Three unrelated questions about the Hierophant

Formicida

Hopefully this doesn't get too confusing.

1. Why is his head a statue? This is one of the first things I see in this card, and yet neither Crowley nor DuQuette even mentions it. In fact, DuQuette even says, "One thing is immediately obvious--this is not your Aeon-of-Osiris Pope....Instead of the pale, humourless features of a delicate prelate offering at some demure worship service, we are thrilled by the bold, confident image of a Babylonian priest-king..." But the style of sculpture is in fact from the Aeon of Osiris, if not Isis, and his features may not be humourless, but they are pale. The only possible answer I've got is that Crowley says, "The rhythm of the Hierophant is such that he moves only at intervals of 2000 years." In that light, his being made of stone makes some sense. But I feel that that's not all there is to it.

2. What exactly is going on with the outermost "star" symbol? It manages to be both a pentagram and a hexagram at the same time--it's a pentagram with an extra point in the center, or it's a hexagram with one point inside. Is this a common magickal symbol, or is it unique to this card?

3. Crowley says of the wand that he's holding, "The upper ring is marked with scarlet for Horus; the two lower rings with green for Isis, and pale yellow for Osiris, respectively." I've got a small deck and no magnifying glass, but I don't see any colors. Are they actually there?
 

Aeon418

Formicida said:
1. Why is his head a statue?
The only possible answer I've got is that Crowley says, "The rhythm of the Hierophant is such that he moves only at intervals of 2000 years." In that light, his being made of stone makes some sense. But I feel that that's not all there is to it.
Rather than being a statue I think it's another mask just like the masks of the Kerubs in the four corners. The Hierophant is a teacher of the outer, exoteric religious dogma. This exoteric dogma can take on various forms (different religions) but they are all said to conceal the same spiritual truth.

Crowley's belief was that we are currently at the beginning of a new 2000 year interval where the Hierophant will once again take on a new mask. The changeless inner mysteries of the Universe ;) will be revealed once again through new symbols that have more meaning in our modern times. Thus the card displays the Priest and Priestess of the Temple of the New Aeon.
Formicida said:
2. What exactly is going on with the outermost "star" symbol? It manages to be both a pentagram and a hexagram at the same time--it's a pentagram with an extra point in the center, or it's a hexagram with one point inside.
In the Book of Thoth Crowley does make mention of a hexagram, a 6 pointed star. But I get the feeling that he was describing another, but similar card, to the one that actually ended up in the Thoth Tarot.
The outer star looks like a pentagram to me. Just look at the direction of the lines projectiing off the bottom of the card. If you continue them they meet up and form the base points of an elongated pentagram. As confirmation of this, Harris says this in the Davies Street exhibition catalogue (1942):
The pentagram with a point upwards and the dancing child shows that he has the heart of a child; in the reversed pentagram the meaning seems to suggest he has dominion through will; the final pentagram again points upwards, showing the acceptance of a governing cosmic law.
Three pentagrams, 15 points in all. 15 is the Devil of Tarot who is closely linked with the Thoth Hierophant - see Eliphas Levi's depiction of Baphomet. 15 is also related to Liber XV The Gnostic Mass. Crowley's main exoteric religious rite designed to replace the Catholic Mass. 15 = 6 (1+5) to form the hexagram and equal the numeration of the letter Vau which is attributed to this card.
The pentagram has 5 points . Three of them 5-5-5. In Roman numerals V V V. Then into Hebrew Vau Vau Vau = 666. :laugh:
Formicida said:
3. Crowley says of the wand that he's holding, "The upper ring is marked with scarlet for Horus; the two lower rings with green for Isis, and pale yellow for Osiris, respectively." I've got a small deck and no magnifying glass, but I don't see any colors. Are they actually there?
I can't see the colours on the large Thoth either. It's another reason why I think Crowley is describing a very similar, but different card to the one in the actual deck.
 

Formicida

Thanks for the reply, Aeon418.

