Magician's Roses

Laurelle

Hi, thanks for the response. I think it might depend too on what version you have. I was looking at some of the different versions and clones and they vary quite a bit.

The number maybe arbitrary.....but I'll spend less time thinking about that and more time concentrating on shekinah, the song of Solomon and the biblical and judaic references. It wouldn't hurt to read both the Torah and Bible thoroughly, which I've been thinking about doing for the last few months now.
 

Abrac

I was rereading Waite's "Ceremony of Consecration on the Threshold of Sacred Mystery" and something jumped out at me. It's something I posted earlier in this thread but its implications went mostly unnoticed at that time. It's the closest thing I've seen to an explanation for what the roses and lilies symbolize. The Priestess of the Rite says:

"Rose of Jericho, spiritual rose, rose of Heaven above, redeeming rose below. Florebit Regnum Dei Intus Quasi Rosa et Lilium. The lilies bloom in the valley, even the Valley of Jehoshaphat."​

A better translation of the Latin than the one I posted before is: The Kingdom of God is within and blossoms like the rose and lily.

The roses and lilies are symbols of the Kingdom of God within. :)
 

Laurelle

I was rereading Waite's "Ceremony of Consecration on the Threshold of Sacred Mystery" and something jumped out at me. It's something I posted earlier in this thread but its implications went mostly unnoticed at that time. It's the closest thing I've seen to an explanation for what the roses and lilies symbolize. The Priestess of the Rite says:

"Rose of Jericho, spiritual rose, rose of Heaven above, redeeming rose below. Florebit Regnum Dei Intus Quasi Rosa et Lilium. The lilies bloom in the valley, even the Valley of Jehoshaphat."​

A better translation of the Latin than the one I posted before is: The Kingdom of God is within and blossoms like the rose and lily.

The roses and lilies are symbols of the Kingdom of God within. :)

This is beautiful and perfect. It explains why there are so many roses and lilies in the picture. I like the BOTA magician too.
 

Abrac

I agree. The colored versions of the BOTA cards I've seen are really nice.
 

Laurelle

I'd like to know more about the bible and older religious text, but I don't. It would really help the understanding of the symbolize in tarot.

I'll be honest I have no idea what the Valley of Jehoshaphat is.
 

Abrac

I believe "Valley of Jehoshaphat" here is a reference to the valley of mystical death. In other places he refers to it as Valley of Death, Valley of Judgment or Valley of Silence. The "lilies bloom in the valley" because of a person's total surrender of everything the world considers valuable in exchange for that which is of eternal value.

I have a background in Bible theology and there's a lot of Waite I don't understand. He had his own way of thinking which he doesn't go out of his way to clarify most of the time. ;)