon as I have access to a computer.
ReplyDeleteGreat article, very informative! There are two pillars in this style at a small park near my house and they always fascinated me...
ReplyDeleteThanks David! I've since discovered a lot more.
ReplyDeletePerhaps one day I will polish up and add to this post.
Hi Donna,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the informative text. I am experiencing difficulty as various texts conflict with each other regarding this text.
Boaz - Strength to me means male. I have seen various conflicting ideas on who is male and who is female between these two columns... Some say Boaz is male while others say its female...
Am doing an indepth tarot study and am working on this topic.
What's your opinion on the various conflicting ideas here?
This is not just one reference I'm talking about...
Thanks!
Duncan
Hi Duncan.
ReplyDeleteI know.
It depends what you read! Generally Jachin is considered as male and Boaz as female but this is speculation and usually the result of scriptural cherry picking combined with various esoteric assumptions from all over the place.
Even in Judaism not a whole heap is known about it.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jachin-and-boaz
I would tend to stick to the original Judaic sources for something that was, after all, Jewish. In this piece in the link we find quite a banal explanation. Jachin and Boaz could well have been named after the builders. Making both male!
If you're working on a proper article on this I would advise a journey through the very conflicting ideas themselves. Sort of X claims this; however Y claims that. According to what models of interpretation they're using. Masonic? Christian? Kabbalah?
In the end the only thing we can say is that nobody *can* say for sure whether Jachin and Boaz were intended to represent anything we might make of the names or the function of the pillars.
Still, in the first instance it's Judaic. That has to be the starting point. If I wrote another piece on this that's where I would begin. Since I have a Jewish background myself that's probably what I could have done quite well but I sort of try to keep religion out of tarot other than as historical backdrop. So I didn't with this blog post.
Returning to it today, that's what I would do now.
Maybe in the end it doesn't really matter which are decided upon as male or female. Nobody actually knows. It's guesswork.
Kol Tuv (be well).
Oh the links don't work in comments.
ReplyDeleteJust put 'Jachin and Boaz in Judaism' into Google. It should come up.
Hi Donna,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the very informative text.
I prefer going to the root yes 100%. Am just studying the book by Rider Waite as well as Thoth and am doing so in depth, slowly and at my pace.
While there are conflicts, I'm sure the energy for a particular reading presents itself according to the situation. The exercise I'm doing is as part of a deeper understanding in Tarot as I seem to connect very well with this and am working with it.
Thanks again!
Good weekend ahead!
Regards
Duncan
Thanks Duncan.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that the energy for a particular reading exhibits itself in accordance with the situation :) it's all too easy to overthink the tarot sometimes.
Fortunately all the talk my husband has done in my ear, is everything but one idea, which made this so easy to read. Regardless of opposites and opposites, switch of polarities, whatever the reason of vagueness may be, I feel a strong connection all the way around with this High Priestess card. This card is definitely tells us we will transcend in a whole new harmony. Can't read all the words in the card but I go into the history and generally try to hear the voice in the wind
ReplyDeleteI’m glad you enjoyed it and it’s helped you develop your own transcendence of opposites and dualities, Vanessa!
Delete