A second measuring instrument, with the same esoteric meaning as the compass, is the square. We find it on The Moon of the Rothschild Tarot (below left), of which only uncoloured, uncut sheets have been preserved.

The symbolic meaning of the armillary (a three-dimensional representation of our universe), in the hand of the man on the Rothshild card, becomes clearer when we place the card from the Ercole I d’Este Tarot deck (far right) next to it.

The armillary on the d’Este card is placed on an unusually long stand. It symbolizes the spine. The man is holding a compass in line with the stand: the two polar energy channels are fused and the kundalini energy flows from the pelvis (the moon on the table) to the head, giving an experience of God / oneness (the armillary => being one with the universe).

The small, eight-pointed Morning Star, at the bottom left of the table (circled), confirms this interpretation: the Morning Star is also a symbol for the kundalini energy (see tarot card The Star). The colors of the clothing the man wears – red and blue – represent the polar energies.

An androgyn ‘REBIS’: the final stage of the alchemist’s Magnum Opus.

A depiction of a kundalini awakening. Symbolism referring to a FUSION of the SUN AND MOON is also used in eastern traditions.

The Tarot of Marseille

The Tarot of Marseilles seems to take a completely different course with regard to the Moon theme, but this is only an illusion. The symbolism on this card also refers to a kundalini awakening and the associated fusion of the polarities. The compass and square have been replaced by two dogs and two towers. The moon goddess has been replaced by a crayfish.

The “Cary Sheet” (right) is an uncut, uncoloured printing sheet from circa 1500. This is the earliest copy of The Moon in the Tarot of Marseille style.

On the bottom half of the card we see a pond with a huge crayfish in it. Water is a universal metaphor for the divine energy in our pelvis: the kundalini. A crayfish emerging from the water refers to an awakening of this energy.

There are a number of reasons for choosing a lobster. The lower part of a lobster resembles a human spine. Red is the color of (kundalini) fire, and of the first chakra, where the kundalini resides while she is still “sleeping”.

Furthermore, in order to grow, the lobster must ‘scale’ (shed its armor), similar to the molting of a serpent, the classic symbol for the kundalini. This ‘renewal’ is also an aspect of the kundalini energy.

Jean Noblet’s Tarot of Marseille card (below) includes some new elements. Flames have been added around the eclipse of the sun and moon. This is a reference to the “tongues of fire” that descended on the disciples of Jesus at Pentecost. This story is a metaphor for the awakening of the kundalini – which is called the Holy Spirit in the Bible – in the apostles.

When Pentecost arrived, they were all together. Suddenly there was a sound from heaven as if a strong wind were blowing, it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then they saw what looked like tongues of fire: it divided and descended upon each one of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues, as the Spirit gave them to speak. (Acts 2: 1-4)

Read more about the symbolism in the Bible in my book “Mary Magdalene, the disciple whom Jesus loved.”

The tongues of the dogs confirm this interpretation. They resemble the flames / “tongues of fire” around the eclipse.

The three small hills at the bottom of the card represent the three energy channels involved in a kundalini awakening. The hill in the middle is the sushumna nadi, located in the spine, with the kundalini (the lobster) flowing in it.

The outer two hills represent the ida-nadi and pingala-nadi, which flow on both sides of the spine. The two dogs and two towers also symbolize the energetic polarity. This is confirmed by the colors of the dogs: red (the masculin) and blue (the feminine).

The dogs also represent the animal / lower nature of humans: on an energetic level our belly (the first three chakras). When the kundalini (the crayfish) awakens in the pelvis, it must first pass the lower chakras (the dogs) to get to its final destination: the crown chakra.

Probably dogs were chosen – and not, for example, lions or pigs – because the moon goddesses Diana (Romans) and Artemis (Greeks) are often depicted with dogs. Below are two examples. These illustrations also contain kundalini symbolism.

Right: The ‘dead’ king (the alchemist) is eaten by the WOLF (he is ‘consumed’ by his ANIMAL INSTINCTS, located in the BELLY, and as a result he is spiritually ‘dead’). When the wolf is burned (the animal energies are PURIFIED by the kundalini fire), the king is brought back to life. (Atalanta Fugiens, 1617)

Jacques Viéville’s Moon (left) is completely different from his Tarot of Marseille colleagues. No crayfish for him, but a woman spinning yarn. This, too, is a metaphor for a kundalini awakening.

The stick with a tuft of flax at the top represents the spine and the pineal gland. The thread running from the pelvis to the woman’s head represents the kundalini.

Her red and blue dress refers to the fusion of the polarities, just like the eclipse, above her head. With her right hand the woman confirms her inner oneness. The tree next to her is a classic symbol of the awakened kundalini.

The symbolism of tarot card The Moon can also be found in Christian art of the same era. In many paintings spiritual knowledge that went against the teachings of the Church was communicated in a veiled way. For example, there are depictins of the Last Supper with crayfish on the table, in addition to the usual fish, lamb and bread (see below). A remarkable deviation from the traditional iconografie.

In paintings of the crucifixion we often see an eclipse, which makes sense because in the Bible it says that a solar eclipse takes place at the moment Jesus dies:

And it was about the sixth hour, and darkness came over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the middle. And Jesus cried with a loud voice and said, Father, into Your hands I commend my spirit. And when He said that, He gave up the ghost. (Luke 23: 44-46)

The detail of the eclipse in this quote is intended to tell us that the death of Jesus, on the symbolic level, represents a spiritual transformation process. A complete solar eclipse can only occur at New Moon. However, it was Full Moon (Pesach) when Jesus was crucified. The sixth hour is a reference to the sixth chakra, the place where the fusion of the polarities (sun and moon) takes place.

We can deduce from the hand of Jesus who makes the sign of the sacred marriage (2 = 1), that the eclipse in the paintings below has an esoteric meaning.

Read more about the symbolism in the Bible in my book “Mary Magdalene, the disciple whom Jesus loved.”

The Oswald Wirth Tarot

Oswald Wirth’s card (below left) is almost identical to the Tarot of Marseille. His dogs have the colors white and gray, which, like red and blue, refers to the polar energies: light / dark, yin / yang.

The mosaic at Château des Avenières (below right), which is based on Oswald Wirth’s tarot, has double pillars on both the left and right. This reinforces the theme of the card: the fusion of duality into divine oneness.

Château des Avenières (1917)

The Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) Tarot

Artist Pamela Colman-Smith has chosen a dog and a wolf (the tamed and untamed animal) to express the polarities (below left). A choice inspired by alchemy. On the alchemy emblem next to the RWS card (below center) we see a dog and a wolf fighting each other. They represent the inner duality of the alchemist. The animals, according to the accompanying text, will be “turned into one.”

Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot (1909)

The colors yellow and orange of the dogs probably refer to the abdominal chakras, the abode in man of the animal energies. The second (lower abdomen) chakra is orange and the third (navel) chakra is yellow.

Another subtle, but significant difference from all predecessors is that on the RWS card the caryfish crawls out of the water. This emphasizes the awakening of the kundalini.

Around the moon / eclipse, the RWS card has Yod’s (the Hebrew letter Y) instead of flames. The meaning is the same. As we saw with tarot card The Tower, the letter Yod – which resembles a flame – refers to the divine in mystical Judaism.

