Waite's explanation of Justice

caridwen

In Pictorial Key, Waite says:

It will be seen, however, that the figure is seated between pillars, like the High Priestess, and on this account it seems desirable to indicate that the moral principle which deals unto every man according to his works--while, of course, it is in strict analogy with higher things;--differs in its essence from the spiritual justice which is involved in the idea of election. The latter belongs to a mysterious order of Providence, in virtue of which it is possible for certain men to conceive the idea of dedication to the highest things. The operation of this is like the breathing of the Spirit where it wills, and we have no canon of criticism or ground of explanation concerning it. It is analogous to the possession of the fairy gifts and the high gifts and the gracious gifts of the poet: we have them or have not, and their presence is as much a mystery as their absence.

Why does Justice sit between two pillars like the High Priestess?

What is the difference between the 'moral principle' and 'spiritual justice'?

What is the 'mysterious order of Providence'?

This may belong in the RWS forum...
 

Thirteen

caridwen said:
Why does Justice sit between two pillars like the High Priestess?
What is the difference between the 'moral principle' and 'spiritual justice'?
What is the 'mysterious order of Providence'?
Very interesting. Waite is equating the two as having "spiritual" intuition. The way I'd define this is as the power to see and understand both sides of the universe simultaneously, rather than only one side. Putting it another way, a person hears about an event, and usually sees only one side of it. Consider when there are riots and how people end up polarized between those in favor of the rioters, seeing the riot as a rebellion or uprising, and those who view the rioters as hoodlums and criminals.

Waite would say, I think, that Justice is able to see the favorable and unfavorable in both sides. She can sit between the pillars, taking neither side, seeing both. Very much like the HPS who sees both the dark mysteries and the light, and is in neither camp.

The latter belongs to a mysterious order of Providence, in virtue of which it is possible for certain men to conceive the idea of dedication to the highest things.
The moral principle vs. spiritual justice is a little harder to explain for me because I'm not sure I agree with Waite on this. What he's arguing is that we all have general moral beliefs that we follow. Like no stealing or committing murder. Obeying the law because we think it is right, believing in rewards for the good and punishment for the bad.

BUT there are a rare few who dedicate themselves to creating or re-creating ideas of what is right and wrong. Say, a Martin Luther King, jr. or a Gandhi--or those great lawyers who change people's minds about laws and justice and rights. Someone who doesn't merely interpret the law, but rewrites it. People who make laws because they see something very wrong in the world and they must put it right, and they'll fight through the courts, and on the streets, and assist people anyway they can to achieve this end.

We might say that they have Justice's insight and Justice is seeing that one of the pillars is crumbling and needs to fix it so both can uphold the roof. Most people, able to see only one pillar, don't see that there's any problem at all, but these people have that insight. Thing must change so that there are two pillars, not one. And these people, those who have been given spiritual justice, have that insight and that drive to fix the pillar.

People who dedicate themselves to righting such wrongs, to not merely following the general moral principles of their society but changing and recreating those principles, are filled with "spiritual justice." And to Waite, this spirit is as mysterious as the esoteric magic of the HPS. It is something given to certain men like a gift. an "Order of Providence" rather than something they were raised with--it's a "calling" a destiny.

Does that work?
 

Abrac

caridwen said:
Why does Justice sit between two pillars like the High Priestess?
In most mystical and occult systems pillars seem to be an omnipresent feature. They could mean many things. I'm not exactly sure what they are supposed to mean in this case (good and evil?).

caridwen said:
What is the difference between the 'moral principle' and 'spiritual justice'?
I believe Waite is writing from a Christian perspective here. The "moral principle" refers to human justice which basically says you reap what you sow. Its guiding principles are good and evil (morality). Spiritual justice functions on another level. It is beyond good and evil. In Christian speak it is known as "grace."

caridwen said:
What is the 'mysterious order of Providence'?
This is tied to that which he has just mentioned in the previous sentence, i.e. "election." The difference between reward and punishment (human justice) and election and providence (God's justice) is a matter of God's grace. The first depends on our own behavior and actions while the latter is bestowed by God independent of whether we are deserving or not, and relies more on a person's faith than their actions.
 

The crowned one

caridwen said:
In Pictorial Key, Waite says:

Why does Justice sit between two pillars like the High Priestess?


This may belong in the RWS forum...

Justice's gray pillars represent the physical or material world to some and to others: reconciliation and mercy.I feel they represent the fact that she is in the physical world, unlike the High priestess's who's black and white pillars represent something quite different. I find the fact that there is a veil behind justice more interesting as I believe it symbolizes the guardianship of hidden knowledge and the colour of the drape of higher consciousness and authority. (purple)
 

Thirteen

The crowned one said:
I find the fact that there is a veil behind justice more interesting as I believe it symbolizes the guardianship of hidden knowledge and the colour of the drape of higher consciousness and authority. (purple)
But there is a drape behind the HPS as well--the veil with the pomegranates. We'll certainly grant that the pillars in the HPS do not symbolize the same thing as the pillars in justice; they're very different--the HPS is black/white and flared at the top like lilies or palm trees; Justice has gray pillars that are very straight and plain, emphasizing the strictness of Justice's pose, the logic and reason of the card; likewise, the veils are very different--the HPS has an elaborate one decorated with pomegranates, exotic and mysterious; Justice, as you say, is a solid royal purple making the connection between Justice and royalty, which is apt. The highest judge is always the King, and beyond that, God. Judges speak for the crown.

