The High Priestess

spinningspider

Whenever I encounter Robin's rendition of the High Priestess, calm settles over me. The colors in the card are mysterious, peaceful and soothing. And I'm someone who walks into walls on or near full moons, so that's saying a lot! Her beautiful eyes have a way of settling me and making me stop to listen.

The truly lovely High Priestess, young as she is shown, has deep wisdom within her. It reminds me that old age does not necessarily mean wisdom and a young age does not necessarily mean lack thereof. Not only does she hold the secrets of the unknown in her right hand, but she's not afraid to share the knowledge she's gleened from the book in her left hand. I also feel she wouldn't be ashamed to check out particular points in the book, should she need a refresher...or even, perhaps, to "say it in a different way," should the person she's speaking to need clarification.

I'm a solitary Wiccan, but if I encountered a High Priestess in this lifetime that embodied what I believe this woman does, I may reconsider joining a coven. One can just tell she's the real thing...no pretentiousness, no egotistical rubbish...just striving for truth, peace, love and kindness.
 

Moonson

spinningspider said almost everything about this card... and i agree with her!

To me, looks like that it represents a nocturnal ritual, where this beautyfull and sensual High Priestess is presiding. For me it says that misteries/secrets will be revealed. She is revealing them from the open book and also from the cristal ball on her hand.

For me it's a very mysterious card... It's night and with a full moon. At night all things get obscured, but with the beautifull light from the Moon, things get clear.
I guess it's a very good card if it apears to a woman on a reading. It shows the mysterious power that comes from the moon combined with beauty and sensuality. Mistery, power, beauty and sensuality... hm... for me, it's a killer combination! ("killer" in a good way! :) )
 

Ravenne

Great wisdom, full maturity, wise woman, spiritual, mysterious, receptive.
What caught my eye were the two birches in the background which haven't been mentioned but, I feel, are important.
There's a white and a black birch, not found a good explanation of the difference between them. A Birch is a Goddess tree and represents new beginnings, protection and helps relationships develop. (There's more, but I feel these are the ones that matter here, personal opinion :) )
To me it feels as if the birches are guardians, protecting the woman. It's as if they are a gateway to a sacred site, possibly being one's inner world, intuition, the realm one goes to for divination, meditation, astral travel, and on a more mundane level the bit one taps into when having a "gut" feeling.
As this card is solely on feminine things, including the birch trees, intuition, inner wisdom and connection with Higher things are very apparent.
She's got the ability to blend in with her environment (her robe blends in with the background). To me this means she can "absorb" a lot of info out of the environment, meaning intuition and empathy. Furthermore it tells me she's present, but she doesn;t attract a lot of attention: her energy is inwards, not outgoing. By doing both, she combines heaven and earth; she picks up things from the outside world and connects it with a Higher level.
The kind of woman that is there, but many people might not even notice her. The ones that do notice her, probably don't know what to make of her (hence her being mysterious), probably find her weird. Only the ones that need her wisdom, or are intuitive themselves, will see her for what she is.
I suppose that on the downside this can make her an "outcast", misunderstood and possibly lonely.
Kind of logical many people cannot grasp her quality; they;re blinded by the light when they look at her, with the full moon behind her. (Okay, the moon isn't really blinding, but her front side should be in the shade as the moon is behind her). She however, can see everything clearly as the same moonlight lits up everything for her to see.
What doesn't make sense to me: the moon is behind her, yet there's highlighting on the front of her gown and hair, which is not possible, unless there's a second light source. Technically speaking the picture is not correct.
The crystal ball means (to me) she has access to intuition, the Divine and the BoS/journal to me mean she has access to great wisdom.

I've had her come up in a reading where I interpreted the card as "waiting patiently". I think that's one of her great qualities, one that any wise person will have: knowing when it's time to speak/act and when not to.

Summarized I'd say: intuition, wisdom, patience, empathy, inner strength and balance.

If someone wants to give feedback, pls do so! I still find many Major Arcana cards very difficult!

Ravenne
 

Amashelle

Ravenne said:
What doesn't make sense to me: the moon is behind her, yet there's highlighting on the front of her gown and hair, which is not possible, unless there's a second light source. Technically speaking the picture is not correct.

