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This degree is according to one system, between
KETHER and TIPHARETH.
ARCANE II.(B=2.) THE GATE OF THE SANCTUARY
Here we have
Occult Science represented by a stately woman seated between two columns of a
temple, these columns representing Good and Evil; the figure is crowned with a
crescent and her face is veiled, as a sign that Truth is not visible to the
profane; she has upon her breast the Solar Cross, emblematic of universal
generation, and, in her lap, a papyrus half covered by her cloak, indicating that
the mysteries of the sacred science are unveiled only to the Initiated. the
tiara upon her head is the emblem of the power of intelligence lighted up by
wisdom represented by the crescent; the figure is seated, because science
united to wisdom and will-power is immovable.
This Arcane, II.,
tells us that if man possesses a strong will he cannot fail to see the true
light and to obey it properly. It is essential, however, that he should keep
silent as to his opinions and projects, as it has been said that "the
world belongs to the silent ones."
LATONA
LATONA FILE - HERE
INSERTED:
Peter Levi says 'EILEITHUIA
is a birth goddess."
In Graves, 15.1,
the Birth of Eros, suggests that EILEITHYIA, Goddess of Childbirth is:
"...she who comes to the aid of
women in childbed..." and was another title of Artemis and the Mother of
EROS.
This Artemis is,
of course, the Great Diana of the Ephesians, (EPHESOS).[ Pausanias, p.176 links
her to the Kouretai.]
Jane Harrison,
says Eileithyia is the same as TYCHE, and TYCHE is FORTUNA. [Harrison, in `Themis',
p.284.]
So: EILEITHYA =
ARTEMIS = DIANA = MOON = VEILED ISIS.
Leto Latona Queen
Lat
[Graves, 21 and 77
passim. And : 14.2; 62.2; 88.3) LAT = Triple Moon Goddess ISIS.]
LAT = Triple Moon
Goddess ISIS.
If LAT/LATONA is
The Triple Moon Goddess ISIS, or LETO - then she must also be the Mother of
Min. Her City in ancient Egypt was called after her: LETOPOLIS.
The Tree of MIN is the Palm Tree.
Ariadne of the
Vine Cult,
Figurines of dolls
were hung from trees at Thebes (link perhaps to Rhodes?)
Tree Goddesses of
Crete.
Moon Goddesses in
general. Hecate, Hecuba &c.
A Hanged Artemis,
story & history elaborated in Pausanias, Book 8, pp. 425 -426.
See: Virgo in
Secret Doctrine. [Note the position of Isis on the Bembine Tablet.]
JUNO SUSPENDED on Memory Theatre and
Corregio in Parma.
NOTE:
ANIMA - s - the root of ANIMA-L
(Animal) as in:
The Moon beneath her feet: (Veiled
Isis) "...describing full control over natures downward pull to animality
and materialism." - Micheline Stuart in 'Maitreya". MATTER, MATER,
etc - the downward flowing YIN - K'an. May have associations there.
THE VEIL
Plutarch, in his De Iside et
Osiride says:
"Indeed the
seat of Athena (that is Isis, as they think) at SAIS, used to have the
following inscription on it:
" I AM ALL THAT HAS BEEN AND IS
AND SHALL BE,
AND NO MORTAL HAS EVER RE-VEALED MY
ROBE."
See Song of Songs: 5:7.
"The keepers
of the veil walls, took away my veil from me."
Rachel
Hasson a Kabalist, says of the number 2, that it is a feminine number,
relating, spreading, horizontal, the Vault of Heaven, 2, = aspirations.
We could speculate
that Arcanum 1 and 2 are ABSOLUTELY ANDROGYNOUS - in the First aspect of
Arcanum 1, seed from the Male side, and in the second from the Veiled Female
facet. This duality, or differentiation, is only recognizable from the Veils.
Undressing, or the state of BEING Undressed, or Being, undressed, is shown in
the nudity of Kuntuzangpo in Union with Kuntuzangmo. Once we are naked, sexual
polarity is obvious. [Further notes in Polarity File.]
But in the inner
sense, nakedness is spacious and of the Nature of Sunyata; no - `thing' -ness.
Veils deceive. The
Curtain of the Temple is torn in two
I keep on returning to the idea of
the Veil - The Curtain. The Veil that covers the Mysteries. To remove the Veil
- and to part, or, more dramatically, rend the Curtain - is to un-Veil. There
are TWO archetypes that manifest this dynamic - and both are Goddess figures -
Veiled Isis - and Isis Unveiled. And they follow each other in sequence - form
the Goddess that is Veiled to the Unveiled Goddess.
Now - what is the actual Nature of
the Veil? Some alchemical philosophers suggest that the Veil is Nature - Nature
delighting in Nature. Certain secret processes in Nature take place behind a
Veil - germination, gestation, conception.
"THERIOMORPHIC"
- having the shape of an anima;. Animals, birds, pigs, fishes, the IBIS as a
Bird of Thoth/Mercury etc. are all of value in The Dream Map.
ISIS IN ARCANUM 14
175a. ANON.
Invocatio Isidis (Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 1380) 107
In Samothrace [
thou art called] bull-faced.
VIRGO =
GARDEN = ROSE -
The HORTUS CONCLUSUS
(Enclosed Garden) is an image for the Virgin Mary in Medieval hymns, ROSA
MYSTICA = one of her attributes in the Litany of Loreto.
A Closed Garden is
a Veiled Garden. See also the Enclosed, Walled Garden in Maier Atalanta,
Emblems.
Jung:
"...the feminine nature of the
temenos, just as hortus conclusus (enclosed garden) is often used as an
image for the Virgin Mary in medieval hymns, and rosa mystica is one of
her attributes in the Litany of Loretto (cf. fig.26)."
