Secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot: Ace of Cups...A Comment

Frater Benedict

I have no systematic input to give at this point. Give a short time to ponder these fragmentary ideas:

1. The Vatican struck Modernist Catholicism in 1907. Waite's formative years must have ocurred decades earlier, when Modernism still flourished within the Roman Catholic Church. May this bring a piece to the puzzle of Waite's disregard of the masonry prohibition and some dogmas, while still identifying with Catholic mystics?

2. The word 'Catholic' itself was used among certain educated circles in a wider sense than just 'Roman Catholic'. The second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century were the heydays of the Anglo-Catholic movement within Anglicanism, i.e. Anglicans who used the word 'Catholic' in a more etymological and classifying way, than as a denomination lable: Etymological with the content 'universal', 'non-sectarian', classifying such denominations that have an episcopal organisation, patristically based doctrine, a historical style liturgy and celebrates sacraments in expectation that they will be efficient (not just empty signs). At the same time Old Catholicism grew outside UK and France: Some Roman Catholics left the Church in protest of the dogma of infallibility which was introduced in 1870. Old Catholics understood themselves to be adherents of what the Catholic Church had been before 1870 – therefore the name 'Old Catholics'. There were also a number of very small denominations, that sprung out of Old Catholicism and Anglo Catholicism, which viewed themselves 'Catholic' in this broader sense, and which often were entangled in the occult revival.

3. Is it possible that Waite took the etymological meaning further, including any mystic he perceived as authentic under the 'Catholic' umbrella? That would be to strech the meaning 'universal' into its most literal.
 

Frater Benedict

But, having grown up Catholic in the old days of the Latin mass I know well the constraints of belief he went well beyond.

Those of us, who just peek into Catholicism from the outside, are prone to get a fragmented view of how the Roman Catholic ethos is. Personally, I hold the Roman Catholic layman Valentin Tomberg, the laywoman Dorothy Day, the Oriental Rite Cistercian (?) Fr. Bede Griffiths and the Trappist Father Thomas Keating in very hight regard, but I am unable to imagine how it would be to live as a member of that particular church. I am not willing to commit myself to any denomination – Christian, Buddhist, Pagan or otherwise – at this phase of my life.
 

Abrac

I posted this in the upside-down M thread in response to a question closrapexa raised, but thought it might be appropriate here too since it was the topic of discussion. Mods do with it as you wish.

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.
 

Abrac

In Waite's Azoth, or, The Star in the East, I found a reference that seems to explain better than anything else I've come across Waite's meaning when he says Catholic. The context concerns a coming archetypal male figure from heaven, spoken of in many religions. He describes the Mystics as the "the culminating point in the development of an all-benign and Catholic religion." This seems to show that by Catholic he's not referring to the Catholic Church, but a worldwide, universal religion based on Mysticism.

"Do not the Hottentots, even as do we Mystics, the last born of time, the head and crown of philosophy, the culminating point in the development of an all-benign and Catholic religion—do not they also expect the manifestation of this "man of men"?​
 

Teheuti

Waite's use of words is very precise and often best understood when referring to a 19th century British dictionary. He uses the word catholic often to mean "universal, all embracing" as in this dictionary definition: "including a wide variety of things; all-embracing.
synonyms: universal, diverse, diversified, wide, broad, broad-based, eclectic, liberal, latitudinarian; comprehensive, all-encompassing, all-embracing, all-inclusive." Coming from the Greek: "in regards to the whole" (or universal).

When Waite is talking about mystical things then his use of the word catholic (capitalized or not as this often varied from edition-to-edition of his works) means universal or all-encompassing. I don't think he's pointing to "a" religion but rather, in most cases, to a universal (archetypal?) impulse or yearning in humanity toward a transcendent Being (God) that he also deems all-encompassing ("the Catholic and Divine Intellect").

Wikipedia has a page on some of the uses of the term. I've often seen it used in older works simply to mean universal or wide-ranging, as in someone having "catholic tastes."
 

Abrac

Waite refers frequently throughout Azoth to a religion based on Mystic ideals. I found it eye-opening and quite unexpected. His ambition is high and involves nothing less than the entire transformation of humanity. The book is divided into two main headings, the Outward Man and the Inward Man. The whole book focuses on the outward expression of inner processes.

