the High Priestess is a goddess...
Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 17 Mar 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.
| Elizabeth Genco |
17 Mar 2005 |
|
Hopefully this is the right place for this question. If not, my apologies. This is probably best suited to the Pagans and world mythology buffs among us.
Question: if you had to associate the High Priestess with a goddess, which one would she be? As in, which particular goddesses possess the most HPs-ish qualities, in your view?
I know that there are a lot of decks out there that couple her with a particular deity (can't think of any off the top of my head, but I know that they're out there; in fact, I know that I have some on my shelf), and if one resonates for you, I'd love to hear about it.
I'm thinking about this issue for a story I'm writing, and would love to hear some takes on it.
Thanks!
|
| rabidwolfie |
17 Mar 2005 |
|
Well, my personal takes would be the greek mythology goddesses, as I don't know of too many others, & from what I know, I think the high preistess is a bit of a mix between Aphrodite & Athena (she's the huntress right?). but that's just my personal take on it through my (limited) expirience. Heh.
|
| Skysteel |
17 Mar 2005 |
|
I know she wasn't a Goddess, but I think the mythological seer Cassandra quite aptly symbolises the High Priestess - both of them see things that others can't necessarily (or do not wish to) percieve yet, and both are often disregarded until it is too late.
(At least in my experience.)
- :D
|
| Deana |
17 Mar 2005 |
|
I definitely see her as Isis.
|
| Cagedflame |
17 Mar 2005 |
|
Hekate, Demeter, or Persephone, as the three of them were very involved in being keepers of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Secret knowledge shared only w/ initiates.
|
| rachelcat |
17 Mar 2005 |
|
Prajnaparamita (Buddhist, Perfect Wisdom).
(I have a better picture of this same statue somewhere. I'll post it when I find it.)
|
| MercyMe |
17 Mar 2005 |
|
In the Robin Wood deck she looks strikingly like Freyja of Norse mythology. :)
~Mercy
|
| Skysteel |
17 Mar 2005 |
|
Oh yeah, Persephone as well (because of the pomegranates).
|
| Elizabeth Genco |
17 Mar 2005 |
|
Gracious. Look at all these replies already! You guys are fabulous!
There's some great suggestions here. Thanks! (And keep 'em coming, if you have more!)
The wheels in me mind are already spinning... heh.
|
| Sulis |
17 Mar 2005 |
|
I associate her with Moon Goddesses, I think she's traditionally associated with Isis but I would also associate her with Persephone.
She seems to me to be the Virgin aspect of the triple Goddess, the Empress being the Mother aspect.
Love
Sulis xx
|
| Silverkitten |
17 Mar 2005 |
|
I had never thought about this before, but I guess I would have to agree with Sulis. I too have liken the HP to the Moon goddesses, though not sure exactly which aspect. I just know that she holds an extreme amount of power to me for some reason.
Donna
|
| ncefafn |
17 Mar 2005 |
|
I agree with everyone who said the Triple Goddess, but for me, most especially the Maiden and Crone, Selene and Hecate.
|
| Phoenix Rising |
17 Mar 2005 |
|
Hi Elizabeth
To tell you the truth I don't recognise the high priestess as any diety, mainly because they are another cultures mythology, not mine, and can't connect with any of them.
But the High Priestess, reminds me of a 'mysterious woman' that is amongst all of the normal folk, and practises in silence. She is humble, quiet strength and most compassionate. She reminds me of a beautiful woman I know, who would give and give without recognition, but her quiet power, as she is a healer too, she would do healings in silence.
Does it have to be a know diety? or someone human?
|
| Sophie-David |
17 Mar 2005 |
|
Hi Elizabeth
Well that is a question that is dear to my heart! I would concur with others and suggest that the High Priestess is associated with the virgin Moon goddesses: in the Roman Pantheon Diana or Persephone, in the Greek Artemis or Kore, and in the Egyptian Isis. I would not go so far at to say that she is any of these goddesses, but that she is High Priestess to them. To me, the Moon card represents the divine goddess herself. BTW, by virgin I mean single, not celibate.
