Hierophant - Snake and Dove?

Aiwass said:

"Nor let the fools mistake love; for there are love and love. There is the dove, and there is the serpent. Choose ye well!"

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So reads the Book of Law. What is the significance of this verse as relating to the dove and snake in the Hierophant? I took the rose to mean, among other things, the microcosm, but it is also attributed to Venus, and indirectly to both Geburah and Netzach. The love of the Hierophant has several levels; that of contraction, of form, of discipline, of wedding the manifest with the Divine (the nail of Vau spanning the Abyss), perhaps the concept of divine virility conceptualized in Chochma and formalized in Chesed.

At first I thought the snake was sexual in nature, inseminating the rose of Venus, but then I noticed the dove and recalled the verse. In another verse Hadit calls himself the Snake, and also mentions the Star, which I take to mean Nuit. Could "the law of the fortress" also be the four-square of Chesed, to which the Hierophant descends (House of God=Tower, perhaps, but the Four of Discs makes sense here, as the Sun in the Devil of Capricorn)? The entire card seems highly sexual (all those virile bulls and elephants of Taurus, the word "ooomph!" comes to mind!). Is it possible this is a reference to the Zain of the Lovers (the ecstatic union of Nuit the Dove and Hadit the Snake, or Chochma and Binah?)? I kind of understand myself, but am I making any sense? The commentary to the BoL, never much prone to chatter, is even more silent than usual here.

So why are they there?

Nobody?


Well, I answered my questions with this:

http://www.baymoon.com/~btoak/faustus/love.html

ON LOVE AND LOVE by Frater Faustus

And the equivalent thread in the BoL study group
http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=123499

closrapexa said:

So reads the Book of Law. What is the significance of this verse as relating to the dove and snake in the Hierophant?

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The Dove and Serpent are two manifestations of one thing: Love. The most immediate connection to the Hierophant is that Love = Union (Vav ). Unlike a lot of conventional waffle that tries bury the Hierophant behind a smoke screen of 'exoteric religion, orthodoxy, and tradition' (thank you Mr Waite.... not! ) the Hierophant is actually the pontifex, the 'bridge-maker' who unites outer experience with inner illumination.

This unifying force of 'love' can either be directed down and outward into manifestion as the Dove. Or directed inward and upward via the Serpent (Kundalini). Either one is capable of disolving the walls of the fortress-self and the liberating experience of Atu XVI The Tower.

Nine nails? 9 = Yesod. A pointer to the lunar (exalted in Taurus) sexual nature of this force. YSVD = 80 = Peh: Atu XVI. Choose ye well.

Somehow an erect penis, ready for communication, came to mind while analyzing this card, contrasted to the orgasming phallus of the Tower, or a flaccid and undeveloped one in Yod. This connects to what you said of a "bridge–maker." Perhaps here is the idea of erection crossing the Abyss, while the Devil is the actual... um... horniness. No "esoteric waffle" here, but the initiator into the mysteries behind the mysteries.

Again, I make sense to myself, and in my head it makes sense. Still, don't know if I'm thinking too much about sex, or not enough.

You mentioned the dove as manifestation; is this because of the symbolism of Noah's dove, seeing the land clean after the defilements of the flood? The snake is of course rich with obvious symbolism. Another thing, if the snake connects with Tet/Lust for obvious reasons, does the dove have a similar counterpart?

closrapexa said:

Somehow an erect penis, ready for communication, came to mind while analyzing this card, contrasted to the orgasming phallus of the Tower, or a flaccid and undeveloped one in Yod.

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It has been suggested elsewhere that the Hierophants fancy hat is actually a bull penis.

Osiris became linked to the Apis Bull....

Another link that you might find suggestive is the story of Isis and Osiris. After the murder of Osiris at the hands of Set the goddess Isis set out to find the scattered pieces of Osiris. But she could not locate the phallus. So in it's place she created a substitute phallus, mounted Osiris and conceived the child Horus.
With that in mind think of the job of a Hierophant. The Hierophant acts as a stand-in focal point representing the aspirants perfected self/HGA. The aspirant has symbolically lost his/her phallus (Word of their True Will) and therefore seeks to unite him/herself with the Hierophant until he/she discovers the Lost Word.

closrapexa said:

You mentioned the dove as manifestation; is this because of the symbolism of Noah's dove, seeing the land clean after the defilements of the flood?

