Literature Clues: II High Priestess

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 13 May 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Moongold	13 May 2003
You who never arrived in my arms, Beloved, who were lost from the start, I don't even know what songs would please you. I have given up trying to recognise you in the surging wave of the next moment. All the immense images in me - the far-off, deeply-felt landscape. cities, towers and hedges, and un- suspected turns in the path, and those powerful lands that were once pulsing with the life of the Gods - all rise within me to mean you, who must forever elude me. You, beloved, who are all the gardens I have ever gazed at. longing. An open window in a country house - , and you almost stepped out, pensive, to meet me. Streets that I chanced upon, - you had just walked down them and vanished. And sometimes, in a shop, the mirrors were still dizzy with your presence and, startled, gave back my too-sudden image. Who knows? perhaps the same bird echoed through both of us yesterday, separate, in the evening. Rilke You are not going to like me for this one. It implies an almost sexual attraction to an unlikely figure. I actually saw a male member of Aeclectic write this one day so it has happened.! Think of the impressions.....Good luck Moongold

allibee	13 May 2003
Does sound a bit like Orpheus and his trip to the underworld, refering to his beloved Euridice .... King Cups from the Mythic deck? A.

Two of Wands	13 May 2003
I have so many possibles for this one... is it the Six of Cups?

Moongold	13 May 2003
Great guesses. I thought it would be hard. It is a Major. Think about mystery and unattainability, and the longing for both. The unattainability is a major aspect. There's an implicit clue in my my comments following the poem itself. Isn't it a stunning poem? Moongold

firemaiden	13 May 2003
Death?

allibee	13 May 2003
High Priestess? Mysterious and unattainable, distant? A

Moongold	13 May 2003
Very interesting guess, firemaiden, but no. I can see the Rilke connection though in your guess. I think the mythical representations of this figure were actually not engaged in death rituals. I think they were more engaged in celebrating mystery. Immensely powerful but not in an upfront way Allibee, I used the RWS but there is a standard mythology around this figure, Moongold

firemaiden	13 May 2003
The Moon?

Moongold	13 May 2003
No. In the first comments I alluded to a figure that sometimes can be sexualized. However this is also "forbidden", and the unattainability adds to the allure .... for some. men particularly, for some reason often prize this characteristic.... Moongold

Moongold	13 May 2003
Allibee, undoubtedly Queen Arclectic of Quizzes...... You got it :) :) I didn't see your post when I last posted. Moomgold

The Literature Clues: II High Priestess thread was originally posted on 13 May 2003 in the Tarot Games & Fun board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Games & Fun, or read more archived threads.