XVI - La Maison Diev

jmd

Often in commentaries, the Hanged Man is said to depict Alchemical Sulphur (cross over a triangle) - but it is correct that some have also connected Saturn (whose sigil is a cross over a crescent) to the depiction shown of the hanged man...

I suppose that it should also be remembered that numerous correlations have been made between various cards and astrology. Saturn has numerous indications, some of which relate more to Death, some to the Hermit, some to the Hanged Man, and some (or numerous) to the Tower. In its astrological rulership of both Aquarius and Capricorn, it has also been linked to the Devil and the Star... and the list can undoubtedly be extended to, if not all, certainly most major Arcana cards...

I suppose one of the important questions is not 'which card does it properly belong to?', but 'what does it reveal of this specific and peculiar image?'... now I'd better go and check firemaiden's link...
 

firemaiden

Supletion wrote the lightening " doesnt look much like a lightning"" and that this card him of a "birthday party".

Diana wrote "the little circles of colour that are on these decks are probably manna falling from heaven" , and that "the drops that we see falling on many of the Marseilles Tarot decks" look like the shower of Golden Rain in which form Zeus made love to Danae.

I didn't know about Manna from heaven, but to me they look like M&M's (after they invented blue) :p Well, anyway, they look like candy, or little cakes with pastel frosting (petits fours?). The little men falling down, look like they are scrambling to pick up them up.

Will someone please tell me why?

And since we are on to the subject of "why", will someone also tell me why instead of lightening, I see a bouquet of feathers?
As far as cutting wood goes, I am sure it would have been a good deal easier to cut straight zig-zag lines to show lightening, rather than the colorful curlycues of these ostrich (and emu) plumes.

Or perhaps that is the idea? Plumes of smoke? But since when does smoke come in green, blue, yellow, read, and tan?

And then, above the plumes are the points of sort of royal crown. Or is it all we can see of the sun?

The crenellations of the tower lifting off also look so much like a crown. It makes me think it is a story of one crown against another. The Crown of God against the Royal Crown? Is there the shiver her of a veiled reference to a subversive religious sect?

The Tower of Babel was a Ziggurat, a Mesopotamian place of worship, a "house of God".
 

jmd

I thought I'd attempt a totally different approach to this card for a while, and see what other historical artefacts pop up.

If we consider some of the of major changes occuring between the 13th and 16th century, possibly one of fthe most significant was the Calendrial change to the Gregorian.

It is interesting that, in order to house the investigative discussions, a significant building was constructed: what had become known (though now renamed anew) as the Tower of the Four Winds (possibly after the octagonal Athenian Tower of the Winds dating from late Antiquity). Within this Vatican square building is an entry point for a ray of LIGHT to penetrate at a particular time upon a meridian line (by Ignazio Danti of Perugia), thereby demonstrating the inaccuracies of the then current Julian Calendar, in the same manner metaphorically evicting the current occupants (those who wish to maintain the old calendrail structure).

In its early years, the Tower would have stood significantly within the landscape, and its internal paintings would have added to its magnificence...
 

Le_Corsair

Regarding the Templars, many of their churches and buildings were in the basilica style of architecture, rather than the cruciform style of church we are familiar with in romanesque architecture. Someone looking at or using a Templar church as an image in a card may well have rendered it as a simple round or octogonal squat tower-like structure.

Bob :THERM
 

jmd

In the thread in which the card's title is discussed (La Maison Diev), Rusty Neon also reminds us of the athanor as another consideration for this card.

It is mentioned by Wang and others, and is certainly an aspect which those with alchemical Rosicrucian interests would have thought of. As a matter of interest, it forms one of the few cards which some members of the SRIA (an order still existing, and from which the founders of the Golden Dawn derived much of their impetus) 'recognise' immediately - as an athanor.

On the other hand, I personally have reservations that this was an aspect which played into its design - though there is every reason to include reflections and insights which arise from considering the card as alchemical furnace.

