Upside-down M solved [maybe]

Waite published The Hidden Church of the Holy Graal in 1909 - the same year that the Tarot deck was published.

Waite published They Holy Kabbalah in 1929.

He expressed to his GD Fellowship that he was not convinced as to a correlation between Tarot and Kabbalah. HCHG contains a chapter on the "talismans" of Lesser Arcana (cup, sword, lance and paten) and the Holy Graal. Which ideas were probably most on his mind when he imagined the deck? Had he even read the Zohar at that point?

It's true THK was published in 1929 but he wrote another book in 1902, The Doctrine and Literature of the Kabalah. From what I can tell, THK may be a revised version of it. They're very similar.

I found something pretty interesting in the ritual of the Practicus grade that I thought I'd post. This grade corresponds to Water, Cups in the tarot minors. Sorry it's a bit long:

"Master of the Temple: Frater Adveniat Regnum (vel nomen aliud), the most practical of all paths is that by which we go back whence we came from the exile of the soul in separation into the paradise of the soul in union. The temple in this grade is a memorial of that sanctuary that is called the lower Eden, the place of the just clothed in ethereal envelopes, signifying all perfect purity. Herein is reflected the supreme mystery of faith and the living presence of Shekinah. As such, it is that garden that is watered by the glorious and unfailing river flowing down from the Eden that is above. There is the supernal paradise, the place of which is in Binah, and there is the Divine presence of Matrona and Taboona, the Shekinah in transcendence. This altar in the middle place of our temple represents the altar of sacrifice that was erected, speaking symbolically, for the unspotted offerings of desire and will in the world before the traditional fall of man. That world is understood as the lower Eden, and it is sometimes identified with Malkuth; but it is not the kingdom of this world in a material sense. It is rather a spiritual place or state preceding, in our symbolism, that which is physical, and intermediate for man between the earth on which he now dwells and the heaven to which he belongs.

The altar by which you stand is in the form of a double cube, and the cube unfolds as a cross. On such a cross is the figure of a man extended in the great diagram before you, which represents the Tree of Life in the transcendence. Above Kether the power and the glory of unmanifest Deity descends from the region Ain Soph. Prior to the generation of beings and of things it is called the closed eye of the unknown darkness; but for the evolution of the cosmic worlds and the manifestation of the Divine therein, it is said that the eye opened, and the radiance of the ineffable Spirit poured through the aeons and the spaces. Kether represents the first movement of the Divine in self-unfoldment through begotten worlds and for manifestation to hierarchies of intelligence generated therein and thereby. Kether is called the place of God and His Shekinah in the state of absolute union; but the procession of the great law brought them forth in a state of distinction, which is not to be understood as separation. They became in this manner the Abba, or father, in Chokmah and the great mother, Aima, who is the transcendent Shekinah in Binah, corresponding respectively to the letters of Yod and He of the Divine name. These are male and female, and they produced as the fruit of their union a Divine son, who is shown in the diagram extended on the sephirotic cross. His head rests upon Daath, which is supernal knowledge; the arms stretch to Chesed and Geburah, while Tiphereth is over the region of the heart; and that which in the purity of the secret tradition is termed an organ of holiness is veiled by the Sephira Yesod. The feet of the figure rest on Malkuth; to indicate that the kingdom of this world is in subjection to the kingdom of heaven. Among the letters of the Divine name, this Divine son is in correspondence with Vau. He is the first begotten of the mighty ones, by He came into generation with Her who is His Divine bride and sister, the He final of the sacred name and the second aspect of Shekinah. She was at first contained within Him, as Eve in the nature of Adam, but was afterwards brought forth like Eve, and they abode together in the unity of mystical marriage.

There came, however, a change upon the face of things, and this union was broken. The He final was divided from the Vau and descended or fell to Malkuth, where the lower Shekinah is located in the great diagram. It is part of the legend concerning the fall of man, whom she followed into the exile of separation, being driven out with him. But her expulsion was for the salvation of the world, and a day will come when all nations shall enter under the wings of Shekinah; the Vau will raise up the He; the divided name will be restored in all perfection; and man having entered into his birthright will dwell with God in unity. It is she meanwhile who leads him on the path of his return to God.

Such is the legend of the grade of Practicus, derived from the secret tradition…."

