Le Pape's crozier and all that

Sophie

Like a good Pope, Fulgour properly showed me off his reading and onto the historical boards to discuss the Pope's crozier. I would like to have a look at that curious crozier, and some other of his accoutrements:

- a strange crozier - Fulgour suggested the Phoenician letter samekh, letter 15 - a link to Le Diable; not impossible, but I rather think - as direct influence - a papal heraldic ceremonial cross as shown here: http://www.heraldique-europeenne.org/Didactitiel/Catholique.htm#Pape
But where does it come from? What does it mean, this three tiered cross?

- a cross of Malta on each hand. Why a cross of Malta? Why on the hands?

- One hand gloved, the other not - why? Gloves were episcopal insignia - but one glove?

- The hand that is ungloved is the hand with the two fingers raised. This is a Christic sign, a sign of authority, but here the Pope's two fingers lean right, rather than straight up, as in images of Christ. Is he showing his acolytes to Christ? (in XXI-Le Monde) ; or to his pal the Devil - indicating that Le Pape and Le Diable are twin energies, one contained and visible, the other wild and occult? or simply to the next card, where the disciples will be faced with a choice of the heart?

- the throne back behind him - a ladder? two pillars and a ladder? Is this the alchemical ladder? Jacob's ladder? The pillars of the Temple?

And of course, anyone with more on Samekh and the Devil-connection is more than welcome :)
 

Fulgour

I brought my links... can I play?

Jean Noblet c.1650
V Le Pape

Jean Dodal c.1701
V Le Pape

Nicolas Conver Pattern 1760
V Le Pape

*

The Crosier

"The St Nicholas Crosier" 1150-70
An ivory crosier (head of a bishop's staff) on which are carved two scenes
from the Life of Christ, the Nativity and the Annunciation, the Agnus Dei,
and three episodes from the life of St Nicholas.
Crosier

Pastoral Crosier (1863) Constantinople
Crosier

Phoenician SAMEKH Letter 15 (XV Le Diable?)
"Samekh"
 

Rosanne

If you think that every line in TdM is purposeful, why then the two different skirting boards-one plain, one ornate? The Door Jamb is visible through the papal vestments.Why? Could it be showing a progression from the humble routes through to the richness of the Papacy and on to the outcome of that - Le Diable - (pointing fingers right)or maybe it is the origianl designers quirk and cut. I remember when the Japanese copied boilers from America they put the dents in, in their copies. Regards Rosanne
 

Sophie

Personally I don't have the patience to count every single bar in a card - one day I might but for the moment I concentrate on more obvious elements. Tarot is a system of symbols - so gloves, crosses, one hand gloved and which hand the glove is on, the shape of a crozier, a ladder-shaped back and so on are all very relevant to what the card is trying to convey. They are not dents in boilers. They are all well-known symbols (in Europe, where TDM was born, at least) - and I'd like to know why they are on this card. Some of these on their own would mean little - that three-tiered cross is a well-known papal heraldic sign, after all. But soem might have more siginficance. And, as Fulgour suggested, even well-known emblems can hve several meanings.

The Cross of Malta is so well-known it's all to easy to miss - and most of us have forgotten its origin.

Also, the gestures of the three people on that card- all are conditioned by cathedral iconography which had precise meanings.

I'm interested in exploring them separately - but even more interested in fitting them all together on that card.

I did a little research on the symbolism and origin of the so-called Cross of Malta, or Cross of St John. First of all, it doesn't come from Malta at all- it was an ancient symbol used by the Eastern Christians, particularly the Levantines. The Knights Hospitallers adopted it on their black habit; some centuries later, when the Knights Hospitallers settled in Malta in 1530, they took the name Knights of the Order of Malta - but Tarot existed already by then.

So - it must refer to the East, or to the Knights Hospitallers - or both, as the KH were intimately linked to the Levant, having been founded in Jerusalem before the Crusades - as a hospital order known as the "Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem", whose vocation was to care for all pilgrims to Jerusalem, whatever their religion. Later, during the Crusades, they took up arms, and so became both a hospital and a warrior religious order. They adopted the square cross with eight points, the cross of St John.

