II. The High Priestess

[sweeneyish]

II. The High Priestess

 

 

The High Priestess sits on a stone pedestal, a grimace across her face and her arms crossed tightly in the shape of an x. Long, spindly fingers splay in the air, perhaps quite good at flipping through the pages of old, forgotten texts. Wings rise from her shoulders, apparently petrified into stone. Bare feet lay flat on the checkered ground beneath her. Her red inner robe has the imprints of faces and mysterious text, while her outer robe curls into the shape of a tail next to her feet. Her head appears to block the moon, with only the lunar glow visible behind her. Green buildings sit in the distance, including the Tower (not yet destroyed). In contrast to the powerful grimace on the right hand side of her face, the left hand side is pointed down, immersed in intuition and dream. 

 

She guards deep secrets and the unknown reaches of intuitive wisdom, but this appears to be at a cost, based on her dried up wings. In the companion book, Valenza notes "Regrettably, her beautiful wings are useless, for the dogma she has vowed to defend has hardened them into stone". Her adherence to dogma links her strongly to the Hierophant, and reminds me of the links here to the Tarot de Marseille and the Papesse/Pape there. While the Rider-Waite-Smith High Priestess has always been a somewhat positive card to me, full of wisdom and potential, the High Priestess here seems to strongly hold to her role as gatekeeper, and I suspect she is very guarded with her secrets. I wonder what power would flow forth from her if she opened her arms. 

 

Actually, in many ways the Deviant Moon High Priestess has made me reevaluate my perspective on the RWS High Priestess. I mostly associated intuition and wisdom with her before, but the more I think about it, the more I realize she also represents the institution she is a part of, not just the wisdom of the tradition. In the companion book, Valenza notes that the buildings behind her represent the institutions of education and knowledge - so I guess we can locate her in the university district of this strange city!

 

I think the bare feet and the checkered floor are worth looking at more, especially since they both recur in several characters. In the companion book, Valenza describes a nightmare he had involving this checkered floor, and how he included it in certain cards for that link to dreams and the sub-conscious mind. 

 

Keywords: Wisdom, intuition, esoteric knowledge, secrets, gatekeeping, divine intelligence, dogma, sub-conscious 

 

Some questions to consider: 

 

1. What is the significance of the characters who have bare feet in the deck? 

2. What knowledge does the High Priestess hold? 

3. Who is the High Priestess guarding this knowledge from? And who gets to have it? 

4. Does she represent an obstacle on the path, or a guide? 

 

I'm interested to hear everyone's takes on her. And please feel free to add threads for other cards you're interested in. I'm just adding the Major Arcana one by one, but I have zero ownership on any of them, so if something inspires you, please go for it. 

 

I'll post another spread inspired by her in this thread a bit later in the week. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Wyrdkiss]

Fascinating. I must really simmer on this one.

[AnomalyTempest]

Ascetics of many religions go barefoot. Is she making a show of some sort of poverty or purity? Has her insistence on guarding her knowledge left her broke? Is she too spiritual to get a "real job"? I think Crowly said something along the lines of anyone who knows truth and refuses to share it is an enemy to all man kind while other traditions warn us not to cast pearls before swine. This could be hinted at in the black and white tiles of the floor. What to keep and what to share? The hidden Moon side of her face compared to the public face makes me think of those secret revelations we receive in the night but feel we could be judged harshly for in the light of day. One must be careful who one shares such things with. Not everyone is ready to hear certain things.

[sweeneyish]

12 hours ago, AnomalyTempest said:

Ascetics of many religions go barefoot. Is she making a show of some sort of poverty or purity? Has her insistence on guarding her knowledge left her broke? Is she too spiritual to get a "real job"? I think Crowly said something along the lines of anyone who knows truth and refuses to share it is an enemy to all man kind while other traditions warn us not to cast pearls before swine. This could be hinted at in the black and white tiles of the floor. What to keep and what to share? The hidden Moon side of her face compared to the public face makes me think of those secret revelations we receive in the night but feel we could be judged harshly for in the light of day. One must be careful who one shares such things with. Not everyone is ready to hear certain things.

