View Full Version : Thoth - The Priestess
MystiqueMoonlight
02-12-2002, 01:16
Priority is to live only to the Highest; and the Highest is All; be Thou as Artemis to Pan. Read Thou in the Book of Law, and break through the veil of the Virgin (Aleister Crowley)
Correspondences:-
- Herb; Cloves
- Astrology; The Moon
- Colour; White
- Rune; Uruz - Vital strength and speed. Untamed potential. Protection (certainly of Home and Land). Tenacious, freedom, gain inner strength through the achievement of goals.
- Hebrew;Gimel - (camel) which is the activity, the motion of contained limited existence or no-existence. It is Aleph and Beth. A glyph which signifies organic development and produces all ideas originating from the corporeal organs and form their actions.
Analysis:-
Represented on the card by Isis who is the Egyptian Moon Goddess. Here she trusts the intuitive abilities she has come to understand completely. Like the camel, which can travel long distance without water, when you have come to find your own inner well you radiate an air of self sufficiency. The more you accept yourself and share what knowledge you have gained with others then your perceptional clarity will strengthen. This is represented by the crystals in the card.
This is the strongest representation of balance and inner harmony in the entire deck. The upper half of the body is representative of the Yin or feminine energy. This is accentuated by the upward movement of the lines and the crescent Moons behind her head which are also in unison with those lines as they are pointing upwards.
The lower half of the body, which is veiled by crisscross lines, are that of the Yang or Masculine energy. The bow and arrow on her lap is a graphic detail of this concept.
The fruit and flowers are representative of the fertile mindfulness within your deepest self. That Intuitive and responsible self which grows fertile.
MystiqueMoonlight
02-12-2002, 20:59
thanks Kaz
The first impressions: The Priestess possesses a fluidity that belies the stillness of her stationery posture. Her head-dress with its crescents curving upwards connect her with the divine source of all knowledge, & the waves of energy issuing down are what she receives in turn. The depiction of her upper torso hints at the constant flow of energy & communication as she accesses the portals of knowledge through her mental powers & her intuitive understanding. In her way, she is complete unto herself, sure of her wisdom as 'tis a blend of that which is seen or logic & the unseen or the intuitive.
The web of lines that cascade from her hands suggest a net like that of a fisherman's. As she holds the net, as if in offering what is captured within its confines, the net is representative of her "grasp" of knowledge. The fruits of her wisdom is accessible to all who know how to communicate with her. The criss-crossing lines also suggest that it is through the blend of logic/yang & the intuition/yin that one must achieve to form a wholistic understanding. She & the wisdom she represents is otherwise "veiled" from those not deemed "worthy" or mature to receive of her bounty.
The crossbow & arrow on her lap protect her virginity, her pureness of knowledge from the intrusion of those not ready to access her. They also symbolize the keeness of her discernment; her unerring aim in matters of her dominion.
Mystique: Thanks for all of your introductory postings thus far on the Thoth cards! I appreciate the access to the material.
Kaz: Thank ye for posting the card, & for all the card postings! They are clearer versions than the cards of the deck I have. This one helps me to see The Priestess with more clarity :)
oi, then you have the yucky greenish tinted cards i suppose, you should get yourself a copy that hasnt got that, you will appreciate the cards so much more.
wanna trade for a dutch thoth?
kaz
Kaz: The green deck is the one I have. It has sentimental value but it seems a wee blurry. Thought it just me because I have not seen another version in person & only recently found out there are other versions. Have not seen a Dutch Thoth, but I take it 'tis not green. I would be willing to trade for a Dutch Thoth. What would ye be interested in?
isthmus nekoi
08-01-2003, 19:15
MystiqueMoonlight, your avatar looks uncannily similar to Thoth's Priestess! Might it be based on this card?
2 other names for Isis are Hathor and Athor. Pretty close to Thoth and Tarot, and also, to Torah which is included in Rider Waite's version.
The crossbow/arrow also remind me of the Greek goddess Artemis. There's something about the style of drawing that reminds me of Classical Greek sculpture. I think it's interesting to look at this card beside the Hierophant since he's drawn in the same style.
