Advanced · 15 min
The Hermetic layer
The emblems Waite and Smith drew from the Hermetic tradition: the pillars B and J, roses and lilies, the sideways eight of life and the letters on the Wheel, read as one named system.
In this lesson you will
- Recognize the pillars B and J, the roses and lilies, the sideways eight and the lettered Wheel in the Waite–Smith deck.
- Say what each emblem stands for in the Hermetic tradition, and name the tradition when you use it.
- Use an emblem to deepen a card's meaning in a reading without turning the reading into a lecture.
You have read The High Priestess many times as quiet knowing, and one day you learn that in the 1909 Waite–Smith card her pillars carry the letters B and J. Then you notice the sideways eight over Strength, and learn that Smith drew the same sign over The Magician. The deck seems to speak a second language underneath the first, and it does.
A second language in the deck
Waite and Smith were both members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a society that studied Kabbalah, astrology and alchemy as one system. Waite placed some of its emblems in the deck, often without explaining them; of The High Priestess's half-covered scroll he wrote that some things are implied and some spoken. You do not need these emblems to read a card, but once you can name them, they add depth to the meanings you already know.
Everything in this lesson belongs to one tradition. Say so the way a careful reader does: in the Golden Dawn system, or in the Hermetic tradition Waite drew on.
This lesson is part of Plus
Plus opens every lesson of the Practitioner, Reader and Advanced tiers, with practice that explains every answer.
What the lesson covers
- The pillars B and J
- Roses, lilies and the figure eight
- The letters on the Wheel
- Practice
Foundations and the first lesson of every course are free.