Headdress of The High Priestess

Liz C

I believe that the headdress of the RWS High Priestess is not only waxing, waning and full moons, but also the headdress of Hathor/Isis. In The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, Waite refers to "the Sanctuary of Isis" (p 76). I don't know anything of Egyptian mythology or Gods/Godesses, but I did an internet search, and found that whilst Isis originally had an emblem of a 'throne' on her head, after her assimilation with Hathor, Isis's headdress was replaced with that of Hathor: the horns of a cow on her head, and the solar disc/sun between them.

Why did Waite make reference to Hathor/Isis? I know nothing of Egyptian mythology. What is the connection of Hathor/Isis to the High Priestess?

All suggestions much appreciated,
Liz.
 

frelkins

Liz C said:
What is the connection of Hathor/Isis to the High Priestess?
.

i don't know anything about this stuff, and crowley creeps me out, but i believe he talks about assigning egyptian deities to the cards in his wacky 777. look at one of the tables in the back.

perhaps you are more knowledgeable than i and can understand him here:

http://www.hermetic.com/crowley/libers/liber777.pdf

he assigns isis to the high priestess for the attribute of wisdom. hope this helps!
 

Liz C

Hi. When I go to the above link, nothing happens. I can't view anything.


I can't get over the similarity of the High Priestess's headress to the cow horns of Hathor/Isis with the sun between them.
 

BodhiSeed

I read somewhere that the bull was associated with the goddess because the shape of the bull's head along with the horns resemble the fallopian tubes and uterus - a hidden mystery.

Bodhran
 

Dulcimer

OK. The head-dresses of both Hathor and Isis vary with what the priests wanted to convey, to what part of Egypt the goddess is worshipped and to what name the goddess is worshipped under. For example, Hathor in Thebes is depicted wearing the familiar horns and disk; as the lady of Hetepet she wears the vulture 'tiara'; as the lady of Senemet her headress is made up of feathered plumes and horns, and so on and so on. It is the same with Isis.
There are many contempory pictures that have Isis wearing the horns and disk head-dress so it wasn't that Waite made the link between them for this card. Isis wearing that head-dress was normal paraphanalia for the goddess.

As an aside, the 'throne' head-dress you mention is unique to Isis. It refers to the Great Mother as the one who confers rulership. Briefly (ever-so) The Earth Mother is symbolised with enormous breasts for nourishment, large belly for fecundity, and enormous thighs and buttocks for stability/solidity. She is always modelled or pictured as sitting. In the landscape she is symbolised by the mountain. [If you are at all interested in this I recommend you read "The Great Mother: An Analysis of the Archetype" by Erich Neumann. Don't worry it is not as dry as it sounds lol]. To ascend the mountain is to ascend the lap of The Goddess. To ascend the lap of the Godedess is to ascend the throne of the world.
To sit in the lap of the Goddess is to be the chosen one, the Child of The Great Mother, the Son of God. The Throne of God was originally the Great Goddess Herself. The lap of the Goddess is "the threshold of the Sanctuary of Isis" to which you refered. It is where you are protected, nourished, and taught the Mysteries, and where the Priestess and the Hierophant 'conjoin'. These are all part of the Eleusinian Mysteries which is something you'll have to find out for yourself lol. But I digress.

The head-dress depicts the solar disk held within horns which take on the appearance of a cup or container. This is in keeping with the idea of the Great Mother as protector of the 'masculine principle', originally Ra (Hathor was originally the female counterpart to the sun-god) but later Horus.
Waite has depicted her wearing the horns and disk as reference to this aspect of the Goddess's function. It is all part of what he is trying to convey with this card: The Great Mother as wise protector and Beloved; Sophia, Shekinah, Madonna, Isis.
 

Liz C

Thanks Dulcimer for your reply. I have to admit, because I know nothing of Egyptian mythology, it sort of goes over my head a bit. I guess thats obvious when its not one's field of study. I would've thought that the Great Mother as wise protector might've fit more with The Empress, but I guess that's because again, this isn't my area of expertise.
 

Abrac

Liz C said:
Why did Waite make reference to Hathor/Isis? I know nothing of Egyptian mythology. What is the connection of Hathor/Isis to the High Priestess?
Quoting John Michael Greer from The New Encyclopedia of the Occult: "The most important of the goddesses of ancient Egyptian myth, Isis went on the become an even more significant figure in late classical Pagan religion. The wife of Osiris and mother of Horus the Younger, she was also one of a handful of Egyptian deities who had the title weret-hekau, "great of magic," and played a significant role in the priestly magic of ancient Egypt."

Isis was a key figure in the curriculums of Theosophy and The Golden Dawn - among others - in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. H.P. Blavatsky wrote a two-volume book called Isis Unveiled that put Theosophy on the map. I believe it is because of this, and because of Isis' association with magic and mystery that Waite mentions this. He says, "She has been called Occult Science on the threshold of the Sanctuary of Isis," but then goes on to explain his own view that she is really "the Secret Church, the house which is of God and man." To me this seems like metaphysical hair-splitting, but that is what he wrote so he must have seen a distinction.
 

Dulcimer

Liz C said:
I would've thought that the Great Mother as wise protector might've fit more with The Empress, .
You are quite right of course. The difference as I see it is that The Empress is a protector as a mother would be to her children whereas the High Priestess is a protector in the way that a guide and teacher would be.

Sorry, my fault. You ask a simple question and I throw all that at you lol.
 

Liz C

Dulcimer said:
You are quite right of course. The difference as I see it is that The Empress is a protector as a mother would be to her children whereas the High Priestess is a protector in the way that a guide and teacher would be.

Sorry, my fault. You ask a simple question and I throw all that at you lol.
lol, That's ok. I guess I like to get to the crux of things, in a nutshell. But I get what you are saying above, I see what you mean.

If only one could become an instant expert on all religions, philosophies and mythologies, study of the tarot would be so much easier :)
 

tarotlyn

High Priestess

High Priestess
This is wierd, but today, when I looked at her on the card, it looks like a
large crystal ball on her headdress. Which to me would represent the
subconscious mind.

I also see that she is "guarding" the unknown mysteries of positive and
negative, and of life and death itself.

She allows us to see "partially" [part unrolled scroll "Tora"]

She is motherly, passive, illusive, and identifies with water [moon]

She sits here as a protector of higher knowledge...and I think she allows
those to enter beyond the veil...only when they are ready to know more.

So she says to the person to be wise and make good use of the information
she imparts to them. She also gives them the confidence to make commitments

I also read this card as: Things are now out of the person's hands...it is in
the hands of the Eternal Light of Higher Power. Things are working out as
they should.

Reversed:
Can not make a commitment to a relationship out of fear. They don't know or
understand the true meaning of life.
:THP