Tag: TdM

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Death and the Moon in Tarot de Marseille

Previously, we looked at the influence of hieroglyphica and emblemata in the Renaissance and its connection to Tarot de Marseille, how TdM’s ‘mytho-alchemical’ imagery is hieroglyphic in nature, playfully imbedded with visual hints of esoteric meaning hidden in plain sight. The cards relate to each other in a variety of ways, too, be it by numeric pattern or other similarities. (Perhaps why they naturally lend themselves to being ‘read’, a different narrative following every shuffle).
Do read my post on  Horapollo and the Hieroglyphic Mysteries of TdM , if you haven’t, as an introduction. And as always, click images for details.

Fool and Death (Camoin-Jodorowsky deck)

The Unnamed Card – Death

The Unnamed card (‘Death/La Mort’) is a prime example. Most Tarotists are aware of its relationship with The Fool/Le Mat, and how they strike the very same pose. By design alone, it is immediately apparent that the two figures are related or even one and the same; the first being unnumbered, the second, unnamed. Suddenly it all makes sense, right?

Original Tragicomedy act: the Greek Muses Melpomene (T) and Thalia (C)

Let’s take a closer look at the Unnamed card and its relationship to another major, The Moon, that we might find the visual clues needed for a better understanding of their mystery teachings.

The first consistent features we notice in the TdM skeleton, are its colour-emphasized spine and hip bones, and the skin pulled back around his skull, creating a crescent shape. Also, his spine appears to be made of grain. Typically, it matches the grain in the Emperor’s necklace (which his chicken-basilisk surely must covet!). The Emperor wears the golden seeds of his own, cyclic renewal. 1 + 3 = 4 and in number order, both cards are in the 1/4 place.

grain storage?
Skull face (featuring  pyramid and new Moon) and Moon face of TdM

It’s obvious, too, that the Reaper’s face is a mirror image of the Moon. Makes sense, the Solar year has 13 moons, the last one being the ‘killing Moon.’ It’s ultimately why Sun worshippers suffer from triskaidekaphobia. Try as they might, the Greeks could not make 13 – or death – be rational and fit in. They felt the same way about 0, rejecting it outright (ie, no number?). The “inconstant Moon” has long been considered a kind of depository for souls coming and going between incarnations. It is not the light of wakefulness.

Of course Horapollo is talking about the djed bone of Osiris and we can see how the card must be a reference to the Osirian myth. While the djed bone has obvious phallic implications, it is actually symbolic of the grain god’s spine, by which his ‘kundalini energy’ or ‘life force’ climbs:

“The djed was an important part of the ceremony called “raising the djed“, which was a part of the celebrations of the Sed festival, the Egyptian jubilee celebration. The act of raising the djed has been explained as representing Osiris’s triumph over Seth. Ceremonies in Memphis are described where the pharaoh, with the help of the priests, raised a wooden djed column using ropes. The ceremony took place during the period when fields were sown and the year’s agricultural season would begin, corresponding to the month of Koiak, the fourth month of the Season of the Inundation. This ceremony was a part of one of the more popular holidays and celebrations of the time, a larger festival dedicated to Osiris conducted from the 13th to 30th day of the Koiak. Celebrated as it was at that time of the year when the soil and climate were most suitable for agriculture, the festival and its ceremonies can be seen as an appeal to Osiris, who was the God of vegetation, to favor the growth of the seeds sown, paralleling his own resurrection and renewal after his murder by Seth.” [wikipedia]

Seth and his hungry familiar, the Oxyrhynchus

As for his phallus, remember that when Isis collected her dismembered beloved’s pieces to put them back together, she could not find this last bit, which had been eaten by a fish, so the resourceful Goddess had to make a new one, using magic. Might we even see a fishbone shape in the reaper’s frame, its head being the hips and tail being the crescent? Peut-être.

Claude Burrell 1751 (Yves Renaud repro 2015) and a bass

Dismemberment is the  beginning of the transformation process. This card alludes to that which Osiris/Osiris-Dionysus presided over, the natural cycles of death and resurrection/rebirth. He was also called ‘god of the living’ and ‘lord of silence’ (ie, no name?). The black soil [of Kemet (‘kmt‘), the ‘black land’ from whence comes ‘alchemy’] pertains to fertility – new growth from rich putrefaction and loam. The Egyptians took their cues from nature, the great alchemist. 

“In some rare instances, Osiris was depicted wearing a crown that included a rendering of the moon. This has led some researchers to surmise he was associated with the moon or the night.” [Ancient Egypt Online] 

Thoth (Thoth-Hermes), Ibis-headed god of the Moon, who oversees the whole transmutation, might also be at hand…

Ibis beak and scythe

The Moon – Rebirth

Now that we’re experts on the Lunar associations in the Unnamed card…what about the Moon card’s association with Death?

That the crayfish may literally represent the astrological sign of Cancer in TdM is, as the detective novels say, a ‘red herring’. But the association reminds us that in ancient Egypt, Cancer was a scarab – symbol of birth, life, death, resurrection and immortality.

Osiris Canopus with ‘scrab’ (detail) Roman-Egyptian 100-200 AD

Crabs and other sea creatures (and worms) become active, lay eggs, spawn or hatch with lunar cycles/tides, just as we came into the world through our mother’s watery womb at the end of 9 (1+8) lunations. Cancer also rules the breasts and Momma’s milk. Interestingly, in Arab astronomy, the four stars of Cancer were seen as a crib or manger, while in Chinese, as ghosts or spirits of the deceased. [Tip: Stick with stars, planets and constellations, rather than ‘signs’ if/when applying to TdM.]

Cary and Dodal Moon cards – 200 year difference in crayfish design

The Great Mother’s milk is of course the Milky Way, by which the stalwart scarab navigates. Surely this did not escape the Egyptians, whose sky was the Goddess Nut, and readers familiar with Pythagorean and Orphic beliefs will see the significance. Note how the position of the crayfish mimics the upward facing scarab in Egyptian art. Scarab amulets carved with magical hieroglyphs were buried with the dead to protect the heart (seat of the mind) and ensure a safe transition. But the full Moon’s bright light can actually make the scarab’s journey longer and more difficult.

Nutrient-rich dung is my gold:  Winged scarab, Greek Period (304-330 BC)

It’s tempting to assume that TdM printers were unfamiliar with the number of legs on a crayfish. But might there be a better explanation for its having only 6?
Greco-Romans and Gnostics, incorporating Egyptian culture/religion also used amuletic, carved scarabs and gems – which, as mentioned previously, were collected and studied during the Italian Renaissance:

“The leading families of Renaissance Italy, the Visconti and the Sforza dukes in Milan, the Estes and Gonzagas in Ferrara and Mantua, or the Medicis in Florence, were certainly willing to pay huge sums of money for authenticated ancient gems: Piero de’ Medici is reported to have remarked that an engraved gemstone was ‘worth more than gold itself.’ They became treasured family heirlooms.” [John Mack, The Art of Small Things]

Like hieroglyphica and coinage, this art form influenced emblemata and likely Tarot as well.

[addendum: the crayfish was used on Greek coins as a symbol for ‘city.’ Marseilles, a port city,  was originally founded and colonized by the Greeks.]

Roman carved gems with triplicate Hekate and Moon card crayfish
Hekate with Anubis (gem and impression), 2nd century

The Moon card, being 18,  falls into the ‘3’ position and contains the three dominions of the Goddess Hekate; sky, earth and sea. Hekate (pronounced Hekaté) was portrayed in antiquity as three figures around a central column; forming the Lunar Goddess triad with Selene and Diana, or Underworld Goddess triad with Demeter and Persephone (mysteries). Goddess of crossroads, the saffron-robed, torch-bearing Hekate was invoked to guide souls in the afterlife (some sources say Hermes was her consort) – note the crayfish’s torch-like claws. 

Green Conver Moon card and Hecate lamp (Roman, 1st-4th c)
Selene with ‘claws’ and torch (Roman, 1st c)

But she had many other roles besides psychopomp, including Goddess of childbirth. Let’s not ignore the crayfish’s uterine shape, either.

The two fortresses in the distance are thought by some to be her temple towers, which is not unreasonable. As well, the Lunar Nodes – ecliptic points where paths of Sun and Moon cross (hence eclipses), connected to reincarnation – have an approximately 18.5 year cycle. Hmm. The visual clue, however, is that these structures are the only elements here, besides the Moon and ‘spirit-dew’, that are above the horizon (the dogs look as if sinking beneath it). There are few cards that make use of depth perspective, so this should alert our attention.

Addendum: Tarot expert Andrea Vitali points out something so hidden in plain sight, even I didn’t spot it (!), which is that the entire lunar cycle is depicted in the card; the two towers representing waxing and waning phases, the middle obviously being the full phase, and the water/crayfish being the dark Moon, when it is not visible. This adds to the idea of Hekate residing here, in the underworld/between world or unconscious realm, so to speak. As mentioned, the claws resemble the guiding torches she bears during this passage. 

