Boaz, Jachin, and the High Priestess

The Rider-Waite deck and clones show the High Priestess sitting between the pillars Boaz and Jachin, which were on either side of the entrance to the Holy of Holies in Solomon's temple. Their orientation is described in 1 Kings 7:21, "The columns were then erected adjacent to the porch of the temple, one to the right, called Jachin, and one to the left, called Boaz," (also see 2 Chron. 3:17). In the card illustration, Jachin on our right (the priestess's left) and Boaz is on our left (the priestess's right).

Although the Bible never says explicitly in its descriptions of the building of Solomon's Temple which direction it faces, it can be inferred from descriptions of various parts of the temple. Moreover, Ezekiel's vision of the Temple faces east (Ezek. 40:6, 44:1, 46:1), as does the Tabernacle of Moses which the Temple was based on (Exodus 26:18-23). And archaeological excavation of Hebrew temples has found that all of them face east. I hate to use the word "certain" but it does seem quite certain that Solomon's Temple would face east, like every other Hebrew temple described in the Bible and known from archaeology.

In Biblical Hebrew, "right" is a synonym for "south," and "left" is a synonym for "north." Therefore, Jachin is to the south (right) and Boaz to the north (left). And if the southern pillar is on the priestess's left, she is facing west with her back to the entrance to the temple. She is inside the Holy of Holies.

So - mistake on the part of the Golden Dawn? Were they unaware of the Biblical Hebrew association of the compass points and right/left directions? It seems impossible that they wouldn't have known the Temple faced east; did they simply assume that right/left referred to someone facing the Holy of Holies from outside?

Or did they know their Hebrew and deliberately place the High Priestess in the Holy of Holies? One thing that supports this interpretation is her Torah scroll; "Torah" means "law," and the tablets of the 10 Commmandments, the Law of Moses, were kept in the Holy of Holies (1 Kings 6:19).

The traditional interpretations of the card depend on the priestess being outside, between the viewer and the Holy of Holies. I've never seen evidence from Golden Dawn resources saying otherwise; then again, I don't have all their resources! My guess is that it's a mistake in the interpretation of the Hebrew. But does anyone think it might be deliberate, and what that might mean for the interpretation of the card?

I think she is the Holy of Holies. Don't know much about Masonry, but going by Qabalah, hers is the path from Keter to Tiphareth. Going by the path of initiation, that is, up, she would be what was met when crossing the Abyss. She, as a female, is a vessel (not God, but a vessel he builds for himself, similar to Binah).

The Holy of Holies contained the Ark of the Covenant which, by tradition held the Torah (again, by tradition, the entirety of the Torah was given at Sinai). While the Ark was holy unto itself, it was as nothing compared to the actual Word of God contained therein.

Looking at the adjacent paths we have the path of Vau, the Hierophant and Chet, the Chariot. Vau is the hook that connects the Supernal Triangle with the rest of the Tree, and represents, in a way, the words of the Torah, their meaning and significance, a "male" influence on the Pillar of Mercy, in this case Jachin. Going down from Chochma to Chesed, the Hierophant contains the "rules" that eventually manifest as the "fourness" of Chesed (the four elements). The Chariot, on the other hand, contains the "holiness" contained in, as I said, the Word of God, "fencing in" the essence of the deity. In a way, the Chariot is the Ark (the vessel that gives form and restriction) while the Hierophant is the Torah itself.

The Priestess is an amalgam of the two, as being on the Middle Pillar. She weds the vessel with the Word, and sits, in my opinion, inside the Temple but looking out as the Ark. To open the Ark is to achieve final initiation, to be united with God. In a divinatory sense, she is traditionally intuition, the unseen knowledge and wisdom.

Does any of this make any sense?

I'm not very familiar with Qabalah but that does make sense! It's intriguing that the priestess could herself be the Holy of Holies. And the more I think about it, the more the Torah scroll in her hand seems to signify that - the Holy of Holies holds the Law. (Sorry for my error about the Torah including the entire Law, not just the tablets of the 10 Commandments.)

Oh, I was merely speaking of a popular misconception, nothing personal.

Since the commandments could be said to contain the entire thing, abridged, it's still practically the same.

Tarot Orat said:

.........And if the southern pillar is on the priestess's left, she is facing west with her back to the entrance to the temple. She is inside the Holy of Holies.......

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Are you implying that the Holy of Holies קדש הקדשים is immediately inside the eastern entrance to the building?

Tarot, I'm curious why you wonder if the GD made a mistake. I was looking in Regardie's Golden Dawn book and found this in the "Fifth Knowledge Lecture," under the "Diagrams" section.

"That is, the white Mercy or Jachin Pillar is on your right hand as you approach the Altar from the West and from the Hiereus."

From this it sounds like Waite/Smith followed the GD colors & orientation, and the GD's in agreement with the Old Testament.

I agree THP is inside, the only thing that doesn't make sense is the veil isn't where you'd expect it to be. It may have been put there out of necessity.

Actually, if she's the Most Holy Place, the veil is exactly where it should be. On the card it doesn't look right, but there's only so much you can do with a two-dimensional picture. All the elements are there to get the idea across.

It appears to me as if the HP has her back to the West(some water is behind her) and is facing the Eastern door and the veil blocks out the exterior world. So she is on the Porch- not inside as far as I can tell from the visuals.
~Rosanne

Rosanne said:

It appears to me as if the HP has her back to the West(some water is behind her) and is facing the Eastern door and the veil blocks out the exterior world. So she is on the Porch- not inside as far as I can tell from the visuals.
~Rosanne

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I'm getting more and more confused by all this stuff. If she has her back to the west, and she is facing the eastern door, then how can she be outside on the porch?

And nobody has explained what happened to the Holy Place היכל if the door opens from the porch directly to the Holy of Holies קדש הקדשים , which is in the back or western end of the building.

I read that Boaz stands for "the end" and Jochin for "the beginning". The HP is positioned in the middle in front of the curtain which veils all of the secrets in between. Anyone else know of this interpretation?

DPJ