"The Key to the Tarot" by A.E. Waite

Re: Errata

danubhe said:

I have looked through & found a couple of places that I have issue with (I'm sure there were more, but I can't find them at this point, perhaps later):

1) "The Lovers or Marriage.

"This symbol has undergone many variations, as might be expected from its subject. In the eighteenth-century form, by which it first became known to the world or archaeological research, it is really a card of married life, showing a father and mother, with their child placed between them; and the pagan Cupid above in the act of flying his shaft is, of course, a misapplied emblem..."

I find that the pagan Cupid, as a symbol of the Renaissance, appearing in the earliest cards, as this is the earliest phase of the card, to be the truest to the designers' intent; I'm not sure what he could mean by this.

Click to expand...

It seems more like a difference of opinion, rather than a mistake.

You also have to remember that Waite wanted to "introduce a rectified set of the cards themselves and to tell the unadorned truth concerning them, so far as this is possible in the outer circles"
(Of course, you might well believe that the phrase "unadorned truth" deserves first place on your list of errata.)

danubhe said:

2) "Temperance.

"A winged female figure, usually regarded as an angel, is pouring liquid from one pitcher to another. The first thing which seems clear on the surface is that the symbol has no especial connection with Temperance..." Again, I can't fathom his meaning, as this is a traditional representation which has in it easily read symbolism to the meaning of Temperance.

Just my take, folks...

Click to expand...

It might be a little easier to understand if you read the entire passage. I know that some of it is like wading through treacle, but it is not the sort of writing you can skim, without losing understanding;

The symbol that "has no especial connexion with Temperance" he refers to is that of Papus, not his own card. He also give a reason as to why he mentions it.




Vincent

A.E. Waite was a pompous ass. I think that explains it all.

Seconded

An ostentatious dilettante seems kindlier...
but I'd love to hear what Pam thought!


"Boaz and Jachin"?

• 

Yes, this does help my understanding - but I swear I missed the mention of another card under "Temperance", I will have to read the passage *again*!! However, I *do* find myself agreeing with him more than not, which is good, I guess - except for the fact that he is, of course, as Mesara said, a "pompous ass"! Well, I'll get the book read before more comments, I guess!

(& not sure about the ref to "Boaz & Jachin" either!)

Art

"I've just finished a big job for very little cash!
a set of designs for a pack of Tarot cards 80 designs ~
I shall send some over ~ of the original drawings as
some people may like them!"

~ wrote Pamela Colman Smith, November 19, 1909 ~
She was then at the mature and responsible age of 27.

But what did she mean? Perhaps the cash was direct
payment, and Waite's part was to be his magical pamphlet.
What probably happened next was Waite wanted to make
changes, silly things like adding a B & J on the pillars
of The High Priestess card, and then "TORA" on her scroll.
Except for A.E.Waite's self-published accounts, his role was
very likely to have been merely as a friend and sponsor...

Nobody knows.

All are invited to analyse the lettering of B & J
and compare it to other examples by Miss Smith.
I think AEW had the printer do it, for a small fee.

A Silly B & J Tale: Waite the Mysterious Mystic...

actually was fortelling the Inner Truth that arrives into the tongue, melting like a glacier and arising to the brainstem in a freeze that simultaneously runs down the throat in a delicious surge that spells:

"BEN & JERRY"...

but alas, no one knows what flavor, a contemplation that will haunt us all...

(Cerulean will replace this with a more serious notion later)

Cerulean

Re: Art

Fulgour said:

"I've just finished a big job for very little cash!
a set of designs for a pack of Tarot cards 80 designs ~
I shall send some over ~ of the original drawings as
some people may like them!"

~ wrote Pamela Colman Smith, November 19, 1909 ~
She was then at the mature and responsible age of 27.

But what did she mean?

Click to expand...

Yes, it does seem rather puzzling, doesn't it?

Perhaps, and of course, this is only wild speculation and supposition, but maybe she meant that she had just finished a big job (a set of designs for a pack of Tarot cards) for very little cash, and that she was going to send over some of the original drawings for a possible sale.

Fulgour said:

"
What probably happened next was Waite wanted to make
changes, silly things like adding a B & J on the pillars
of The High Priestess card, and then "TORA" on her scroll.

Click to expand...

What makes this a "probable" scenario?

Fulgour said:

"
Except for A.E.Waite's self-published accounts,

Click to expand...

What accounts did Waite self-publish?

Fulgour said:

"
his role was very likely to have been merely as a friend and sponsor...

Click to expand...

Why do you believe this is "very likely"?

How is it more likely than Waite's own account?

Fulgour said:

"
Nobody knows.

Click to expand...

If "nobody knows", and I am assuming you are including yourself, what leads you to believe that the scenarios you give are "probable", or "very likely"?


Vincent

I think that Fulgour means that the finished product has certain relics in it, like the relationship between teh B & J & the other letterings, that may bring into question as to whether or not the ideas represented in the deck were original to "Pixie", or if perhaps her mentor (?) had them adulterated. It's a question that needs to be asked.

Hi Vincent

Vincent said:

Yes, it does seem rather puzzling, doesn't it?

Perhaps...

Click to expand...

Six questions just for me and only one "perhaps" from you...
Well, let's see. If you only had enough money to buy either
the book by A.E.Waite or the deck by Pamela Colman Smith,
which would you choose?