Richard
I wonder too, but FWIW, the Golden Dawn Emperor also is portrayed facing forward, seated on a throne. Waite is probably following this earlier GD portrayal, but the question "Why?" still remains.
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Greater Arcana Study Group—The Emperor
I wonder too, but FWIW, the Golden Dawn Emperor also is portrayed facing forward, seated on a throne. Waite is probably following this earlier GD portrayal, but the question "Why?" still remains.
Abrac
For Waite, at least in the PKT, the question of full face or profile wasn’t an issue. From the PKT, Class 1, Section 2:
As to the throne, I found something in Book-T that might help explain it:
The Queens sit on thrones because of everything said before—Material Forces, steady and unshaken, not rapid, enduring. This part deals with the Queens and not the major arcana, but it reflects thinking that could transfer to the majors as well.
In the GD tarot, the cards in which the figures are seated on thrones are—Empress, Emperor, Hierophant, Justice. In the Waite-Smith they’re the same with the exception of the Empress. Waite’s descriptions for each of these cards contain language that puts them either on an external or mundane level.
The thrones could be clues that indicate the symbolism represents something mundane or of this world. Granted, it’s all circumstantial, but it could be one explanation.
For Waite, the symbolism of the cubic stone had another significance pertaining to the "white stone" of Revelation 2:17. I think that might be what he meant by "confuses some of the issues."
The Empress, who is sometimes represented with full face, while her correspondence, the Emperor, is in profile. As there has been some tendency to ascribe a symbolical significance to this distinction, it seems desirable to say that it carries no inner meaning.
As to the throne, I found something in Book-T that might help explain it:
The Four Queens are seated upon Thrones, representing the Forces of the He of the Name [YHVH] in each suit; the Mother and bringer-forth of Material Forces: a force which develops and realizes that of the King: a force steady and unshaken, but not rapid, though enduring. It is therefore symbolized by a Figure seated upon a Throne: but also clothed in Armour.
The Queens sit on thrones because of everything said before—Material Forces, steady and unshaken, not rapid, enduring. This part deals with the Queens and not the major arcana, but it reflects thinking that could transfer to the majors as well.
In the GD tarot, the cards in which the figures are seated on thrones are—Empress, Emperor, Hierophant, Justice. In the Waite-Smith they’re the same with the exception of the Empress. Waite’s descriptions for each of these cards contain language that puts them either on an external or mundane level.
Empress = Earthly, inferior, this world.
Emperor = this world, mundane.
Hierophant = external, exoteric, outer side of life, manifest side, world of institution.
Justice = the pillars of Justice open into one world and the pillars of the High Priestess into another.
Emperor = this world, mundane.
Hierophant = external, exoteric, outer side of life, manifest side, world of institution.
Justice = the pillars of Justice open into one world and the pillars of the High Priestess into another.
The thrones could be clues that indicate the symbolism represents something mundane or of this world. Granted, it’s all circumstantial, but it could be one explanation.
For Waite, the symbolism of the cubic stone had another significance pertaining to the "white stone" of Revelation 2:17. I think that might be what he meant by "confuses some of the issues."
Teheuti
See my quote from W. Wynn Westcott above re: Emperor as Microprosopus.I wonder too, but FWIW, the Golden Dawn Emperor also is portrayed facing forward, seated on a throne. Waite is probably following this earlier GD portrayal, but the question "Why?" still remains.
For Waite, the symbolism of the cubic stone had another significance
You all might find the early articles by Paul Foster Case of interest. They are from before Case joined the Golden Dawn and therefore reflect his own studies. If you know his later work it is fascinating to see what he chose to leave in his discussions on the cards and what he later left out. In the series of articles he often remarks on why Waite's images (which he generally followed) differ from the earlier Marseille versions. The link will take you to Case's brief discussion of the cubic stone in regards to the Emperor:
https://books.google.com/books?id=X...nKQMq#v=onepage&q=Waite "cubic stone"&f=false
See also Waite's translation of Levi on the cubic stone:
https://books.google.com/books?id=8...XCmogKHZn_C0c#v=onepage&q=cubic stone&f=false
Abrac
I ran across this Crux Ansata in Regardie's Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic. It looks a lot like The Emperor's.
Crux Ansata
Crux Ansata