Conclusion

In most traditions, the kundalini energy in our pelvis is personified by a goddess (Shakti, Isis, Artemis, Sophia, etc.). Images from nature are also common. The yogi sees the source of divine energy as a coiled serpent, which can be awakened and then spirales up the spine. To the alchemist, the same source of energy resembles a caryfish emerging from the water. In the Bible we find the metaphor of a (whale) fish, that swallows human beings alive.

In the case of this tarot card, it is not difficult to understand the choice of the moon, with its influence on the rise and fall of the sea level, as a symbol for the kundalini.

In the major arcana of the tarot we also find, amongst others, a deer, a tree, a sword and an hourglass. The list of symbols and metaphors for the kundalini energy is almost endless; just as long as man’s imagination.

Tarot card The Moon is a beautiful example of a road map in images to the Kingdom of God.

Veiled references to the kundalini energy can also be found in other art from that era. Artists became aware of this knowledge forbidden by the church through esoteric groups such as the Rosicrucians and the Freemasons. Click here for the MORNING STAR as a symbol for the kundalini process of Jesus in Christian art.

Right: early Christian inscription with the Greek letters ΙΧΘΥΣ (Ichtus), for Jesus, and the MORNING STAR, in the ruins of the ancient Greek city of Ephesus in Turkey.

The Tarot of Marseille

The woman on the Tarot of Marseille cards (below) stands not only between two hills, but also between two trees. The woman personifies the kundalini energy; the two trees and the two hills represent the ida nadi and pingala nadi. The nakedness of the woman communicates her divine nature.

The union of the masculine and feminine energies is symbolized on the Tarot of Marseille Star by the two vases from which water (energy) flows. One vase flows out onto the land, the other into the pool of water, as a confirmation to us that these are the polar energies.

So both the trees, the hills and the vases represent the polar energies. The woman and the eight-pointed star both represent the divine kundalini energy. We can also deduce this from the woman’s navel. On Jean Noblet’s card (above left) it is a six-pointed star (hexagram) and on Jean Dodal’s card (above center) a circle with a upward pointing triangle: the symbol of fire.

Click here for the HEXAGRAM as a symbol for the fusion of the polar energies.

Another classic metaphor for the awakened kundalini is a tree. Jean Dodal’s card shows a bird on one of the trees. The bird refers to the completion of the kundalini process.

The seven smaller stars (hexagrams) on the card represent the seven chakras, which are purified and activated (‘shining’ like stars) by the kundalini energy. All elements on this card can also be found in the symbolism used in alchemy to depict a kundalini awakening, see the three examples below.

GOLD AND SILVER represent the polar energies in alchemy. (Ritter-Krieg, Johann Sternhals, 1580)

The theme of a god with two vases of water, to express the fusion of the polar energies, can also be found in Ancient Egypt. In the image on the right we see the androgynous god Hapi depicted in an identical way.

The meaning that Egyptologists give to this image is that the two vases of water represent the White and the Blue Nile, which flow together and form the, for the Egyptians, very important river Nile (see map on right). The god Hapi is a personification of the Nile.

Major rivers are often used in spiritual traditions as a metaphor for kundalini energy; for example, the Ganges in Hinduism, the Jordan in Judaism, and in Ancient Egypt it was the Nile.

The serpent around Hapi confirms us that this relief on a deeper level is also a representation of the three energy channels involved in a kundalini awakening, similar to the meaning of tarot card The Star.

Some Tarot de Marseille decks have opted for completely different imagery to express the same thing. On the cards of Jacques Vieville and the Tarot of Paris (left) we see a man with a compass in his hand. The compass is a symbol from Freemasonry and refers to the fusion of the polarities (see illustrations below). The same meaning as the two vases on the other Tarot de Marseille decks.

The man on Jacques Viéville’s card points with the compass to a tower. This tower is a metaphor for the spine with the awakened kundalini flowing in it (see also tarot card The Tower). Instead of a clock, we see a (kundalini) star in the top of the tower. We may take this as a confirmation of our interpretation.

The hourglass, which the man is holding in his other hand, is also a symbol for the kundalini energy (see tarot card The Hermit).

The man on the Tarot of Paris card points with the compass at his hat, which is shaped like a pyramid. A pyramid has square base (the number four represents the physical dimensions / earth), with vertical lines that run to one point, the top (symbol for the divine). This symbolic meaning of the pyramid is comparable to that of the compass: the process of God-realization.

The Oswald Wirth Tarot

The golden hair of the woman on Oswald Wirth’s card covers her whole back. This, too, is a classic metaphor for the kundalini energy, which flows from the pelvis to the crown.

Instead of a tree with a bird as a transformation symbol, Wirth has opted for a flower with a butterfly. The flower has five petals, which refers to the “Rose of Venus”. The orbit of Venus around the earth, during an eight-year cycle, has the pattern of a five-petaled flower (see illustration on right). This pattern is called the Rose (or Pentagram) of Venus. The five-petaled rose has been used as a symbol for the divine since ancient times. The butterfly on the flower is a classic symbol of transformation.

Château des Avenières (1917)

On this wooden panel (British Museum) we see a goddess in a (kundalini) tree who gives nourishment (energy) to a woman and her BA (the bird).

The mosaic at Château des Avenières (above left) is derived from the Oswald Wirth Tarot. An Egyptian Ba bird sits on the tree next to the goddess. In Ancient Egypt, the Ba bird represented the essence / soul of man (see panel above right).

The two vases on the mosaic have different colors: gold and silver. These are colors associated with the sun and the moon and refer to polarity / duality.

The Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot

The RWS Star is rather similar to the Tarot of Marseille and the Oswald Wirth Tarot. Artist Pamela Colman Smith has placed the goddess even more explicitly in the center of the two vases with outflowing water, which gives us even more clearly the image of the three energy channels involved in a kundalini awakening: the kundalini energy is located between the polar energy channels ida nadi and pingala nadi.

One leg of the goddess rests on water and one leg on land: a reinforcement of the symbolism of the two vases. The goddess represents the unity of the divine.

Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot (1909)

The EIGHT-POINTED STAR has also been used in Christian art to communicate “heretical” spiritual knowledge. Here we see Saint Dominic with an eight-pointed star above his head. With his left hand he makes the SIGN OF THE SACRED MARRIAGE: 2 = 1 (click here), and with the other hand he points to his HEAD, the place where this sacred marriage takes place. (Fra Angelico, circa 1440)

Click here for more examples of the MORNING STAR as a symbol for the kundalini in Christian art.

Wonder Woman with the eight-pointed Morning star on her forehead.

Conclusion

The eight-pointed star on this tarot card has been a symbol of the kundalini energy since ancient times. The woman on the card is a personification of this divine energy in the human pelvis. She is a goddess with many names and faces, including Ishtar, Inanna, Sophia, Isis, Hera and Shakti.

In the Bible, Jesus promises us the Morning Star – as the eight-pointed star is also called – if we overcome our ego and animal instincts:

And to the one who overcomes and continues in My work until the end … I will give him the morning star.
(Revelation 2:26,28)

The Knights Templar

The legendary Knights Templars also knew the deeper meaning of the eight-pointed star and used this symbol to communicate their esoteric knowledge. Read about this in my article: The Knights Templars and the Holy Grail.

