The High Priestess and her pomegranates
Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 18 May 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.
| Lyra |
18 May 2005 |
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I have a question about the High Priestess card in the Rider-Waite deck. She sits enthroned with a curtain behind her; on the curtain are pomegranates and palms. Just to the left of the third pomegranate, and a little beneath it, is a pomegranate whose flesh is colored but whose seeds are not. Can anyone tell me what's up with this? If the other pomegranates are sephiroth and the High Priestess is the Middle Pillar, does the half-hidden uncolored fruit behind her represent Daath?
Edited thread title for clarification.
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| Fulgour |
18 May 2005 |
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Innana was the Goddess of the Date Palm Warehouse,
and just as each harvest would fill it, soon it was empty,
and yet she was always there, waiting to be filled anew.
Colman Smith's "High Priestess" from 1909 original
http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/pkt/img/ar02.jpg
Date palms are the source of many mysterious myths,
from the lotus to papyrus, from the sacred to the daily
things of life ~ all wonderment and gratitude is there.
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| Emeraldgirl |
20 May 2005 |
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Pomegranate's were the fruits of the Underworld for the ancient Greeks and Romans. In some decks the High Priestess is represented as as Persephone the Pomegranate's very importamnt to her story. Here's a myth that relates to it:
Persephone is the goddess of the underworld in Greek mythology. She is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, goddess of the harvest. Persephone was such a beautiful young woman that everyone loved her, even Hades wanted her for himself. One day, when she was collecting flowers on the plain of Enna, the earth suddenly opened and Hades rose up from the gap and abducted her. None but Zeus, and the all-seeing sun, Helios, had noticed it.
Broken-hearted, Demeter wandered the earth, looking for her daughter until Helios revealed what had happened. Demeter was so angry that she withdrew herself in loneliness, and the earth ceased to be fertile. Knowing this could not continue much longer, Zeus sent Hermes down to Hades to make him release Persephone. Hades grudgingly agreed, but before she went back he gave Persephone a pomegranate (or the seeds of a pomegranate, according to some sources). When she later ate of it, it bound her to underworld forever and she had to stay there one-third of the year. The other months she stayed with her mother. When Persephone was in Hades, Demeter refused to let anything grow and winter began. This myth is a symbol of the budding and dying of nature. In the Eleusinian mysteries, this happening was celebrated in honor of Demeter and Persephone, who was known in this cult as Kore.
The Romans called her Proserpine.
They are also a sign of fertility with their many seeds.
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| Rosanne |
20 May 2005 |
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Well RWS was the first Deck I used and still is my most used favourite. I thought I had picked these cards to Death and have never seen the uncoloured pomegranate before. Thank you for that Lyra; I have said before this deck always has me learning something new. So I went and looked back on Robert M Place's Book The Tarot and I quote the following:-
'The pomegranates and date palms on the veil are symbols of fertility that were also found carved into Solomon's Temple. But compare the placement of the Pomegranates with the sephiroth on the Tree of Life. It is obvious that this is the Kabalistic tree with the lower sephiroth hidden by the Priestess's body. The palms suggest the paths and the pomegranates the sephiroth....'
So after looking at the Tree of Life diagram and the card from three different printings, I would say that you are right -DAAT Knowledge-the unseen Sephira. It is not quite in line but I think it was done like that to be seen. Very Clever once again Pamela Colman Smith!! Thanks for the thread Lyra~Rosanne PS The original RWS is the least clear, the 1971 edition matt finish plaid backed is the clearest.
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| tarotbear |
20 May 2005 |
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I always thought the pomegranates were vulvas and the palms were phalluses ... :smoker: In my deck all the seeds are colored.
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| wandking |
20 May 2005 |
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Like the J/B pillars, the pomegranate motif refers to the Temple of King Solomon. Here is Kings 7:20 from KJV:
20And the chapiters upon the two pillars had pomegranates also above, over against the belly which was by the network: and the pomegranates were two hundred in rows round about upon the other chapiter.
1 Kings 6:29
On the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer rooms, he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers.
Associating pomergranate and palm with fertility is certainly reasonable, since the KJV makes numerous statements like this:
Deuteronomy 8:8
A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;
# Song of Solomon 7:7
Your stature is like that of the palm, and your breasts like clusters of fruit.
# Song of Solomon 7:8
I said, "I will climb the palm tree; I will take hold of its fruit." May your breasts be like the clusters of the vine, the fragrance of your breath like apples,
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| Lyra |
20 May 2005 |
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Thank you to everyone for your responses! Just to clarify a bit, I wasn't asking about the symbolism of the palms and pomegranates, I was asking for ideas on the symbolism on the uncolored pomegranate. Again, I appreciate the responses and the food (haha) for thought.
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| Fulgour |
21 May 2005 |
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...I was asking for ideas on the symbolism
on the uncolored pomegranate. Which exactly is the "third" pomegranate you mention :)
and when you say "Rider-Waite" which deck do you have?
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| Fulgour |
21 May 2005 |
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I always thought the pomegranates were vulvas and the palms were phalluses ... Cultivated date palms must be artificially
inseminated... um er, cross-pollenated.
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| Fulgour |
23 May 2005 |
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Just yesterday I saw it, as plain as could be,
but it was like it wasn't there before at all...
the yellow pulp around the uncoloured centre
stands out at an odd position in relation to the
others... one of those "Pamela Colman Smith"
moments, like when I saw how the shield on
The Chariot was coloured in a unique way. ;)
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The The High Priestess and her pomegranates thread was originally posted on 18 May 2005 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.
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