I had cause to revisit my study of the Rider-Waite Golden Dawn High Priestess Tarot II (2) largely because the B and J markings on the pillars. One is looking in on a mystery:
[en.wikipedia.org]
Now B (Boaz) and J (Jachin) were 2 pillars outside the Temple of Solomon. Albert Pike, with Biblical support here, makes it plain that Jachin was in the south and on the left going in to the temple. That won't work with Tarot II. So what's going on?
Some authors - David Jay Jordan and John Pratt, for instance - place Jachin in the north. That would work for Tarot II. But it's not right. So what about the freemasons? No-one seems to know when or why, but speculative freemasonry seems (in the main - ignoring the masonic drawing board "Fidelitas Moribus Unica" and "The Compass of the Wise", which clearly put Jachin in the north) to have chosen to alter the orientation of the lodge from that of the temple - west to east. But it didn't spin it round - as Fidelitas Moribus Unica the Compass indicate it did - but mirrored it. Hence Jachin is on the right and in the south going in to the lodge, I hazard. And this fits to Tarot II. Conclusion? Tarot II was based on the lodge and not the temple.
This leaves an inconsistency regarding the Sts John of Jerusalem, Baptist and Evangelist. Some (but definitely not Pike!) equate these with the tropics Cancer and Capricorn, summer and winter. And the Baptist's birthday is June 24th, a time of an (appropriate?) Water ceremony, as the Evangelist's is a December Fire ceremony. But the Jachin pillar is associated with the sun/male/fire as Boaz is moon/female/water ... but Boaz is in the north = Cancer and Jachin is in the South = Capricorn. They're the wrong way round. And, of course, where Cancer is a water sign, Capricorn is earth and not fire.
[en.wikipedia.org]
Now B (Boaz) and J (Jachin) were 2 pillars outside the Temple of Solomon. Albert Pike, with Biblical support here, makes it plain that Jachin was in the south and on the left going in to the temple. That won't work with Tarot II. So what's going on?
Some authors - David Jay Jordan and John Pratt, for instance - place Jachin in the north. That would work for Tarot II. But it's not right. So what about the freemasons? No-one seems to know when or why, but speculative freemasonry seems (in the main - ignoring the masonic drawing board "Fidelitas Moribus Unica" and "The Compass of the Wise", which clearly put Jachin in the north) to have chosen to alter the orientation of the lodge from that of the temple - west to east. But it didn't spin it round - as Fidelitas Moribus Unica the Compass indicate it did - but mirrored it. Hence Jachin is on the right and in the south going in to the lodge, I hazard. And this fits to Tarot II. Conclusion? Tarot II was based on the lodge and not the temple.
This leaves an inconsistency regarding the Sts John of Jerusalem, Baptist and Evangelist. Some (but definitely not Pike!) equate these with the tropics Cancer and Capricorn, summer and winter. And the Baptist's birthday is June 24th, a time of an (appropriate?) Water ceremony, as the Evangelist's is a December Fire ceremony. But the Jachin pillar is associated with the sun/male/fire as Boaz is moon/female/water ... but Boaz is in the north = Cancer and Jachin is in the South = Capricorn. They're the wrong way round. And, of course, where Cancer is a water sign, Capricorn is earth and not fire.