Alchemy

Also in the spiritual tradition of alchemy we find the tower as a metaphor for the spine with the awakened kundalini.
Below are three examples.

The Tarot of Marseille

The internal fragmentation of man, which is the result of the withdrawing of God (the kundalini), is expressed on the Tarot of Marseille cards (right) by the little spheres around the tower. We can deduce from their circular shape that these are not fragments of the tower. The different colors also indicate something other than pieces of stone.

We find the same colored spheres on illustrations from alchemy. They depict the fragmentation phase of the Magnum Opus (a metaphor for the process of God-realization). Below are a few examples.

The three tower windows represent the three energy channels involved in a kundalini awakening. The top of the tower resembles a crown. This is a reference to the delusions of grandeur of the ego, that thinks it is king of the universe and the crown of creation.

The card now also has a title: The House of God. That this refers to the spine with the divine kundalini energy flowing in it, can also be found in the Bible. In the book of Genesis, patriarch Jacob has a vision in his sleep of angels climbing up and down a ladder (a metaphor of the kundalini flowing through his spine), and God speaking to him. When Jacob wakes up he says:

“How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” So Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on its top. He called the name of that place Bethel…  (Genesis 28:17-19)

The Hebrew Bethel means “house of God.” Jacob sets up the stone on which he slept as a pillar, and pours oil over it. The erected stone refers to Jacob’s awakened spine. The “anointing” with oil symbolizes the transformation of his cerebrospinal fluid into amrita (drink of immortality).

Some tarot decks from this period, such as the Belgian Vandenborre Bacchus Tarot (below left), have opted for a tree that is struck by  lightning, instead of a tower. The card is then called ‘Lightening’ (La Foudre). A tree is also a classic metaphor for the awakened kundalini (see below center). The deeper meaning of the card remains the same.

In Italy the first cards appear called La Torre (The Tower). This will remain the definitive title of tarot card number 16. On the far right the Ligurien-Piemont Tarot from 1840.

The Oswald Wirth Tarot

Oswald Wirth named his card Le Feu du Ciel (The Fire from Heaven), a title that could refer to both lightning and the kundalini energy (right). One of the falling figures has a crown on his head, a reference to a “dethroning” of the ego.

The figures on the mosaic of Château des Avenières (far right), which is based on the Tower of Wirth, are dressed in red and blue. These are the classic colors for the male and female energies. They refer on this card to the disintegration of the inner oneness into opposites / duality. The striped sash around the front man’s waist, with the two flying ends, also refers to this.

The tower stands on a globe, creating the image of a “fall” of man (back) in matter.

Château des Avenières (1917)

Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot (1909)

The Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot

The two figures on the RWS card are also dressed in a combination of the colors red (male) and blue (female). A new element is that it is not two men who fall, as on all previous cards, but a man and a woman. We may take this as a confirmation of our interpretation of the colors red and blue.

In the sky are floating 22 Yods. The Yod is the Hebrew Y. This flame-like character is the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet. All other letters contain a Yod. It is the first letter of YHWH (God). In mystical Judaism, the Yod represents the ubiquity of God. In ancient Hebrew, the Yod was written as a forearm with a hand. The RWS card has no sun like the other cards; instead, the Yod refers to “the Hand of God.”

The Hebrew alphabet consists of 22 letters. The exact number of 22 Yods on this card is a reference to the breaking up of man’s inner (divine) oneness into ego fragments.

Conclusion

The major arcana of the tarot consists of miniatures that highlight aspects of a kundalini awakening. The card The Tower is a warning addressed to people who think they can master the divine. God will not let Himself be used by the ego. “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18)

This card is based on the Bible story about the Tower of Babel, in which the tower is a metaphor for the spine with the awakened kundalini energy flowing in it. This story teaches us why the knowledge of the kundalini energy has been so cautiously guarded in all these centuries and can only be found hidden in sacred texts. In the wrong hands it can lead to people insufficiently prepared and with the wrong motives forcing an access to this sacred energy source. Jesus also notes this in the gospel of Matthew (11:12):

From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.

This path can only be followed succesfully with a heart purified from the ego’s desires for grandeur. Only for a person who is willing to die to himself does the door to God open.

Read also my article: Kundalini en the Tower of Babel.

In the foreground we see a PILLAR (click here), symbol for the awakened SPINE, with a snail on the way up, and a wreath of victory. The pillar rests on four lions (symbol of the animal energies in man). In the background we see the TOWER OF BABEL. All this symbolism refers (concealed) to the process of kundalini awakening. The process of a unification with God requires patience and endurance. (Jacob Bruck, Emblemata moralia et bellica, 1615)

Tower of God

Mary Magdalene played an important role in the life of Jesus. Her spine, like Jesus’s, had awakened. We can infer this, among other things, from her nickname The Magdalen, which means ‘Tower of God’ (Migdal-El). Read more in my book on Mary Magdalene!

The Pope

Card number 5 of the tarot was originally called The Pope. Arthur Waite replaced The Pope for The Hierophant in his Rider-Waite-Smith deck in 1909 and almost all of the tarot decks that followed hereafter took over. However, the deeper meaning of the card has always remained the same. Even when the card was still called The Pope, it represented the person in whom the sacred marriage had taken place.

On the Pope card of the 15th century Visconti-Sforza Tarot we see three references to the holy marriage: the two raised fingers of the Pope; the Greek cross (a cross with equal arms) at the top of its staff; and the hexagonal pattern on its garment, a derivative of the hexagram – the universal symbol for the union of opposites.

Click here for more examples of the HEXAGRAM as a (hidden) symbol in Christian painting.

The Pope, like the Papess (card number 2), wears a pontifical (papal) tiara: a triple crown. Officially, the three crowns represent the triple power of the pope: priest, teacher, and king. Esoterically, a tiara stands for mastery over body, feeling and thinking (see alchemical illustrations below).

The Pope of the Visconti-Sforza tarot (1454)

Hexagram

Octagon

An illustration of the sacred marriage from the alchemical Book of the Holy Trinity (15th century). Man and woman are fused into an androgynous figure. The three crowns around the belly, chest and head represent mastery over the body (the animal instincts, the lower abdomen), feelings (heart) and the mind.

An illustration from the alchemical manuscript Speculum Veritatis, which is located in the library of the Vatican. The alchemist (left) has acquired a triple (the three crowns) kingship (mastership) over earthly matters. The triangle with the point up (the symbol for fire), with the fire in it, stands for the kundalini fire, which has purified the alchemist’s body, feeling and thinking (the three arrows), through which he has achieved this kingship. On the right we see an alchemical oven; symbol for the alchemist’s pelvis and spine, with the fire of the kundalini flowing in it. The three rings on the pipe and the three arrows on the flag represent body, feeling and thinking that are purified in the”oven”.

Charles VI tarot

The Charles VI, or Gringonneur, deck is also from the 15th century; designed for King Charles VI of France (right). The Pope card of this deck contains symbolism that refers to a kundalini awakening.