I really appreciate your reflection here. Some

days I have the same thought as that Crowley quote and sometimes there are times

that it seems appropriate to not share all the secrets. In the tradition I practice in, there are certain practices that are quite secret, and can only be taught by a lineage holder of the tradition, and often only in specific circumstances. But the practices themselves are extraordinarily profound and beneficial. One part of me always thinks “How can we keep this secret from so many people who could benefit?”, while on the other hand, unless someone has some experience before hand, they may not recognize the the practice for the treasure that it is. And of course, the lineage holders themselves have profound responsibilities to the lineage to keep it alive and authentic.

 

Lots of good food for thought here. Maybe her secrets are well kept, but a burden none the less. Good stuff! 

[Flaxen]

On 4/4/2022 at 6:43 PM, sweeneyish said:

Some questions to consider: 

 

1. What is the significance of the characters who have bare feet in the deck? 

2. What knowledge does the High Priestess hold? 

3. Who is the High Priestess guarding this knowledge from? And who gets to have it? 

4. Does she represent an obstacle on the path, or a guide? 

 

I just wanted to say that I’ve found these questions really thought-provoking! I’m still gathering ideas for them and will come and update when I’ve articulated them a bit more clearly. 

 

When I first saw this card, I did find her quite a ‘cold’, forbidding figure. I got the sense that she was guarding her secrets closely and would not reveal them except to an initiate. 

[sweeneyish]

48 minutes ago, Flaxen said:

I just wanted to say that I’ve found these questions really thought-provoking! I’m still gathering ideas for them and will come and update when I’ve articulated them a bit more clearly. 

 

When I first saw this card, I did find her quite a ‘cold’, forbidding figure. I got the sense that she was guarding her secrets closely and would not reveal them except to an initiate. 

I'm so glad they've got your wheels turning! Each of these characters really sparks my imagination. It feels like we could tell many stories about them. I find her very cold and forbidding too. I guess another good question might be, "Is there anything warm or welcoming in her?" 

 

Here is a spread for the High Priestess, inspired by her crossed arms, since we can't see the moon in this image: 

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by sweeneyish

[AnomalyTempest]

Once again your spread gave me some great insights. Again I used the Study Card as the significator. I really learn a lot from letting the cards interact with one another. I actually did this spread yesterday and it is laid out beside me as I type now. I'm sharing a picture this time so it will be easier to follow along.

 

My first impression was AGHHH! There was a whole of that going on. Especially on the top row, then the Ace of Swords is like, "Stop right there! Get to work. Make your dreams come true."

 

Looking more closely, I notice that both the eights and the Ace feature a woman with the High Priestess's face. It seems as though when she is concentrating on her inner thoughts (the eights), she's all, "Oh I have so much to do, I'm dying. Everyone expects so much."  The Ace, again, is telling me to stop that. Get out of my head. I tend to get in too deep.  I started a company with my best friend and I really should be focusing more on that than my inner work. Amusingly enough, my company is called Wishful Whims and genies grant wishes, so the image on the 9 cups seems to especially reinforce the idea of working more on the company.

 

TLDR: This Priestess could be telling us to step back and focus on the real world for a bit.

 

Edit: As soon as I hit post, I "heard" the Ace get a hold of yourself.

 

Edit 2: The Moon face with half closed eyes is exactly how I feel when I'm in my daydreamy state. The other face is me thinking of being in social situations. 😛

Edited April 13, 2022 by AnomalyTempest

[sweeneyish]

On 4/13/2022 at 11:58 AM, AnomalyTempest said:

Once again your spread gave me some great insights. Again I used the Study Card as the significator. I really learn a lot from letting the cards interact with one another. I actually did this spread yesterday and it is laid out beside me as I type now. I'm sharing a picture this time so it will be easier to follow along.

 

My first impression was AGHHH! There was a whole of that going on. Especially on the top row, then the Ace of Swords is like, "Stop right there! Get to work. Make your dreams come true."

