The High Priestess and the Orientation of the Temple

tmgrl2

Wow!! I just checked out the links, fm!! They are marvelous...


so, the columns, Jachin and Boaz, are, in some ways are phallic symbols, since creating and rebirth involves sex...

I cut this from the second link:

The main steps of the being development
Individual world
Bodily/crude order
Physical birth

Subtle/psychic order
Second birth
related to the domain of subtle possibilities of the human individuality. It consists in a psychic re-generation producing a centered human being and corresponds to the initiation to the little mysteries, accessible through the gate of mortals.

Supra-individual world
Spiritual order
Third birth
taking place in the spiritual and not psychical order any more. It gives access to the domain of supra-individual possibilities through the gate of the Gods and the initiation to the great mysteries

Looking at these levels, then it would seem we are destined, in fact, to move through the columns and into the world of relationships, where we, hopefully, will continue through our interactions and acts of selflessness and compassion, to become (second birth) a "centered human being."

....followed by continued birth of a "spiritual order."

At any rate, these passages through levels of rebirth would depend upon whether we "get it" or not, upon whether we walk WITH the guidance of Wisdom until we are "ready" for the next level of rebirth.

Sexuality, while a physical act, is clearly a metaphorical piece that "connects" us through all relationships in this plane....for rebirth comes through the act of love (spiritual coupling AND, in order to be born into this plane, physical coupling) that makes us once again...whole.

.........??????????
 

tmgrl2

Helvetica said:
I am sure the answer has something to do with the Emerald Tablet - as above, so below - as within so without?)

Mais oui!!

terri
 

Satori

edit that went horribly wrong...
 

Bridget

My immediate reaction to the idea posited here was also that we're "trapped" inside the Temple. But I thought it was a shining insight! Because temples are grand symbols of exoteric religion. (I'm not knocking them - I'm Catholic, and I love traditional churches. They're laid out in the shape of a cross, and because they face east, on a sunny Sunday morning the light streams through the stained-glass windows behind the altar, and the effect is beautiful.) They are wonderful symbols, but that's all they are, and it's easy to forget that and think they're important in their own right.

firemaiden said:
I don't think you can go so far as to say there is a right or a wrong. I think it is clear that Waite did mean her to be on the outside greeting us as we go in. We entertained the opposite perspective for the sake of exploration, to see where it would lead.
Couldn't she serve both functions? I assume as guardian of the entrance of the Temple, she won't let us in till we pass some test. Then if she also guards the exit (easy enough if there's only one door!) then we must need to pass a test to leave as well.

It makes me think of a book by Ursula K. LeGuin. In that world, true names have great magical power, and when the main character, Ged, goes to a school to study magic, the door guardian won't admit him till he reveals his true name. But when Ged finishes his studies and tries to leave, the guardian won't let him out. At first he doesn't know what to do; then he asks for the guardian's true name. The guardian smiles, reveals it, and Ged is allowed to pass.

Of course, Ged's door guardian is a man. But the sex of the HP is just a symbol, after all. ;)
 

tink27

Wonderfully written

Hi firemaiden,

Although a day late, I'm sitting here with my morning coffee, thoroughly enjoying your gift of wrapping the Word so beautifully together.

A great eye-opener and a great way to start the day! :)

tink
 

Sophie

Funny, the different reactions!

I never read it as being trapped inside the Temple - rather, I read it as a reminder that we find wisdom, love and all we need - within. This, to me, does not mean (unlike what Aoife wrote), that we are not fertilised by the outside, by many interractions. Rather it means that all these interractions can only be transformed into a wisdom for the self by inner work. Simply going out in the world is not going to make you wise, loving or powerful. That is why all spiritual traditions insist on the necessity of internal work, of prayer, of detachment, of meditation, of communion with the godhead.

The answers lie within - though we have absorbed part of its DNA from the outside. Like a baby grows in a womb, having been fertilised by an outside agent (sperm), our wisdom grows inside us. That is why the High Priestess is the womb. And it is also why she comes second in the Tarot, after the Magician, who is the "outside agent" - the sperm of the tarot, if you like (and let's not have a hundred salacious jokes about wands, shall we? ;)).

