Upside-down M solved [maybe]

I found a couple of references where Waite uses "Catholic" (capitalized) in a context where it clearly doesn't refer to Catholicism.

One is from a footnote in The Secret Doctrine in Israel: "Neshamah is understanding in late Kabalism, the individual intellect communicated by the Catholic and Divine Intellect."

The other is from The Real History of the Rosicrucians: "His angelology is derived from the works of pseudo-Dionysius on the celestial hierarchies, and he teaches the doctrine of the pre-existence of human souls, which are derived from the vivifying emanation dwelling in the Anima Mundi, the world's spiritual vehicle, the catholic soul, which itself is inacted and preserved by the Catholic and Eternal Spirit, sent out from the fountain of life to inact and vivify all things."

These aren't statements of his own personal viewpoint, but they probably influenced him and it seems more likely than not that when he says "Catholic Mystic" he means the path of return to the Univesal Divinity. At least it makes more sense to me than "Catholicism" which he obviously rejected.

There's more evidence Waite had the GD altar diagram in mind for the Ace. This pic shows the points of similarity.

DIAGRAM

The text from the GD ritual says: "The Cross above the Triangle represents the power of the Spirit of Life rising above the Triangle of the Waters, and reflecting the Triune therein, as further marked by the Lamps at the angles. While the Cup of Water placed at the junction of the Cross and Triangle represents the maternal letter MEM."

Both have a Cross, a Cup and Waters below. Waite's "Cross" is descending though while the GD's is rising. In the GD, the Cross is reflecting the "Triune" into the Waters below, apparently a reference to the Supernals.

It's all starting to make sense. In Waite's symbolism, the union of male and female = the Mystery of Faith. In the Ace of Cups there's the solar male principle, the Spirit of Life, descending into the lunar female, symbolized by the Cup. The upside-down M may stand for Mem, being a "mother" letter. But it seems highly likely to me Waite had Matrona in mind. Water for "W" seems an obvious surface layer, but Waite, in The Secret Doctrine in Israel, writes a lot about Divine 'W'omanhood (apostrophes added), so this may be a hidden layer added to the mix.

The whole symbol is indeed an illustration of the Mystery of Faith. It also reveals a lot about how Waite probably viewed the symbolism of the Eucharist.

As much as I love the RWS, this is all unfortunately over my head quite a bit. To be honest, I just always saw the dove aiming for the M, and the dove engraved on the table pointing to the Magician, and figured they were connected.

Could the reversed M be of Waite's own suggestion at sexual symbolism? If the cup is upright, putting an upside down letter on it to read upright wouldn't make sense. When I look at the Thoth deck, a beam of light enters the cup from above, as if impregnating the female element. The Yod, as it were, descends to unite with Mem.

Waite's dove also descends into the cup rather than rising out of it, so could the reversed M signify the female on her back with her "legs" up and open, ready to receive the sacred power from above?

It's upside-down because it's "reflected" from Binah into Hod. see Picture (The text is from Waite's Fellowship of the Rosy Cross Praticus initiation ritual.) For Waite, Binah represents the Supernal Eden and Hod represents the Lower Eden. The M symbolizes Matrona, a.k.a. Shekinah, the Divine Female, reflected from above.

There could be a hint of sexual symbolism in the "W," I see how it could be read that way, but to me the main sexual implications are in the union of the solar wafer and lunar cup. I'm not sure if "sexual" would even be the right word in this case. The union implied is an emotional/spiritual one.

What if it's not a letter at all?
What if it's 2 pillars with a pyramid behind them?

And it's a reference to this...

Yelell, I seem to remember reading somewhere that a bird, moving upward especially, can symbolize Fire. I think it might have been in Robert Place's The Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination but I could be way off. The dove on the Ace is connected to the solar wafer and cross, so there could theoretically be a connection.

earthair said:

And it's a reference to this...

Click to expand...

Now that you mention it, the BOTA ace of cups has a similar shape https://c1.staticflickr.com/7/6158/6241529431_ab3ebfd3b7_b.jpg