"But if we would testify to the world at large concerning the grand religious and reconstructive work of development, and concerning the help which we can give therein, we must have a visible ministering body and a church of the New Life. That must begin like the parabolic grain of mustard seed, set newly in the developing matrix of mother earth. It must be humble and small at first, and it must grow gradually, till, like the Apostolic Church of Christ, it takes possession of the king’s palace and of the throne of the world. Like the upper room at Jerusalem must be the first synagogue of the true religion of Humanity, but the grand, universal, mystic Temple of the new mystic Jerusalem will stand after a few years as a sign unto the nations of the earth of the glory that in them is to be revealed, of the flower of human loveliness which is to unfold, of the day of dream and legend, of the day of prophecy and song, of the day of development and evolution, of the surpassing Day of Christ.

We are not prophesying or divining; we state a fact to come. There is only one doctrine in religion which can ultimately possess the world, and that is the doctrine of development. The law which has presided over the construction of the universal world can alone preside adequately over the construction of humanity to the end of eternal life." pp. 117, 118​

It’s evident from the following that he embraced all "worthy" religions, as he puts it, but his true goal is the synthesis of all religions into one universal Mystical religion. He stops short of calling for a religion in the traditional sense, but does say it should have an external and visible form of expression—sacrament (ritual) and symbolism. Waite’s Fellowship of the Rosy Cross was probably an experiment in this direction. In 1893, when Azoth was written, he seems to have a pretty good idea of the direction his "religion" should take but doesn't believe its time has yet come. He leaves to future generations the development of his ideas.

"When humanity has outgrown the shell of an official religion, as a shell it casts it behind. But religion does not die. To-day, when there is a general disintegration of all forms of speculative belief, the vital spirit of religion was perhaps never more abroad in the world, is more conscious than ever of itself; the secrets of spiritual truth were never sought more eagerly, and never did the positive reality which is behind all official religions seem more likely to become universally known, and accepted with zeal and enthusiasm. It is therefore a day of revelation, a day of many teachers, of intellectual going to and fro, and of continual interior ferment.

Now, the synthesis of religious belief must be the work of the twentieth century. It is not possible to intellectually assert any longer the positive and exclusive truth of any one form of exterior religion. It is certainly not possible for Mystics. We have discovered the actual substratum which is the heart of all religions. We are not only convinced with Max Müller that there is a religion behind all religions, but we also know what it is. We are in one sense convinced of the truth of all those that are worthy of the name which they bear. But we cannot mistake the veil for the reality, type for antitype, signum for signatum. And once we have come to recognize that the official religions are a veil of symbolism, a woof of parable, it is clear that without irreverence, and without sacrilege, we, at least, who know something of the thing signified, may consider after what manner the veil is woven, whether it requires re-adjustment and another fashion of emblazonment, or even whether it would be well to invest the realities of religion with a new veil of symbolism, of a lighter and finer texture. One thing is certain. If we would accomplish the evolution of humanity we must have a public sacrament, or outward sign of inward grace and beauty, an economy of the positive truth which shall be consonant with the law of progress—a religion of light and joy, a religion of peace and beatitude, a religion of mildness and beneficence, a religion of aspiration, of dream and poetry—of the aspiration which is the source of poetry, of the beauty which is its expression, of the inspiration which is its birthright, of high, supreme, emancipated imagining. We no longer believe in dragons, in winged serpents, and in the monsters of unnatural history; we do not attach actuality to nightmares, nor objective truth to the revolting horrors of delirium tremens. The Inferno of Dante is sublime, but our veil of symbolism, our tissue of parable, must be stripped of the mythology of perdition even in its most exalted aspect. The good, the beautiful, and the true—these are the ends of our aspiration, these the substance of our hopes. And our religion must be like unto these. Its foundation should be also in the principle that man must inevitably work out his own salvation. Help he may have from beyond and outside himself, but the help from within is essential—it is the essence of conscious progress. It is not by the vicarious sacrifice of a Christ crucified on a Cross, but by the personal immolation of the lesser and meaner man, crucified on the altar of the heart, that the sins of the world will be washed out.

And now if we refrain from proposing a scheme of universal religion, it is not because we are deficient in clear conviction as to the lines which that scheme must follow, but we are conscious of deficiencies within, and however much we may be energized with mystic zeal, we would avoid, as becomes us, the errors of incompetent temerity. We look for a leader of men; awaiting his advent, help from all quarters should be welcome to all Mystics, and here a word may be added for thinkers of the agnostic standpoint.

