kwaw
Strange... I too have limited access, with 'pages ... unavailable for viewing' or 'you have reached your viewing limit' messages - but all those I linked to still work for me (I am in Turkey btw, not the UK).
Georgius Gemistus Plethon
Strange... I too have limited access, with 'pages ... unavailable for viewing' or 'you have reached your viewing limit' messages - but all those I linked to still work for me (I am in Turkey btw, not the UK).
MikeH
Huck wrote
After that, both he and his father went to jail for "some days" because they had spoken in a defamatory way about Pius II. Being put in jail for that reason led to the son's leaving Milan. Whether he left voluntarily or involuntarily is not said, but I would guess voluntarily, as a gesture of support for his father and contempt for the Duke's acquiescence in obeying the papacy.
Looking at Pius's biography, I see much to "defame," in particular Pius's crusade against the Turks. Perhaps that relates to tarot. I see in one book online (http://books.google.com/books?id=qv...ge#v=onepage&q=Giovanni Mario Filelfo&f=false) that Giovanni wrote an epic poem comparing the Turks to the Trojans, stating or implying that the Turks were merely avenging past wrongs on the part of the Greeks. I'm not sure when the poem was started; but it was finished in 1476, according to your link. Perhaps Giovanni even earlier was against the crusade, and could use his rhetorical gifts in the cause of getting certain people's Greek relatives out of harm's way. In that Greeks are involved, perhaps also a Greek view of the tarot is involved, too.
Huck wrote earlier
Here is "Reverso's" translation of the Italian, unedited by me:
As I read this, Giovanni was reprimanded for his licentious behavior, not only with the certain Caterina but also for frequenting certain places, in a letter by the Duke; Giovanni improved his behavior after that. I don't see any connection so far to tarot. Possibly the Duke wanted to avoid any possibility that some dissolute Milanese might corrupt Lorenzo.
After that, both he and his father went to jail for "some days" because they had spoken in a defamatory way about Pius II. Being put in jail for that reason led to the son's leaving Milan. Whether he left voluntarily or involuntarily is not said, but I would guess voluntarily, as a gesture of support for his father and contempt for the Duke's acquiescence in obeying the papacy.
Looking at Pius's biography, I see much to "defame," in particular Pius's crusade against the Turks. Perhaps that relates to tarot. I see in one book online (http://books.google.com/books?id=qv...ge#v=onepage&q=Giovanni Mario Filelfo&f=false) that Giovanni wrote an epic poem comparing the Turks to the Trojans, stating or implying that the Turks were merely avenging past wrongs on the part of the Greeks. I'm not sure when the poem was started; but it was finished in 1476, according to your link. Perhaps Giovanni even earlier was against the crusade, and could use his rhetorical gifts in the cause of getting certain people's Greek relatives out of harm's way. In that Greeks are involved, perhaps also a Greek view of the tarot is involved, too.
MikeH
Reading more of the complete Oracles, I see another 2nd artist card in the PMB that might have been chosen with the Oracles in mind: the "Strength" or "Fortitude" card. The Cary-Yale shows a woman holding the jaws of a lion, a typical representation of the cardinal virtue of Fortitude, i.e. Courage. Indeed, the early accounts invariably called the card "fortezza." meaning "fortitude" (http://l-pollett.tripod.com/cards26.htm). In the PMB, however, we see a man, probably Hercules, bashing a lion with a club. Hercules was known for his great strength; he had courage, too, but most heroes had that. The same applies to the lady on other early cards. e.g. the Charles VI; she pushes over some columns, like Samson. Samson was distinguished by his strength; and like Hercules, he won a bout with a lion. A lion is sometimes next to the columns, e.g. in the "Mantegna." But the name was still "fortezza." The later Marseille style tarot, however, and the Cary Sheet before that, returned to the imagery of the Cary-Yale; yet on the Marseile we see the name "La Force," meaning strength or force. That name seems to reflect the distinguishing characteristic of Samson and Hercules rather than the Forezza of the lady lion-tamer.
One explanation for the PMB's emphasis on strength rather than courage might be that it is honoring Francesco Sforza and the Sforza family, for whom the cards were made. "Sforza" apparently means "strength" or "force." But another, less self-promoting reason might be that in the Chaldean Oracles, fortitude is not mentioned, but "strength" has a key role. Proclus says in In Platonis Alcibiadem Priorem Commentarii 82
The point is that for the theurgist inner strength is required to apprehend the signs from above, enabling his soul to ascend, after which he can help others of a weaker nature. Another quotation from a different source makes this point more clearly. Hierocles, in Commentarius in Aureum Carmen 112, says
It is the feminine power who seems to be identical with, or at least on the same level, as "Strength" and "Vigour of Strength."
In the Oracles proper, there is another feminine power, perhaps a lower manifestation of the same hypostasis, this one midway between the intellectual and sensible worlds, facing in both directions, the Cosmic Soul from Plato's Timaeus. In the Oracles she is also calledHecate, associated with magic and the moon; and once she is called Rhea, who conventionally had the title "mother of the gods."
