Greater Arcana Study Group—The Hierophant

Abrac

The roses and lilies are recurring throughout the deck. The Rose of Sharon and Lily of the Valley both symbolically represent Christ in Rosicrucianism. I think for Waite there might also be an implied connection with Shekinah. From his FRC Adeptus Major initiation:

THE PRIESTESS: The Waters of Life are Love. Whosoever wills, let him drink of the Waters of Life freely. I testify that the Rose of Sharon is also that of Shekinah, for the Spirit and the Bride are One, and this is the Life of the Rose.​
 

Richard

In Catholicism, the rose is generally identified with Mary. In the Rose Cross symbol, the rose is not simply the crucified Christ, which is adequately represented by the crucifix. The symbol transcends any specific religion, although an early reference to roses and lilies is in the Song of Songs in the Tanach.

The eighteenth degree, Knight Rose Croix, of the Scottish Rite is sometimes said to be an attempt to introduce Christianity into Freemasonry, but this is not so. The Scottish Rite is in no way advocating any particular religion. (However, the York Rite is specifically Christian.)

While there is no universal agreement as to what constitutes Rosicrucianism, many so called Rosicrucian organizations are not specifically Christian in nature. In The True and Invisible Rosicrucian Order, P. F. Case even insists that there is no formal organization which represents true Rosicrucianism (although this may be disputed by the Golden Dawn).
 

Teheuti

While there is no universal agreement as to what constitutes Rosicrucianism, many so called Rosicrucian organizations are not specifically Christian in nature. In The True and Invisible Rosicrucian Order, P. F. Case even insists that there is no formal organization which represents true Rosicrucianism (although this may be disputed by the Golden Dawn).
The historically documented "origin" of Rosicrucianism is found in the Rosicrucian Manifestos - which may have been a hoax by a group of university students that took on a life of its own. All the organizations that followed took their inspiration from these manifestos and Johannes Valentinus Andreae's "Chemical Wedding . . ." Each group claims to be the true Rosicrucians, although most recognize (I hope) that they are simply resurrecting the inner myth and following it as an ideal aspiration.
 

Abrac

In Levi's The Magical Ritual of the Sanctum Regnum I found an Azoth emblem in the section of the book pertaining to the Hierophant. At the bottom is a small symbol that looks like the "nails" in Waite's Hierophant's crown. I'm getting ready to read the text to see if it says anything about it. :)

Azoth Emblem
 

Abrac

In researching Levi's emblem I ran across the Hermetic Tarot Hierophant which has incorporated it. I also discovered Levi used a similar symbol in one of his Chi-Ro diagrams from the same book mentioned above.

Chi-Ro

Hermetic

As others have pointed out it's probably three nails, a reference to Christ, but also two Vaus (Vau in Hebrew being spelled Vv). Vau means "nail," something which joins two parts together. This applies to Christ; and also Azoth, the astral substance permeating all things.

I also ran across a website that said it's a symbol for "dissolve" in alchemy; or alternatively "water." So I did some investigating and found one reference from the Alchemy Website. Here's an enlarged picture:

Dissolve Symbol

Not sure if Levi would've been aware of this; I'm not familiar enough with his writings to say. I can see how it could work though—as in dissolve boundaries, for example.
 

Abrac

Found something interesting in Albert Mackey's Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry; the discussion of "Jehovah."

http://s19.postimg.org/3jz2lcav7/Jehovah.jpg

The "diadem" looks exactly like the one atop the Waite-Smith Hierophant's crown, as well as in Levi's illustrations linked to above. The symbols aren't in the web versions of Mackey, but there are quite a few scanned PDFs available for download that are illustrated. My picture is from the 1914 edition by The Masonic History Company.