My personal interpretation of the remainder of the Triple Goddess is that the Empress connects to Venus or Aphrodite, or Sumer's Inana; and that the Star connects to Demeter or Ceres.
Cheers
David
|
| Cagedflame |
17 Mar 2005 |
|
I agree with everyone who said the Triple Goddess, but for me, most especially the Maiden and Crone, Selene and Hecate.
*pet peeve* In original Greek myth, Hekate was always a young/maiden goddess.
|
| ncefafn |
17 Mar 2005 |
|
*pet peeve* In original Greek myth, Hekate was always a young/maiden goddess.
Sorry.
|
| Elizabeth Genco |
17 Mar 2005 |
|
Does it have to be a know diety? or someone human?
Hello, Phoenix!
I hear ya -- totally wouldn't make sense to make deity connections with the cards if that's not in your worldview (for lack of a better word). For my particular case here, yeah, I'm thinking deity, because that's what the woman in my story is thinking. BUT! Your insights are helpful. Humans are ok, too -- right now it's all just grist for the mill (in my head).
|
| Phoenix Rising |
17 Mar 2005 |
|
Ok then...If anyone, probably Isis, mother creator, healer, nurturer and woman of Magic!
|
| kwaw |
17 Mar 2005 |
|
Well the TdM I would say Isis, if for no other reason than she looks like renaissance portrayals of Isis, and Juno too; both like Mary having the title 'queen of heaven'. Diana as goddess of withcraft would link in with with reports of the 'devil's hard, cold' penis which some have speculated may have been an artificial penis, and the Popesse has a dildo across her chest.
Kwaw
|
| Fulgour |
17 Mar 2005 |
|
And yet we must wonder, what do you think, Kwaw?
|
| Vincent |
17 Mar 2005 |
|
and the Popesse has a dildo across her chest.
Kwaw And what an eye watering dildo that must have been.
At last we have an answer to that puzzle that Waite poses, when he says of the Charioteer;
"...that if he came to the pillars of that Temple between which the High Priestess is seated, he could not open the scroll called Tora..."
Vincent
|
| Elizabeth Genco |
17 Mar 2005 |
|
And what an eye watering dildo that must have been.
If there was a "sentence of the day", I think that'd have to be it...
Heh.
|
| Nevada |
17 Mar 2005 |
|
Hecate immediately sprang to mind when I read the question, but then Vincent and kwaw distracted me. ;)
Sophia or Mary Magdalene are other possibilities.
Nevada
|
| jmd |
17 Mar 2005 |
|
Personally, I tend to see Isian imagery more closely connected with the Empress, but can also see aspects here connected.
For the Papess, for myself it is more the Mirian imagery that comes to mind, especially of the annunciation. Of course, this does not directly address the question, as Mary is not normally deified.
The close connection between this card and the next, however, can also make her the same person/being - and in that case show different aspect of the same divine Isian being.
Still others could be considered, and one that comes to mind is Aletheia - Truth (I have also used her in conjunction with the Tetrad is card VI for Aeclectic Project III). Here it is not so much a goddess, but rather an allegorical depiction of the 'being of Truth'.
|
| Gyda |
17 Mar 2005 |
|
I would have to say Fríge of the anglo-saxons Goddesses. (Frigg in Norse myth)
Gyda
|
| Ceit |
17 Mar 2005 |
|
I see her as Bridget (Celtic)-- Who stands for wisdom, knowledge -- She is mythical and has transformed herself from Goddess to Saint (in the Catholic Church) -- she is spiritual yet adaptive to the world around her.
|
| Ulfdis |
18 Mar 2005 |
|
I would have to say Fríge of the anglo-saxons Goddesses. (Frigg in Norse myth)
Gyda
I really have to agree with you, Gyda. Someone in an earlier post on this thread felt that the High Priestess reminded them of Freyja (the Frowe), but I see Frigg as more of the "still waters that run deep".
|
| spoonbender |
18 Mar 2005 |
|
in the Roman Pantheon Diana or Persephone, in the Greek Artemis or Kore, and in the Egyptian Isis.
