Owl Tarot
Truly one of the most interesting cards. He symblizes Christ or Osiris, the supreme sublime suffering. Yet his face is even more serene that that of the RWS Hanged man, firstly because he is suffering more, and secondly because this card relates more to the Universal suffering and self-deprivation that is typical of so many martyrs. Also, there is something about his face that is not quite human. His body and face are reminiscant of something else, of the Gods perhaps.
He hangs upside down in the waters of oblivion, of forgetfullness.
A powerful, masterful card, definitely one of my favourites.
I feel the same way Clos. I mean, I know that Crowley, probably due to his past, despised of the idea of sacrifice, and in one sense, I am with him. But yet, he is also one of my favourites as well. I guess I am a heretic to his eyes to see this card differently! I disagree with Crowley to an extent, exactly because Jesus and Osiris (and probably Bacchus, who is also a Solar "self-sacrificing" deity) are depicted here. I guess this is why Crucifiction is called a Mystery, and it is -many times- misunderstood. The Christ center is Tiphareth, whose magickal image is "A majestic King. A child. A sacrificed God.", so this so-called "sacrifice" is one of it's functions. However, "sacrifice" for Tiphareth is pretty different to the "sacrifice" Crowley meant. Sacrifice for Tiphareth I think means to translate force to form and vice-versa, as it may be needed to balance the whole Tree. This way, it fulfills it's function of connecting the Supernals to the rest of the Tree, because "No one comes to the Father except through me." (which Crowley was a fan of, but using different words). I think this isn't so "evil" in it's Universal sense, but I guess it may be "evil", as Crowley refers to it, in it's personal sense. Aeon 418 went into a better presentation of Crowley's use of the term "sacrifice" so I don't think to go too far about it. As Crowley says,
Book of Thoth, p. 64But in this card the only question is of the "redemption" of the submerged element, and therefore everything is reversed.
So, I would say his face is sirene because "sacrifice", in the conventional meaning or in the context Crowley gave the card, isn't what his function is. His "sacrifice" is the "descend" into the "lower" parts of his kingdom to maintain the stability and the connection of the entire Tree as it already is and to re-estabilish, as the Redeemer, the "connection system" of the Tree. In Crowley's viewpoint on the card, I see the phenomenon of "Prince of Cups". I guess most will get my pun