Pompeii fresco (detail)

The horizon is where the stars rise and set, ie, are born and die. Circumpolar stars never sink beneath the horizon, thus represent the eternal. Two such stars were known to the Egyptians, therefor, as the Indestructibles; Kochab, in Ursa Minor and Mizar, in Ursa Major, which flanked the Pole Star (then Thuban, constellation of Draco). Pharaohs’ pyramids were built in exact alignment with these stars so they could be directly ‘beamed up, Scotty.’

For those without custom-built pyramids, the in-between state might be less streamlined and more perilous. The Moon here appears to occult the Northernmost star, just as she obscures the Milky Way for our scarab. A wandering soul without a visible sky map might find themselves reborn down here, rather than as a god in eternity. I say we invoke the crayfish.

And look, it’s those 4 stars! A bit of a stretch, perhaps…but how curious that the tip of the right dog’s tail in the Conver Moon card is clipped by the border. Accidental or intended clue?
The little croc-headed beastie pasted in the lower right is Ammit, the composite Goddess (I think also part leopard and hippo) who gobbles scale-tipping hearts. Actually, she is more like a composter of the heart-mind:

“Two ways are offered to our soul after death: either a final liberation or a return into incarnation in order to continue the experience of becoming conscious. Many are the texts alluding to reincarnation, either overtly or implicitly through such locutions as ‘renewal of life’ or ‘repetition of births’.
The Judgment of the Dead takes place in the ‘Hall of the Double Maât’. This judgment is made in the presence of the dead person’s consciousness, Maât, while the other Maât, cosmic consciousness, presides at the weighing of his heart. Placed on one of the pans of the scale, and weighed against the feather of Maât, the heart expresses the feelings and passions which, if too heavy, risk drawing the soul back again towards earth.”
[Lucie Lamie, Egyptian Mysteries New Light on Ancient Knowledge]

Thus we return to the first lesson, that of the Fool (Le Mat, as if that wasn’t obvious enough) and the Unnamed being as one. An important, first lesson to get us through life, death and all the in-betweens. ~rb


Who will reach the Moon first?

*Happy Sun and Pluto into Aquarius!*

All written content (except in blue quotations) is original, researched and composed by and copyright ©Roxanna Bikadoroff. It may not be reprinted anywhere without permission. Please share via LINK only (a short pull quote/paragraph is ok, with a link/credit). Thank you.

 

 

 

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Horapollo and the Hieroglyphic Mysteries of Tarot de Marseille


It is a tradition in esoteric history that whenever a new culture is embryonic in the womb of an older one, or when an esoteric school recognizes that a culture has served it’s purposes and is coming to an end, then a major work of art is created in dedication, as an outer sign for future ages. The work of art may be a remarkable piece of music, a poem, a garden or a building — but whatever its external artistic form, it encapsulates, in entirely esoteric principals, a summary of what has gone before, and what is to come. All great esoteric artists from Dante to Shakespeare, from Milton to Blake, have recognized this primal function of their art. The interesting thing is that all too often it is the exoteric aspects of their products which attract attention of those who follow, and the esoteric contents remain hidden, save perhaps for the seeing few, who are themselves alive to the esoteric background to human history.

– Fred Gettings, The Secret Zodiac

Marcus Zuerius Boxhorn, Emblemata, 1635

At the height of Renaissance in the 15th century, a fresh, Humanistic view of the world was flourishing. Scholarly and creative minds, it seems, had been opened through a revised symbolic and syncretic way of thinking. Revised, because a pre-existing, Medieval tradition of visuals serving as a window to higher concepts was already well-established, as were heraldic devices and emblems, but a big part of the collective re-awakening came by way of a new, parabolic language in the arts, born or copied from an older one shrouded in mystery. Renaissance literally means rebirth. But who and what was being reborn? A civilization, perhaps, that had planned for just such an everlasting afterlife?

[please click images to enlarge and read]

In Italy, especially in Florence, there was great interest in learning from the distant past. Greco-Roman revivalism in poetry and philosophy, art and architecture thrived, as the nobles competed for legacy and church fathers, for a time, actively encouraged and commissioned works. Pagan gods and goddesses frequently appeared alongside Christian ones, albeit not as subjects of worship (except for Isis, under guise as the Virgin). Ex-pats had returned from exile with personal libraries including medical, alchemical and astronomical manuscripts from the Middle East. Arthurian legends of courtly love from England and France were extremely popular. The printing press now meant more people could have access to literature – although nobles considered printed works to be gauche and still preferred to commission hand-crafted books. Among these, of course,  was the first, Latin translation of The Corpus Hermeticum. The ‘alchemization’ of Europe had begun.


(More here. Pre-Conver Emperors do not show the Basilisk throne).

Egyptian artifacts, housed in Italy since Roman times, were a major part of this resurgence in all things ancient, esoteric and therefor exemplary. (To give you an idea, Pope Alexander VI aka Rodrigo Borgia even had his genealogy ‘traced’ back to Osiris thus establishing a link between the Egyptian gods and the church). Renaissance Humanists, fascinated by hieroglyphs, began a race to unlock them that would continue for the next 3 centuries. One main source of reference was a manuscript called ‘The Hieroglyphics of Horapollo Nilous.’ Horapollo (Horus Apollo) was a 5th century Egyptian scribe and one of the last remaining priests of Isis, who had also made a partially successful effort at decipherment (hieroglyphs were already thousands of years old, by his time). A translation of his work had turned up in Florence, in 1422 and was first printed in 1505. Another, slightly later reference source was the ‘Mensa Isiaca‘ or Table of Isis, which Athanasius Kircher in particular took as a model.

Egyptian winged Uraeus and Hieroglyphica by Valeriani, 1556

‘Hieroglyphica’, as it became known, inspired a tidal wave of emblematic art (‘emblemata’), as neo-Platonists and others sought to emulate these cryptic little pictures, resulting in an imaginative, western European hybrid. Hermetic and alchemical artists would employ this method of concealed meaning ‘for initiates only’ (namely, other hermeticists/alchemists).

This genre of the symbolic rereading of the hieroglyphs – “enigmatic hieroglyphs” as Rigoni and Zanco (1996) call them – was very popular in the late Hellenistic period. It should not surprise us, then, that so many Renaissance Humanists – for whom this was all quite familiar through Lucan, Apuleius, Plutarch, Clement of Alexandria and, especially, Ennead V by Plotinus – should see in the Hieroglyphica a genuine connection with the highest sphere of wisdom.

– Studiolum 

Other antiquities being scoured for emblematic images were things like Roman coins, medallions and gem charms, which the ruling class loved to collect. Roman carved gems in particular were highly sought after, and became family heirlooms, often set in jewelry [see ‘Death and the Moon’ post].

It was out of this tradition that Tarot de Marseille emerged, presumably in Italy, during the mid 16th century. [No known prior examples of the classic TdM format exist and the oldest known example of a triumph is a single, World card – the oldest complete decks known are 17th century.] Its images are not just allegorical, but ‘hieroglyphic’ in nature – though obviously not actual Egyptian hieroglyphs. The apparent (I would even say obvious) application of Horapollo’s descriptions alone leaves little doubt, though, that they were purposefully designed with visual clues that provided a context for imbedded messages. What that purpose was and why playing cards, we can’t know for certain, but as Counter-Reformation loomed on the horizon, maybe it was time to encapsulate esoteric principals for future ages?

I will dive more deeply into some of the ‘glyphs in the other cards (not included herein), in upcoming blogposts, but wanted to provide this overview, first.

Stay tuned! ~rb

Wee sphinx from Minchiate Tarot, 18th c

All written content herein except quotations is COPYRIGHT ©ROXANNA BIKADOROFF and may not be reused in full anywhere without permission. Please share via LINK only (with short, credited pull-quote, if needed).

QUOTATIONS:
~ Fred Gettings opener from ‘The Secret Zodiac – The Hidden Art in Mediaeval Astrology’ [Routeledge & Kegan Paul, 1987]
~ ‘Enigmatic hieroglyphics’ quote from studiolum.com
~ Horapollo text translations (Alexander T. Cory, 1840) from sacred texts.com

REFS/OTHER LINKS:
~ The Egyptian Renaissance – The Afterlife of Ancient Egypt in Early Modern Italy, Brian Curran, Penn State University (pdf)
~ Hieroglyphs and Meaning, Lucia Morra, Carla Bazzanella (pdf)
~ Pinturicchio’s Frescoes in the Sala dei Santi in the Vatican Palace, Roger Gill, Birmingham City University (pdf)
~ The Art of Small Things by John Mack [Harvard University Press]
~ Horapollo Hieroglyphica via Jason Colavito
~ Giovanni Pierio VALERIANO BOLZANI Hieroglyphica, Google Books

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Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (in three parts, with intermissions)

Nicholas Conver, 1760

PART ONE:  NOT-SO-HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

The Devil is a conceptual chameleon that has evolved alongside us every step of the way, and on which the literature is exhaustive. This article focuses on the ‘classic’ Tarot de Marseille Devil (above), an image which alone contains enough riddles for a whole book; What’s that he standing on? Is that water in the background? Why does he take that pose? What is on his head? Why is he wearing a blue wetsuit? It turns out these are not simple questions to answer and the mystery is sure to remain after this honourable attempt to scratch the surface of his enigma. Tarot de Marseille (TdM) is unique, in that the images are not always what they seem, yet clues are often hiding in plain sight. All is speculative. Resistance is futile. So, ready to dive in?

