Insectile Wings?

blue_fusion

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that the princess, page, and knight of swords have insect-like wings (well, the knight's actually a projection from his helmet's point, but at first glance looks dragonfly-ish)?
 

Zephyros

Yes, all the Swords Courts have wings, except for the Queen, to symbolize their element of Air. If you look carefully at the Knight's wings, he has the four directions written on them.
 

blue_fusion

Yes, all the Swords Courts have wings, except for the Queen, to symbolize their element of Air. If you look carefully at the Knight's wings, he has the four directions written on them.
I didn't notice that! I'm just wondering why choose insectile over the more obvious avian? Although they also seem to me as geometric - which, in all fairness, for me relates to something mathematical, precise, and very much relating to the intellect - something which what's behind the queen shows in fullness. Again, just really wondering why choose insects over birds. The amateur taxonomist in me wants to classify them as lepidopteron, dipteran (barring the halteres), scale insect, and, dragonflyish. Lol

Pardon the musings as I'm no Thoth scholar.
 

Zephyros

Well, since they are the suit of Swords, notice how the entire suit, including the minors, is predominated by sharp, angular lines. This is visually quite a harsh suit, not much of the pastel curves of the Cups. This probably fits the whole mental capacity thing, as the sword of the mind cuts through confusion, etc. Avian wings would have probably seemed out of place.

And all questions are welcome, of course. :)
 

blue_fusion

One could argue that wings and feathers can be presented in a spiky, angular manner, given LFH' stylistic, well, style. She did it with the wands. I'm wondering if this is a conscious decision and if there's any documentation behind it. I appreciate the reference to insects, I'm just noting that they seem to be not too frequently used in esoteric symbolism.
 

ravenest

Except for the bee .
 

Abrac

I'm sure part of it was to maintain consistency with the other minors of this suit, but it's hard to ignore how they look like insect wings. Looking at them reminds me of Revelation 9:1-11:

"And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them. In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lions' teeth; they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails. They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon."

Given Crowely's fascination with Revelation, it wouldn't surprise me if he instructed Harris to make the wings looks like insects.
 

Zephyros

I would have a hard time correlating War, Conquest, Famine and Death to the Knights. Besides, that wouldn't explain why only the suit of Swords have insectile wings. To me they look merely highly stylized, and are a recurring motif in the backgrounds of the minors. They bear more resemblance to swastikas than to insects. DuQuette even suggests pinwheels. The Book of Thoth doesn't mention insects in this context, as far as I know, nor does the Book of Law. Maybe one of the Aethyrs, but I don't know them that well.
 

ravenest

Yep, there are four colours and they dont match, nor do the weapons, nor does the fact that they are only 4 of the 7 so they probably have planetary associations. Maybe thats an idea for another thread running elsewhere :laugh:

To me it looks like the Knight is the only one with insect-like wings.

I always saw it as 'abstract whirling force' centred on the crown of his helmet representing the balanced four directions of the mind that allows him to race forward focused on his intent between his two extended swords. Why dragon-fly type wings and not ordinary bird wings? Because they depict rapid movement in their motion ?

If anything, the patterns on the sword cards look to me more like some type of planetary kamea or expression of a mathmatical formula .