Two energy channels run along the left and right side of the spine. They are called ida and pingala nadi in the yoga tradition. During a kundalini awakening, these energy channels fuse at the height of the forehead. During this process the pineal gland – in the middle of our head – is activated. The two cardinals next to the Pope symbolize these two energy channels. Their crossed hands represent the fusion, just like the two keys (of the Kingdom of Heaven), which the Pope holds upright against each other.

Outside of the tarot, too, artists used the attributes of saints to covertly refer to a process of kundalini awakening. Below, on the left, is an example. A painting of the apostle Peter, who is seen by the Catholic Church as the first pope, with alchemical symbolism.

Charles VI deck (15th century)

Pope Leo VII
(pope from 936 to 939, image from 1842)

The pineal gland

Above: Asclepius Relief, Lepcis Magna Museum. The spine as a PILLAR (click here) with the PINEAL GLAND at the top.

Left: The two KEYS against each other represent the fusion of the polar energies. This is confirmed by the CORD around the two middle fingers: 2=1. The FLOOR refers to the three phases of the alchemical Magnum Opus: NIGREDO (black), ALBEDO (white) AND RUBEDO (red), click here. (Fiorenzo di Lorenzo, 15th century)

The PINE CONE (click here) as a reference to the PINEAL GLAND and the kundalini process of Jesus. (Gasparo da Pesaro, 15th century)

The designer of this card did not opt ​​for the papal tiara with three crowns that was common at the time, but for one of the very first variants, which was worn until the 12th century, with only one crown. I think because this crown – even more than the tiara – emphasizes its pineal gland shape. It has also given the artist the opportunity to add a pine cone pattern to the crown.

Click here for the PINECONE as a (hidden) symbol for the PINEAL GLAND in Christian painting. 

Probably not coincidentally also, is the color of the clothing: red (clothing cardinals) and blue (clothing pope). These two colors are traditionally associated with, respectively, the male energies (heat, fire, the sun) and the female energies (coolness, water, the moon) in humans.

France 17th century

From the 17th century onwards, to reinforce the symbolism of the union of opposites, two pillars were added in the background to the Pope card, and two lower-ranking clergymen in the foreground. Their shaven crowns depict a merger of two alchemical symbols. The double circle symbolizes the fusion of the polar energies, and a circle with a dot in the middle is the symbol for the sun/gold/the divine. The hat on the back of the figure in the lower left corner also refers to the symbol the double circle. 

Tarot de Marseille, Pierre Madenié (1709)

The alchemist has completed the magnum Opus (THREE CROWNS). In him the polar energies (SUN AND MOON) are fused into the oneness of the divine.  (Johannes de Monte-Snyder, Metamorphosis Planetarum, 1663)

The left figure on the foreground of the Pope card of Jacques Viéville (below left) makes, just like the Pope himself, the sign of the sacred marriage (2=1).

The Pope of the Italian Rossini (below right) has a decoration on his chest that refers to the kundalini symbol the eight-pointed Morning Star. His staff, which symbolizes the awakened spine, is topped by a flower, an esoteric symbol for an open crown chakra.

Click here for the STAFF as a (hidden) symbol for the kundalini in Christian painting.

The eightpointed Morning Star

Tarot de Paris, Jacques Viéville (1650)

Tarot anonyme de Paris (17th century)

Italian deck by Rossini, Turin, 2nd half 17th century.

The so-called “Tarot anonyme de Paris” (above centre) has, for that time, the most daring version of the Pope. An enormous key is placed on his lap and reaches to the tip of his tiara. This symbolizes the awakened kundalini energy in his spine: the “key” to the Kingdom of God. Two fingers – the sign of the sacred marriage – rest on his staff. On his gloves is the symbol the double circle. The Pope looks at a sphinx and a small pyramid next to him. A sphinx – a lion’s body with a woman’s head – symbolizes mastery over the animal instincts.

The Oswald Wirth Tarot

Oswald Wirth lowers the two pillars behind the Pope, giving the composition of the card – Pope, two pillars, and two figures in the foreground – the shape of a pentagram; the symbol for the “completed person”. On this card also, the figure in the lower left corner makes the sign of the sacred marriage (2=1) with his hand.

Click here for references to SACRED MARRIAGE in Christian painting.

Oswald Wirth (1889)

From H. C. Agrippa’s Libri tres
de occulta philosophia

The Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot

Arthur Waite changes the name of tarot card number 5 to The Hierophant, but the image remains largely the same: a pope with tiara, two pillars and two lower-ranking clergymen (below left). New are the elements from alchemy that refer to the sacred marriage – the union of the red king and the white queen: the color red and white of the pope’s canopy, and the roses (red) and lilies (white) on the clothing of the figures in the foreground.

Click here for the LILY as a symbol for a kundalini awakening.

The Rider-Waite-Smith Hierophant (1909)

Pope Gregory I (540-604)

The king in this image symbolizes the alchemist who realized the divine. The ROSE and the LILY, like the sun and the moon, symbolize the polar energy channels that merge during the kundalini process. (Basilius Valentinus, 1613)

A 17th century etching with alchemists who are working diligently in their (inner) garden. The six flowerbeds represent the first six chakras (at the sixth chakra the sacred marriage takes place). In the back stands a (KUNDALINI) TREE from which water (energy) flows to the rest of the garden. A garland of RED and WHITE ROSES is spiraling around the tree (the upward movement of the “kundalini serpent”). RED and WHITE are the colors of the alchemical marriage.

Mary is visited by the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove (left). Because of this, according to the Bible, she will become pregnant with Jesus. Artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1857) wants us to know that this story is a metaphor for a kundalini awakening. Maria is portrayed in an unusual way: working in the garden, caring for RED ROSES and WHITE LILIES, like an alchemist. The WATERING CAN standing next to her is decorated with a sun (symbol of the divine), and an upward stream of water: the kundalini energy. Her long RED HAIR (the color of fire) hangs down to her pelvis, the place where the kundalini energy is located.

The RWS Hierophant wears a blue robe under the chasuble, so that the card also contains the meaningful color combination of red-blue (male-female). The Y on the back of the two men in the foreground stands for the merger of the opposites. In the illustration from Symbola Aureae Mensae (below left) we see an androgynous figure, or rebis, who holds a letter Y in one hand and makes the sign of the sacred marriage with the other hand. The RWS Hierophant is also rather androgynous: it is not immediately clear whether this is a man or a woman. Other elements that refer to the fused duality are the black and white checkered strips on the floor, and the crossed keys in the foreground.

Click here for the LETTER Y as a (hidden) symbol for the SACRED MARRIAGE in Christian painting. 

The staff of the RWS Hierophant is much shorter than usual (see painting of Pope Gregory, above) and rests on his / her knee. We may take this as a confirmation of our interpretation that the staff of the Pope / Hierophant represents the spine. The triple cross at the top of the staff has the same meaning, esoterically, as the three rings on the pipe of the alchemical furnace (see above): body, feeling and thinking are purified by the kundalini fire in the spine. The three crossbars are getting shorter towards the top, so that they form a triangle pointing upwards: the symbol for the element of fire.

Right: the spiritual aspirant (warrior) receives three laurel wreaths for his victory over his animal drives (the three-headed monster), that controlled his body, feeling and thinking. An engraving from Discours Philosophique, S. Stuart de Chevalier, 1781.

