High Priestess - Tyldwick

[Bodhiseed]

High Priestess

What I notice in the High Priestess card:

Egyptian goddess Isis statue

2 obelisks (different bases, one light and one dark)

Statue sits on clock (possibly)

Arch-like design on tapestry behind statue

Ornate table with “arches” underneath

 

According to Wikipedia in an article about Isis, "many of her priests and priestesses had a reputation for wisdom and healing, and were said to have other special powers, including dream interpretation." This fits nicely into the traditional meaning of the High Priestess as one who has hidden wisdom and the ability to help us tap into our own intuitive knowledge. She sits because she knows this wisdom is within - there is nowhere to go to seek it but inside oneself.

Obelisks were said to be a petrified ray of a sun-disk (a disk with wings that represented the sun god). A pair usually stood in front of a pylon (a gateway to an Egyptian temple). The High Priestess definitely represents a gateway to the inner self. I wonder if the obelisk with the darker base might represent a moon ray and the other a sun ray, indicating the two ways of spiritual seeking - without and within.

The statue sits on what appears to be a clock. Perhaps this indicates stopping time or the power over time. Anyone who has ever been deep in meditation has experienced being "beyond" time.

The arches - on the wall and the two underneath the table - all imply a gateway to someplace special or sacred. The two under the table made me think of shamanic journeys to other worlds that often begin by entering a place like a cave or under the root of a tree.