There is some interesting political history linked to them: when the Templars were brought down by Philippe le Bel in the early 14th century, the Knight Hospitallers - a rich and powerful order, though not as prominent as the Templars - also fell under the king of France's gaze. Eventually, by some careful trimming, they avoided the ghastly fate of the Templars, and even were able to claim some of the Templars riches for themselves. The fall of the Templars and the survival of the Hospitallers were emblematic events of the late Middle Ages in Europe and the Meditarranean, and anyone designing a Tarot card with a Cross of St John on it would have known this. What is the link? A wink at the Templars? As I said above, a reference to the East? -but why?
 

smleite

From The Catholic Encyclopedia (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06589a.htm), about liturgical gloves in the Middle Ages:

“The back of the glove was always ornamented, sometimes with an embroidered medallion or some other form of embroidery, sometimes with a metal disk having on it a representation of the Lamb of God, a cross, the Right Hand of God, saints, etc., the disk being sewn on to the glove, or, at times, the ornamentation was of pearls and precious stones. (…) Up to the end of the Middle Ages the usual colour was white (…)”.

The gloves used by the Pope, bishops and cardinals (it was a privilege reserved only to the higher hierarchies of the Church) were ornamented, as we can learn from here, with a stitched symbol in the back. In the present days, only the cross is used. It is therefore absolutely natural to see a cross in the Pope’s gloves – though we can wonder why should that be the cross of “Malta” (not in Jean Noblet’s deck, anyway). I could easily embark on an extrapolation to the oriental referent of Jerusalem, and to the model (also a papal archetype) of King Solomon… but I am not entirely convinced that the cross in the papal gloves is more than an accurate replica of the usual liturgical vests.

And I wonder, couldn’t the “cross of Malta” be simply a visual adulteration of St. Peter’s (and every Pope’s) symbol, that is, two crossed keys?

As to the crosier, you will like to read this: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04515c.htm

In 16th century art, you will find lots of representations of St. Peter with a crosier exactly like the one supposedly similar to the Samekh. Such a connection between arcanes V and XV would be very interesting, no doubt, but I personally prefer to see a link between V and XIV. The angel in Temperance wears a five-petaled flower, obviously a rose, in his/her hair, and I like to look at both cards together as “the cross and the rose”…

Here, you can see a Portuguese early 16th century depiction of St. Peter that I find very interesting in this context.

http://www.univ-ab.pt/disciplinas/dchs/ha/images/vf_spedro_capela_seviseu.jpg
 

Fulgour

"Pairings"

if 0=1 then 5=6

If we associate Le Pape with Taurus
in terms of astrological opposition
we see Scorpio, which in this model
is XIII

The Moon is exlated in Taurus.
Scorpio has no exaltaion, but
is the Sign of the Moon's Descension

*

if 1=1 then 5=5

If we associate Le Pape with Aries
in terms of astrological opposition
we see Libra, which in this model
is XII Le Pendu

The Sun is exalted in Aries (Saturn's Descension)
Saturn is exalted in Libra (The Sun's Descension)


Two very interesting possibilities...
 

NightWing

Gloves & Crozier

Would it be too simplistic to suggest that the Maltese cross in this context refers to both protection (the Knighthood) and healing (the Hospitaliers), and both conveyed by hand (as in Sacraments)? I'm thinking that given this particular card, it is really about conveying knowledge of these two pursuits, both considered "noble callings" in the past, along with several others.

Concerning the Papal triple-cross crozier; I was told once that it signified the Papal power of "binding and loosing", regarding entry to heaven, purgatory, and hell.

Certainly the symbolism of this card is very historically contextualised.
 

Fulgour

Wikipedia speaks

To distinguish abbots from bishops, it was ordained that their mitre
should be made of less costly materials, and should not be ornamented
with gold, a rule which was soon entirely disregarded, and that the crook
of their pastoral staff should turn inwards instead of outwards, indicating
that their jurisdiction was limited to their own house.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbot

So a crosier like an @ would indicate limited authority,
and a style reminiscent of # suggest a broader scope.
 
Roll up all you TdM -ers Grimaud Grand Etteilla