Chokmah/Yod and Waite

Richard

RWS Courts on the ToL

I ran across this interesting passage in an article written by Waite, apparently after he had commissioned PCS to do the RWS. It was no surprise to find that he considered the Pages/Knaves to be female, positioned at Malkuth, and that the Queens are at Binah. However, the Kings are positioned at Chokmah, and each Knight is spread over the Sephiroth from Chesed to Yesod. Of course, he may have changed his mind about this during the creation of the RWS.

Had Levi understood Sephirotic Kabalism better, again he could have done better by affirming – as it would have been easy for him – that the French damoiseau had replaced a primitive damoislle, the Squire Court-card being really feminine. He could then have allocated correctly as follows: the King to Chokmah, the Queen to Binah, the Knight to the six lower Sephiroth from Chesed to Yesod inclusive, governed by the semi-Sephira Daath, and the damoiselle to Malkuth. He would have found also this manner a complete correspondence between these Trumps Minor and the four letters of the Tetragram.

Waite, A.E. (2009-01-21). Mystic Fire - Rosicrucian Writings of A. E. Waite (Kindle Locations 1518-1519). Cornerstone Book Publishers. Kindle Edition.

He is thus associating the Kings with Yod of the Tetragrammaton. Since the element of Yod is Fire, Knights would seem to be more appropriate. I think he may be confusing himself by using the old terminology. Kings are indeed Yod in the Golden Dawn system, but the GD Kings are equivalent to what Waite calls Knights: They are on horseback.

kwaw

Well, if I'm reading it right (may not be, been up all night and am tired) the gender of the pages as feminine is same as GD (princesses), as is the attribution of the letters YHVH (Vau is zair anpin, centered at Tifereth but whose face comprises the six sephiroth chesed to yesod). So the only real difference is the King / Knight switch?

Richard

kwaw said:
Well, if I'm reading it right (may not be, been up all night and am tired) the gender of the pages as feminine is same as GD (princesses), as is the attribution of the letters YHVH (Vau is zair anpin, centered at Tifereth but whose face comprises the six sephiroth chesed to yesod). So the only real difference is the King / Knight switch?

That is correct.

Zephyros

I feel as if I owe him an apology, I guess he didn't lie after all!

I wonder what his justifications are for putting the seated figure as the instigator while the HGA on horseback. Is it because it "goes forth" toward the aspirant?

Babalon Jones

Zephyros said:
I feel as if I owe him an apology, I guess he didn't lie after all!

I wonder what his justifications are for putting the seated figure as the instigator while the HGA on horseback. Is it because it "goes forth" toward the aspirant?

That is an interesting thought. Or as was said, maybe he confused himself.
I'm confused by his last sentence as I haven't heard the term "Trumps Minor" used to refer to the courts. Or maybe I read it wrong.

Richard

Babalon Jones said:
That is an interesting thought. Or as was said, maybe he confused himself.
I'm confused by his last sentence as I haven't heard the term "Trumps Minor" used to refer to the courts. Or maybe I read it wrong.

It just means Minor Arcana.

kwaw

How is what Waite writes different to what Mathers writes?

quote
"In the Tree of Life in the Tarot, each path forms the connecting link between two of the Sephiroth. The King and the Queen are the correlations of the Abba and the Aima in that suit; the Knight or Prince answers to Microprosopus, and the Knave or Princess which was anciently a female figure, is referred to the Bride, Kallah or Malkah."
end quote

Notes on the Tarot by Mathers, GD Fourth Knowledge Lecture (Practicus Degree)

King - Yod - Abba - Chokmah
Queen - Heh - Aima - Binah
Knight/Prince - Microsopus (chesed to yesod)
Princess - Bride (Malkah)

Richard

kwaw said:
How is what Waite writes different to what Mathers writes?......

No difference. I never noticed that Knight = Prince in Mathers' usage.

In traditional/historical Tarot usage, Knights are on horseback and Kings are seated on thrones. Therefore, Waite seems to be saying that the seated male courts correspond to Chokmah and the horse riding courts correspond to the Microprosopus. This would almost be the opposite of GD usage (in which Kings are on horseback and Princes are seated in chariots).

The question therefore is this: Is Waite using GD terminology or traditional/historical terminology in my quote from his article The Great Symbols of the Tarot? My guess would be traditional/historical, since he is referring to Levi's work.

kwaw

Richard said:
The question therefore is this: Is Waite using GD terminology or traditional/historical terminology in my quote from his article The Great Symbols of the Tarot? My guess would be traditional/historical, since he is referring to Levi's work.

He wrote: "Had Levi understood Sephirotic Kabalism better,...", and then goes on to paraphrase Mathers lecture notes as being 'correct' -- so surely GD terminology?

Richard

kwaw said:
He wrote: "Had Levi understood Sephirotic Kabalism better,...", and then goes on to paraphrase Mathers lecture notes as being 'correct' -- so surely GD terminology?

Yes, it would seem so.