Aeon418 said:
Rather than being a statue I think it's another mask just like the masks of the Kerubs in the four corners. The Hierophant is a teacher of the outer, exoteric religious dogma. This exoteric dogma can take on various forms (different religions) but they are all said to conceal the same spiritual truth.

I like that explanation a lot for the masks of the Kerubs. But I'm going to be difficult and say that the Hierophant's head still reminds me more of the Greek and Roman busts that I've seen. If it's a mask, it's a bit disturbing that it doesn't have eye holes (although a quick Google image search reveals that not all masks from that era do). Still, I have more thinking to do on this card, and I may come around. Your explanation does make sense.

Aeon418 said:
In the Book of Thoth Crowley does make mention of a hexagram, a 6 pointed star. But I get the feeling that he was describing another, but similar card, to the one that actually ended up in the Thoth Tarot.
The outer star looks like a pentagram to me. Just look at the direction of the lines projectiing off the bottom of the card. If you continue them they meet up and form the base points of an elongated pentagram.

Okay, maybe I was overthinking this one. Since Crowley and DuQuette both call it a hexagram, I was trying to shoehorn it into that mold. It is vaguely shoehornable. The top three points are in the shape of a regular hexagram, and then the top one is mostly symmetrical with what I'll call the "phantom" sixth point, which is also the bottom point of the middle pentagram. Then if you moved the bottom two points back and up to mirror the ones on the elephants' heads, you'd have a hexagram. That's what I meant by nattering on about "a hexagram with one point inside."

But it's an awful stretch.

It does make a certain amount of sense, now that I think about it, that the bottom portion of the figure could have been changed from the version Crowley wrote about, without affecting the top portion.

Aeon418 said:
I can't see the colours on the large Thoth either. It's another reason why I think Crowley is describing a very similar, but different card to the one in the actual deck.

Thanks for the confirmation. I knew that Waite sometimes describes things that aren't really there in the painting, but I hadn't caught Crowley at it before. I wonder what happened. Was the card that Crowley described an earlier version, which Harris changed slightly at the last minute? And if so, why?
 

Aeon418

Formicida said:
I like that explanation a lot for the masks of the Kerubs. But I'm going to be difficult and say that the Hierophant's head still reminds me more of the Greek and Roman busts that I've seen.
Well it was only a suggestion. When I see the Hierophant I think of symbolic teachings and religious stories and their relationship to actual spiritual truth. The masks of the divine etc., etc. But it may well be a statue. The Priestess certainly seems to have a similar statue-like quality about her too. Maybe there's a connection to the Moon?

Then again it may simply be down to Frieda Harris's dislike of painting human faces that makes the Hierophant look a little artificial. And on top of that Crowley wanted her to paint him as both "benignant and smiling" yet "mysterious, even sinister". That's no small feat! :laugh:

Crowley mentions the reason for his expression, but what's so sinister about the legend of Pasiphae and the creation of the Minotaur? I'm not sure. I'm 100% sure there's a deep symbolic connection though. (And a Crowley style joke or two. :laugh:)
Formicida said:
Okay, maybe I was overthinking this one. Since Crowley and DuQuette both call it a hexagram, I was trying to shoehorn it into that mold. It is vaguely shoehornable.
I still think the hexagram symbolism works though, so Crowley's description still fits. When I look at the card I see the same "phantom" hexagram as well. Maybe that is what was intended all along?
Formicida said:
I knew that Waite sometimes describes things that aren't really there in the painting, but I hadn't caught Crowley at it before. I wonder what happened. Was the card that Crowley described an earlier version, which Harris changed slightly at the last minute? And if so, why?
I think the "why" will remain a mystery. What is known is that Crowley repeatedly asked for re-paints and alterations throughout the creation of the deck. Sometimes it was Harris herself who wasn't satisfied with her own paintings.

Then there is the question of how early in the process did Crowley send the manuscript of The Book of Thoth to the printers? The book was published in 1944 but Harris was still painting some cards as late as 1943. Maybe the alteration was made at a time when it was too late to change the description in the book because it was already at the printers? Or maybe it's just a careless oversight by Crowley. He probably got Harris to alter the card and then forgot to change his description of it.