With her, the lion even seems to make an appearance. In one verse, Hecate announces to the theurgist
This verse and explanation has puzzled modern commentators. Most (but not Majercik) have a different explanation: the word leonta, translated as "lion-form" (literally, lion), is a misprint for another Greek word meaning "dark," which Psellus failed to correct and struggled to make sense of as written (see prevous references).
But from the 15th century until the end of the 19th, the word would have been read as "lion." That association with Hecate is not as surprising as it might seem. On Greek and Roman coins, for instance (of which the Renaissance collected at least the Roman), the goddess Hekate is often associated with lions. In some, she is on one side and a lion's head on the other (see examples at http://numismatics.org/search/results?q=department_facet:"Greek" AND deity_facet:"Hecate"&start=0). In one Roman coin on the web (http://numismatics.org/search/results?q=department_facet:"Greek" AND deity_facet:"Hecate"&start=20), she is shown riding a lion.
In this way she is much like the lady on the Marseille "strength" card, shown with a lion obedient to her will.
I have two explanations, one short and one longer; I think both would have occurred to humanists of the Renaissance. The short one is that the lion was a symbol of strength, and in the Oracles Hecate is being identified with Strength. The longer one is that Hekate was identified in the ancient world with Rhea, who in turn was identified with the Great Mother-goddess Cybele; Cybele was typically shown riding a cart drawn by lions. The lion was her symbol. And so it becomes a symbol of Hecate as well.Or as Kroll put it (cited by Majercik, p. 196), "Leones autem matris magnae currum vehunt." I am not entirely sure what that means, but I think it is to the effect that lions were a symbol of the great mother.
In the context of the Oracles, then, the tarot's lady with the lion is none other than the great feminine power of the Chaldean system, Hecate, whose Strength becomes the strength of the theurgist leading his or her soul's ascent to heaven.
One explanation for the PMB's emphasis on strength rather than courage might be that it is honoring Francesco Sforza and the Sforza family, for whom the cards were made. "Sforza" apparently means "strength" or "force." But another, less self-promoting reason might be that in the Chaldean Oracles, fortitude is not mentioned, but "strength" has a key role. Proclus says in In Platonis Alcibiadem Priorem Commentarii 82
I cite this quotation, out of three on the same theme, because it is the one Filelfo in Milan is most likely to have read.
The point is that for the theurgist inner strength is required to apprehend the signs from above, enabling his soul to ascend, after which he can help others of a weaker nature. Another quotation from a different source makes this point more clearly. Hierocles, in Commentarius in Aureum Carmen 112, says
Moreover, this "strength" is an attribute not only of the theurgist but of the divine world as well. Lewy (Chaldean Oracles and Theurgy p. 9f) cites a prayer that Porphyry repeated in a work now lost, but which was preserved in a Christian compilation done at the end of the 5th century, now known as the Theosophy of Tuebingen, from the place where the most important of its manuscripts was found (Lewy p. 16). It was rediscovered by the Italian humanist Augustine Steuchus (1497-1548), author of the Philosophia Perennis of 1540 (Lewy p. 9):
According to Lewy (p. 13), three Chaldean entities are indicated here: a primordial Father, a feminine power called "first intellect," who produces the eternal forms, and a "second intellect" who creates the rest in accord with the forms.
It is the feminine power who seems to be identical with, or at least on the same level, as "Strength" and "Vigour of Strength."
In the Oracles proper, there is another feminine power, perhaps a lower manifestation of the same hypostasis, this one midway between the intellectual and sensible worlds, facing in both directions, the Cosmic Soul from Plato's Timaeus. In the Oracles she is also calledHecate, associated with magic and the moon; and once she is called Rhea, who conventionally had the title "mother of the gods."
With her, the lion even seems to make an appearance. In one verse, Hecate announces to the theurgist
according a verse quoted by Psellus (Majercik p. 105), a text known to Plethon (Lewy p. 475) and Ficino (as I have read somewhere). Psellus explains that what is meant is the constellation of Leo in the sky: it will be seen as the phantasm of a lion, and nothing else will be seen in the sky at all (Majercik p. 196, Johnston, Hekate Soteira p. 112).
This verse and explanation has puzzled modern commentators. Most (but not Majercik) have a different explanation: the word leonta, translated as "lion-form" (literally, lion), is a misprint for another Greek word meaning "dark," which Psellus failed to correct and struggled to make sense of as written (see prevous references).
But from the 15th century until the end of the 19th, the word would have been read as "lion." That association with Hecate is not as surprising as it might seem. On Greek and Roman coins, for instance (of which the Renaissance collected at least the Roman), the goddess Hekate is often associated with lions. In some, she is on one side and a lion's head on the other (see examples at http://numismatics.org/search/results?q=department_facet:"Greek" AND deity_facet:"Hecate"&start=0). In one Roman coin on the web (http://numismatics.org/search/results?q=department_facet:"Greek" AND deity_facet:"Hecate"&start=20), she is shown riding a lion.
In this way she is much like the lady on the Marseille "strength" card, shown with a lion obedient to her will.