I don't know what to make of the pinecone. Is it a pinecone?
MystiqueMoonlight
08-01-2003, 19:35
Originally posted by isthmus nekoi
MystiqueMoonlight, your avatar looks uncannily similar to Thoth's Priestess! Might it be based on this card?
2 other names for Isis are Hathor and Athor. Pretty close to Thoth and Tarot, and also, to Torah which is included in Rider Waite's version.
The crossbow/arrow also remind me of the Greek goddess Artemis. There's something about the style of drawing that reminds me of Classical Greek sculpture. I think it's interesting to look at this card beside the Hierophant since he's drawn in the same style.
I don't know what to make of the pinecone. Is it a pinecone?
Brilliant observations!
Yes I can thank Kayne for that Avatar it is based on the Thoth High Priestess. This is my Soul card.
Do not forgt that the Thoth deck has Egyptian influences so your associations to the names are pretty much on the button. Torah is Hebrew of course.
There is alo a far bit of Greek influence in Lady Frieda Harris' work. Good pick up on that too.
I think as we go along you will discover just how versatile and eclectic this deck really is. The fear base in the Thoth deck is unfounded.
Thanks again for your keen eye for detail.
MM
isthmus nekoi
09-01-2003, 17:05
I read about the Hathor/Athor connection to the word tarot in this great book called Tarot: History, Mystery Lore so it's not really my observation! I've been reading the sections about Crowley and Thoth, as well as the general history of tarot. My impression is that it's pretty informative, but I haven't looked at all its sources and suchlike yet. Unfortunately, I don't remember the author of that book :(
A little art history: looking again, the pose of the Priestess seems more static and stylized than the Hierophant; I'd place her in a pre-Classical period of Greek sculpture (forgot the official name.... Ionian? Er...) which was *heavily* influenced by Egyptian styles. I imagine it would be fruitful to pull parallels b/w other Egyptian gods and the Greek Panthenon other than just Thoth.
For Isis in this context, I might place her w/Hecate (b/c of the moon), Artemis (virginity). In general, I'd relate her w/any goddess associated w/the mother-son lover/agricultural story (ie. Jesus and Mary, Ishtar and Tammuz)
Isthmus Nekoi, I think pincones are a symbol of growth and fertility...but I'm not sure. Anyway, the Queen of Wands also has one...
I find this card fascinating...even where the veil is dropped, you can't really see her; the prism-like swirling lights obscure her upper body, an infinity symbol covers her eyes, and the light from the moon covers her head. The sense of depth, mystery, and silence is almost overwhelming. The whiteness of her skin and hair make her look literally statuesque...
coldsuns
02-03-2003, 04:55
On her head,there is a "moon" with a "circle" on it. What does it mean? And on the floor there are "diamonds"? I dont understand..^_^
firemaiden
10-04-2003, 22:14
Originally posted by Richard
...even where the veil is dropped, you can't really see her; the prism-like swirling lights obscure her upper body, an infinity symbol covers her eyes, and the light from the moon covers her head. The sense of depth, mystery, and silence is almost overwhelming. The whiteness of her skin and hair make her look literally statuesque...
Obscured by light
An important concept
Why are we not studying these cards in function with the book of Thoth?
Crowley writes: "She is clothed only in the luminous veil of light. It is important for high initiation to regard Light not as the perfect manifestation of the Eternal Spirit, but rather as the veil which hides that Spirit It does so all the more effectively because of its incomparably dazzling brilliance. [The tradition of the best schools of Hindu mysticism has a precise parallelism. The final obstacle to full Enlightenment is exactly this Vision of Formless Effulgence]. Thus she is light and the body of light. She is the truth behind the veil of light. She is the soul of light."
http://www.angelfire.com/celeb/Crowley/thoth/majors.html
I agree that one should also look at what Crowley also said of this (and other) cards in his The Book of Thoth - but it is also worth considering how the images Frieda (I nearly wrote Fire-da...) Harris gifted us from possible early discussions with Crowley, and then her work with either George Adams and/or Olive Whicher on projective geometry. It is the combination of these which resulted in her creation of these wonderful cards she gifted the world.