[Jung, C.G. Psychology
and Alchemy, p. 186, Dream 36.]
FROM A LETTER TO THE T.A.T.
GROUP
The entire edifice
of the Sacred Tarot also rests on an ancient agricultural calendar.
This applies to
the archetypal Tarot and not systems which have deviated from the natural order
of things.
The Foundations of
the Tarot, are in Nature.
The astrological
calendars of the Middle Ages
For those of you
who live in the Northern Hemisphere, and especially in Italy, when Virgo -
"…picturing the harvest-decanate of the harvest sign, through which the
Sun passes each year from August 23 to September 2…" as C.C.Zain writes in
his "Spiritual Astrology" – is the time of the year that the grapes
are harvested.
Isis Unveiled has
grapes embroidered on her mantle
Virgo, is the
polar opposite of the Constellation of Pisces, where, in the Egyptian Tarot, we
also see grapes.
But this is the
Pruning side of the polarity. Harvesting and Pruning are performed in different
seasons.
"The chief
star in the constellation is mentioned in Job 38:32,…"
"Bootes,
the keeper of the vineyard, it is when the Sun enters Virgo that the harvest
ripens and the water drawn from the earth into the grapes swelling on the vine
is converted into juice which is suitable for wine."
"…the turning
of water into wine…"
Erich Neumaan, The
Great Mother.
There is very
little that can be added to these two Great Arcana.
They are Cosmic Archetypes
in the true sense, Goddesses, and should not be merely reduced to the clinical
setting.
One subscriber to
this list, in response to Newsletter No. 2 Notes on Arcanum 8 – informs me that
Virgo is the alchemical process of separatio?
How can this be?
From one point, we
accept, as common courtesy that Arcanum 2 and 3 represent two archetypes of the
Great Goddess.
Secondly,
according to the transmission of the Egyptian Tarot, we can call these two
Arcana, Veiled Isis and Isis Unveiled.
Therefore, any
mythological material on the Great Goddess Isis, is of value to these two
Arcana. Plus of course, the other archetypal Goddesses that relate to her
action patterns.
Isis, in the Myth
of Isis and Osiris, as transmitted by Plutarch – (De Iside et Osiride, I
have always used the Loeb Classics Edition) , goes out to gather the scattered
parts of the Body of Osiris.
She gathers
together the Parts, she ....
But, it it true
that certain of the aspects of the Great Mother are connected to separatio,
for example the Hindu goddesses Kali and Chinnmasta, and the Tibetan Deity
Vajravahari – and others. But these are almost always shown in Fire, and in the
colour Red.
Thus they are
within the energy field of Mars - also confirmed by the blood symbolism that
accompanies these forms.
We are thus in the
territory, so to speak, of Arcanum 13 – The Reaper.
Here all the keys
are present, the Fire, the Blood, the Redness, the Bone - that speaks of a
great codification to do with Transformation, the Key Word of Arcanum 13.
But these textures
cannot be related to Arcaum 2 – Virgo –Veiled Isis – which is cool, pregnant,
heavy with moist fruit, Mercurial, and Veiled.
It must be noted
that Arcanum 3 – Isis Unveiled – is the polar opposite of Arcanum 13 – The
Reaper.
Thus these Four Arcana
– set up a very deep cluster, on which the Mysteries are based.
Arcanum 13 – has
always been associated with the Harvesting of Corn, Grain, Wheat and other such
cereals – that go into the production of bread.
Arcanum 12 –
represents the Wine of the Sacrifice of the Self –
Arcanum 13 – the
Bread of the Transformation…
Neither of these
concepts are specifically Christian, as they pre-dated Christianity. That is to
say, the Wine-Vine Mysteries of Dionysus and the Cereal Mysteries of Demeter –
pre-date Christianity.
There is also a
Cereal Festival in ancient Egypt that links very strongly to Arcanum 13.
But more on that
another time.
in one sense,
Virgo represents the Lake of Estrogen,
estrogen
- estrogenic - testosterone
estrogen, as has
been demonstrated in certain scientific studies, always encourages
connectedness. Women were the social glue of the community. Men the explorers
and journeymen to outer regions. The women of the Sahara desert control the
positioning of the tents. They thus can re-define social space. The tent and
the canopy and the Veil, are very evident in Virgo-Veiled Isis – as this
Arcanum stands for the Hebrew Letter Beth - likewise in Egypt we find the
Goddess linked to the concept of House, Home, Seat, Throne - or even MAAT
-
How can there be
any SEPARATIO in the House of the WOMB, unless in the sense of a universal
aborter? Those aspects, as mentioned elsewhere, belong to the Devouring Mother,
by necessity association. Isis gathers the Parts of Isis together
How can she be a
separator when that action falls to the patterns of Set-Typhon/Saturn – who
"dis-members" Osiris? Is it the estrogen that "re-members"
and the testoreone that "forgets".?
NOTES
Virgo, Yates, Bruno,
p. 70.
ARETHUSA -.Vol. 2 . Pausanias has references to SYRACUSE.
A.E. WAITE: ARCANUM 2
Star Lore of the Constellations: Virgo
The Stories of the Constellations - Virgo
ARCANUM 2 from: Builders of the ADYTUM
A
valuable discussion of the veil symbolism appears in Margaret Hannay’s
“Orual: The Search for Justice,” Mythlore, 2 (Winter 1971),
5-6.
VEIL SYMBOLISM
Women,
the Visual Arts, and Islam
Women
in the Visual Arts: Islamic focus, taught by Deborah Hutton, spring semester,
2002 at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY.
google: veil
symbolism & veil
symbol. google:
images: produces 171,000 images.