 

Looking more closely, I notice that both the eights and the Ace feature a woman with the High Priestess's face. It seems as though when she is concentrating on her inner thoughts (the eights), she's all, "Oh I have so much to do, I'm dying. Everyone expects so much."  The Ace, again, is telling me to stop that. Get out of my head. I tend to get in too deep.  I started a company with my best friend and I really should be focusing more on that than my inner work. Amusingly enough, my company is called Wishful Whims and genies grant wishes, so the image on the 9 cups seems to especially reinforce the idea of working more on the company.

 

TLDR: This Priestess could be telling us to step back and focus on the real world for a bit.

 

Edit: As soon as I hit post, I "heard" the Ace get a hold of yourself.

 

Edit 2: The Moon face with half closed eyes is exactly how I feel when I'm in my daydreamy state. The other face is me thinking of being in social situations. 😛

 

I thoroughly enjoyed your analysis here - so interesting. The cards do interact so well - I love seeing how all the different characters look at each other, look away, etc - So much insight to be gained from reading the cards that way. 

[AnomalyTempest]

I do too. These cards lend themselves to storytelling so well. I also want you to know I am enjoying your spreads. I am gaining insights from them. I really like the way you describe the cards in the first posts as well. You are as good as a guidebook. 😄

[sweeneyish]

13 minutes ago, AnomalyTempest said:

I do too. These cards lend themselves to storytelling so well. I also want you to know I am enjoying your spreads. I am gaining insights from them. I really like the way you describe the cards in the first posts as well. You are as good as a guidebook. 😄

Thank you so much! 🙏 It means a lot to me that you are finding them useful and getting something out of them. It is a lot of fun for me to write them, and to explore this whacky, dark, beautiful world. Lots to learn in it’s twists and turns! 

[AnomalyTempest]

On 4/13/2022 at 10:58 AM, AnomalyTempest said:

Once again your spread gave me some great insights. Again I used the Study Card as the significator. I really learn a lot from letting the cards interact with one another. I actually did this spread yesterday and it is laid out beside me as I type now. I'm sharing a picture this time so it will be easier to follow along.

 

My first impression was AGHHH! There was a whole of that going on. Especially on the top row, then the Ace of Swords is like, "Stop right there! Get to work. Make your dreams come true."

 

Looking more closely, I notice that both the eights and the Ace feature a woman with the High Priestess's face. It seems as though when she is concentrating on her inner thoughts (the eights), she's all, "Oh I have so much to do, I'm dying. Everyone expects so much."  The Ace, again, is telling me to stop that. Get out of my head. I tend to get in too deep.  I started a company with my best friend and I really should be focusing more on that than my inner work. Amusingly enough, my company is called Wishful Whims and genies grant wishes, so the image on the 9 cups seems to especially reinforce the idea of working more on the company.

 

TLDR: This Priestess could be telling us to step back and focus on the real world for a bit.

 

Edit: As soon as I hit post, I "heard" the Ace get a hold of yourself.

 

Edit 2: The Moon face with half closed eyes is exactly how I feel when I'm in my daydreamy state. The other face is me thinking of being in social situations. 😛

So coming back to this spread, I had a weird dream that one of my relationships was broken. I woke up and started thinking of all things that could be wrong. Then, like the Ace I decided to call the person, tell them about the dream and my feelings and we both laughed and everything is fine. Not saying it predicted this situation but it sure helped me handle it in a more mature way instead of keeping it to myself and letting anxiety snowball.

[sweeneyish]

2 hours ago, AnomalyTempest said:

So coming back to this spread, I had a weird dream that one of my relationships was broken. I woke up and started thinking of all things that could be wrong. Then, like the Ace I decided to call the person, tell them about the dream and my feelings and we both laughed and everything is fine. Not saying it predicted this situation but it sure helped me handle it in a more mature way instead of keeping it to myself and letting anxiety snowball.

 

That is amazing - I love it when readings show their wisdom down the road. Shows why it's important to write them down! Nice work.