An engraving from Michael Maier’s Symbola Aureae Mensae (1617)

Click here for the LETTER Y as a (hidden) symbol
for the SACRED MARRIAGE in Christian painting. 

Joseph has placed his Y-SHAPED STAFF next to the PELVIS of Jesus, the abode of the kundalini. Jesus points at his SPINE. (Boccaccio Boccaccino, before 1523)

The Tarot of Château des Avenières

The Hierophant of Château des Avenières (below left) wears the crown of the Egyptian god Amun-Ra. This crown consists of a red sun disk and two raised, stylized feathers. These feathers are a variant on the universal theme of two wings: a symbol for expanded consciousness (like, for example, the caduceus).

The two kneeling women next to the Hierophant, like the pillars, stand for duality, which is emphasized by their different skin color. The colors red and blue of the pillars  and the Hierophant’s clothing represent the masculine and feminine energies respectively.

The woman on the right points to the Hierophant’s staff. It is a special staff, to which a chain is attached with decorations, including Ankhs.  This chain defies gravity. This symbolizes the ability of the Hierophant to initiate others, with the awakened kundalini energy in his spine (the staff). On the far right we see a mural from the temple of Seti I, depicting an initiation, with a similar staff, including a horizontally floating chain.

Château des Avenières (1917)

Wall painting from the temple of Seti I
in Abydos, Egypt.

Conclusion

The name of the fifth card of the tarot changed a century ago from Pope to Hierophant, but the deeper meaning has always remained the same: spiritual completion.

The pentagram is a symbol that – also in the tarot – is used for the realized person. That this card has been given number 5 will therefore not be a coincidence.

Staff and triple crown – the attributes on most Hierophant cards – represent mastery over body, emotions (heart) and thinking (head).

The Hierophant is androgynous: the sacred marriage has taken place. The inner duality (the male and female energies) has melted into divine oneness. The outer duality (matter) has lost its grip. This is symbolized by the two humble and obliging clergymen on the card.

This article was published in Paravisie Magazine (juni ’19). Copyright Anne-Marie Wegh 2019

Anne-Marie Wegh is the author of the book
John the Baptist who became Jesus the Christ

Illustrations from the tarot decks, reproduced by permission of U.S. Games Systems, Inc., Stamford, CT 06902. c. by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
Foto’s Châteaux de Avenières: http://hermetism.free.fr/Avenieres

Caduceus

The two wings at the top of the caduceus represent an expansion of consciousness. The staff itself has the same meaning as the scepter in the hand of the Emperor: the spine with the divine kundalini flowing in it. The two serpents that spiral upward on the staff represent the duality that merges into oneness during the awakening process. This aspect has been subtly incorporated into the legs of the Emperor.

Click here for the STAFF/SCEPTER as a (hidden) symbol for the kundalini in Christian painting.

On the Visconti di Modrone card (above left) we see the Emperor depicted with crossed legs. On the card above right, only one foot shows. These are references to the inner sacred marriage (2=1). The theme of the crossed legs will be carried over to the Tarot of Marseille, and many other decks to follow.

Click here for ONE LEG as a symbol of the SACRED MARRIAGE

The Buddha at a young age

The god Ganesha

In Hinduism, gods and saints are depicted with just ONE FOOT on the ground to express that they are no longer connected to duality, but are rooted in divine ONENESS.

In christian art Jezus is depicted with only one leg showing to indicate he experienced a kundalini awakening. Below three examples.
CLICK ON THE IMAGES TO ENLARGE

Benedetto Diana, 1486.

Giuseppe Cesari, 1593.

William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 19th century.

The so-called globus cruciger (a globe with a cross on it) in the hand of the Emperor has, just like the scepter, both a worldly and a spiritual meaning. In the hand of a ruler (a “possessor of the world”), the globus cruciger stands for spreading Christianity as a dominant doctrine of faith. Esoterically, the globe with a cross stands for spirit ruling over matter.

Below two emblems with the alchemist who completed the Magnum Opus, depicted as a reigning king/emperor.

‘Attaining Wisdom’ (in text) is a veiled reference to the Gnostic SOPHIA (Greek for Wisdom), the personification of the KUNDALINI. (George Wither’s Emblem Book, 1635)

The king in the water represents the DIVINE IN THE SUBCONSCIOUS, that has to be ‘saved’ (realised). (Splendor Solis, 16th century)

The Tarot of Marseille

All decks that have appeared under the collective name “Tarot of Marseille” show the Emperor in profile. With this body position he expresses the number 4, which is in symbolism the number of earth/matter. This interpretation is confirmed by the extra number 4 that is placed on some decks below the Roman numeral (IIII) of the card  (below center). The Emperor is the only Marseille card that has this double numbering.

The Tarot of Marseille,
by Jean Noblet (circa 1650)

The Tarot of Marseille, by Jean Dodal,
with an extra 4 (1701-1705)

An alchemical illustration of the Magnum Opus: king (red) and queen (white) are merged into an androgynous figure (rebis). The tight BELT around waist of the naked body, and the SCEPTER placed in his genital area, symbolize the SUBLIMATION (bringing to the higher chakras) of the sexual energy.

The globus cruciger has been moved to the top of the scepter. The Emperor is holding his belt with his free hand. This symbolizes control over his sexual impulses (the energy of the lower abdomen): the Emperor is lord and master of his animal nature. Matter (the number 4) and the body have no hold on him.

Left: the alchemist, depicted as a warrior, is standing in the transforming fire of the kundalini. The six trees represent his six chakras that are being purified. Next to him stands the god Hermes with his staff the CADUCEUS, the classic symbol of a kundalini awakening. Hermes raises the GLOBUS CRUCIGER in his hand: a reference to the SUBLIMATION (deification) of the lower (material) energies. (Philosophia Hermetica, Federico Gualdi, ca. 1790)

Another new detail is the red feather on the crown of the Emperor. In combination with the other symbolism, it is likely that this feather stands for a kundalini awakening. Red is the color of the first chakra, where the kundalini resides. Red is also the color of a completed Magnum Opus in alchemy. The feather refers to, and has the same symbolic meaning as, the eagle on the hat of the Visconti Emperor. The red feather also features on three cards of the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot: The Fool, Death and The Sun.

Feathers as a symbol for a kundalini awakening can be found, among others, in the iconography of Ancient Egypt. Below three examples.

The goddess Ma’at

The god Osiris with two ostrich feathers on his crown.

The goddess Renenutet. She was depicted as a cobra, or as a woman with the head of a cobra.

In Christian art of that time, the red feather has been used as a symbol to communicate that Jesus had experienced a kundalini awakening. Three examples below.
CLICK TO ENLARGE

RED AND WHITE (the two feathers, click here) represent in alchemy the polar energies/duality, which merge into one. The SPIRAL ROD (click here) refers to the kundalini. The SCORPION (flag, click here) represents the death of the ego. (Jörg Breu Sr., 16th century)

The three feathers refer to the three phases of the Magnum Opus: NEGREDO (black), ALBEDO (white) AND RUBEDO (red), click here. Only ONE LEG of Jesus is depicted. This refers to the SACRED MARRIAGE (2=1), click here. (Michael Pacher, c. 1470)

Giovan Battista Moroni

Double headed eagle

A compelling indication that the eagle on The Emperor (and The Empress) has a spiritual significance is the double-headed eagle variant of some decks. The double-headed eagle is an alchemical symbol for a completed Magnum Opus (process of God-realization). The two heads represent the fusion of the polar energies/duality (see emblem on right).