[Please click on any images to zoom and for more info.]

Holkham Bible 14th c, Histoire de Merlin, 15th c, Cary Devil, 16th c

The last image in the row above is a fragment of the earliest (supposedly) TdM type Tarot we know of, the Cary Sheet, ca 1500s. Although the Cary is thought to be a prototype for the classic format, its Devil does not provide us with one. Rather, this ‘puppy-face’ demon is spearing souls to collect in his basket. Krampus comes to mind, but he wasn’t really incorporated into the christian tradition until much later. He may have older, pagan roots, but his back-pack for souls is based on medieval Devil imagery, not the other way around.

The first, true TdM type Devils we have examples of (Noblet and Dodal, below), are from quite a bit later, so it’s not clear whether they are the actual prototypes. Nevertheless, it’s what we’ve got. One can’t help but notice a resemblance to the Minoan double axe/butterfly goddess, with those wings. Or maybe Psyche, again eluding to ‘soul.’ Perhaps the Cary Devil’s basket was a cocoon for his next incarnation, and that of his larval captives.

Mycenaean butterfly goddess 1500 bc and Psyche from a relief 2 bc
Early TdM Devils, Jean Noblet (1650) and Jean Dodal (1701)

In the early Middle Ages, when the Devil we know was just getting his mojo on, he was depicted as a somewhat comical character – lusty, bestial, mischievous – but not yet overtly sinister. Sometimes he’s the butt, getting clobbered by the Virgin Mary. Often he mimics or tempts holy men. Similarly, in TdM he stands in a power pose, lolling, as if mimicking a deity or preacher.  A relationship between the TdM Pope (5) and Devil (15) is suggested by the number they share (5), that of the bodily senses.

The image below, though 15th c, is a good example of Devil as a kind of pope’s ‘Fool’. We can still see remnants of Pan, even though he now has acquired demonic characteristics courtesy of various feminine entities; bird talons (harpies, lilitu), belly face (Baubo and/or the ‘belly-speaking’ Pythia of Delphi). Additionally, the number 15 was sacred to Ishtar, and represents the height of Lunar power (‘full’ phase), while 5 belongs to Venus (same planetary goddess).

old illustration of devil mimicking pope
Donkey-eared anti-pope, Master of Girart de Roussillon-ca. 1455

A closer look at the TdM Devil’s ‘antlers’ shows they do not grow from his own skull, but are stuck through/attached to the red brim, which might be the hide of some animal. Perhaps the skin of his former (Cary) self or yet another accoutrement  borrowed from a pagan goddess?

Juno Sospita (‘the saviour’), Etruscan, ca 500-480 bc

Dante is accredited with ascribing Satan’s ‘bat-like’ wings, emphasizing his dragon lineage. In the Middle Ages, thanks in part to the widespread popularity of Arthurian legends, apocalyptic visions, St. George and alchemical symbolism, dragons + every other kind of monster were at large in the collective imagination. And to the western, christian mind, dragon = Devil. (Hence Dracula, ‘son of Dracul’, the Dragon). Bacchus was often depicted riding one, as a symbol of drunkenness. But ‘dragon’ comes to us from the Greek word ‘drakos’, meaning ‘eye’ or ‘I see’, pertaining to an ever-watchful guardian of some treasure or mystery.

Dante’s triadic, alchemy-faced Lucifero 1450-75, and Medieval Dragon consumption
Drunken Bacchus 14th c, François Toucarty 2 of Cups 17th c, Bacchic eyes 520-500 BC

Meanwhile, the importation of demon imagery from the Middle East is also influential, and the christian Devil, as mentioned, adopts various features from them. The TdM Devil’s stance is apparent in the two examples below, especially with Pazuzu. (It’s not known whether Tarot artists ever saw these pieces, though, and for the record, the Burney Relief wasn’t discovered until the 20th century, so that’s off the list).

Clay tablet with Ereshkigal /Ishtar c 300 bc, bronze Pazuzu Demon c 800-600 bc

Witch hunts were what really made the Devil into a force for creating suspicion and fear. As persecutors projected their own darkness and depravity onto their scapegoats, the Devil’s terrible character grew into itself. The ‘Nature’ personification (below, right), created during the time of the 16th century witch trials is clearly based on head witch, Artemis Ephesus and bears a resemblance to our TdM Devil. At opposite ends, the men of science and religion, who would divide the spoils, agreed on one thing; that nature and her beasties didn’t possess anything even close to a human ‘soul’.
And that’s because they were idiots.

Personification of the Deadly Sins (15th c) and ‘Nature’ (16th c)

END OF PART ONE

 

 

PART TWO:  LORD OF GHOSTS

So far, we’ve addressed possible, historical influences for the TdM Devil’s look; the pose, mimicry, belly face, bat/moth wings and bird talons as well as his resemblance to pagan deities and Mesopotamian demons. Though not common in TdM, Tarot Devils may also sport serpents from their groin and head, similar to Gorgons or Furies. I include this fave, TdM exception (below, left) holding a delightful bouquet of pit vipers; it’s the thought that counts.

Now, let us venture deeper into the blue…

Blue Devils: Jacques Rochelais (1782), Besancon (1784), Giuseppe Mitelli (ca 1665)

Ok, I know what some of you are thinking: The Devil is not always BLUE! True, but he is blue enough of the time to warrant an investigation. Barring that colour was on sale, let’s look at some other, plausible reasons.

Giotto’s blue Satan, from The Last Judgement (detail), 1306

Giotto’s choice of colour is thought to have been based on the Etruscan ‘blue demons’ such as those in the ‘Tomb of the Blue Demons‘ (discovered in 1985, however) or the Greek Eurynomos:

Eurynomos was a flesh-devouring daimon (spirit) of the underworld who stripped the flesh from the rotting corpses of the dead. He was depicted as a man with black-blue skin seated on a vulture’s skin. Eurynomos was associated with carrion-feeders such as vultures and meat-flies. His name means “Wide-Ruling” from the Greek words eury- and nomos. 

Etruscan daimon  (looking rather ‘eastern’) from the Tomb of the Blue Demons, Italy

So naturally, blue palor is associated with the dead, who have ‘turned blue.’ Giotto’s Satan has simply replaced pagan Hades/Pluto. Platonists (TdM is reputed to have neo-platonic leanings) believed the physical body was as a corpse in which the soul (psyche) was imprisoned. With this philosophy in mind, the blue Devil and his willing, sacrificial victims represent attachment to the corporeal.

Two customers approach a statuary, one wishing to place the sculptor’s  work [a statue of young Hermes or a Herm] in the tomb of his son, one proposing to use it for private worship. Deciding to sleep on the matter, the sculptor is visited by Hermes in a dream and is told that he has in his hands the decision to make him either a dead man or a divinity. The 2nd century physician and philosopher, Galen gave the light-hearted fable a more serious turn by applying the story to human potentiality:
“You have a choice between honouring your soul by making it like the gods and treating it contemptuously by making it like the brute beasts.”

Herm of Hermes-Mercury as dedicated portrait, ca 150-170

In other words, when we only live within the realm of the bodily senses and appetites, the soul ‘dies’. Losing our senses in any of the Devil’s vices – including magic and the occult – might run us adrift and rudderless. The water (another symbol of soul) behind the Devil is still or frozen. His podium also kind of resembles a ship’s capstan, but without the levers in place with which to haul the anchor up (or down).

capstans

Another way to turn blue, or even die, is to be in frigid water too long. The TdM Devil is usually only blue from the neck down, excluding arms and head. His cup-like hat and blue ‘antlers’ seem to echo the fishes in the Two of Cups, once bonded in sacred union, now turned away from each other. (In black magic, everything is reversed). The shape of his tripartite, blue body also suggests something fishy or amphibious, like conjoined lamprey (from Latin lampetra, ‘stone licker’) or frog legs/ears. Something is being drawn out of the murky unconscious or indeed from the two, willing minions, heads previously filled with Pope’s pape.

Cup hat and fish shapes, two of cups fish and fishy wet suit

Amphibiously speaking (ribbit ribbit), the toad is a symbol of alchemy par excellence. It is a ‘living crucible.’ 

Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head;
And this our life, exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.
I would not change it.

– Shakespeare, ‘As You Like it’ 

‘Lord of the Flies’

Of course Lucifer also once had a precious, emerald stone in his forehead, aka the philosopher’s stone, aka the Grail. The TdM Devils’ crossed eyes direct us to where a third one should be, but at the same time are disquieting and repel us. Do they, and his grotesque, ever-watchful, nipple eyes serve to distract from what he’s standing on and guardian of? And don’t the minions’ ropes create a perfect crucible shape? A basket’s no good for cooking souls in, this is better.

They have compared the “prima materia” to everything, to male and female, to the hermaphroditic monster, to heaven and earth, to body and spirit, chaos, microcosm, and the confused mass; it contains in itself all colors and potentially all metals; there is nothing more wonderful in the world, for it begets itself, conceives itself, and gives birth to itself.