[edited to add that the previous and next post were originally part of the thread on the card's title which I have already linked]
 

baba-prague

Le_Corsair said:
Regarding the Templars, many of their churches and buildings were in the basilica style of architecture, rather than the cruciform style of church we are familiar with in romanesque architecture. Someone looking at or using a Templar church as an image in a card may well have rendered it as a simple round or octogonal squat tower-like structure.

Bob :THERM

Not sure about this. Our rather famous "Church of Mary under the Chain" here was built (and is now again owned by) the Knights of Malta. It is indeed fortified - in fact incredibly so - but it has TWO matching guard towers, not just one. I'm not sure how typical this is, but worth mentioning.

Can I bring up the fall of the titans again? I'm not saying that it's the basis of this card (in fact, I tend to favour the Tower of Babel myself) but it is worth bearing in mind how such similar myths come up in various cultures, and how their imagery gets mixed in to a kind of visual whole. As we've said before, in medieval (and of course even more in later) imagery, classical motives often got mixed in with Christian ones quite happily. I'd guess that some of the motives you see in "fall of the titans" pictures (which are quite common when you begin to look around old sites) may well have had some influence on the way in which this card is depicted.
 

Aoife

firemaiden said:
The crenellations of the tower lifting off also look so much like a crown. It makes me think it is a story of one crown against another. The Crown of God against the Royal Crown? Is there the shiver her of a veiled reference to a subversive religious sect?
I've just bought a copy of "Bloodline of the Holy Grail" Laurence Gardner, and whilst I've yet to start reading I couldn't resist dipping in to the chapter 'Tarot and the Grail'.

The author speaks of the Tower being associated with Mary Magdalene......
In the Grail tradition, The Tower [or House of God] represented the Magdal-eder (the Watchtower of the Flock, as in Micah 4:8) and it was not unlike a Chess castle. Being struck by lightening, or otherwise mysteriously assaulted, the Tower symbolised the plight of the esoteric Church against the merciless Roman establishment

Any views?
 

le pendu

La Somme Le Roi

Hi Everyone,

This is my first time trying to include an image.. so I hope it works.

I'd like to submit a possibly related image. It is identified as one of the deadly vices, "Orgueil" (pride), from "La Somme Le Roi".

It has been suggested that the image represents King Ahaziah from the Old Testament who fell from an upper window of his palace and was seriously injured.

The image is from the early 14th century, so it would be a grandfather to the tarot's Tower.

More info about La Somme le roi or The book of Vices and Virtues:

Frère Laurent, La Somme le roi (usually referred to as, The Book of Vices and Virtues), northern France, early 14th century Library of the Arsenal, MS 6329. Parchment

In 1279-80, at the request of King Philip the Bold (1270-1285), Friar Laurent, the king's confessor, composed a manual of moral instruction known as La Somme le roi. The author was inspired by earlier texts, in particular a treatise on vices and virtues entitled the Miroir du Monde (Mirror of the World). La Somme le roi was translated into numerous languages and dialects and achieved a wide circulation.
 

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jmd

Thank you so much for that image, Robert.

A while back, I had been made aware of a similar, yet differently presented, image of Orgueil from what inevitably be a different edition of the same book (the last on the linked page).

The interesting analogues between the story and the fall of the Crowned King in representations of the card are indeed striking.

Of note is also that the manuscript dates from the 13th century - though copied and becoming so popular as depicting the twelve articles of Christian faith in especially the 14th century.

I had nearly forgotten about it, and had to find some written notes to bring it back to memory - an important document indeed :)
 

jmd

In addition to the Amiens Cathedral image which I posted much earlier, there are other 12th & 13th century depictions which again show striking similarity with the Maison Diev representation.

The attached one links the scene of the escape to Egypt following the nativity, with the collapse of the Temples from description from Infancy pseudo-Gospels, with the general understanding of the times that Egyptian Temples would be those of the Mamluk/Muslims, and hence have minarets from which would be thrown to the ground the Immans, their heads broken (mimicking descriptions of Infancy Gospel events as to what happened to statues).

Attached is a hieroglyph from the Abbey Church of St Peter in Moissac, circa 1130s.
 

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