"Princess of Wands and "The Empress. III" THOTH TAROT CARD: READING/s. These cards were pulled as a double reading, as a single card has been read in past tarot readings on chiasmus. The Order of the reading is from left to right.

 

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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"The Empress", III of the Major Arcana and one of the most beautifully defined cards of the Thoth Tarot, and certainly one of the less confronting and occultish.  Which offers an insight into Crowley's philosophical template towards the feminine, without reading into it too much.  He does see, maybe in his own mind, the contradictions of the feminine to the masculine and how it related to his merging of esoterica studies from the East and West.  And The Empress card, with his interpretation from The Book of The Thoth, attempts to do away with these contradictions and over focalized representations of duality, rather he deemed this card as symbolism of "Love."

As mentioned in my previous Thoth card studies, is Crowley's constant attachment to Qabalah and Egyptian esoterism as template to his Thelma region.  Indicative, of how much medieval Jewish mystics had on the 15th Century alchemists, and the beginning of Hermetism as a philosophical foundry throughout Europe and England, to which Crowley was heavily influenced by.  So, the  variant infusions of Crowely's esoteric can at times seem like an ad hoc display on the Thoth cards, whilst being defined by Crowley's creative impression.   Yet, if you strip back some of the reasoning of Crowley's decree  that the card represents Love, to which Crowley said, in relation to 'The Empress', "This is the Harmony of the Universe, that Love unites the Will to create with the Understanding of that Creation: understand thou thine own Will. Love and let love. Rejoice in every shape of love, and get thy rapture and thy nourishment thereof", further clues are revealed.  

Thoth's The Empress card, in lieu of other Major Arcana cards, holds an overall simplicity in its aesthetics.   The delicate line and textured art by  Lady Frieda Harris (d1962) gives it a subtly and gentle appearance, which is what Crowley had intended for the card to be.   As is the symbolism, and as mentioned, is not as confronting or harsh as the other Thoth cards.  The Pelican at the bottom left of the card, which has it roots in Christian iconography, as symbolism of redemption.  Piecing its chest with its peak to feed its young, note the chicks looking up at the mother.  From by Psalm 102: "Similis factus sum pellicamo"  (I am become like the pelican in the wilderness)  and more importantly in Christian ethos  Corpus Christi or Body [Blood] of Christ.  Which I have noticed with Crowley's Thoth Tarot, despite the occult overture, there is, at times Christian elements throughout, more so Gnostic in its representation.  The White Eagles of the shield are from Crowley's homage to Middle Ages alchemy, the visual and verbal code for sal ammoniac or salt.  And The Book of The Thoth, Crowley elaborates that The Empress card, as a feminine symbolism is the conjuring of salt, which in mythology of pre-Christian religions, represent a goddess of the the sea.   That we were derived from salt.

The two birds perched either side of The Empress are of a Sparrow (left) and a Dove (right), representing the Roman poets Catullus and Martial, which would very much align with Crowley's classical educational and an interesting overlay to his occultist foundation.  However, they do seem out of place.  Nevertheless, the Sparrow and Dove in Greek mythology represent Love, further instilling the softness of The Empress card.  Other symbolism on the card, portraying the desired  passiveness of Crowley's feminine, are the Lotus flower, the fleurs-de-lys, Bees and astrological symbols.  As The Empress sits in front of the Door of heaven, hence the Hebrew letter Daleth ( bottom left), meaning door and on the right the symbol of Venus, once gain as noted throughout the Thoth cards, Crowley's fascination of the feminine.

Crowley's duality and contradictions of femininity can be irritating and certainly outdated.  He did claim, from The book of the Thoth that The Empress is, ."..no contradiction; such opposition as there seems to be is only the opposition necessary to balance".  Which falls into most monotheistic religious beliefs, that the feminine must be balanced under the eyes of God, while in a rather spiteful manner, Crowley's sexist analysis of women, from The Book of The Thoth where he claims, "Many-throned, many-minded, many-wiled, daughter of Zeus, as the unruly female.

As opposed to the Rider-Waite "The Empress", she is powerfully represented as a strong willed creator.

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

(A.Glass 2023, 2024, 2025)