– Theatrum Chemicum (‘The Chemical Theatre’)

Conver Diable and Roman crucible for metal, found in England.

The distillation stage is when all of the impurities are removed, and there is nothing left but the essence. In Chemistry, distillation involves boiling and condensation to separate components and is commonly used in desalination. A liquid is boiled until it evaporates, and as the steam condenses, the essence is liberated from the matter. It marks the point at which our essence becomes spiritualized. In others words, in spiritual alchemy, distillation is a metaphor for the actualization of one’s spirit.

Although TdM is never quite this=that, it’s worth noting distillation is the 6th stage (1+5). It seems Temperance (14) has turned Temptress and now these Dionysians are hitting the hard stuff. Because, in seeking to separate the quintessence (purest and most concentrated form or ‘spirit’ of a substance) from the dross, alchemists also created…gin! The root of ‘alcohol’ (Arabic) is ‘kohl‘, pertaining to powdered antimony, which,  in alchemy, symbolizes ‘the wild spirit of man and nature.’ At this delicate stage, there are various ‘pure spirits’ that might be drawn out.

Alchemical Distillery, 1512

Here we must briefly retrograde back to Dante. His Lucifer was not shackled in flames, but perma-frozen in ice. Dante and Virgil climb up the shaggy legs, ‘until gravity is reversed and they fall through the earth into the southern hemisphere’. The omphalos has become the omicron phallus (omicron being the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet). It’s been pointed out that the Tarot Devil’s genitals are situated at the centre of the image. In keeping with this subject explored by Renaissance artists, if you draw an ‘X’  from corner to corner, the lines cross right at the ‘Centrum Mundi.’

Lucifer in Ice, Centrum Mundi, 9th ring of Hell

The gravitational reversal described sounds a lot like distillation, and what with Lucifer hermetically sealed and his 3 faces of black, red and white…
Alchemy, like witchcraft, was considered a form of ‘black magic’ and Dante even punishes alchemists – deemed ‘falsifiers’ – with leprosy. Unfortunately, ‘puffers’ (fraudsters who took peoples’ money, promising to turn lead into gold) were lumped in with true, spiritual alchemists and the sullied reputation persists to this day. Perhaps the TdM Devil stands upon the gold as both a temptation and warning to spiritual materialists who’d use Tarot for such nefarious purposes.

A ‘puffer’ from the Ship of Fools, Sebastian Brant, 1494

END OF PART TWO

 

 

Typhon, Willem Goeree, 1700

PART THREE:   MYTHICAL CHAMELEON

Believe it or not, the above, most impressive depiction of Typhon and its resemblance to the TdM Devil is what ‘spawned’ this whole inquiry. In Greek myth, Typhon was the monstrous, serpentine Titan son of Gaia (Earth). When he fought against Zeus (one of many male gods who wrangle with serpent beings) for rule of the cosmos and lost, Zeus threw him down into Tartarus and plugged the hole with a mountain (Mt. Etna), so he couldn’t escape. The similarity to Satan cast down into Hell and shackled in chains or ice is obvious. Volatile Typhon rattling his chains and blowing his top caused earthquakes, volcanos, tornados (typhoons), plagues (typhoid) and other natural disasters:

In size and strength he surpassed all the offspring of Earth. As far as the thighs he was of human shape and of such prodigious bulk that he out-topped all the mountains, and his head often brushed the stars. One of his hands reached out to the west and the other to the east, and from them projected a hundred dragons’ heads. From the thighs downward he had huge coils of vipers, which when drawn out, reached to his very head and emitted a loud hissing. His body was all winged: unkempt hair streamed on the wind from his head and cheeks; and fire flashed from his eyes.

And furthermore…

Typhon was a “poison-spitting viper whose “every hair belched viper-poison.” He “spat out showers of poison from his throat; the mountain torrents were swollen, as the monster showered fountains from the viperish bristles of his high head” and “the water-snakes of the monster’s viperish feet crawl into the caverns underground, spitting poison!”
He also has many other animal heads, including leopards, lions, bulls, boars, bears, cattle, wolves, and dogs, which combine to make ‘the cries of all wild beasts together’ and a “babel of screaming sounds.”

Typhonic Devil waiting at the edge of the earth

Typhon makes medieval dragons look like newts. Again, it’s interesting to note the parallel between Hades, which later became Hell proper, and the watery abyss. Typhon’s spitting similarity to Satan did not escape medieval christian philosophers, either. They recognized him as one and the same.
[The title phrase, ‘between the Devil and the deep blue sea’ means having to chose the lesser of two evils, the way Odysseus had to chose ‘between Scylla (a man-eating sea siren), and Charybdis (a deadly whirlpool)’, ie, ‘a rock and a hard place’.] 

Hungry sea monsters surrounding a ship.

Typhon was conflated with Set, Egyptian god of chaos, storms and all strange and terrifying natural events from eclipses to earthquakes. Like Typhon and the Devil, Set is an elemental beast of many guises, very ancient (pre-dynastic) and attributed with major, occult powers. Sometimes he takes a recognizable form – hippo, pig, fish or crocodile – but mostly he’s the magical and alluring ‘Set animal’, with rectangular ears, downward curved snout and a stiff, straight  tail. His face reminds me a bit of a duck-billed dinosaur and one theory is that  he was based on an extinct creature, which is why we don’t recognize it.

Set

Typhon was said to have chased the Greek gods into Egypt, where they transformed themselves into animals. Among them, Pan jumped into the Nile, and became the half-goat/half-fish, otherwise known as Capricorn. On one hand, a neat way to explain their conflation, but on the other, it made Typhon the very agent of the gods’ transmutation, including his own. To hermetic thinkers of the 16th century, Typhon-Set seems to have been understood as a kind of extreme Mercurius.

Typhon as Scorpio, Athanasius Kircher, 1652-54

In his ‘Egyptian Zodiac’, Taurean Athanasius Kircher depicts Typhon-Set as the ‘hieroglyphic’ Scorpio, which makes sense, at least intuitively, as it’s the (sometimes serpent) sign of death and regeneration – both Osiris and Dionysus are dismembered by Set and Titans, consecutively, and are reborn with the dedicated magic of goddesses Isis and Athena. Kircher was not an alchemist by any means, but he was a master of syncretization and made an honest attempt to crack Egyptian code, long before the Dendera Zodiac and Rosetta Stone had been discovered.

On another level, ‘true’ alchemist, Michael Maier‘s allegorical Typhon-Set (below), just like the TdM Devil, is an androgyne with enlarged breasts. He/she holds the tools of dismemberment and transformation. Osiris-Dionysus is all cut up and Isis brings a cauldron/crucible and presumably her magic.

Puppy-faced, Ziphius-bellied Typhon-Set from Michael Maier’s Mythoalchemy (detail)

Three centuries before Dr. Jung, Maier (1568-1622) told of “chymical secrets behind the myths.” He said, therefore, that they should not be taken as merely historical, but as allegory or hieroglyph, “concealing some deeper meaning, philosophical or moral, which must be withheld from those persons too ignorant or too impious to use it aright” and “the truest interpretation is that it all concerns the Philosophical Medicine.” He called Typhon-Set “the burning spirit” and indeed, “the alchemical vessel itself.” Ta-da! 

I did not die, and I was not alive;
think for yourself, if you have any wit,
what I became, deprived of life and death.

– Inferno, 34.25-7

The mosaic below depicts a scene from the Last Judgement, wherein the goats (on Christ’s left) are being separated from the sheep (on his right). The blue angel is believed to be the earliest known depiction of Satan.  ~rb

6th c mosaic, Sant’Apollinaire Nuovo, Ravenna


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All blue/bold bits herein are quotations. 
Eurynomos quote from Theoi.com
Distillation and Inferno quote from  thecollector.com
All other quotes from Wikipedia (some edited for length)
Quotation pages and any other pages of interest are linked within the article. More information on images/sources can be found in their descriptions by clicking on them. 

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The Hermit – Shedding a Little Light on the Situation

[Originally posted April 17, 2023, now re-posted with some Mercury retrograde addendums and edits. Enjoy!]

In 15th century Renaissance Tarot decks, this allegorical figure was called ‘Time’ and his device was an hour glass. Later, with a few exceptions, it was replaced by a lamp, changing the meaning somewhat. Instead of being a Saturnine symbol of old age reminding us of the passing of our mortal existence, he became more of a monk-sage, holding up a guiding light for seekers. But as we shall see, the two are not so different.

Visconti-Sforza Time

In this well-known Visconti-Sforza card, Father Time holds the hourglass and wears the deep blue of Lapis, i.e, wisdom/the philosopher’s stone (Lapis simply means ‘stone’). This he will wear into future Tarot decks, it is his trademark. On his head, a dome-shaped turban with rings. Until the 18th century, Saturn was known as the outermost planet, whose orbit encircled those of all the other planets’. It was the last stop. The average person was fortunate to experience one or even two Saturn returns in a lifetime. (The super-power of survival, however,  is a common gift to those born  under his rulership).