I thought this was an interesting comment. I also noticed the lighting, but took it in stride. In my mind, the High Priestess has a light of her own. It does not shine brightly because, as has been noted, she blends in; she is not obvious with her power, but it does illuminate her subtly, drawing our attention to her face, and lighting the pages of her book so that she can more easily read the secrets there in.

I think the black and white birch trees, in addition to guarding her, are symbols of the two types of knowledge: white for all that we can see and touch and read and KNOW, and black for that wich is hidden from us, inside our hearts, in the shadows of our minds, in the darkness of the night, like the difference between the open book and the enclosed orb. Note the white tree is lit by he moon, while the black one is farther away, in shadow.

Her robes are interesting: they are white at the shoulders (possibly due to highlighting from her inner light, but I see it as white fabric) and they get steadily darker, moving through the shades of joyous, calm, and tranquil blues and purples. I'd be willing to bet that the hem is back, too, showcasing the depth and range of her knowledge: she spans all things, all shades of colour, all dualities. She walks in both this world and the next, and she remains here to share her knowledge with us.

Those are just my thoughts. After that terribly critical post on the lovers card, I just had to comment positively on this lovely deck :)
 

shiresun

She Came To Me One Morning

At the very moment that I looked at The High Priestess, I'd just been thinking the main desire within my heart was to find peace and quiet to make sense my previous meeting.

At first, I didn't feel anything, looking at the image, so I sat for a long time staring at the card. The High Priestess . I let my eyes drink in all the nuances of each part. What I thought might be not getting anything from this card, turned out to be a contrast between the previous stop and this one. In a strange way it was akin to how deaf a person feels after leaving a rock concert. Nothing seems to penetrate the daze of a highly charged experience. So, I listened more intently and just let whatever wanted to come to me, drift, as if a feather floating down to earth.

I found a gentle peace about this card. Standing central in the graphic, a beautiful woman - the essence of the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone, all held within her countenance. It feels good to be outside, the air is fresh and fragrant with earthy scents and alive with night sounds.

She is warm, welcoming, and quietly waiting. She is tall and striking. Her hair is long, billowing out behind her, a crescent moon headband, set mid-brow. Around her neck is a pentacle on a thin silver chain. She is holding a book (of shadows?) open in her left hand and a crystal ball in her right hand. She is clothed in a flowing gown; white at the shoulders, green, fading into teal, draping over her upper body, fading into light blue and then a deeper blue further down.

She stands between two trees; a birch tree on her left (the white bark) and a black barked tree on her right (still a birch?). The full Moon is a 'ghostly galleon, tossed upon cloudy seas' casting light and shadow as it slips behind and then slides out of the white clouds. The night sky is purple.

There is a silence, a stillness about her, as if her knowledge is imparted thru demonstration, showing the way of simply being. There is a sense of relief, standing in her presence, a feeling of safety.

The crystal ball sparkles, and as I gaze at it, it seems I can see the cosmos held within giving the sense that she is saying the universe is within all of us.

Stillness; gentle strength, wisdom and balance are her teachings.

I suspect there is tons more, but right now it's not getting through?

ETA: I just re-read this and saw: the main desire within my heart was to find peace and quiet to make sense of it all. Another of those DUH moments. Sometimes, we do get what we want...

TBC
 

Moonson

shiresun, i just love your descriptions!!

"the air is fresh and fragrant with earthy scents and alive with night sounds." - alive with night sounds... has i read this i pictured the image (of the card) and the sounds of crickets and maybe a distant owl saying hello to moon... how have i not realized that?!

"There is a sense of relief, standing in her presence, a feeling of safety." ; "
Stillness; gentle strength, wisdom and balance are her teachings" - i also agree with this.
 

shiresun

Many Greetings, Moonson :)

Again, I thank you for telling me how you are seeing things in my words about the card. It's very helpful, my being so new, to know that I'm making sense. :) My first blog for each card is always a narrative of my own inner Earth Walk from card to card. I see the actual trail, see how the surroundings change as I progress.

I'm really glad to see you here, walking down Robin Wood Lane with me.

Peace,

Shire