Frater Orpheus has posted a third installment of alternate versions of cards from the Thoth deck. His FB post says:
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law
To continue on with our look at Frieda Harris’s work, (aka Soror TzBA – which adds to 93 and in Hebrew means “Host” or “Will” but also Arduous or Army), here are 7 alternate court cards, a couple of which appear to be drafts. (Luckily, we have a full set of the Prince cards). The Court cards are indicative of how the Elements (prana) and sub-elements manifest in our work and in our Life. In the Book of Thoth Crowley ascribes each of the Court cards to one of the Hexagrams of the Yi King, which are also associated with the corresponding combination of elements. And when appearing in tarot readings the Court cards are often associated with the characteristics of actual people related to the situation in question.
I have enjoyed comparing the officially adopted versions of these paintings with these alternates, noting the changes that occurred and exploring the ideas expressed therein. For this reason I have selectively chosen the following passages out of Crowley’s Book of Thoth to shine some light upon these cards and should be of some interest to those working with the cycle of YHVH in most any manner.
My hope is that it will provide some food for thought, something to contemplate when studying these images.
“These cards constitute a pictorial analysis of the powers of the four letters of the Name and the four Elements. They are also referred to the Zodiac; but instead of assigning the three decans of each sign to one card, the influence begins with the last decan of one Sign and continues to the second decan of the next. There is a further difficulty. It might well be expected that the elemental attribution would harmonize with the Zodiacal attribution; but it is not so. For instance, one might anticipate that the fiery part of Fire would refer to the most active of the fiery signs, namely, Aries. On the contrary, it represents the last decan of Scorpio and the first two of Sagittarius, which is the watery part of Fire in the Zodiac, and the mildest in influence. (see page 282 in the Book of Thoth)
“The reason for this is that in the realm of the Elements all things are mixed and confused….
“The Knights represent the powers of the letter Yod in the Name. They are the most sublime, original, active part of the Energy of the Element; for this reason they are represented on horseback and clad in complete armour. Their action is swift and violent, but transient.
“The Queens represent the letter Heh of the Name. They are the complements of the Knights. They receive, ferment, and transmit the original Energy of their Knight. Quick to receive that Energy, they are also fitted to endure for the period of their function; but they are not the final product.
“The Princes represent the Forces of the letter Vau in the Name. The Prince is the Son of the Queen (the old King’s daughter) by the Knight who has won her; he is therefore represented as in a chariot, going forth to carry out the combined Energy of his parents. He is the active issue of their union, and its manifestation. He is the intellectual image of their union. His action is consequently more enduring than that of his forbears.
“The Princesses represent the He’ final of the Name. They represent the ultimate issue of the original Energy in its completion, its crystallization, its materialization. They also represent the counterbalancing, the re-absorption of the Energy. They represent the Silence into which all things return.
The Princesses have no Zodiacal attribution. Yet evidently, they represent four types of human being…”
Love is the law, love under will
Orpheus