Again, this legend is given to the candidate for the grade of Water. But it deals to a large extent with Malkuth and the Shekinah in manifestation. If you go back to the grade that specifically corresponds to Shekinah in manifestation, that of Zelator (Malkuth), some interesting things are revealed. "The sacred words are ADONAI MALKAH, and - as understood among us - they have reference to the bride or queen of Earth..." ADONAI MALKAH (Lord Queen) is Shekinah in manifestation. It's possible the upside down M stands for Malkah (reflected from above) rather than Matrona.

Abrac said:

It's true THK was published in 1929 but he wrote another book in 1902, The Doctrine and Literature of the Kabalah. From what I can tell, THK may be a revised version of it. They're very similar.

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Thanks for this book, which I've overlooked. It does not appear to be all that similar to his later book as it is much more of a surface survey, but it does have an interesting appendix on Tarot and Kabbalah - summed up as his not finding a connection: "the Game of Goose may be recommended with almost as much reason." Later, of course, he did find a set of correspondences that may not be inherent in Tarot but which served the mystical purposes of his order.

This 1902 book has NO mention of Matrona or Malkah. Waite briefly mentions Shekinah in Malkuth, and Malkuth's being called "the Mother of all the Living."

"The sacred words are ADONAI MALKAH, and - as understood among us - they have reference to the bride or queen of Earth..." ADONAI MALKAH (Lord Queen) is Shekinah in manifestation. It's possible the upside down M stands for Malkah (reflected from above) rather than Matrona.

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Of course Malkah and Matrona in Malkuth reflect the second He, attributed to the suit of Pentacles, rather than to the first He, which Waite indicates is attributed to the Shekinah in Binah.

The full quote is "The purpose of this short paper is therefore to show that the published Tarots and the methods of using them may be very serviceable for divination, fortune-telling and other trifles, but they are not the key of the Kabalah, and that the Royal Game of Goose may be recommended with almost as much reason for the same purpose. Dr. Papus is therefore unconsciously misdirecting his many followers when he advertises his laborious readings as the 'Absolute Key to Occult Science.'" The main point being the word key. There were a lot things about the occult and tarot that Waite didn't agree with, but to say he had no use for the Kabbalah in relationship to the Tarot just doesn't match the facts.

There's a reference in The Secret Doctrine in Israel (1913) to the "Queen below." Malkah is simply Hebrew for Queen. "In so far as everything proceeds from Kether, it is in virtue of the union between God and His Shekinah therein. That which was produced is male and female also, being the Father and Mother in Chokmah and Binah, but because of this twofold procession there is a sense in which these two may be called Son or Word and Daughter. They beget on their own part the King and the Queen below, Lover and Beloved, the Son and Shekinah in manifestation."

So we have in 1913 a reference to the "Queen below." Just because he doesn't mention Malkah specifically in the 1902 book doesn't mean he wasn't familiar with the concept. The fact that he wrote the book at all demonstrates his familiarity with the Zohar.

The whole point of the quote I posted was to show that the concept of the lower Eden was introduced in the grade of Water. Of course Malkuth and He final correspond to Pentacles but it's quite interesting, to me anyway, that there would be so much about the lower Eden and Shekinah introduced in the grade of Water. As you read it you can almost see the Ace of Cups as he describes "As such, it is that garden that is watered by the glorious and unfailing river flowing down from the Eden that is above."

And there's this, "The temple in this grade is a memorial of that sanctuary that is called the lower Eden, the place of the just clothed in ethereal envelopes, signifying all perfect purity. Herein is reflected the supreme mystery of faith and the living presence of Shekinah."

It's obvious that we'll probably never know exactly what Waite meant, so each person gets to decide for him or herself what works best. Which seems to be how Waite meant it.

I love the fact that Edward Witten, who formulated M-theory in super-string physics has refused to tell anyone what M stands for, although he has mentioned a variety of possibilities that include mystery and magic among them.

He went to great lengths to conceal the true meanings of the cards, but did hint there was a deeper meaning. So he was concealing something, I wanna know what it is!

I missed something significant in that quote I quoted earlier from the Rituals. When it talks about the lower Eden it's talking about a spiritual state. It says somtimes it's identified with Malkuth, but it's not a material kingdom. The lower Eden isn't Malkuth, it's Hod, the grade of Water. In the FRC system, four Sephiroth are watered by the rivers of Eden, Hod is the first river.