The next step, having found the answer within, is to do like in Ursula Le Guin''s story - and go outside, so we can share it with others, and continue being fertilised. But wherever we go, once we have that communion with our deepest self, we take our Temple with us - and invite others inside our sacred space, as well as being invited into theirs. The High Priestess makes sure we are ready for that.
 

Rosanne

I have printed out as much of Helvetica's thoughts on the High Priestess as I have been able to since being at AT. It is her thoughts (In ALL her multifaceted aspects of the HP) that inspired my High Priestess card. I think that each of us is the Temple as well, and it is going within our own temple or inner sanctum that has the greatest of value; without that I would not be able to actively create (3) organise (4) be aware of wisdom (5) make good choices (6) etc etc. For me the Temple and The High Priestess are my wellspring. I have indicated Aleph the Ox(The Magician) on the outside wall and the veil is supposed to look rich but sheer for visibility in and out. Might I add this is a great thread. ~Rosanne
 

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jmd

Egad! the egress is rendered asunder!
 

Rosanne

jmd said:
Egad! the egress is rendered asunder!

Goodness Gracious! the way out is portrayed/melted down/submitted in peices/apart????????
or doth my art look like a travesty???? Or is this conumdrum directed elsewhere??? Maybe thou'st meant RENDED as in "The way out is now revealed"???? and why does this shock you??? I await your elucidation with trepidation in case I must get me to a nunnery jmd! ~Rosanne
 

jmd

Goodness me... my apologies Rosanne - I had the thread open before you posted your post above mine, and replied without the benefit of having seen your artwork!

I did mean by 'rendered': "the mystery has been revealed" - and your imagery only adds to this!

When I posted last night, I was catching up on a couple of days of posts - and simply wanted to add a comment to this wonderful thread, even if only ever so small.

The orientation of the two pillars relative the Temple and its 'left vs right' problem is something that at various times is also discussed and argued about within Masonic circles. Personally, I tend to entirely agree that the depiction is egressed: one can even see the outside depicted of sorts on the depiction by Pamela Colman-Smith. In contrast, the depiction by Wirth, for example, appears within a temple, with mosaic pavement adding to the overall sense for this.

Waite was, I would suggest, clearly drawing on both Masonic influence, but also, as mentioned, on 1 Kings 7 and also 2 Kings 25, Exodus 13 & 2 Chronicles 3.

The 'problem' with the text, however, is that these are not (as far as I am aware) referred to as being placed in north and south, but rather erected on the right and left-hand of the portico.

With this in mind the situation changes from the clarity otherwise afforded by north and south. Is the right-hand as viewed from within, or as viewed from outside?

Waite and Colman Smith have certainly opted for 'as viewed from within', and possibly as having accepted a later 'tradition' that makes of Boaz the northern 'dark' one, and of Jachin the southern 'light' one, reminiscent of the pillars of cloud and of fire following their escape from their Egyptian bondage (Cf Exodus 13).

I suppose that as darkness is (from a northern hemisphere perspective) associated with the north, the pillar of cloud was considered north, and the pillar of fire south. Problem is, of course, that these Exodus-based moving pillars occured to enable the escapees to see, and hence the dark pillar of cloud was during daytime (associated with the South), and that of fire at night (to enable them to see).

Further, these Exodus pillars were moving to guide Moses and the Israelites. Moving eastward toward the promised land.

...soooo

I accept that Waite and Colman Smith used a text that saw the Temple pillars as described as North and as South, yet the text says not that.

Further, I accept that the colourations of these (as dark and light) is a harkening and a connection between the 1 Kings and Exodus (and the connection between the Temple pillars and the Exodus connection is certainly made explicit in various Masonic lectures). Whether Black and White (as on the Waite-Smith) or Red and Blue-Gray (as on the Wirth) will likely depend on how the various interconnections are seen.

The peculiar manner of the WCS image is of one type... and a wonderful narrative above created.