But in spite of these differences, the cards do share thrones, pillars and veils, making a comparison of them apt. The implication is that whatever their differences--and there are many--the two have similar views and purposes within their spheres of influence.
 

BodhiSeed

Thirteen said:
Very interesting. Waite is equating the two as having "spiritual" intuition. The way I'd define this is as the power to see and understand both sides of the universe simultaneously, rather than only one side. Putting it another way, a person hears about an event, and usually sees only one side of it. Consider when there are riots and how people end up polarized between those in favor of the rioters, seeing the riot as a rebellion or uprising, and those who view the rioters as hoodlums and criminals.

Waite would say, I think, that Justice is able to see the favorable and unfavorable in both sides. She can sit between the pillars, taking neither side, seeing both. Very much like the HPS who sees both the dark mysteries and the light, and is in neither camp.


The moral principle vs. spiritual justice is a little harder to explain for me because I'm not sure I agree with Waite on this. What he's arguing is that we all have general moral beliefs that we follow. Like no stealing or committing murder. Obeying the law because we think it is right, believing in rewards for the good and punishment for the bad.

BUT there are a rare few who dedicate themselves to creating or re-creating ideas of what is right and wrong. Say, a Martin Luther King, jr. or a Gandhi--or those great lawyers who change people's minds about laws and justice and rights. Someone who doesn't merely interpret the law, but rewrites it. People who make laws because they see something very wrong in the world and they must put it right, and they'll fight through the courts, and on the streets, and assist people anyway they can to achieve this end.

We might say that they have Justice's insight and Justice is seeing that one of the pillars is crumbling and needs to fix it so both can uphold the roof. Most people, able to see only one pillar, don't see that there's any problem at all, but these people have that insight. Thing must change so that there are two pillars, not one. And these people, those who have been given spiritual justice, have that insight and that drive to fix the pillar.

People who dedicate themselves to righting such wrongs, to not merely following the general moral principles of their society but changing and recreating those principles, are filled with "spiritual justice." And to Waite, this spirit is as mysterious as the esoteric magic of the HPS. It is something given to certain men like a gift. an "Order of Providence" rather than something they were raised with--it's a "calling" a destiny.

Does that work?
Thanks for sharing these ideas, Thirteen. I have a much deeper understanding of Justice now!

Bodhran
 

The crowned one

Thirteen said:
But there is a drape behind the HPS as well--the veil with the pomegranates. We'll certainly grant that the pillars in the HPS do not symbolize the same thing as the pillars in justice; they're very different--the HPS is black/white and flared at the top like lilies or palm trees; Justice has gray pillars that are very straight and plain, emphasizing the strictness of Justice's pose, the logic and reason of the card; likewise, the veils are very different--the HPS has an elaborate one decorated with pomegranates, exotic and mysterious; Justice, as you say, is a solid royal purple making the connection between Justice and royalty, which is apt. The highest judge is always the King, and beyond that, God. Judges speak for the crown.

But in spite of these differences, the cards do share thrones, pillars and veils, making a comparison of them apt. The implication is that whatever their differences--and there are many--the two have similar views and purposes within their spheres of influence.

Agreed, as a matter of fact I feel it is the veil that links them closest. It is the truest link. Then the throne... Not the pillars, as they represent two very diffent things in this case. Iconicly speaking.( is that a word ;) )
 

Parzival

Waite's Explanation of Justice and High Priestess

I'm really enjoying and learning from this thread. It seems to me that the High Priestess' gown flows like a river rapids at her feet, with waters swirling over the crescent moon. The Masonic pillars of strength and foundation or yin and yang are on either side of her rippling, flowing cascades. She reads with beholding spiritual awareness, attuned to the cosmic flow. Her look into the spiritual law that streams through the universe is that of the All-seeing Eye. Discernment, attunement, not judgment.
Justice's robe is more linear than the High Priestess' robe --horizontal lines across the shoulders - with square broach (a circle enclosed) over heart - and frontal lines down left and right. Beneath her feet is a flat floor above a double line with little vertical marble lines between. Linear throughout the design, for cool, collected, objective judgment, straight logic, not intuitive flow. The pillars have little granular specks or dots with lines, suggesting less than flowing intuition, more like "marks of thought.". The whole picture can mean total dedication to a clear, logical law or system of laws or a manifesto of an ideal of progress, such as the UN Declaration of Universal Rights or a country's Declaration of Independence. While the High Priestess reads the cosmic Akashic Records, Justice keeps to or evolves Human Law.
And yet it's not so simple a contrast -- somehow the two visions of law must come together...