His colours are probably indicative of ‘the work’. Inside its holder, the hourglass is black and white (I inquired – it is not tarnished silver, but black paint). Likely this means the white inside it is salt. The tria prima of philosophical alchemy are as follows:
– SALT representing the body, which is material (in hourglass, also his white gloves, socks, hair)
– SULPHUR representing the soul, which is fiery (hat colours, also his lining or undergarment, boots)
– MERCURY representing the spirit, which is watery (blue cloak)
The green grass is symbolic of renewal/rebirth, nature, and is perhaps also an alchemical reference, which the Hanged Man card of this deck picks up on.
The planets are the ‘above’ to alchemy’s ‘below’, the metals, but spiritual (or philosophical) alchemy is about the transmutation of the soul.

Saturn, from Lazzarelli’s De Gentilium Deorum Imaginibus, ca 1470

The ‘So-Called Mantegna’ prints, an Italian Renaissance relation, though not actual cards, were a little more esoteric. Above is a page from a book by Ludovico Lazzarelli, which beautifully replicates the prints, in colour, with fancy borders. While still nothing typically Hermit-like about him, other than his shabby cloak, Saturn  is doing the most allegorical thing possible to show the passing of time – eating his offspring, in order that he might reign eternal and avoid succession. (This was actually what kept patriarchs awake at night,  in olden days). The serpent or dragon biting its tail is one of the oldest alchemical symbols, representing mercury and the work itself; ‘my end is my beginning’.

Seated in a line, as if to complete a (second) scythe shape, are four of his children, a fifth one is about to be devoured. The sixth, Zeus-Jupiter has been hidden away by his mother, Rhea, and will later return to  succeed his Titan Father, beginning a new era of Olympian rule and providing an endless supply of mythology for generations to come. That cherub on the right holding a golden  ‘O’ (mirror or empty picture frame) for ‘Olympus’ might be him, preparing his new place in the line. The babe at its father’s lips must be Vesta, who was born/eaten first (and coughed up last). In fact, at one time, first-borns were given to the Gods, in sacrifice, that was their honour.  Again, the theme of age, elders, death. Note the mysterious (funerary?) urns which match the four, seated babes – Juno, Pluto, Neptune and Ceres. Missing is Vesta’s urn…are we to presume that Saturn himself is the container for her? Attached to the two brothers’ urns is a wreath, signifying completion, while new growth emerges from the sisters’ taller urns.

Rare Vesta in human form, Pompeii, 1st c, note she also holds a coiled serpent
Vesta or Vestal, lifting her lamp

In Ancient Rome, Vesta (Greek Hestia) was Goddess of the hearth, eternal flame of the city. Vestal Virgins enjoyed much privilege…as long as they kept their vow of chastity and never let the eternal flame go out.  Punishment for either was severe, usually being sealed up or buried alive. Extreme Saturn. The fate of Rome itself depended, it was believed, on that fire being kept alive. Similarly, and prior to this, in each Roman home, women had to ensure their home hearths didn’t go out, lest the ancestors and living family should suffer calamity.

Europa, Ripa 1603 and TdM style Hermite, 18th c (?)
Lamp-lifting Hermits: Old one from Lyon, Dodal Tarot de Marseille mid-17th c, Grumppenberg ca 1807-1816 (note the copulating snakes suggesting Tiresias).

Am likely not alone in seeing the Hermit’s lamp as being temple-shaped. It was indeed Vesta’s temples that were circular and domed, to replicate the dome of the sky over the earth. Just as Vesta’s flame represented eternal life, the little light in the Hermit’s temple-shaped lantern must also be symbolic of the eternal existence of spirit. 9 is indicative of (human) gestation…a most mysterious alchemical process.

Roman coin, silver, 55 BC

Returning to the Visconti-Sforza card, we find that the leap from being an allegory of Time to the christianized (?), hermetic Hermit of TdM is really just a small step. His hourglass is encased in a tri-sectioned (Hermes-Mercury), lantern/temple-shaped holder, and the black outline of the hourglass is shaped very much like two, entwined snakes. The TdM card simplifies it into a tri-sectioned lantern and calls him l’Ermite or l’Hermite, as an added clue (both old and new French were used, depending on when/where the cards were printed, meaning doesn’t change). Time is not simply about counting hours, but is essential to the great work that is our development of spiritual wisdom over the course of a lifetime. This ultimately (hopefully) prepares us for our transition from bodily form to spirit. The blue cloak takes up most of the V-S figure, while the white areas of salt and body are comparatively small.

V-S card detail

By now I hope you can see the connection between Saturn, representative of constricted time, lead and bodily age, and Vesta, embodiment of the vital, ever transformative life force energy – that which is eternal, whether you interpret it as Earth-fire, the Sun (by which her sacred fire was lit for the Olympic Games) or Holy Spirit. The Hermit holds up this little, temple light not as literal Vesta, but to evoke what her temple and fire signifies. Number 9 will in fact re-emerge or be reborn, in the Sun card, number 19, after a process of being ‘tortured’ (alchemically speaking) through the next 9 cards. In astrology, too,  the 9th sign, following the trials of Scorpio, is Sagittarius (aka the Sage) – mutable, transforming flame of the fire triplicity. Keep this light burning within you at all times, never let it be snuffed out. If it is, well, fortunately Vesta is also the sacred, phallic fire stick (brother Jupiter to the rescue!), with which she rekindles herself. This was inserted into a hollow piece of wood and “rotated in a phallic manner” to light her flame, ahem.

Time/Hermit, Bologna Leonne 1776 and Horologion (time keeping) Tower, Athens

Segue and full circle… I had mentioned device exceptions. This Time/Hermit figure above has both a (phallic?) column – probably a sundial, ironically – and wings on his back. It is usually interpreted as the fleeting of time but another way to see it is buoyant spirit (wings) readying to leave the heaviness of this mortal coil or simply not being affected by it. Perhaps the same sort of idea as the Tower card, a release from bondage or prison. Sometimes the elderly do begin to look angelic. Or maybe it’s just the signature of our old friend, Hermes-Mercury, the winged wonder.

The Sanskrit word for temple (I recently learned), mandir, is a combination of mana, meaning ‘inner self’ and dir, meaning ‘a place’, ie, a ‘place where the inner self lives’. I can think of no better description for The Hermit.
Tarot images are cryptic, it’s not ‘this = that’, but rather, ‘this resembles that, I wonder if there might be a reason…’

Saturn and Vesta sitting in a forest, The Allegro & Il Penseroso of Milton, 1848 [BM]


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Secrets of the Emperor’s Chicken

Jodorowsky-Camoin Emperor

There is a curious detail in the Marseille Emperor’s throne, which always reminded me of a goofy-looking bird, a bit like the Roadrunner cartoon. Merely an accident of design…or is  it? Jodo refers only to the eye-like, circular shape, as symbolic of ‘alchemical gold.’ He and Camoin also insist there was an egg (under eagle’s tail) in the Conver card, which they ‘restored,’ a topic of much debate in Tarot circles.

detail in 3 versions of the Conver Emperor

Details in Tarot imagery are known to get muddled or omitted, so it’s necessary to look at as many variations as possible, to try and put a picture together. Often it’s nothing, sometimes it’s something. In this case, it was the latter.

In the two versions below, you’d be forgiven for thinking the bird head on the back of the Emperor’s throne was just another eagle, being the imperial bird (and in the first card, it appears to be), except for a couple of other clues; in the 2nd card, the arm of the throne is clearly ‘feathered’ like a rooster’s tail. Also there is the fact that the brim of the Emperor’s helmet-crown is almost without exception consistent in its red colouring.

18th c Emperors (Solothurn and Benois)

We could also make the connection to the alchemical basilisk, which symbolized the destructive fire preceding the transmutation of metals, as well as having the ability to kill with a glance, like Medusa (hence situated behind the Emperor, his shadow nature or hidden super-power). And, of course, the presence of Mercurius, the transmuter.

Basilisk in 12th c archway

Now, the next question is, why? Why, when chickens are a medieval symbol of cowardice and avarice, and when the rooster in particular belongs to Mercury or Mars, would anyone associate the noble Emperor with poultry? Isn’t the Emperor an avatar of Jupiter??

Actually, Emperors and Gallus gallus go a long way back. No ancient Roman Emperor was without an assembly of sacred fowl. You see, in olden days, chickens were not bred for frying, but for fighting and alectryomancy, a form of augury. Chickens were used to predict the outcome of battles and, yup, who the next Emperor would be. We can see the military aspect of our Tarot Emperor, though he be seated in repose.

Etruscan buccher 630-20 BC and German Rooster helmet c 1530 (MET Museum, NY)

Alright, so what does the regal rooster have to do with de Zeus, if anything?
This is where it gets a bit esoteric, because TdM imagery is never this = that. We can find associations in the Emperor card to Jupiter (imperial eagle on his shield, sometimes a thunderbolt in his sceptre, bearded), Mars and Mercury (rooster, as mentioned), as well as the Sun (rooster, medieval 4th sphere, wears a radiate crown over his helmet), but what about Pluto? Pluto/Hades was, after all, an aspect of the Jupiterian triplicity, one of the ‘bros’.

