Greater Arcana Study Group—The Lovers

Abrac

The sun shines in the zenith, and beneath is a great winged figure with arms extended, pouring down influences. In the foreground are two human figures, male and female, unveiled before each other, as if Adam and Eve when they first occupied the paradise of the earthly body. Behind the man is the Tree of Life, bearing twelve fruits, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is behind the woman; the serpent is twining round it. The figures suggest youth, virginity, innocence and love before it is contaminated by gross material desire. This is in all simplicity the card of human love, here exhibited as part of the way, the truth and the life. It replaces, by recourse to first principles, the old card of marriage, which I have described previously, and the later follies which depicted man between vice and virtue. In a very high sense, the card is a mystery of the Covenant and Sabbath.

The suggestion in respect of the woman is that she signifies that attraction towards the sensitive life which carries within it the idea of the Fall of Man, but she is rather the working of a Secret Law of Providence than a willing and conscious temptress. It is through her imputed lapse that man shall arise ultimately, and only by her can he complete himself. The card is therefore in its way another intimation concerning the great mystery of womanhood. The old meanings fall to pieces of necessity with the old pictures, but even as interpretations of the latter, some of them were of the order of commonplace and others were false in symbolism.
 

Abrac

I find Waite’s philosophy interesting in that he describes the Fall in terms of “Providence.” In other words, it's not Adam and Eve's fault, it’s all the doings of the Divine according to a Secret Law. Maybe it's the serpent's fault, but according to Waite's theory, the serpent too was simply an instrument of Providence.

He says in the PKT, “It replaces, by recourse to first principles, the old card of marriage, which I have described previously. . .”

It still represents a type of marriage, one based on first principles, or higher principles as I read it. It replaces the old card which is based on mundane marriage.

In Waite’s Fellowship of the Rosy Cross, this card replaces Temperence on the path Yesod-Tiphareth, which is now path 26, Ayin.

Beneath the Banner of the middle path [Ayin, path 26] is a symbol representing marriage. You were told in the 4 = 7 Grade that Shekinah is the feminine and Messiah is the male aspect of the Divine in manifestation. The union of both must be attained in us, and it is this which you see before you, the wedlock of the soul and the Christ natures, under the wings of Shekinah. The ascent into union by way of the middle Pillar is the path to your own marriage. At the beginning it is like the upward breathing of a pure spirit, and the breath of the Spirit comes down. And till the great day of consummation the Spirit and the bride say, Come. The benign and gracious being who officiates at the espousals before you [Shekinah in transcendence] is also a symbol of the Second Birth in spiritual consciousness. She presides over marriages and births. He who has attained to this state of regeneration in God shall draw, my Brother, all parts of his personality into the redemption of the higher nature. He shall raise up his fallen Sephiroth, including Malkuth.​

One of the Waite-Trinick images is quite similar to the Waite-Smith, while still being different. Waite says the figure above is Shekinah in transcendence. Notice the serpent coiled around the base of the tree. Grapes and flames are intermingled in the treetops. In this image they’re holding hands.

Waite-Trinick Lovers
 

Abrac

The "mystery of the Covenant and Sabbath" I believe refers to a Kabbalistic doctrine concerning conjugal relations between husband and wife; it also involves Shekinah. It's too much to try and explain here but I found it in The Secret Doctrine in Israel 245-246. Maybe someone understands it better and will be able to explain it. :)
 

Abrac

In the Waite-Smith, he's looking at her, and she's looking at the winged figure. Anyone have any thoughts on what the significance of this could be?
 

Samweiss

In the Waite-Smith, he's looking at her, and she's looking at the winged figure. Anyone have any thoughts on what the significance of this could be?

According to Paul Foster Case the man is self-consciousness (also Magician of tarot), the woman is subconsciousness (High Priestess) and the angel is superconsciousness. This means that our self-conscious intellectual mind isn't directly aware of the higher consciousness, but draws and transmits it through our subconsciousness. "Powers are developed within, and the subconscious "within" is the woman. From that within they are educated, or drawn forth, in response to self-conscious impulses, and their manifestation is in the field of self-consciousness (the without)."

In Waite’s Fellowship of the Rosy Cross, this card replaces Temperence on the path Yesod-Tiphareth, which is now path 26, Ayin.

Beneath the Banner of the middle path [Ayin, path 26] is a symbol representing marriage. You were told in the 4 = 7 Grade that Shekinah is the feminine and Messiah is the male aspect of the Divine in manifestation. The union of both must be attained in us, and it is this which you see before you, the wedlock of the soul and the Christ natures, under the wings of Shekinah. The ascent into union by way of the middle Pillar is the path to your own marriage. At the beginning it is like the upward breathing of a pure spirit, and the breath of the Spirit comes down. And till the great day of consummation the Spirit and the bride say, Come. The benign and gracious being who officiates at the espousals before you [Shekinah in transcendence] is also a symbol of the Second Birth in spiritual consciousness. She presides over marriages and births. He who has attained to this state of regeneration in God shall draw, my Brother, all parts of his personality into the redemption of the higher nature. He shall raise up his fallen Sephiroth, including Malkuth.

This quote reminds me of the older Marseilles version of The Lovers card. Some say it refers to the Qabalistic marriage and the people in that card are Qabalistic Son, Bride and Queen (Mother).
 

Abrac

Ahh yes, Case, forgot about him. Always good insights.

I just recalled some of the images from the Book of Lambspring which are somewhat similar to Waite's Lovers. Toward the end of the document there's a triad—one of which is winged. The series of images seem to tell a short story. It starts out with the winged figure taking the younger man by the hand. In the second he brings him to a high mountain top, recalling the high mountain in The Lovers. Next the young man and the older man are reunited, illustrated by the older man devouring the younger. Finally, all three sit together in harmony. Not sure if Waite drew inspiration for this card from these images, they just seemed similar in a few places.

This is a direct PDF download link to Waite's Pictorial Symbols of Alchemy in which he comments on the Book of Lambspring.

http://www.hermetics.org/pdf/ps2.pdf
 

Richard

According to Paul Foster Case the man is self-consciousness (also Magician of tarot), the woman is subconsciousness (High Priestess) and the angel is superconsciousness. This means that our self-conscious intellectual mind isn't directly aware of the higher consciousness, but draws and transmits it through our subconsciousness. "Powers are developed within, and the subconscious "within" is the woman. From that within they are educated, or drawn forth, in response to self-conscious impulses, and their manifestation is in the field of self-consciousness (the without).".......

That seems to justify Waite's placement of the Lovers on the path between Yesod (moon, subconsciousness) and Tiphareth (sun, consciousness), formerly occupied by Temperance.
 

Yelell

I'm curious, are the Golden Dawn tarot, Golden Dawn magical tarot etc considered accurate reflections of the Golden Dawn? The Perseus Andromeda dragon scene is much different than the RWS; and I guess Waite wasn't just concealing the Golden Dawn idea in the RWS since the Waite Trinick lovers is similar?
 

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Richard

I'm curious, are the Golden Dawn tarot, Golden Dawn magical tarot etc considered accurate reflections of the Golden Dawn? The Perseus Andromeda dragon scene is much different than the RWS; and I guess Waite wasn't just concealing the Golden Dawn idea in the RWS since the Waite Trinick lovers is similar?
Yes, the GD Lovers is supposed to be Perseus saving Andromeda from the sea monster. The Waite Lovers is Adam and Eve, not merely in order to avoid the GD image, but because of his interpretation of the card.
 

Abrac

The question of how much Golden Dawn influence shows up in the Waite-Smith Tarot is complicated. I think it's inevitable that some would appear, but there's also little doubt Waite had other things in mind as well.