Princesses and Priestesses?

[firecatpickles]

Has anyone given thought to; given the weight in counting, reading, being guardians of the suit, etc.; that Princesses are related to the Priestess and Figure in Adjustment in the Major Arcana? With the trimmed Thoth it is difficult to see the difference between the Princess of Cups and The HPS for me, similarly to Adjustment.

It makes me think that it "more important" than the other courts, in the sense that it imports many other interpretations than those. The Kings, Queens, and Knights seem to show up as people in my readings, and physical descriptions of peoples, whereas the Princesses (like the Aces) offer an expanded index of possible meanings.

 

[Zephyros]

I would agree that they are perhaps more important than other Courts; in a way they represent us, the dormant perception wielding the power of the Ace. They show humanity's great potential in that although they are at the very bottom of the Tree, we nevertheless hold a spark of the potential of the original Keter.

As to Adjustment, I don't see any direct connection, but that doesn't mean one doesn't exist. Still, Adjustment and the PoC do share some qualities. Adjustment is the inescapable end to any act or application of force, the quality of retribution; of the idea that opposition is a natural outcome of anything, and part of it. As an Air card, Adjustment is very intellectual, providing immediately an appropriate effect to any cause (I think the BoT goes into the whole harlot and sacred whore thing about her; if I remember incorrectly andmit doesn't, it still makes sense).

The Princess, on the other hand, is the element of Water in the Earth. Both are female elements, receptive, open to all, etc. However, Earth is perhaps the most sophisticated of the elements, in that it has the dual power of both being receptive and outward; you plant a seed and the Earth repays you by sprouting forth a plant. This quality is also what, to an extent, enables initiation into the higher parts of the Tree and the cause of the universe's cyclic nature. So there is that.

 

[Karrma]

However, Earth is perhaps the most sophisticated of the elements, in that it has the dual power of both being receptive and outward; you plant a seed and the Earth repays you by sprouting forth a plant. This quality is also what, to an extent, enables initiation into the higher parts of the Tree and the cause of the universe's cyclic nature. So there is that.

I would disagree about earth being more sophisticated than the other elements. If I plant a seed and forget to water, not much happens. (proven ) Same if it is in the dark, or starved for air. The quality is earth, seed (potential, spark), air, sun(fire, warmth), water all in balance that is so awesome and shows how simple alchemy and transformation can be. The earth is a receptacle or cauldron however, for all the elements, so they can be transformed.

Back to the princesses. They do have a seed-like quality of potential, similar to a child or the aces.

 

[Zephyros]

I would disagree about earth being more sophisticated than the other elements. If I plant a seed and forget to water, not much happens. (proven ) Same if it is in the dark, or starved for air. The quality is earth, seed (potential, spark), air, sun(fire, warmth), water all in balance that is so awesome and shows how simple alchemy and transformation can be. The earth is a receptacle or cauldron however, for all the elements, so they can be transformed.

I wasn't talking about the actual material, earth, but the element. Earth is the only element that does not exist by itself, but is a mixture of the other three and so possesses all their qualities. Indeed, that would have to be the case, as Earth is where all the other elements manifest. This gives it a special relationship with Keter, that is the potential for all as Malkuth is the culmination of all. Since Earth is the lowest, there is nowhere for it to go but up, and that is exactly what it does, and the Princesses epitomize this. Since they personify us, through wedding with the Prince (the HGA) the Princesses rise, together with him, to become the Mother and Father and so perpetuate the universe.

As the path leading down from Keter to Tiphareth, I wonder if the Priestess, representing the supreme loss of self in communing with the Shechinah, akin to opening the Ark the Covenant and peering inside, isn't a "prototype" for of the Princess, a mirror image of her, the Priestess as the potential for what is ultimately manifested as the Princess, and vice versa. All communion is to "know" what the Priestess holds in secret.