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The dove is a venusian symbol and relates to Atu III The Empress, the gate of manifestation. Some equate the dove with the descent of the Shekinah, the divine presence that manifests within the בֵּית אֵל

closrapexa said:

Another thing, if the snake connects with Tet/Lust for obvious reasons

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Possibly. But the snake could also relate to Mars via Atu XIII Death.

closrapexa said:

..... So why are they there?

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One of the reasons they are there, for me, is they are a reminder that one needs to utalise both forces and be aware of all the operational polarities. The snake (one symbol of which is the 'kundalini') is, in a way, a force that originates within, releases energy and aspires 'upwards' - to 'higher conciousness'. The dove is often equated with 'grace' and seen as a force that originates 'from above' and is availible to us to utalise. In a way it is an aspiration ' above' that we try to attain while the snake is an aspiration 'from within'. Perhaps the dove is an invocation while the snake an evocation?

The polarity reflects in other ways; the herophant, being a teacher of the mysteries is also, constantly a learner or student of the mysteries and by 'his' very act of teaching learns more from that process than he would if he were not teaching.

The oxen and elephants symbolise much for me but one thing is; that being a student (and particularly teacher) initiate/or of the 'mysteries' is indeed a hard long slog and the energies of strength, endurance and persistance are required.

Aeon418 said:

It has been suggested elsewhere that the Hierophants fancy hat is actually a bull penis.

Osiris became linked to the Apis Bull....

Another link that you might find suggestive is the story of Isis and Osiris. After the murder of Osiris at the hands of Set the goddess Isis set out to find the scattered pieces of Osiris. But she could not locate the phallus. So in it's place she created a substitute phallus, mounted Osiris and conceived the child Horus.
With that in mind think of the job of a Hierophant. The Hierophant acts as a stand-in focal point representing the aspirants perfected self/HGA. The aspirant has symbolically lost his/her phallus (Word of their True Will) and therefore seeks to unite him/herself with the Hierophant until he/she discovers the Lost Word.

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That makes sense. Hadad was the predominant Bull God of the ancient near east in the time of the Temple of Solomon, and the Lost Word is Bra-Hadad (Barahdd). 'He Created Hadad.' So when the word is found the aspirant finds the phallus of God as the Inner Temple or Holy of Holies.

Minor Clarification/Correction

Aeon418 said:

.....Unlike a lot of conventional waffle that tries bury the Hierophant behind a smoke screen of 'exoteric religion, orthodoxy, and tradition' (thank you Mr Waite.... not! ) the Hierophant is actually the pontifex, the 'bridge-maker' who unites outer experience with inner illumination.

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Unfortunately, it doesn't matter whether or not the pictures are changed. Waite changed the old Lover card, and people still say it means choice, even though it may never have meant that anyhow. The Heirophant could be changed to Che Guevara and Tarot soothsayers would still associate it with traditional orthodoxy or whatever the Pope symbol means to them.

LRichard said:

Unfortunately, it doesn't matter whether or not the pictures are changed. Waite changed the old Lover card, and people still say it means choice, even though it may never have meant that anyhow. The Heirophant could be changed to Che Guevara and Tarot soothsayers would still associate it with traditional orthodoxy or whatever the Pope symbol means to them.

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So you think changes and developments in Tarot concepts / pictures (like my old favorite the Waite Devil card compared to the Thoth Devil card) dont help evolutionary changes in conciousness of people that study them? ... or pehaps I lack clarity on what you mean by Tarot soothsayers?

Maybe you are right? If the depiction looks better, more reasonible or more fully and intelligently explained I suppose the whole deck (or its creator) will be accused of some sort of trickery or evilness. [Look! He made the Devil card all smiley and nice .... must be a satanist]

The majority of readers (to which we owe the popularity of the Waite deck) are not particularly concerned about its occult foundations. The same goes for what seems to be a recent surge of interest in the Thoth: "Wow, this is a cool deck! Those funny looking little symbols will impress the clients." The fact that the imagery is a further evolution of esoteric Tarot matters not, except for the very few, who, perhaps unconsciously, are inclined in that direction anyhow. Yes, evolution of Tarot design is important, but mainly just for us weirdos.

I still appreciate the attempt of Waite and Smith to preserve some semblance of continuity with traditional Tarot imagery, even though it results in misleading symbolism, such as in the Hierophant and particularly Judgement (concerning which Waite comments in PKT, not that many people try to read Part II).

Well, so much for this excursion off topic.