While the other, major Greco-Roman gods were always busy doing – Mars at battle or cavorting with Venus, Mercury flying all over the place, Jupiter running Olympus between mythic, erm, conquests – it seems Pluto’s one, big event was the ‘abduction’ of his young bride, Persephone/Proserpine. After that, the god of subterranean riches pretty much just sits there on his Underworld throne or lies in repose at banquets for the newly-dead, right?

engraving by Wenzel Holler (detail) 1600, Francesco Berti Bologna Emperor  17th c

This is likely due to the abduction myth being a relatively late injection; Persephone had long presided in the underworld as part of a Goddess triplicity (with Demeter and Hekate), before the patriarchal gods usurped:

“There is an archaic role for Persephone as the dread queen of the Underworld, whose very name it was forbidden to speak. In the Odyssey, commonly dated circa 800 to 600 BCE, when Odysseus goes to the Underworld, he refers to her as the Iron Queen. Her central myth, for all its emotional familiarity, was also the tacit context of the secret initiatory mystery rites of regeneration at Eleusis, which promised immortality to their awe-struck participants—an immortality in her world beneath the soil, feasting with the heroes who dined beneath her dread gaze.”

Note the ‘dread gaze’ reference, again.

Persephone and Hades/Pluto Enthroned, 500-450 BC, Greek (Cleveland Museum of Art)

As it turns out, Hades/Pluto and Dionysus may have been one and the same (or syncretized). In this beautiful relief, we see that the cock and hen are familiars of Persephone and her consort, representing Springtime regeneration (and eggs!), when she emerges from the Earth to make it fecund, again. The ear of grain/wheat is another of her attributes (indeed she was the grain itself), and we see that the TdM Emperor wears a necklace (circle) of golden grain, just like Pluto/Dionysus wears on his head.

Going back to the subject of my previous post, every 4th card is also the 1st card of the next cycle of 3, the Empress being the first 3. Like Persephone, she embodies the cyclic, creative triplicity. The Emperor, in 4th place, represents the ‘death’ of the first cycle as well as the beginning of the next. Similarly, Winter is the 4th season, when the forces of life go underground.

Conver Empress and Emperor (BnF)

The aging Emperor is typically shown in profile, facing the Empress/past and with his back to the next cards/future (if they were laid out in numerical order). He will not go further in his current form, but holding his sceptre erect, looks to his lady for renewal, while she, in turn, holds her sceptre to her womb.

Addendum: Hermes-Mercury’s travels famously included being a psychopomp, being the only god who had licence to travel back and forth between realms. So don’t worry, this is not to discount the rooster/chicken as possible presence of Mercury,  significator of transition, alchemical, numerical or otherwise. Rather it is to draw attention to the Plutonian nature of the Emperor. Hermes-Mercury is present in every Major Arcana card of the TdM (more on that some other post). Interestingly, modern ‘evolutionary’ astrology sees planetary Pluto as having to do with both death and transformation. ~rb

“Hey hon, think I’m ovulating…”


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Tarot and Number

This is a brief, beginner post about the numerical cycles and number relationships in traditional/classic Tarot de Marseille (TdM). [Please note I am not going to be talking about the western Kabbalah that is incorporated into Waite-Smith Tarot.]

Pythagoras the philosopher and mathematician

I started out studying ‘western’ or ‘Pythagorean’ numerology in relation to Tarot, just as my early Tarot teachers did, consuming books that described the qualities numbers until I knew them as entities. In this tradition, numbers are reduced to a single digit, except master numbers 11, 22 and 33 (albeit we don’t go to 33 in Tarot), and viewed in terms of human personality traits. One of my teachers, Angeles Arrien, would have us figure out our life path card and card for the year, based on our birthdate. It can be insightful but also limiting. I’ve had to unlearn a few things…

Ideally, one should study the literature, then forget about it. Too much rigid this=that can actually hinder your inner understanding of the cards. Remember they are mnemonic devices, so let the image demonstrate how it illustrates the number, rather than trying to apply concepts to the image and make it fit. Play with the numbers, think also about the geometry generated by the number (3= triangle, 4=square, 5 = pentagram etc).

Note that the cards use Roman numerals, though they seem to illustrate Arabic numerical ‘concepts’ . For example The Hermit, VIIII, resonates with 9, the spiralling number that always returns to itself…as it is with people who have a 9 life path, according to numerology. 4 looks so much like the symbol for Jupiter, that the Emperor is often equated with him, though in reality the Jupiter symbol is not the same as a 4.

hermit tarot card illustrating the concept of number nine

Look at the multiples and different combinations…
For example, Empress (3), Hanged Man (1+2) and World (2+1). What is going on in this triplicity that stems from the Empress?
What minor arcana cards resonate with major arcana  cards of the same numerical value? In what suit does the 5 resonate best with the Pope card?  Which 7 with the Chariot?

The visual manifestation of the individual number is only one aspect, but the cards are not really independent of one another. They have various partners and opposites, higher and lower ‘octaves’, etc, their relationships to each other helps to define them, just as it is in life. Keep in mind the Roman numerals, too, so that XV (Devil) is the ‘higher octave’ or other face of V (Pope), not XVI (Lover), as it would be if we employed Arabic numerals (1+5 reduces to 6).

A simple example is that the numbered cards (in TdM the Fool is not numbered) contain 7 cycles of 3 (like a waltz), wherein every next ‘1’ card is also a ‘4’ (the death and rebirth of the cycle).
To Pythagoreans (and later, in alchemy, to Maria the Prophetess), this natural cycle of 4 = 1 symbolized the fundamental progression of creation:

‘One becomes Two, Two becomes Three,
and out of the Third comes the One as the Fourth.’

One – being the primordial source (monad) from which everything originates
Two – (considered the first ‘real’ number) being the duality that emerges from separation
Three – being the completion of a creation, whereby the two are united
Four – being the final stage, wherein unity is restored, but in a differentiated way

10, being the sum of 1+2+3+4 was thus considered the ‘perfect’ number, as illustrated by the tetractys. (In Pythagoras’ day, numbers were depicted with geometrically arranged dots, resembling pebbles).

So, the Empress completes the first creative cycle of 1-2-3, but the 4th card, her partner, the Emperor, signifies the ‘death’ of that cycle, AND the birth of the next. You will find that all the cards in the ‘1/4’ placement have something in common, as will all the cards in the ‘2’ placement and the ‘3’ placement.
21/The World, while being a ‘3’ placement card, illustrates wholeness and completion or ‘quintessence’; the unified ‘one’ (androgyne) at the centre of four (elements, fixed stars, seasons, etc).
With the understanding of this basic, universal foundation, we can build everything else. ~rb

empress and emperor cards of Jaques vidvill tarot

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Mercury’s Magic Knobs

Mercury, attr. to Urs Graf, Swiss, 1551

I had often wondered about these strange little knobs on Mercury’s pouch. That there were usually three of them (or three on the sides and one on the bottom) was no mystery, given Mercury’s magic, threefold ways. But what were they, exactly? What was their purpose, if any? Many theories were given when I posed the question. Pockets? Folds created from tying a  square piece of cloth? Little legs to ‘stand’ the open pouch up with? Was it perhaps made of a bird’s skin or cow’s udder and the hanging bits tied up? Might they be buttons and/or have had some protective function?

Details of three woodcuts 15th-17th c and one Roman sculpture

Examples of similar bags were found, but of course nothing old enough still existed for comparison. I should back up a minute here and explain what got me looking at his sack in the first place, which was the Fool’s bindle in Tarot de Marseille. Notice how it is divided into three sections, possibly signifying the three, alchemical  substances (sulphur/mercury/salt) or stages (black/white/red), and setting the general theme of triplicity that runs through the major arcana. [Note also the mandorla-shaped mouth of the sack-vessel.]

The TdM Fool’s threefold bindle (detail, various decks)
Drawstring leather pouch and goatskin purse with knobs, France, 16th c

So it seemed that what was originally a natural characteristic (say, knotted udder nipples) gradually became decorative knobs in much later woodcuts, that served no function other than to add a lucky triplicity to Mercury’s accoutrement.

But you know how it is,  a planet turns retrograde and answers to riddles (Mercury), an old love (Venus) or cold case murder evidence (Pluto) can suddenly just pop up.

I was looking for something else (naturally), when I came upon this image, not in my Mercury folder.  It is of a tintinnabulum from Pompeii, ca 1st c AD.  These were little wind-chimes with protective phalli, to keep the bad spirits away (bells would have hung from the ends). The erect phallus was considered a potent apotropiac, and specific to Hermes-Mercury, god of travellers and magicians. They were featured regularly on herms (or just by themselves), situated at crossroads. I dunno, do you think we should add more penises? Maybe a few little ones on the bag, just in case.

tintinnabulum of polyphallic Mercury from Pompeii
Roman tintinnabulum, ca 1st C AD, Naples Museum

Mercury's magic pouch has phallic knobs for keeping evil away
[detail]
Now I know what you are thinking – are you sure? Might there be other examples? And of course, I wondered the same. So I took a close look at another, familiar artwork from Pompeii…

Priapus with attributes of Hermes-Mercury, Pompeii fresco, Naples Museum

[detail]
I’m afraid there is just no mistaking it. Those impotent little knobs on the magic bag of Mercury are the descendants of once preeminent penises. As for what might be inside said bag…that will have to wait for another blogpost. ~rb

Addendum: After posting this article, suddenly people are chiming In and saying “noooo, wroooong! they are testicles!” Where were they when I first put forth the question? Eh? Eh? Little Red Hen asks. (I jest). Well, of course, once Europe became Christianized, you couldn’t very well put shlongs on everything. So the obvious solution  would be to use testicles. It is still part of the magical triad of phallic anatomy, just easier to disguise as knobs or figs or what have you. After all, we are talking about a time frame from Rome BC to the Renaissance, so there is going to be an evolutionary process. Excuse me for  trying to get right to the ‘point,’  but my mission was to locate the possible ‘source’. Btw, the Mercurial tradition of touching one’s nutsack for protection (from you-know-who) is still alive and well.

