In Tarot Arcana 11, originally called ‘Force’, a woman provocatively opens the mouth of a lion in the region of her sex. It is interesting and strange that Valentine Tomberg calls her a ‘virgin’, but Tomberg was, after all, a chaste Catholic. In pre-Christian times virgin meant ‘unmarried woman’, and the virgin could just as well be a whore. In the East, where sexuality is less complicated, the lion's energy could just as easily symbolise pure life energy or prana, which needs to be tamed.
Of course, the force arcana flies in the face of the more passive female archetypes, as tarot arcana often do—as she is not merely ‘receptive’ to masculine ‘penetration’. In some ways, this card symbolises the female hero's journey, which is more about ‘taming the lion’ than ‘killing the dragon’—in other words, working the explosive energy of Shakti rather than the penetrative Shiva. But this is anything but a passive process, and interestingly Aleister Crowley calls her ‘Lust’. Crowley, the eternal antichrist, wanted to make female lust sacred again.
The Arcana tells us that the lion is ruthless on its own, but with the woman holding its jaws, its force can be transmuted alchemically into virtue, strength, and will. The red lion is an alchemic symbol of aggression—she tames masculine aggression, which is why she wears a red cloak and even has red nail polish on her big toe in the Camion Marseilles deck. Valentine Tomberg would say the lion represents ‘electricity’ or passionate friction and mechanical force, whereas the virgin is nature in its already existing state. The Lion is all about electric vitality, phallic passions, and primordial powers that need to be spiritualised.
Like the magician, the woman is crowned with the infinity sign, indicating she draws from an infinite source. She is connected to inexhaustible energy—the energy of light or solar power—the ream of the angels, to speak mythologically. Perhaps the lion represents material power—the power of carbon, bones, oil, and gas—that which comes from below, just as spiritual power comes from above. While being ferocious, our animal nature is subject to death, whereas the ‘virgin’ energy is inexhaustible—she is eternally new. Virginity, therefore, is not the prudish avoidance of sexuality but primordial and undiluted strength.
There are two main differences between the Marseille deck and the Rider Waits. In the Marseilles deck, the virgin attempts to open the beast's jaws; in the Rider Waits, she appears to be closing the lions jaws and pushing down on its head. In the Marseille deck, she ‘opens up’ or provokes masculine aggression, perhaps causing the beast to fight for her honour in an old-fashioned tradition. In the Rider Waits deck, she closes the lion's jaws, taming his violence rather than provoking it.
These are two sides of the same coin. The feminine gives life and takes it away—she decides who is worthy of her attention. And the masculine must become a beast at times. Real strength is in this dialectic between male fire and feminine cooling, wildness and domesticity, carnal sexuality and virginal love. Men are called to action through the need to love and protect the feminine. They are also tamed at the same time in the domestic sphere.
There is an interesting discussion about quantity and quality in the Tomberg meditations. We measure strength by size, reach, and numbers. Billionaires or presidents might be lions of power, but that doesn’t mean they are necessarily men of quality or intrinsic strength. In terms of quality, the feminine wins again—even if she is weaker physically, her spirit dominates the beast. She has intrinsic strength—she is the power behind the throne. In reality, he is impotent, and his power is merely symbolic without her.
This image represents the primordial struggle between the masculine and the feminine, which is the eternal struggle of opposites. Both are in conflict, and both need the other. The virgin needs to be impregnated—the beast must plant his seed. The two together form a proper marriage.
‘Maria/Sophia’, as Tomberg calls the feminine principle, brings incarnation and wholeness—that is why Mary is the mother of God, as they say in some Orthodox traditions. The lion often symbolises Christ. This arcana is not about symmetry or equality but about holding the erotic tension between beauty and the beast. In the end, they are one and not two—as they say in Zen. They are dynamically non-dual.
This article is part of a consideration of our study group on symbolism and Psychomagic. If you want to become a member and join one of our study groups, please write to me at andrewpgsweeny@gmail.com or check out the events calendar below for more details.