The earliest Emperor with a double-headed eagle can be found in one of the very first printed decks, the so-called Budapest-Metraopolitan deck, of which only an uncut, uncoloured printed sheet has been preserved (below left).

The two cards below, center and right, are of a later date. On the Italian card (below right), a double-headed eagle is placed on top of the Emperor’s scepter. There is also no longer an eagle on a shield, but it is now a life size bird next to the Emperor. We may take this as a second indication that the eagle on tarot card number 4 represents spiritual realization. 

From: Medicinisch Chymisch und Alchemitisches Oraculum, 1755.

Budapest-Metropolitan deck, 16th century.

The Tarot d’Epinal, a reproduction of a French deck from 1830.

Italian deck, Serravalle Sesia, 1880.

Alchemy regarded Jesus as an alchemist who had successfully completed the inner Great Work. Below on the left a remarkable illustration of Christ as a double-headed eagle.

Also in Christian painting, the symbol of the double-headed eagle has been used to refer to the kundalini process of Jesus. An example of this below on the right.

Click here for the DOUBLE HEADED EAGLE as a (hidden) symbol for a kundalini awakening in Christian painting.

Christ depicted as an alchemist who completed the Magnum Opus (the DOUBLE-HEADED EAGLE). From the alchemical manuscript: ‘Book of the Holy Trinity’.

Titian, Palazzo ducale di Urbino, 1544.

Oswald Wirth Tarot

Oswald Wirth has placed his Emperor on a cube with an eagle. In alchemy, a cube symbolizes earth (the three dimensions). Both the eagle and the fact that the Emperor sits on the cube refer to his supremacy over matter. The lyre on the eagle is an attribute of the Greek sun god Apollo; an additional element to confirm to us that the Emperor represents the spiritual aspirant who has realized the divine.

The sun and moon on the chest of the Emperor represent the duality that he has conquered. The two energy channels that flow along his spine, and that form the energetic blueprint for our inner duality, have merged into one.

On the top of his scepter (symbol for the spine) a fleur-de-lys, or “French lily”, is placed; an esoteric symbol for the pineal gland. See the alchemical illustration on the far right.

Oswald Wirth Emperor (1889)

An alchemical illustration of the process of kundalini awakening. The scepter with fleur-de-lys symbolizes the spine with the pineal gland at the top.

Château des Avenières

The Emperor in the chapel of Château des Avenières is an Egyptian version of the Oswald Wirth Emperor. The 4 x 4 squares on the cube is (probably) a reference to the 4 elements. The eagle has been replaced by a phoenix: an element that emphasizes the overall symbolism of spiritual awakening (an eagle can still be seen as heraldry).

The Emperor wears a so-called Pschent: a double crown representing the union of the two sub-regions Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. According to the historiography, several pharaohs had the task of uniting the two halves of their land into one kingdom.

Anyone who delves into the details of the history of Egypt, and is familiar with spiritual processes, cannot escape the impression that the stories about Upper and Lower Egypt contain a symbolic layer. These two realms also represent the higher (divine) and lower (animal) nature in humans. In a kundalini awakening, it is the spiritual aspirant’s task to unite both natures. The inner struggle that accompanies this, is represented by the war between the two Egyptian sub-regions.

The Emperor in mosaic from Château des Avenières (1917)

The PSCHENT (center) is composed of two crowns: on the left the goddess Wadjet with the red crown of Lower Egypt and on the right the goddess Nekhbet with the white crown of Upper Egypt.

On the Emperor’s crown we see a so-called uraeus: a stylized, upright, Egyptian cobra; symbol of the awakened kundalini energy. At this place in the head – at the height of the sixth chakra – the fusion of the opposites takes place; which includes the union of the lower and higher nature.

Rider-Waite-Smith Emperor

The RWS Emperor is dressed in red. This is, as we saw during the discussion of the previous card, the Empress, a reference to the alchemical royal couple (red king and white queen) that merges during the Magnum Opus. The red and white stones in the Emperor’s crown represent this sacred marriage. The mountains in the background symbolize an expanded consciousness.

Click here to read more about the colors RED AND WHITE and the SACRED MARRIAGE.

The ram’s heads on the throne have a double meaning. Where the RWS Empress is connected to the female energy of the planet Venus, the Emperor is connected to the male energy of the planet Mars. The zodiac sign for Mars is Aries.

The ram is also a symbol of the animal nature that the Emperor has conquered. This becomes even more apparent when we put two other decks, that were also influenced by the philosophies of the occult group The Golden Dawn, next to the RWS card (below).

On the Classic Golden Dawn card, one foot of the Emperor is on a ram. On the Builders of the Adytum card, the Emperor sits on a ram-headed cube. Both standing and sitting on something symbolizes dominion over that object.

Rider-Waite-Smith Emperor (1909)

Classic Golden Dawn Tarot (2004)

Builders of the Adytum Tarot (circa 1950)

The Classic Golden Dawn-Emperor also has a scepter with a ram’s head at the top. This means that the energy from the animal drives (the lower chakras) is sublimated (brought to the higher chakras).

The scepter of the RWS Emperor communicates the same thing, with different symbolism. The RWS scepter is a derivative of the Ankh, the Egyptian symbol that stands for eternal life (below left). An Ankh is a stylized representation of the spine with the pineal gland at the top, similar to the caduceus. The Ankh scepter of the RWS Emperor is placed on top of one of the ram heads. This means that the Emperor has led the energies from the lower abdomen, through the spine, to the pineal gland.

The Egyptian god Ptah with an ANKH on his staff (4th-3rd century BC)

Left: Jesus as the “King of the Universe”, with the devil, in the form of a dragon, under his foot. The deeper meaning of this is comparable to the “spiritual emperorship” of tarot card number 4. In the words of Jesus: “MY KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD …” (John 18:36).

Thoth Tarot

The Thoth Emperor looks to the left, to the Thoth Empress, with whom he forms a pair. Both cards have a shield with a double-headed eagle.

Aleister Crowley has not incorporated many elements from christianity into his deck. At the bottom right of his Emperor card we see one of the exceptions: the victorious Lamb from the Book of Revelation, with the visions of John. From the following quote we may deduct that the Biblical Lamb on this card is the counterpart of the sexual energy that the ram stands for:

¹ Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.
⁴ These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb.
(Revelation 14:1 en 4)

The Thoth Emperor (1969)

“…having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads” are those who have completed the sacred marriage at the height of the sixth chakra. “They have kept themselves chaste …” . It can hardly be stated any clearer!

The number 144,000 is also meaningful. The sum of the “petals” of the first six chakras is 144 (4 + 6 + 10 + 12 + 16 + 96). The number of petals of the seventh chakra is a symbolically large number: 1000. One hundred and forty-four thousand refers to the opening of all chakras after a completed kundalini awakening.

