Thoth Prince of Swords

firemaiden

I am looking at the Thoth Prince of Swords.

The Thoth prince describes an alarming situation. A charioteer is driving along at a furious pace -- his steeds are miniature versions of himself, falling down, tripping over the wires, about to be run over by the very chariot they are pulling -- they speak to me of a situation where a person is driving himself too hard, has enslaved aspects of himself, and is running himself into the ground. The sword he wields looks poised to cut the cords holding the three mini-egos.

This view assumes the little men are pulling the chariot... and the chariot is moving toward the viewer.

What if the the chariot is moving away from the viewer? -- then these three little men are not pulling the chariot but being dragged by it... like the death of Hektor... Achilles dragging him behind the chariot (x three).

Or if they are not being dragged, even worse -- they are hanging on, trying to hitch a ride... and desperation of the hangers on, who thought they were thrown a life-line -- the image reminds me of survivors in a life boat in the wake of the Titanic, cutting off the hands of the drowning still in the water to prevent them from pulling the boat under by climbing aboard...

But since all the men are miniatures of the image of the large prince, they must be metaphors of self -- metaphors of a self desperate to slash away the parts of self that are dragging self down - a desperate bid for freedom, a need to escape one escape, to start anew

IN any case the card describes a situation of cruelty, desperation, being willing to make painful changes in order to survive.

thorhammer

I got this card a day or two ago . . . it's in the Daily Thoth thread. Your analogy with the Titanic passengers is . . . disturbing.

firemaiden said:
IN any case the card describes a situation of cruelty, desperation, being willing to make painful changes in order to survive.

Not to mention turmoil within the Self. And that's what I associate with this card - with no element but Air to draw on, it has no mitigating energy and nothing to anchor it. There is no reference point with which to associate the thoughts. The points of geometrical crystalline structures which emanated from the chariot make it look unstable, ephemeral.

It does look cruel, firemaiden, and desperate; also reactionary.

Crowley says:

for there is a secret crown in the nature of this card; if concentrated, it is exactly Tiphareth.

What does he mean by this? How is this card associated with that particular Sephiroth?

What, for that matter, is the significance of the yellow . . . things which emerge from behind each figure like wings? The large figure, the Prince, has yellow wings that show triangles; the Princelets have geometrical shapes which appear to be in the process of transforming into triangles . . . ??? What is the meaning of this? Does anyone have thoughts?

\m/ Kat

Aeon418

thorhammer said:
What does he mean by this? How is this card associated with that particular Sephiroth?

All the Princes are associated with Tiphareth by the formula of YHVH.

Yod - Knights - Chokmah
Heh - Queens - Binah
Vav - Princes - Tiphareth
Heh - Princesses - Malkuth

The special thing about the Prince of Swords is that he is not only a Prince and therefore related to the letter Vav and the sephiroth, Tiphareth, but his own element is Air, which also relates to the letter Vav and Tiphareth. Of all the Princes he is the most.... erm.... Vav-ey. :laugh:

If the energy of this card could be focused in one place it would be like concentrated Tiphareth. None of the other Princes have this quality.

It is a quality that is shared by the Knight of Wands, Queen of Cups, and the Princess of Disks, in their respective sephiroth/element combinations.

thorhammer said:
What, for that matter, is the significance of the yellow . . . things which emerge from behind each figure like wings

They are supposed to be wings. But they are sort of like an extremely abstract idea of a wing. Remember that this card is very "mental". The notion of practicallity just isn't in this card. It's more about ideas and concepts. Everything is still "up in the air".

Aeon418

Just as an addition to what I said above....

In many mystic traditions the aim of Yoga/meditation practices is to achieve a state of mind called "one pointedness". In these traditions the mind is always regarded as the great enemy and is sometimes compared to a demon, a wild animal, or a whirlwind. But if the mind can be held in one spot, focused on one object, enlightement is said to occur. That's very much a Tiphareth association.

The Prince of Swords is a picture of the uncontrolled mind. Constantly creating and slaying it's own creations. The key for the Prince of Swords is to slay himself.

firemaiden

Aeon418 said:
Just as an addition to what I said above....

In many mystic traditions the aim of Yoga/meditation practices is to achieve a state of mind called "one pointedness". In these traditions the mind is always regarded as the great enemy and is sometimes compared to a demon, a wild animal, or a whirlwind. But if the mind can be held in one spot, focused on one object, enlightement is said to occur. That's very much a Tiphareth association.

The Prince of Swords is a picture of the uncontrolled mind. Constantly creating and slaying it's own creations. The key for the Prince of Swords is to slay himself.

Very interesting -- "One pointedness" would be the opposite of this card, then, wouldn't it, with its three "steeds of self" -- indicating a tortured and divided mind.

Aeon418

firemaiden said:
Very interesting -- "One pointedness" would be the opposite of this card, then, wouldn't it, with its three "steeds of self" -- indicating a tortured and divided mind.

I see One pointedness as a possibility in this this card, but it's very much at the extreme positive end of the spectrum. At the negative end of the scale you could have things nervous breakdowns, mental disintegration, or even complete madness. Like the element of Air itself, it's a card of contradictions.

If viewed in a negative way the "steeds of self" could most certainly indicate a tortured mind. Wracked with indecision and doubt, not knowing which way to turn or what to do. I suppose some fruitful comparisons could to be with the last few cards in the suit of Swords - 7, 8, 9, & 10.

On the positive side the "steeds" could also indicate a flexible, curious, and inquisitive mind. Always willing to explore new ideas, and travel along unfamiliar avenues of thought. It could be the kind of mind that likes to seek out knowledge for it's own sake.

firemaiden

Aeon418 said:
On the positive side the "steeds" could also indicate a flexible, curious, and inquisitive mind. Always willing to explore new ideas, and travel along unfamiliar avenues of thought. It could be the kind of mind that likes to seek out knowledge for it's own sake.

That's very beautiful!

Umbrae

firemaiden said:
But since all the men are miniatures of the image of the large prince, they must be metaphors of self -- metaphors of a self desperate to slash away the parts of self that are dragging self down - a desperate bid for freedom, a need to escape one escape, to start anew

This guy’s directionless. Lon Milo equates him with ‘Jim Stark’, the protagonist in/of Rebel Without A Cause. Perhaps an apt analogy.

glib to "quote Scripture" aptly and cunningly to support any thesis soever, indifferent to the fate of a contrary argument advanced two minutes earlier, impossible to defeat because any position is as good as any other, ready to enter into combination with the nearest element available, these elusive and elastic people are of value only when firmly mastered by creative will fortified by an intelligence superior to their own. In practice, this is rarely possible: there is no purchase to be had upon them, not even by pandering to their appetites. These may nevertheless be stormy, even uncontrollable. Faddists, devotees of drink, drugs, humanitarianism, music or religion, are often in this class; but when this is the case, there is still no stability. They wander from one cult or one vice to another, always brilliantly supporting with the fanaticism of a fixed conviction what is actually no more than the whim of the moment.

Aleister Crowley – The Book of Thoth

Jim Stark asks his father, "what do you do when you have to be a man?"

Nice…

firemaiden

Umbrae, what a fabulous quote from Crowley. I just LOVE how he puts words together -- pungent combinations - so do you think he is describing himself?

P.S. I'm afraid I never saw "Rebel without a Cause", but the analogy as much as I understand it, seems rich.

Aeon418

firemaiden said:
so do you think he is describing himself?

No. Crowley saw himself in the Prince of Wands.