Waite-Trinick Temperance

Abrac

Here's a picture of the card.

Waite-Trinick Temperance

Waite broke with tradition in switching this card from the 25th path to the 27th in his Fellowship of the Rosy Cross. I came up with an illustration that shows how it would look on the Tree.

Temperance on Tree

If her feet are placed on the 27th path, she can be seen reaching up to Chesed and Geburah, and pouring the contents of the chalices into Yesod. Her function seems to be similar to what it was before, i.e. balancing left/right and above/below; the main difference is her introduction to the initiate in the grade of Philosophus rather than the Portal of the Inner Order, as in the Golden Dawn. From the FRC Philosophus Initiation:

"The symbol that lies uppermost on the Altar is that of the 27th path. It represents Shekinah as the Lady of Reconciliation and Lady of the Pillar of Benignity [middle pillar], intermingling and reconciling the influences of Chesed and Geburah, regarded as cleansing water [Geburah] and saving fire [Chesed]. They are poured forth from two chalices, which have a meeting point at Yesod and descend thence as a river of life in Malkuth. In the ascent of the Tree this symbol signifies the will toward rebirth, being the last mystery unfolded by the Grades of the Rosy Cross at that point where the world of formation merges in the world that is beyond. In the descent of the influences from above it signifies the virtues and graces of the Pillars on the right and the left uniting with those that come down from the middle pillar. . . ."​

In the Trinick image the orientation can be seen as reversed. You have to do some mental gymnastics and imagine you're on the opposite side of the Tree than you would normally be. For the normal view, imagine you're behind Temperance looking at her back; then you'll see Geburah on the left and Chesed on the right. Waite uses this same trick with the High Priestess. Normally Boaz would be on the left and Jachin on the right. The picture on the left is the original; in the one on the right I enhanced the J and B to make them easier to see.

Waite-Trinick High Priestess
 

Abrac

In Trinick's color version it's not as obvious, but Temperance is reaching up to Geburah and Chesed and pouring their essences down into Yesod; Geburah and Chesed are indicated on the pillars alluding to this. The first link in the above post shows it more clearly. Here's the color version.

Temperance

Normally, Fire would be on the Chesed side and Water on the Geburah side. But in the image, Fire is coming from Geburah and Water from Chesed. I found a diagram in Gilbert's The Sorcerer and His Apprentice that could explain this. It's from Mathers' "The Azoth Lecture." Fire is on the right pillar with the exception of Chesed which is Water; and Water is on the left pillar with the exception of Geburah, which is Fire. Here's the diagram. I added the names of the Sephiroth. http://s32.postimg.org/en7w92t8l/image.jpg Waite is apparently referring to this arrangement.

This is Mathers' text explaining the diagram:

"This diagram (see below) represents the Trinity operating through the Sephiroth and reflected downwards in the four triangles of the elements. Air is reflected from Kether through Tiphereth unto Yesod, Water is reflected from Binah through Chesed to Hod, Fire is reflected from Chokmah through Geburah into Netzach. While Malkuth is Earth, the receptacle of the other three."​
 

Ruby Jewel

Here's a picture of the card.

Waite-Trinick Temperance

Waite broke with tradition in switching this card from the 25th path to the 27th in his Fellowship of the Rosy Cross. I came up with an illustration that shows how it would look on the Tree.

Temperance on Tree

If her feet are placed on the 27th path, she can be seen reaching up to Chesed and Geburah, and pouring the contents of the chalices into Yesod. Her function seems to be similar to what it was before, i.e. balancing left/right and above/below; the main difference is her introduction to the initiate in the grade of Philosophus rather than the Portal of the Inner Order, as in the Golden Dawn. From the FRC Philosophus Initiation:

"The symbol that lies uppermost on the Altar is that of the 27th path. It represents Shekinah as the Lady of Reconciliation and Lady of the Pillar of Benignity [middle pillar], intermingling and reconciling the influences of Chesed and Geburah, regarded as cleansing water [Geburah] and saving fire [Chesed]. They are poured forth from two chalices, which have a meeting point at Yesod and descend thence as a river of life in Malkuth. In the ascent of the Tree this symbol signifies the will toward rebirth, being the last mystery unfolded by the Grades of the Rosy Cross at that point where the world of formation merges in the world that is beyond. In the descent of the influences from above it signifies the virtues and graces of the Pillars on the right and the left uniting with those that come down from the middle pillar. . . ."​

In the Trinick image the orientation can be seen as reversed. You have to do some mental gymnastics and imagine you're on the opposite side of the Tree than you would normally be. For the normal view, imagine you're behind Temperance looking at her back; then you'll see Geburah on the left and Chesed on the right. Waite uses this same trick with the High Priestess. Normally Boaz would be on the left and Jachin on the right. The picture on the left is the original; in the one on the right I enhanced the J and B to make them easier to see.

Waite-Trinick High Priestess

Abrac, this is a really beautiful deck. I have never seen it before. I'm wondering how I can see some more of the cards....and maybe procure this deck.
 

Ruby Jewel

It hasn't been made into a deck but the images can be viewed at the British Museum website. Scroll to the bottom of the page. The site seems to be having problems though; it worked at first, now I keep getting a server error when I click a thumbnail.

http://www.britishmuseum.org/resear...x?assetId=1089907001&objectId=725678&partId=1

Those are really beautiful images. I wonder if they will ever be printed into a deck and marketed...where did they come from and how old are they?
 

Abrac

After Waite left the Golden Dawn he started another order called the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross. He had the images created and called them the Great Symbols of the Paths. They were used in the FRC initiation rituals similarly as tarot cards were used as symbols of the paths in the GD. A lot of the images are noticeably similar to the Waite-Smith tarot images; however, Waite never referred to them as "tarot." I think he saw them more as pure representations of the Secret Doctrine of mysticism than as tarot cards, which have overtones of occultism.

Most of them are by John B. Trinick but a few are by Wilfried Pippet.

I have no idea if they'll ever be made into a deck. I don't know anything about who owns the copyright or intellectual property rights on the images. If they are ever made into cards, my only hope is that they aren't marketed as tarot cards.