I have two explanations, one short and one longer; I think both would have occurred to humanists of the Renaissance. The short one is that the lion was a symbol of strength, and in the Oracles Hecate is being identified with Strength. The longer one is that Hekate was identified in the ancient world with Rhea, who in turn was identified with the Great Mother-goddess Cybele; Cybele was typically shown riding a cart drawn by lions. The lion was her symbol. And so it becomes a symbol of Hecate as well.Or as Kroll put it (cited by Majercik, p. 196), "Leones autem matris magnae currum vehunt." I am not entirely sure what that means, but I think it is to the effect that lions were a symbol of the great mother.
In the context of the Oracles, then, the tarot's lady with the lion is none other than the great feminine power of the Chaldean system, Hecate, whose Strength becomes the strength of the theurgist leading his or her soul's ascent to heaven.
MikeH
Plethon and the PMB Temperance card
The only one of the six added cards in the PMB I have not addressed specifically is Temperance. The image is the typical medieval one of a lady pouring the contents of one jug into another; so the Oracles cannot account for anything in the image itself. However a Chaldean perspective can give a new interpretation for why it is after Death and before the Devil, something other interpretations have a hard time doing.
If the act of pouring serves either to dilute the contents of the lower jug, or decrease the contents of the upper jug, either way inducing moderation in the consumption of wine, how does that, or any such practice of Moderation, conduct one from Death to the Devil? Another interpretation of the card has it that it depicts the act of mixing water with wine in the Eucharist. But how does the Eucharist lead to the Devil? Some commentators simply say that there is no transition to be made: the Devil card starts a new sequence of images, one of supra-human entities. That is possible; but in fact the image on the Temperance card does make a meaningful transition to the Devil.
In the Oracles, the soul flows down channels from the Intelligible World to our world; the same channels lead one upward. Plethon's edition starts out:
We don't know whether the Milanese tarot had a Devil card or not. None of the many extant PMB decks has one, or a Tower card, strongly suggesting that these hand-painted luxury decks did not include that figure. That exclusion may have been a personal preference of the Sforza family to remove a figure already present in the popular deck of that time (the 1460s or 1470s); it does exist in the Cary Sheet, a woodblock deck thought to be from pre-1500 Milan. Also, the Temperance card may well not have been between Death and the Devil: all 15th century accounts of Temperance have it much earlier in the sequence. Yet none of these accounts is from Milan; and it does seem on other grounds that the "Marseille" cards developed out of the Milanese decks (Dummet's "type C" order). Also, there is a very pronounced precipice on the card (as indeed the Star, Moon, and Sun as well), as though to illustrate the hazards of Intemperance.
The only one of the six added cards in the PMB I have not addressed specifically is Temperance. The image is the typical medieval one of a lady pouring the contents of one jug into another; so the Oracles cannot account for anything in the image itself. However a Chaldean perspective can give a new interpretation for why it is after Death and before the Devil, something other interpretations have a hard time doing.
If the act of pouring serves either to dilute the contents of the lower jug, or decrease the contents of the upper jug, either way inducing moderation in the consumption of wine, how does that, or any such practice of Moderation, conduct one from Death to the Devil? Another interpretation of the card has it that it depicts the act of mixing water with wine in the Eucharist. But how does the Eucharist lead to the Devil? Some commentators simply say that there is no transition to be made: the Devil card starts a new sequence of images, one of supra-human entities. That is possible; but in fact the image on the Temperance card does make a meaningful transition to the Devil.
In the Oracles, the soul flows down channels from the Intelligible World to our world; the same channels lead one upward. Plethon's edition starts out:
But if Death precedes the Temperance card, and the Devil follows it, it is not the channel from above that the Temperance card concerns. The soul also descends below this world, if it is too attached to matter, to a realm below the earth. Plethon's verses continue:
By the "sevenfold steps" is meant the planets, which the soul passed on the way to its incarnation on earth. But souls can descend even further, to the "throne of dread Necessity," i.e. Persephone and Hades, where one becomes even more of a slave than one is on earth, dragged there by infernal forces
The dogs (seen on the "Marseille" Moon card) are agents of Hecate on her sublunar side. "Necessity" is symbolized by the ropes to which the small devils are attached on the Marseille Devil card. Addiction to alcohol or other material attachments, i.e. Intemperance, is a precursor to that enslavement after death. Even the body can be saved, at least to the extent to which it is the "liquescent body":
From this perspective, the card shows the consequence of lack of Temperance, in which the soul flows downward from Death to the Devil, under the influence of Hecate's sublunar aspect.
We don't know whether the Milanese tarot had a Devil card or not. None of the many extant PMB decks has one, or a Tower card, strongly suggesting that these hand-painted luxury decks did not include that figure. That exclusion may have been a personal preference of the Sforza family to remove a figure already present in the popular deck of that time (the 1460s or 1470s); it does exist in the Cary Sheet, a woodblock deck thought to be from pre-1500 Milan. Also, the Temperance card may well not have been between Death and the Devil: all 15th century accounts of Temperance have it much earlier in the sequence. Yet none of these accounts is from Milan; and it does seem on other grounds that the "Marseille" cards developed out of the Milanese decks (Dummet's "type C" order). Also, there is a very pronounced precipice on the card (as indeed the Star, Moon, and Sun as well), as though to illustrate the hazards of Intemperance.