Actually, Persephone and Kore ("Girl") are both Greek. In Roman mythology, she is called Proserpina.
|
| psychic sue |
18 Mar 2005 |
|
I see her as Mother Earth - the daughter, mother and crone, representing birth/youth, adulthood and aging/death or spring summer and winter. I'm really glad you asked this question because I am being drawn to the Goddess at the moment, and I am also being drawn to the moon which is linked to woman.
Sue x
|
| psychic sue |
18 Mar 2005 |
|
And what an eye watering dildo that must have been.
Vincent
Another entry for "things you never thought you'd read today"!
Well done Vincent! :)
|
| kwaw |
18 Mar 2005 |
|
I see her as Mother Earth - the daughter, mother and crone, representing birth/youth, adulthood and aging/death or spring summer and winter. I'm really glad you asked this question because I am being drawn to the Goddess at the moment, and I am also being drawn to the moon which is linked to woman.
Sue x
I see her more as a bridal figure, the quartet of Popesse, Empress, Emporor and Pope relating to the heiros gamos and the mystic interpretation of the song of songs and the sacrament of sex as imitatio dei and the dynamics of the godhead. The triple goddess of late roman and eastern greek antiquity could I think be associate more with the world card. However, Il Mondo as cosmos and the TdM figure being related to Eve would perhaps emphasise the aspect of 'Mother'.
Kwaw
|
| Sulis |
18 Mar 2005 |
|
I think that she's also linked to Hathor - the Egyptian moon goddess because of her crown which is shaped like a cresent moon but also like the horns of a cow.
Love
Sulis xx
|
| kwaw |
18 Mar 2005 |
|
And yet we must wonder, what do you think, Kwaw?
Firstly I consider the image of the Popesse to be related to Miram theology more than anything else.
However in connection with the hypothetical question of how we may relate her to pagan goddesses: In that the first in the series may be taken to represent states of man, I consider her a personage rather than a divinity, and do not consider the Popesse any more a Goddess than I would the Pope a God. That is I see her as a Priestess of the feminine divine rather than as an image of the femine divinity itself. Of which divinity she may be a priestess I am inclined to those of more universal attributes rather than specifically lunar, and so favour Isis or Juno. However, though 'universal', the bridal imagery may emphasise or relate to lunar aspects, in as much as symbolism of the sun and moon relate to the symbolism of bridegroom and bride; so the lunar aspects of a universal [rather than specifically lunar] deity.
In this respect it is interesting Andrea Alciato in his list of the trumps in "Parergon Juris", 1543 [according to a posting by ross caldwell in tarotl] lists the Popesse as 'Flaminica'. A Flaminica was the wife of the highest ranking Flamen in Roman antiquity, the 'high priest' of Jupiter. She was a priestess in her own right and her duties included officiating at the rites of Juno. Her 'priestly' attire was based upon that of a bride.
Kwaw
|
| Gyda |
18 Mar 2005 |
|
I really have to agree with you, Gyda. Someone in an earlier post on this thread felt that the High Priestess reminded them of Freyja (the Frowe), but I see Frigg as more of the "still waters that run deep".
I wouls say the Frowe or possible Edgeongan(Idunna in Norse myth) would be more Empress.
Gyda
|
| Alpha-Omega |
23 Mar 2005 |
|
Well yes a mix of Athena (Athena is the Greek virgin goddess of reason, intelligent activity, arts and literature.)
Artimis (She was goddess of chastity, virginity, the hunt, the moon, and the natural environment) IN Greek Mythology
In Egyption Mythology mostly ISIS. she represents our feminine aspects - creation - rebirth - ascension - intuition - psychic abilties - higher chakras - higher frequency virbations - love and compassion. She is the Yin energies - the mother nurturer - the High Priestess
|
| Fudugazi |
23 Mar 2005 |
|
Innana. Or Parvati. Or Freya. Or Selene.
Some days, when she is dark, she is Ereshkigal or Hecate.
|
The the High Priestess is a goddess... thread was originally posted on 17 Mar 2005 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.
|