…don’t forget to pick up your lucky bawdy badge on the way out!

bawdy pilgrim badge from the crusades
Crusader ‘bawdy badge’ for protection from STDs in the Holy Land.

 

 

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Double Double Toil and Trouble

What does this famous line, chanted by the three Weird Sisters in Shakespeare’s MacBeth actually refer to? It’s Gemini season, so let’s deep dive into doubling.

The Tragedy of MacBeth

The Weird Sisters are basically the Fates (Moirai) or the Graeaes. We’ve spoken about three being the magic number of Hermes, but of course it is also the magic number of the Lunar Goddess, that maiden-mother-crone of past-present-future who spins the cycles of earthly existence. Hence three witches, fates, etc. The allegory of lunar Fortuna as black and white illustrates that ‘Some are born to sweet delight/Some are born to endless Night’ (William Blake, Auguries of Innocence) and the changeability of fortune in general.

Fortuna with black and white Moon face

As the Sisters chant ’round the cauldron, they concoct  and prophecy General MacBeth’s destiny – that he will become Thane of Cawdor and King of Scotland. Hurray, but unfortunately MacBeth is not qualified to achieve the spiritual gold, because he lets his own demons run amok and, well, not to get too far into it, an unholy bloodbath ensues. According to my teacher mum, the tragedy demonstrates a perversion of the alchemical stages, which occur in backwards/out of order, from gold to black. ‘Fair is foul and foul is fair.’

Poster for Polanski’s MacBeth film – note the reverse Ace of Swords

So ‘Double Double’ refers to the two sides of fate and of human duality. With ascension to power, fame, wealth, there are pitfalls, if the destructive/shadow side of a man’s nature is not kept in check. This poster for the Polanski film depicts the reverse of an emblem we recognize as the Tarot Ace of Swords. In the card, the sword of Truth, pointing up,  is both penetrating and girdled by the yonic crown of Wisdom (Sophia); the olive branch (lunar) of peace and palm frond (solar) of victory are held in equilibrium. I believe the symbol might possibly come from the Isis lotus flanked by two serpents, below.

Water canister (detail) Pompeii Isis temple, Ace of Swords (negative for comparison )

‘Toil and Trouble‘ is a forewarning that might refer to ‘the work’ and its inherent dangers. Be careful what you wish for. They famously tell him ‘none of woman born‘ shall be able to harm him, but neglect to mention the fine print, that C-sections don’t count. There are ‘doubles’ all through the play – specifically MacBeth and his wife, Lady MacBeth (she has no first name, for starters), who, in absorbent, lunar fashion disappears further into madness as her husband commits crimes. In reverse process, they start out unified, but become separate, Lady MacBeth eventually committing suicide.

The Sacred Marriage

2 Twos of Cups

A more joyous union, or at least the beginning of one, is beautifully illustrated in the 2 of Cups. Typically in Tarot de Marseille, the two dolphin-fish are slightly different in appearance. This twin fish theme, besides being Piscean, can also be traced back to the ancient, pagan world. In the sanctuary of  Didyma (“twins”, thought to refer to twin temples of Apollo and Artemis), Greece, for example, we find a figure not unlike the split-tailed melusine (aka the Starbucks mermaid), who grasps her two tails, or sometimes two fish, much like the ones in the Cups card.

Didyma figure
Two versions of Mesuline

The 2 of Cups was one of the minor arcana cards with a space where a  printer could put their name or an emblem. In these two examples, the emblem beneath the cups is not unrelated, heralding love and peace (the heart and olive branches). This card had come up in a discussion, recently, regarding the two ‘trumpets’ therein. Are they in fact trumpets? If so, what kind? Though they resemble telescopes, it’s probably something like a buisine or the North African import, below, played at processions, celebrations funerals and especially weddings.

Medieval double trumpet from North Africa

The Myth of Marsyas

What my little eye spied, however, was the Greek Aulos, a double flute that long ago served the same function, and is associated with the myth of Marsyas and Apollo. (Perhaps the lyre shape behind them was a clue).

The Aulos was said to have been created by Athena, who, upon catching a glimpse in the water of her puff-cheeked reflection playing it, threw the instrument away. It was then found by the satyr Marsyas, who was so elevated by it’s music, he had the crazy idea to invite Apollo and his lyre to a contest – winner ‘have his way’ with the loser. As judges, Apollo chose the Muses and Marsyas chose King Midas. Marsyas won the first round and was pretty excited at the prospect of sex, but for round two, Apollo demanded they play their instruments upside down, putting the satyr at an obvious disadvantage. Apollo was declared the winner, whereby he promptly had Marsyas strung from a tree and flayed alive for his hubris (divine insult against a god), then gave Midas donkey ears. Like MacBeth, Marsyas’ ambition blinded him and didn’t read the fine print of prophecy (Apollo).

Apollo, Marsyas and a Scythian waiting to flay him (relief, middle of the 4th century BC).

The myth is symbolic of the continual battle between the Apollonian reason and the Dionysian madness that make up man’s nature – as viewed by the Athenians. (Presumably women are better versed in this particular polarity, due to our physiological ties to the inconstant Moon…unless they have a partner like MacBeth).

Athena’s horror at her own reflection might have been too much of a reminder of her Medusa side (PMS – a most irrational affliction!). The aulos itself, being a double, wind instrument, can be viewed as expressing two winds or two spirits that ‘make beautiful music together’.

Roman Medusa cameo, 2nd-3rd c – what Athena saw?

As such, there is a deeper meaning to the flaying of Marsyas than the dangers of hubris. In his essential book, Pagan Mysteries in the Renaissance, Edgar Wind explains:

‘The musical contest between Apollo and Marsyas was therefore concerned with the relative powers of Dionysian darkness and Apollonian clarity; and if the contest ended with the flaying of Marsyas, it was because flaying itself was a Dionysian rite, a tragic ordeal of purification by which the ugliness of the outward man was thrown off and the beauty of his inward self revealed.’

and:

‘The cry [of Marsyas]: ‘Why do you tear me from myself?’ expresses then an agonized ecstasy and could be turned, as it was by Dante, into a prayer addressed to Apollo: ‘Enter my breast, and so infuse me with your spirit as you did Marsyas when you tore him from the cover of his limbs.’
To obtain the ‘beloved laurel’ of Apollo, the poet must pass through the agony of Marsyas…The torture of the mortal by the god who inspires him was a central theme in the revival of ancient mysteries, its illustration in Apollo and Marsyas being only one of many variations’.

Chariot and Hanged Man of Jean Dodal, 17th c

In traditional TdM, the golden-haired Charioteer at first appears to be a solar-heroic, Roman emperor type. But his stance says Dionysus and, indeed, the  very word ‘triumph’ comes down to us not from Roman victory processions, but from hymns to Dionysus sung in processions in his honour.  So rather, the Charioteer is a conglomerate – albeit, like MacBeth, he is more Apollonian on the outside.

His epaulettes are indicative of his solar-lunar natures, facing opposite ways, while the two horses also want to go off in either direction. There definitely is a sense of hubris about him. The three stems growing underfoot in the black soil, here, foreshadow his reversal from hero to scapegoat; The Hanged Man, strung up between two boughs, not unlike Marsyas, and the dismemberment/decomposition that follows in arcanum 13.

Jacques Vieville 2 of Cups and Hanged Man duality details
Chariot detail showing solar and lunar horses (anonymous, 15th c Milan)

As with the fish and horses, the two tree bases in arcanum 12 are usually different, sometimes even containing sun and moon in them, as in the Vieville example. The figure can be flipped vertically and viewed two ways; hanging or dancing. His golden, solar hair is a clue to what’s going on – ‘the beauty of his inward self’ is slowly being revealed as he undergoes ‘living death’. Two of these oldest TdM examples (Vieville, Dodal) require flipping the card to read the number correctly – printer mistake?