It is the main thesis of our whole instruction that the processes of Mysticism are evolutionary processes, and that the doctrine of development is at the root of our practical wisdom. At the same time, there is a religious aspect of evolution which is separable from Mysticism, which could be followed to the world’s profit were there no mystic science, and in this aspect it constitutes a kind of natural religion, which, addressing ourselves for the moment to the agnostic thinkers only, we would venture to recommend to their judgment as a possible field of activity. We assume that, when true to their name, they are the most negative and undogmatic of reasoners, that their judgment is suspended concerning the great issues of life, but that they are aware also of the incapacity of their principles to sustain the moral nature of humanity when it has cut itself adrift from the official mainstays of morality. Now, provisionally defining religious work as the construction of the race in the direction of its true end, we submit that a practical system for the creation of a correspondence with evolutionary law should not only enlist their sympathies, but should also command their cooperation. Mystics though we be, we should delight if agnostic philosophy developed an independent instrument for the creation of such a correspondence. However diverse the methods, we should be at work for the same end, and after the reason of the one law." pp. 119, 120​
 

Abrac

The following is from Azoth, but it's a quote from a conference at which Waite was addressing a group of people. It's probably from a transcript of a meeting of Waite's aborted attempt at a Mystic order in 1891 called The New Light of Mysticism: Order of the Spiritual Temple. It's interesting to note the full title of Azoth is A New Light of Mysticism. Azoth, or, The Star in the East.

"There may be some among us who shrink from the ceremonial element in the services of religion, who believe that the worship of God should take place only in spirit and in truth, who would say in particular that Mysticism is concerned only with the interior man, to whom rites and forms are nothing. We have therefore to justify before you, in view of this possible difference, the application of ritual and symbolism to matters of religion; and, in the first place, we would draw your attention to something which is taken rightly for granted in these objections. It is assumed that the meetings which we propose to hold are primarily of the nature of religious services. This is actually true. Now, what do we mean by religion, and, in this connection, what also do we mean by service? Well, the word religion, as you will know, is of Latin origin, and its philological significance is a close consideration or pondering. It is, in fact, that thinking in the heart without which the whole garden of humanity, the hortus inclusus, the Paradise of the Soul, is desolate. But it has also a higher and more arcane significance, and in this aspect religion is a readjustment or rebinding of man to that source from which man originated. The word service as applied to religion means ministration to spiritual need. We have therefore the inward want and the outward ministry; and religious service, being of necessity exterior, must take a shape and form. The ordinary religious service is devised to minister to the ordinary requirements of persons desiring to reflect religiously in themselves. But the Mystic is conscious of higher spiritual necessities, and he must be served outwardly in another way. He is aware that there are resident within him faculties, powers, possibilities of correspondence, which are commonly unknown, and that the outward methods for their development must be more elaborate than would be needed in the case of other men and women. This is a fact which has been recognized through all the ages of Mysticism, and as a consequence the religious ceremonial of Mysticism, practised in utter secrecy, has ever been more advanced, more splendid, more suggestive, in a word, more developing, than that of any of the great hierarchic creeds. The religion of the Mystics possesses then its liturgies, its rituals, its vestments, and its official formulæ, which are all full of meaning and beauty." Azoth p. 123​
 

Teheuti

Personally, I think Waite was speaking as a visionary and not as someone hoping to start a world religious organization that would take over from all the other religions of the world. He knows that the "you" that he is addressing are only those who "have the ears to hear and eyes to see" as the old saying goes. If he had seen it as a religion that would take over or encompass all the existing world religions (truly catholic) then he would not have kept his own Orders secret. He differentiates between the "ordinary requirements" of "other men and women" and those of the Mystic. He makes no real attempt to reach out to the masses. To me, he seems to be speaking primarily to those who have come to feel at least an inkling of what he does.
 

Abrac

"For our own part, we should choose, if it were permitted, to regard ourselves indifferently as Theosophist and as Mystic, because, like both, we are seeking higher consciousness in the Absolute by the one possible path, which is that of the Interior Life. And the categorical statement of this object, and of the way to this object, constitutes what we have ventured to term the Central, Catholic, or Universal Doctrine of Theosophy or Mysticism—that higher consciousness is attainable in the Absolute of Being, and that the way of its attainment is the Way of the Life Within."—Azoth, p. 146.​
 

Abrac

"Our authority, we repeat, is the Mystics; it is the Mysticism of all the ages, but it is especially Christian Mysticism, disencumbered, at the same time, from all dispensable specialities of dogma, and reduced to its true proportions by comparison with universal Mysticism . . ."—Azoth, p. 148.​

"What we would wish to observe to our readers when they hear of the peace and joy in Christ Jesus, of the refuge in Buddha, of the beatific vision, of absorption, of Nirvana, of free perspicuity of thought in universal consciousness, and of a thousand and one other kindred terms—religious and philosophical, Eastern and Western—let them remember that the Catholic Mystic understands them to refer unto one state variously denominated, and it is that state which, for the moment, we have ourselves termed higher consciousness in the Absolute.—Azoth, p. 149.​

All this seems to finally clear up the mystery of what Waite means by "Catholic Mystic." :)