Read more about the symbolism in the Bible in my book ‘John the Baptist who became Jesus the Christ’.

According to Aleister Crowley, his Emperor expresses the alchemical symbol for sulfur (a triangle with a cross underneath) with his body posture. Sulfur is one of the three primary elements involved in the Magnum Opus.

Right: a colored engraving by Giovanni Lacinio, from 1714, of the Magnum Opus, with many elements that we also see on the various Emperor cards through the ages. The symbols on the tree trunk (spine) are the three primary alchemical elements: salt, sulfur and mercury. The two LIONS represent the animal drives that, sublimated (the wings), provide the force necesary to complete the process of God-realization. The symbols above the lions are the FOUR ELEMENTS: fire, earth, water, and air. The GLOBE (orb) with cross, on top of the tree trunk, stands for spirit ruling over matter (four elements). The SUN and the MOON, at the top of the illustration, represent duality. A small sun and moon are also depicted in the globe: the duality has merged into oneness. The white EAGLE symbolizes the completed process.

Conclusion

Together with card number three, the Empress, the Emperor forms the alchemical couple that merges during the Magnum Opus. The Tarot Emperor also represents the person in whom this sacred marriage took place: for the spiritual aspirant who has gained mastery over matter and his animal drives.

His crown and scepter came at a price. He had to go through a lengthy and painful process of cleansing and detachment. On the engraving of Sabine Stuart de Chevalier, from 1781 (right), we see this arduous path from the alchemist to “spiritual emperorship” in beautiful symbolism.

This article was published in Paravisie Magazine (June ’19). Copyright Anne-Marie Wegh 2019

Anne-Marie Wegh is the author of the book
John the Baptist who became Jesus the Christ

Illustrations from the tarot decks, reproduced by permission of U.S. Games Systems, Inc., Stamford, CT 06902. c. by U.S. Games Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Foto’s Châteaux de Avenières: http://hermetism.free.fr/Avenieres

Visconti Di Modrone deck

Visconti-Sforza deck

Coat of arms of the Visconti and Sforza families

Alchemy

In the tradition of alchemy, which had its heyday in the 15th century, an eagle – the king of birds – represents the completion of the process of God-realization.

On the engraving of Jacob de Heyden from 1615 (right) we see an eagle balancing on two pillars. These pillars represent the inner duality, which must be merged into (divine) unity. They are connected by a rope with a wedding ring; a reference to the sacred marriage.

Click here to learn more about the SACRED MARRIAGE as an aspect of a kundalini awakening process.

To express the merger of the polar energies, alchemy uses the image of a king and queen uniting. The illustration from Rosarium Philosophorum (right) is an example of this. We see a royal couple lying in the water, which means that this process takes place in our subconscious. The wings symbolize the completion of the process of unification. One hand of the king lies on his genitals: the sexual energies must be preserved in order to experience the divine.

These powerful primal energies in our lower abdomen must be lifted to the higher chakras. In many spiritual traditions the challenge of gaining mastery over the sexual impulses is symbolized by a powerful dragon that must be conquered (see illustration below right).

From: Rosarium Philosophorum (circa 1550)

The flask symbolizes the alchemist himself. The queen/empress and king/emperor represent the masculine and feminine energies that merge during a kundalini awakening. From: Johannes Conradus Barchusen (1666-1723), The Symbolic Treaty of the Philosopher’s Stone (Elementa Chemiae).

The Magnum Opus of the alchemist (illustration from around 1400). The king and queen are fused into one figure, also called rebis or hermaphrodite. The conquered dragon lies at their feet. The three serpents in the cup represent the three energy channels involved in a kundalini awakening. The wings, and the ouroboros in the king’s hand, refer to a completed kundalini process and the resulting inner oneness.

Tarot of marseille

With the ages it becomes clearer that the cards number 3 and 4 of the tarot – the Empress and the Emperor – represent the alchemical royal couple that merges during the process of God-realization. The Empress of the Tarot of Marseille (17th and 18th century) sits on a throne with a backrest that suggests two wings; the symbol for spiritual completion. This reinforces the symbolism of the eagle on the card.

The Tarot of Marseille,
by Jacques Vieville (circa 1650)

The Tarot of Marseille,
by Jean Dodal (1701-1715)

Double headed eagle

A compelling indication that the eagle on The Empress (and The Emperor) has a spiritual significance is the double-headed eagle variant of some decks. The double-headed eagle is an alchemical symbol for a completed Magnum Opus (process of God-realization). The two heads represent the fusion of the polar energies/duality (see emblem on right).

The earliest Empress with a double-headed eagle can be found in one of the very first printed decks, the so-called Budapest-Metropolitan deck, of which only an uncut, uncoloured printed sheet has been preserved (below left).

The two other cards below are of a later date. Carlo Della Rocca (below right) has partially hidden the alchemical symbol under the Empress’ hand. The good viewer, however, sees that there must be a second head on the bird. The Empress confirms its meaning by the sign of the sacred marriage (two fingers together: 2=1) that she makes with both hands. The fact that the eagle’s second head is hidden indicates that it was a controversial symbol at the time.

Figuarium Aegyptiorum Secretarum (18th century)

Budapest-Metropolitan deck, 16th century.

The Tarot d’Epinal, a reproduction of a French deck, 1830.

Classic Tarot, Carlo Della Rocca.
(early 19th century)

Alchemy regarded Jesus as an alchemist who had successfully completed the inner Great Work. On the right a remarkable illustration of Christ as a double-headed eagle.

Also in Christian painting, the symbol of a double-headed eagle has been used to communicate that Jesus had experienced a kundalini awakening. An example of this is on the far right.

Click here for the DOUBLE HEADED EAGLE as a (hidden) symbol for a kundalini awakening in Christian painting.

Christ depicted as an alchemist who completed the Magnum Opus (the double-headed eagle). From the alchemical manuscript: ‘Book of the Holy Trinity’.

Quentin Matsys, circa 1510, Rijksmuseum.

Oswald Wirth

The Empress of the occultist Oswald Wirth (below left) has real wings. Wirth has enriched the card with elements that refer to a vision of the apostle John, from the Bible book of Revelation: a crown of stars and a crescent moon under her foot (below right).

THE WOMAN, THE CHILD AND THE DRAGON
¹ A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars;
² and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.
³ Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems.
⁴ And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.
⁵ And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.
(Revelation 12:1-5)

Oswald Wirth Tarot (1889)

This is a vision of a kundalini awakening that John is going through. The woman represents his soul who is about to “give birth” to the divine. John has undergone a purification process of many years for this to happen. The crown with twelve stars stands for spiritual completion. The divine light flows through him unhindered (his soul is “clothed with the sun”). He has conquered duality / matter (the moon).

The divine birth is threatened by a big red dragon. Here also, a dragon stands for the animal instincts. The color red refers to the first chakra, the energy of our most basic (read: animal) needs. The iron staff with which the Child will rule, represents John’s spine with the kundalini energy flowing in it.

Read more about kundalini and the Bible in my book ‘John the Baptist who became Jesus the Christ’.

The birth of this divine child is the result of the sacred marriage. Alchemy also uses the image of the birth of a child, as an aspect of the Magnum Opus (below left).

