b and j on the high priestess

miztahfrawg

this has probably been wondered before but on the rider wait high preistess, there is a b and a j on the pillars next to the woman.

what does B J stand for? if anyone knows, comment and let me know.
thanks- mr.frawg
 

suedally

I am reading Tarot Wisdom by Rachel Pollack and she writes in her book that the B stands for Boaz and the J stands for Jachin. According to tradition these were the names of the black and white pillars at the entrance to Solomon's temple in ancient Israel.
 

rachelcat

2 Chronicles 3:15-17.

(It tickles me that the answers to so many deep, dark esoteric mysteries are in almost every home and hotel room drawer in the US!)
 

Abrac

As suedally said, they ultimately originate in the Old Testament, 1 Kings 7:21 & 2 Chronicles 3:17. Jachin was on the south and Boaz the north. They also figure prominently in Freemasonry.

As far as I know they first appear in connection with the tarot in the writings of Eliphas Levi. There's no mention of color in the OT. This may have originated with Levi or one of his successors- Paul Christian, Oswald Wirth, etc. :)
 

shaveling

Abrac said:
As suedally said, they ultimately originate in the Old Testament, 1 Kings 7:21 & 2 Chronicles 3:17. Jachin was on the south and Boaz the north. They also figure prominently in Freemasonry.
And the door to the temple was in the east wall. So it looks like the HP is sitting inside the temple. But if you think about that too much, it can make you crazy. So forget I said anything.
 

Maskelyne

Abrac said:
As suedally said, they ultimately originate in the Old Testament, 1 Kings 7:21 & 2 Chronicles 3:17. Jachin was on the south and Boaz the north. They also figure prominently in Freemasonry.

As far as I know they first appear in connection with the tarot in the writings of Eliphas Levi. There's no mention of color in the OT. This may have originated with Levi or one of his successors- Paul Christian, Oswald Wirth, etc. :)
Where did you find north and south? The two Bibles I consulted (Revised English and King James) just say Boaz on the left and Jachin on the right.
 

Abrac

Most of them say right and left; this is a literal translation. My reference was the English Standard Version. Some newer translations use north and south and since the temple faced east this would also be correct.

shaveling, good point, I never thought of that! :)
 

Abrac

I think Waite must have been following the Golden Dawn. I found something in Israel Regardie's Golden Dawn book:

"That is the white Mercy, or Jachin Pillar, is on your right hand as you approach the Altar from the West and from the Hiereus (Priest). (See 2 Chronicles 3:17) 'And call the Name on the right hand (of him who enters) Jachin, and the Name of that on the left, Boaz.' Now Boaz= Strength, Severity, Binah, Black Pillar and Jachin= White Pillar of Mercy." Fifth Knowledge Lecture, p.81

Waite's HP makes a lot more sense in light of this. Apparently the altar was in the east and the candidate for initiation approached it from the west, presumably in a quest for light. 2 Chronicles 3:17 is used as a reference. It actually says: "And he reared up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left. And he called the name of the one on the right Jachin, and the name of the one on the left Boaz." -Modern King James Version
 

Etheleona

"Billie Jean... she looks like a beauty queen, Billie Jean..."

I can't help it, I always think of that song when I see those pillars. :)
 

Grigori

Abrac said:
Waite's HP makes a lot more sense in light of this. Apparently the altar was in the east and the candidate for initiation approached it from the west, presumably in a quest for light.

And if you look at the card, the curtain behind the priestess has pomegranates in the positions of the sephiroth on the tree of life. The Black Pillar of Severity is on the left, the White Pillar of Mercy on the right. And in the GD tarot, the High Priestess is attributed to the path of Gimel on the Middle Pillar, so in the card she's sitting in her appropriate spot between the two opposite pillars.