In writing his Book of Thoth, then, Crowley may himself have been influenced by the manifestation (perhaps at times surprising yet truthful to his guiding instructions) of Harris's cards.
On this card, not only the Light-mesh, as a net which veils, but its very shape hint at the sanctity of its hidden dimensions.
Crowley would have been quite aware of the significance of the 'diamonds' in the lower portions. Three are clearly regular polyhedra (oft called 'Platonic Solids'): the Tetrahedron, Dodecahedron, and Octahedron. The bottom left-hand one appears to combine somewhat what may be expected to be either a Hexahedron (ie, cube) and Icosahedron - a strange mixture, really... The other depictions (such as the sunflower-like plant on the right, the pine-cone, and the other flora-like depictions) each exhibit clear golden proportions through their implicit Fibonacci numbers.
Here, then, what seems to also be revealed is that nature will manifest through not only geometrical veils of Light, but that its descent will manifest through harmonious and law-abiding structures.
When considering also the card's location upon the Tree (as Crowley and the Golden Dawn would have it), it is placed upon the path which not only crosses the Abyss upon which Knowledge (Da'at) will be required for its re-entry, but links the central Solar Sephiroth with its ultimate Crowning-Achad (unity) of origin.
Here, certainly Gimel may easily be understood to make sense (even if this tradition is not universally accepted). The Camel, as the ship of the desert (in ancient Egyptian: Deshert = Red earth = the place of danger and death), assists in making such long journeys in the fiery desert in which water is sparce... One's own knowledge (Da'at) of placements (the various oasis and wells) is required for the drinking deeply of the quenching.
As Artemis, who, as Crowley describes her, hunts with the musical bow by enchantment, depicts the High Priestess, a question may truely be asked as to whom her prey becomes!
In the same book previously mentioned, Crowley also says of this card: 'Pure, exalted and gracious influence enters matter. Hence, change, alternation, increase and decrease, fluctuation. There is, however, a liability to be led away by enthusiasm; one may become "moon-struck" unless careful balance is maintained.' (p 255)
The unveiling of Isis (or as Plutarch wrote her name: Iside, reminiscent of another name Isilde) becomes but the blinding Light and its darkness made visible through initiation of, as a first step, one's Holy Guardian Angel...
Wow...that's what I love about this place...I think I've got a handle on the various meanings of each card, and then someone comes along and kicks my intellectual butt.
I really like the idea that, rather than try to rend the veil or look beyond it, we should in reality be grateful it's there. I might have more to say when I'm more awake...
From Angeles Arrien:
This is an adrogynous figure who archetypally represents blalnce. From the naval up, the figure is all curved lines, soft, magnetic, ying, and receptive. From the navel down, this figure is all straight lines, strong, dynamic, yang, and assertive. .... the High Priestess with her sun/moon crown represents each person's commitment to have equal balance in strength and softness.
The crystals represent the multifaceted aspects of intuition that are present at each level of consciousness: mental intuition (the triangular crystal); emotional intuition (the round crystal); spiritual insight (the diamond crystal); and physically registered information (the octagonal crystal)....
Mythically, this archetype also represents the journey homeward or the return to oneself. the camel within the oasis symbolizes the return to the inner oasis or garden within.....
I, too, find the mathematical presence to be significant, as the Gridwork healers learn of; the invisible, yet powerfilled realm of reality that gives us the 'variable' order, the ordered chaos, if you will, of this grand Universe.
isthmus nekoi
22-04-2003, 12:05
Thanks for the suggestion, Richard. Maybe there is something about pinecones that is suggestive of mathmatical proportions and what not....
Also, this is a much more personal observation but... I once wrote a story where a woman dreams of a thousand white crows flying into the sun.... something along the lines of... she could not forget that image of light covering light. Later, she's burying a dead mare (primordial feminine symbol) and she sees a thousand white crows fly into the sun. She takes ill and dies later on in the story (in order to make room for the new feminine priciple).