Death and The Moon

[Arnnaria]

This is my first post, so I might as well introduce myself here. I'm a new student of the Tarot. I bought my first pack of cards for fun and they were really hard to use as the minor arcana didn't have any pictures or symbols on them. I retired that deck and bought a new Universal Waite Tarot deck this semester and have been learning from it. It is a pleasant experience.

My question/rambling was the significance of the two pillars on the Death card and the Moon. On Death we see two obelisk pillars off in the distances with holes at the top of them. We see the sun rising obviously remarking that this is a "rebirth" of sorts. But is it?

Look at The Moon card. When I see The Moon card I see the exact same two pillars. If you look at the outline of the moon too, you could also kind of see that the sun may be behind it. This offers a different perspective on Death. From one angle death is a rebirth, yes, but from the other angle we have The Moon card which represents our fears. Notice that the long road from this perspective leads through the pillars and will eventually take us to death. Do we take this road and pass through our fears or do we stay in our comfortably numb position with the lobster and dogs.

I guess I don't have a question, just kind of rambling on and on. If anyone has any input or advice or has seen this similarity too, let me know. Thanks.

[Fulgour]

Oswald Wirth wrote that the towers on the Moon
stand as sentries to warn The Fool. He was the one
who first introduced the winding road to this card,
which in his view, also astronomically marks the
path of the Sun ~ between Cancer and Capricorn.

[Parzival]

Let us take the path up and up, through our instinctive fears , between the extremes that lead us astray-- wild fantasy (right tower) and fixed obsession (Left tower).

[Vincent]

Originally Posted by Fulgour

Oswald Wirth wrote that the towers on the Moon
stand as sentries to warn The Fool.

Thats interesting.

where did he write that?

Originally Posted by Fulgour

He was the one who first introduced the winding road to this card,
which in his view, also astronomically marks the
path of the Sun ~ between Cancer and Capricorn.

Also interesting... was this in the same book?



Vincent

[Fulgour]

Originally Posted by Vincent

Thats interesting. where did he write that? Also interesting... was this in the same book? Vincent

I've seen interesting writing styles, with all questions
and almost nothing else ~ it's like a super-hero thing!

[Parzival]

Oswald Wirth writes about this in Tarot of the Magicians, in the chapter on the "Moon" : "Two square towers.... are... public bodies placed as sentries to warn the foolish man of the dangers that threaten him if, once past the dogs, he aspires to rushing into the treacherous steppe to which the Moon draws him." Wirth goes on to warn us not to go without preparation , lest we lose our souls! Curiosity killed the cat.

[Vincent]

Ah... thank you Frank



Vincent

[wandking]

finally, a valid quote from an influential source on those Towers... nice find Frank! Levi doesn't provide a concise quote in his writings but i gathered the twin towers could imply a similarity between seemingly contrasting forces, such as instinct and intellect.
Patrick

[magpie9]

Have you noticed the black and white pillers the High Preistess sits between? Same story- I believe they are supposed to be Joachim and Boaz, and represent all opposites, dark and light, truth and lie, etc., etc., etc.

[stella01904]

MM ~ They're also used in astral projection. The Golden Dawn would have been familiar with this. You use a picture of pillars like that and just go right between them. The High Priestess has a veil with pomegranates (a la Demeter) draped between them and beyond that, the water...Make sense now? BB, Stella