Alchemical illustration of the Magnum Opus (18th century)

Chateau des Avenières (1917)

The Empress in the chapel of Château des Avenières (above right) largely resembles the Empress of Oswald Wirth. On the shield in her hand we see a phoenix instead of an eagle. This mythical bird, rising from its ashes, represents in alchemy the process of spiritual rebirth. The Empress has placed her staff on her lap/pelvis, the abode of the kundalini. In the esoteric tradition, the staff is a symbol for the awakened spine.

Click here for the STAFF as a symbol for a kundalini awakening.

The Rider-Waite-Smith Empress

Arthur Waite and Pamela Colman-Smith have added elements to the Empress that also give her a macrocosmic meaning. The RWS Empress is God the Mother: the feminine aspect of God, who can be found not only in man (the kundalini in our pelvis), but also in the outside world. It is the supporting, nourishing energy that makes up the universe.

The placement of the Empress in nature refers to her macrocosmic meaning. The grain in the foreground is an attribute of Demeter, the Greek goddess of agricultural crops and the harvest.

On the dress of the Empress pomegranates are depicted. As we saw on the card of the High Priestess, pomegranates, because of their red color and many seeds, are a symbol of the kundalini: the ‘divine seed’ in our pelvis, at the height of the first chakra (color red).

The pomegranate plays an important role in the well-known Greek myth about the abduction of Persephone, the daughter of Demeter, by Hades, the god of the underworld. A story that is seen as an explanation for the changing seasons, but that stands at a deeper level for a kundalini awakening.

The Rider-Waite-Smith Empress (1909)

Persephone (the kundalini) is taken against her will by the god Hades to the underworld (the kundalini is “locked up” in the pelvis). Demeter is inconsolable and goes into mourning, as a result of which all the greenery on earth stops growing (spiritual aridity, no longer experiencing a connection with God). Zeus, the father of Persephone, orders Hades to bring her back. Hades, however, tempts Persephone to eat six seeds (at the sixth chakra the sacred wedding takes place) of a pomegranate. As a result she has to return to the underworld for a few months every year. Persephone is freed from the underworld (the pelvis) by the god Hermes, the god with the caduceus, that stands for a kundalini awakening.

Artist Frederic Leighton has incorporated the deeper meaning of this myth in his painting from 1891 (right). We see Hermes with one hand holding the caduceus and his other arm is around Persephone. This depicts the merging of the inner masculine and the feminine. This interpretation is confirmed by both hands of Persephone, that make the sign of the sacred marriage (2=1).

“The return of Persephone”,
Frederic Leighton (1891)

Detail

Click here for the POMEGRANATE as a symbol for a kundalini awakening in Christian painting.

The transparent scarf of Mary runs from the pomegranate, which lies on the lap of the baby Jesus to the head, the path of the kundalini energy to the crown. (Neri di Bicci, 1450)

The RWS Empress is sitting on an orange-red cloth and leans against an orange cushion. These colors refer to the dwelling place of the Empress (the kundalini) in humans: in the pelvis, at the level of the first and second chakra (red and orange respectively)..

This interpretation is confirmed by the contours of a serpent on the pillow, rising from the pelvis.

The Empress detail

Kundalini-slang

The Empress detail

The pineal gland

On the right-hand side of the card we see a stream of water flowing from a tree, that is shaped like a pine cone, to the feet of the Empress. This water symbolizes the kundalini energy that flows from the pelvis to the pineal gland.

The color white of the dress the Empress wears represents the feminine. In alchemy, the colors white and red represent the opposites of duality that must be brought to a unity. Often the metaphor is used of a marriage between a queen dressed in white and a king dressed in red (see above).

Click here to learn more about the colors WHITE AND RED for the SACRED MARRIAGE.

The RWS Emperor

From the alchemical manuscript Aureum Vellus (1598)

The heart shape of the shield on the RWS card, and the symbol of the planet Venus (on the shield, on the black pillow, and the pomegranates), are elements that refer to duality, of which the Empress represents one half:
Empress – emperor
Female – male
Venus – Mars
Heart (feeling) – head (thinking)

The RWS Empress also represents a complete spiritual awakening: the scepter, the crown with twelve stars, and the laurel wreath on her head, express this. A scepter stands for authority / mastery. The scepter on this card has a globe at the top, which refers to dominion over matter. The stars on the head of the empress have the shape of a hexagram (six-pointed star); the symbol that expresses the merger of the polarities.

Click here for the the HEXAGRAM as a symbol for the fusion of the polar energies/duality.

The laurel wreath (a wreath of laurel branches) refers to mastery over the sexual urges. This meaning is derived from the Greek myth of Apollo and Daphne. The god Apollo pursues the river nymph Daphne (a name that means Laurel), driven by lust. She desperately calls on the help of her father, the river god Penues. He turns his daughter into a laurel tree, through which she escapes Apollo’s persistent advances. Apollo turns the branches of the laurel tree into a wreath, which then becomes a symbol of chastity.

The moral of this myth is that the kundalini energy can only awaken and grow into a “tree of life” that reaches to the crown of man, if the sexual energy is preserved. A laurel tree is green all year round. This symbolizes the immortality of man after a completed kundalini awakening..

The Thoth Empress (1969)

Thoth Tarot

The Thoth Empress is also full of symbolism. According to Aleister Crowley, the Empress stands for both the lowest level of creation (matter) and the highest, spiritual level. Her throne of water spirals represents her birth from water; a reference to the goddess Venus. Water is a feminine element, just like the moon. At a deeper level, birth from water refers to a kundalini awakening.

The lotus flower in the right hand of the Empress is a classical symbol for spiritual perfection. The blue lotus was seen as the holiest of all flowers in Ancient Egypt. In his Book of Thoth, Crowley calls her “the blue Lotus of Isis, a symbol of the feminine.”

On the shield at the feet of the Empress we see a double-headed eagle. Usually the heads are shown turned outwards. Crowley has chosen to turn the heads towards each other, and to put a fusion of sun and moon between them, thereby reinforcing the symbolism of unification.

The pelican who feeds her young with her own blood, on the bottom of the card, is also a classic metaphor, from alchemy and Christianity, among others. Crowley herself explains this as Mother Nature who feeds her children (us). In Christianity, the self-wounding pelican stands for Christ’s self-sacrifice for the salvation of humanity. In alchemy, the pelican stands for the self-sacrifice of the spiritual aspirant: the sacrifice of the ego – and the suffering that comes with it – to realize the divine.

Conclusion

As a feminine aspect of God, the Empress resides in our pelvis (the kundalini energy) as well as in creation. When we look around us, everything that we can see, and everything that grows and flourishes, is “the Empress.”

The Empress also stands for the “completion of nature”. The tradition of alchemy sees nature / man as not “finished”. A process of sublimation (deification) is still needed (the Magnum Opus). The crown and scepter of the Empress represent a completed process of transformation, and mastership over matter and the animal instincts.

Brighid, the mother goddess of Ireland.

This article was published in Paravisie Magazine (May ’19). Copyright Anne-Marie Wegh 2019

Anne-Marie Wegh is the author of the book
John the Baptist who became Jesus the Christ

Foto’s Châteaux de Avenières: http://hermetism.free.fr/Avenieres