"Princess of Wands" Thoth Tarot card: analysis and reading.

 

One of Aleister Crowley's (d1947) more sexist Thoth Tarot cards, as he reiterates his theocratic belief that the feminine is chaotic in nature, and the female in her material body should be a virgin .  The Princess of Wands, also showcases Crowley's dichotomy and paradoxes of describing some of the more feminine cards. Portraying the Princess of Wands as a free spirit, a rebel, yet unstable with her insatiable desire for ambition and "enthusiasm", which in turn makes her "irrational".  And from the Book of Thoth, spiteful and petty if she doesn't get it her way, "She never forgets an injury, and the only quality of patience to be found in her is the patience with which she lies in ambush to avenge."  Attaching the mythos of 'sociopathy' (a made up term) within the female, which has its roots in monothetic/organized religion, as a devious manifestation, which is seen orthodox Judaism, that she is a representation of Lilith, Adam's first wife.  Who did not allow herself to be submitted sexually by Adam and was cast out of the Garden of Eden, later becoming a malevolent demoness, to corrupt and control women of the physical realm, and turn them against their male partners.  The correlations are evident, yet the "Princess of Wands" must be a virgin to redeem herself, to which Crowley has borrowed from Greco/Roman myth of the Vestal virgins  "This card may be said to represent the dance of the virgin priestess of the Lords of Fire, for she is in attendance upon the golden altar ornamented with rams’ heads) symbolizing the fires of Spring." And finally, Crowley concludes with his damning variation of the card's 'female' meaning "She is superficial and theatrical, completely shallow and false, yet without suspecting that she is anything of the sort, for she believes entirely in herself, even when it is apparent to the most ordinary observer that she is merely in the spasm of mood. She is cruel, unreliable, faithless and domineering."

The Hebrew letter Yodh, the flames above, although it appears in the wrong direction, it is usually leaning Left, rather than Right, can also be used in Marriage blessings within a Hebrew prayer, whether or not Crowley has infused this into a idealism of the perfect virgin woman, despite her untamed behaviour.  What is also seen from her headpiece, are the 'Plumes of Justice', which also means "purity".  The tiger's tail attached to her neck, offering her wild and untamed side.

I will redeem this card, and make it more powerful.

Reading:

Be what you want, be untamed, be wild, live, because what is willed, is short.  Life ends.  So, be naked, enjoy the Earthly realm and its pleasures, but know, it is all temporary and recklessness can become a curse.  And you may indeed crash from lofty highs, and mortality is sombering, despite the high you wish to attain.  Lean control, meditate on the sexual realm to master it, never take it for granted. It will not last, but for now, dance towards the flames of bliss, allow the tiger to have its fill, for once it has eaten, it will sleep, and the feline has the deepest of sleeps, for its mediation is the acceptance of what it is.      

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(A.Glass 2023, 2024, 2025)

All Thoth Tarot readings to date:  chiasmusmagazine.blogspot.com/search/label/Thoth%20Tarot%20reading