The strange placement of his epaulette-ish hands might represent wings (sprouting or  hidden), most apparent in this 17th c Jean Noblet card. Also of note, his reddish hair, a basis of discrimination and choosing sacrificial victims, especially Jews – Noblet himself being Jewish. But looking at it alchemically, ‘red gold’ was ‘pure gold’:

‘The oftener gold is subjected to the action of fire, the more refined in quality it becomes; indeed, fire is one test of its goodness, as, when submitted to intense heat, gold ought to assume a similar colour, and turn red and igneous in appearance; a mode of testing which is known as “obrussa.” [Pliny, “Natural History,” 33.19]’

Noblet Pendu, 17th c – note his elongated ears

The Hanged Man (Le Pendu/Pandu) was once called ‘The Traitor’ and the figure held two money bags, a reference to Judas, aka Didymus, ‘the Twin’ (also a supposed redhead). We know the two cards are related, because 7 is 3 + 4 and 12 is 3 x 4. (3 and 4 began separately as Empress and Emperor).

Alchemical fountain

Summation

Obviously we are complex creatures, made up of many polarities, but the most basic one is that we live consciously, outer or by day (solar) and unconsciously, inner or by night (lunar). This was expressed in Egypt as the two eyes of Horus. Right now, you are reading this and having both an outer and inner experience.

The alchemical equivalent of Marsyas and Apollo is the torture of base metals, such as lead, in order to extract the precious, pure one – namely gold, but also its ‘mate’, silver, and others.  Lead is the metal of Saturn, who, strangely enough, ruled the Golden Age and is associated with Pan, satyrs, nature, etc.  Apollo is of course the solar gold.

Devil and Sun cards, Nicholas Conver TdM, 18th c

Seeking material gold (symbolized by the physical crown, in MacBeth) is the ‘lower mystery’. But, as the alchemists discovered, this corporeal quest is often how initiation to the ‘higher mystery’ begins. In the end, after all our ‘toil and trouble‘, we might be fortunate enough to attain spiritual gold.

Self-knowledge (gnosis) is not just about understanding one’s own personality (another ‘lesser mystery’), but rather, understanding the entire workings of the universe as being within oneself, and vice versa; ‘As within, so without’. But this must be done in stages and is not something that can merely be understood as some intellectual concept.

I leave you with the last lines from William Blake’s Auguries of Innocence ‘ which, though we love to quote the first verse (‘To see the world in a grain of sand…’), in it’s entirety, puts it all in a nutshell.  ~rb

‘Every Night & every Morn
Some to Misery are Born 
Every Morn and every Night
Some are Born to sweet delight 
Some are Born to sweet delight 
Some are Born to Endless Night 
We are led to Believe a Lie
When we see not Thro the Eye
Which was Born in a Night to perish in a Night 
When the Soul Slept in Beams of Light 
God Appears & God is Light
To those poor Souls who dwell in Night 
But does a Human Form Display
To those who Dwell in Realms of day‘

 

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Mercury – I Come in Three!

Mercury

We are in Mercury retrograde at the moment, so what better time for a blogpost about everybody’s favourite psychopomp and magic number?

Early on, Hermes’ sacred number was 4, being god of the crossroads, which was where his  herma were placed.  These were originally piles of stones, to indicate the border of someone’s tribal land. Gradually they became erect stones,  often with a cross shape (probably for hanging garlands), and a head and apotropaic phallus was added. No matter who travelled there, friend or foe, offerings were made to ensure safe passage of the foreign turf. Perhaps it is related to the practice of marking graves with stones, too, since the dead were buried outside the boundary, for safety reasons. “And stay out!”
Herma for other gods existed, but the name of course relates to Hermes himself. Bust sculptures are probably a continuation of this tradition.

Herma 520 BC

But when we are speaking of Hermes-Mercury as a planetary/astrological  god, 3 is the number by which he operates. Think of retrogradation – common to all planets, but ultimately under his jurisdiction. It’s a triple, illusory move (forward-backward-forward) and, in Mercury’s case, occurs 3 times per year, for about 3 weeks, 3 times in the same element. Even in the most astrologically uninformed circles and media, the ‘Mercury Retrograde’ is reknown, if for all the wrong reasons.

How most people view Mercury retrogrades

Since Mercury can never be more than 28 degrees from the Sun, there are but three Mercury placements a Sun sign can have; in the preceding sign, in the same sign, or in one the proceeding it. For example, Taurus can only have Mercury in Aries, Taurus or Gemini. The Mercury placement will inform the Sun native’s expression and how they process information. Is it possible Mercury in these 3, consecutive signs might have a resonance with the phases of retrogradation? Might Mercury preside over midpoints, as well (particularly, one would assume, the Sun-Moon midpoint)? Questions to ponder during retrograde.

When it comes to uniting solar and lunar opposite natures, the realms of living and dead, awakeness and dreaming, the above and below, the within and without, Mercury is the cosmic connector. We see this in traditional Tarot de Marseille, a ‘Hermetic’ Tarot wherein duality and the balance of opposites is a running theme, as is triplicity and quadruplicity.
In alchemy there are three forms of Mercury; vulgar, volatile and philosophical.

Doubles in Noblet Tarot Pape, Pendu, Soleil ca 1650

Mercury’s sigil also has three parts: the cross of matter (or crossroads) surmounted by a solar circle and lunar crescent. And of course, he rules  Gemini, sign of the Twins. Perhaps the Virgo rulership might be better understood if we remember the dual nature of the Goddess – those two serpents originally belonged to her, after all. Where Gemini is happy to  be two people, Virgo works tirelessly to create wholeness. She is very much like the angel of Temperance, is she not? This card from the Vieville deck could be Virgo with the Mercurial caduceus.

Vieville Temperance card, mid 17th c

Might we also  find a connection between the 6th house (Virgo’s traditional lodgings) and TdM 6th arcanum, wherein a young man stands between two women? It’s interpreted as having to decide between vice and virtue, like Hercules at the crossroads, but I think ‘crossroads’ might be the key word here. That 7th house cusp is the dividing line, after all. Some other blogpost!

Osiris attended by sisters Nephthys (death) and Isis (life), Conver TdM Lover, 18th c

 

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Saturn is Coming to Pisces

Madonna of Mercy with Kneeling Friars, 1424, Fra Angelico

Saturn in Pisces (March 7, in a 7 year)  will mean different things to different people. Depending on where our illusions lie and our willingness to wake in or from the dream, Saturn can feel either harsh or liberating. Saturn is actually a liberator, though not often seen in this light. (Hence, its exaltation sign is Libra).
Sometimes it’s as simple as recognizing whether a dream is really worth the time anymore and/or if we’re ready to do the work to make it real. Other times, especially in Pisces, we have to go a bit deeper into our psyche.

One thing about Saturn in Pisces that has been resonating with me lately (and a constant, life challenge with this being my Saturn placement), is how it can give authoritative voice to those self-sabotaging mantras Pisces is so good at creating. Often these do originate with some authority figure, like a parent, school teacher or even early religious teachings. There may be ‘aha’ moments in life where we realize they were a) not true/except to the person who said it b) useful in order to grow by rebelling against them. [Sir Christopher Lee, Saturn on the ascendant, said the more discouragement he got – first from his mother, then people in the biz who said he was too tall, not British-looking enough, etc. – the more determined it made him to succeed in acting, and, that his epitaph should read ‘I showed them!’]

Or perhaps it’s more subtle…a 12th house type garbage dump of collected mantras all jumbled together. In Pisces, that Saturnian discernment and good judgement is important because this sign has much do with creativity and imagination, as well as faith, especially in ourselves. Where have we ‘imprisoned’ ourselves or ‘sentenced’ ourselves to never trying because we aren’t good enough/can’t make money from this/hadn’t a formal education in it/feel we are in a sibling’s shadow/will only make a fool of ourselves…?

Thinking back to my first Saturn return, it was when that book ‘The Artist’s Way‘ came out. I was living in New York, doing bootcamp as an illustrator, and heard the author being interviewed on NPR. She had some good tips on zeroing in on where that debilitating thought was seeded. When you do, the  original, flippant comment should now be given the Donald Duck accent it deserves.

Personally I didn’t listen to grade school teachers who came up with gems like, “that’s not how you draw a tree!”, but l was armed with planets, whereas others may not have been. Being told I wrote “like Dickens” by an art school writing class teacher (ie, not avant-garde enough) was maybe slightly more damaging, although, tbh, I quite liked Dickens.  For me, it was more the perpetual, continually reiterated belief (of individuals and Canadian society at large) that artists must struggle, art was no way to make a living, that sort of thing. Even later, when I felt free(er) of these straight-jackets, I would simply find new ones, courtesy of the astrologers, psychics and other intuitives I sought advice from and handed over my personal authority to. Pisces is so good at relinquishing power and its responsibility to its own needs!

Conver Tarot de Marseille c 1760

In the TdM Tower card, the force that ruptures the prison tower and releases the two people is not a lightening bolt, but a feathery plume, which some say is actually coming out of rather than directed toward the structure. Note that the Tower/16 is 7 ‘steps’ from the Hermit/9. Seven is the number of wisdom, and  this time it’s Grandmother wisdom. We can take heart in the fact that Saturn in Pisces is a lot more understanding and gentle than in Capricorn and Aquarius. This is a mutable sign, so it’s more of a water birth than by forceps or cesarian. It’s safe to come out of hiding, now.

I recommend  astrologer Molly McCord’s Youtube videos on Saturn in Pisces 2023. She talks about this and much more, very insightful!

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