Now, if I had to choose between Malkah and Matrona, I'd have to go with Matrona. The ritual even mentions Matrona, and as reflected! (Understanding Matrona and Shekinah as one and the same.) The streams coming from the Cup are from Matrona reflected into the lower Eden. It does mention the "supreme mystery of faith" but mystery's not capitalized. The "mystery of faith" probably has somethig to do with the Eucharist, but I'm not sure how it all ties together. The whole thing is a small taste of that which lies behind the Lesser Arcana. There's more to be discovered in the grades of Earth, Air, and Fire .

"The temple in this grade is a memorial of that sanctuary that is called the lower Eden, the place of the just clothed in ethereal envelopes, signifying all perfect purity. Herein is reflected the supreme mystery of faith and the living presence of Shekinah. As such, it is that garden that is watered by the glorious and unfailing river flowing down from the Eden that is above. There is the supernal paradise, the place of which is in Binah, and there is the Divine presence of Matrona and Taboona, the Shekinah in transcendence. This altar in the middle place of our temple represents the altar of sacrifice that was erected, speaking symbolically, for the unspotted offerings of desire and will in the world before the traditional fall of man. That world is understood as the lower Eden, and it is sometimes identified with Malkuth; but it is not the kingdom of this world in a material sense. It is rather a spiritual place or state preceding, in our symbolism, that which is physical, and intermediate for man between the earth on which he now dwells and the heaven to which he belongs."

Abrac said:

The full quote is "The purpose of this short paper is therefore to show that the published Tarots and the methods of using them may be very serviceable for divination, fortune-telling and other trifles, but they are not the key of the Kabalah, and that the Royal Game of Goose may be recommended with almost as much reason for the same purpose. Dr. Papus is therefore unconsciously misdirecting his many followers when he advertises his laborious readings as the 'Absolute Key to Occult Science.'" The main point being the word key.

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A full quote always helps, it puts it in correct context. Also , well done on finding the earlier source book of Waite's on Kabbalah.

Abrac said:

There were a lot things about the occult and tarot that Waite didn't agree with, but to say he had no use for the Kabbalah in relationship to the Tarot just doesn't match the facts.

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Agreed !

Teheuti said:

It's obvious that we'll probably never know exactly what Waite meant, so each person gets to decide for him or herself what works best.

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For me it works best just to ignore the 'W' 'M' - sad but true....

Oh yeah ! The cards work fine without it .

Who knows what he ( or she ) meant about that MW ( hey ... that's my intitals ! )

ravenest said:

A full quote always helps, it puts it in correct context. Also , well done on finding the earlier source book of Waite's on Kabbalah.

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I agree. The whole appendix should be read. In fact, the entire book should be read, as it will become apparent that it is not the same book as The Holy Kabbalah at all. For instance, the Zohar is mentioned only obliquely in the first book - statements about it appear to come primarily from secondary sources. The Holy Kabbalah, OTOH, quotes frequently from the Zohar. There is no Matrona or Malkah in the 1902 book, which, if this was such an all-important word, one would think it would have appeared at least once.

But, unless we find a definitive statement by Waite, we will never know for sure what he meant.

Personally I think that it was precognitive information heralding the future M-theory - a definitive sign of the psychic powers of Waite and/or Smith.

Katz and Goodwin are convinced that it is a sign, added by PCS, of the Immaculate Conception, commemorated by Mariologists in the Médaille Miraculeuse or Miraculous Medal (a medallion with the letter M inscribed upon it). The proof - a later drawing of this medal by PCS herself and what they identified as "the worship of Mary" that took place at Smallhythe Place based on a photo of a woman placing flowers before a garden shrine to Mary.

Abrac thinks it stands for Matrona/Malkah. Terms not appearing in Waite's work until many years after the deck came out. [Edited: This is based on text from Waite's FRC (founded in 1915), text in The Holy Kabbalah (1929), and the word Matrona in Mathers' Kabbalah Unveiled (1912).]

I think M most likely stands for Mystery, as in the "Mystery of the Eucharist" (also referred to as the "Mystery of Faith") - the central theme and two closely-related phrases appearing frequently in his book The Hidden Church of the Holy Graal that was published the same year as the deck (1909). See quotes in the thread above; I have plenty more from HCHG but didn't want to overload everyone. The Eucharist is, of course, the consecration of the bread and wine (wafer & cup) during the Mass. The transubstantiation of bread and wine into body and blood is the central "Mystery of Faith" in the Catholic Church.

However, I prefer the idea that Waite wanted the letter M to stand for a variety of related things, including M-words for the feminine/mother aspect of the Divine: the play on Mother Mary/Womb (M/W - Maim/Water) being among them.