caridwen
The High Priestess: http://lh5.ggpht.com/-qA-HqSo4w3Q/SxGiKPQHpFI/AAAAAAAACBI/olSLlnwZqxc/2_The_High_Priestess.jpg
This site has all the cards: http://picasaweb.google.com/Galoregnum/HermeticTarot
The Priestess of the Silver Star is looking to her right which right away I find odd as this is supposed to be the Priestess of Intuition and 'Feminine Mysteries' and she should be looking to her left...
From the Tableau of Tarot by Windover she is associated with the Principles:
Gimel/Camel - Uniting I. - Memory - Subjective Mind - Moon - Peace and Strife
http://lh5.ggpht.com/-4uhvM4r8BQ0/TfDR1pW-I5I/AAAAAAAAAAA/ZtLJmyXqu0s/s1600/img082.jpg
The description according to Soror:
According to Regardie her magical title is Daughter of the Mighty Ones however he goes on to say:
I'm assuming that she wears the horns of Hathor. There is more of a description of the High Priestess in Soror's description of the Empress:
(A gibbous moon is one of the phases of the Moon, when the size of the illuminated portion is greater than half but not a full Moon. The period between a first quarter moon and a full moon is known as a waxing gibbous moon, because the illuminated region of the Moon is increasing from day to day. After it becomes a full moon, but hasn’t reached the last quarter, the Moon is called a waning gibbous moon.)
Crowley says:
I'm assuming that the Hermetic High Priestess also holds the musical instrument or the bow of Artemis.
Crowley goes on to explain her sub title:
Crowley goes on to say:
Unlike most High Priestesses, this High Priestess looks to her right. Her posture is unlike any High Priestess I have seen as she has her sleeves rolled up, she has bare feet with her ankles crossed. Her knees are wide apart like other depictions of the Queen of Wands and although she sits between two pillars, they are not the usual pillars of Jachin and Boaz from the Temple of Solomon. These pillars are usually important in Free Masonary as they guard 'the mysteries' and feature on most Masonic buildings and are all built in the same way as described by Eliphas Levi in Dogme et Rituel for example.
These pillars however are different and have pointed tops. There are 9 balls featured. Six either side of the Priestess and three at her feet. As far as I am aware the two pillars represent the twin pillars of the Sepiroth: Justice and Mercy. The third or the middle pillar is beauty which is supposed to be perfected humankind. I can only assume that the three balls at either side refer to Wisdom, Justice, Splendor on her right and to which she looks and on her left: Intelligence, Mercy, Firmness. I'm not sure what the three at her feet refer to. If the moon above her head is the Crown then the three at her feet are possibly: Beauty, Foundation, Kingdom.
I know that the globes have masculine and feminine potencies:
The crescent moon I guess is a reference to Isis. Instead of the usual scroll she seems to be holding a (locked) book in her right hand. Four steps lead up to her throne and there doesn't seem to be a veil separating her or us from the mysteries either.
Not having the LWB I don't know what the Hebrew above her says.
This site has all the cards: http://picasaweb.google.com/Galoregnum/HermeticTarot
The Priestess of the Silver Star is looking to her right which right away I find odd as this is supposed to be the Priestess of Intuition and 'Feminine Mysteries' and she should be looking to her left...
From the Tableau of Tarot by Windover she is associated with the Principles:
Gimel/Camel - Uniting I. - Memory - Subjective Mind - Moon - Peace and Strife
http://lh5.ggpht.com/-4uhvM4r8BQ0/TfDR1pW-I5I/AAAAAAAAAAA/ZtLJmyXqu0s/s1600/img082.jpg
The description according to Soror:
http://www.tarot.org.il/Library/Misc/The Tarot Trumps.htmlTHE HIGH PRIESTESS
The High Priestess rules the long path uniting Kether to Tiphareth, crossing the reciprocal Paths of Venus and Leo. She is the great feminine force controlling the very source of life, gathering into herself all the energizing forces and holding them in solution until the time of release.
According to Regardie her magical title is Daughter of the Mighty Ones however he goes on to say:
The Priestess of the Silver Star is her honorary title, and thus is the means whereby entry is gained into the invisible Third or Highest Order within the Order.
I'm assuming that she wears the horns of Hathor. There is more of a description of the High Priestess in Soror's description of the Empress:
http://www.tarot.org.il/Library/Misc/The Tarot Trumps.htmlThe Egyptian trilogy, Isis, Hathor and Nephthys, symbolized by the crescent, full moon, and gibbous moon are represented in the Tarot by the High Priestess, Hathor...while Hathor is rather the Mystic, the full moon reflecting the Sun of Tiphareth while in Yesod, transmitting the rays of the Sun in her path Gimel. In interpreting a practical Tarot it is often admissible to regard the Empress as standing for Occultism. The High Priestess for religion, the Church as distinguished from the Order.
(A gibbous moon is one of the phases of the Moon, when the size of the illuminated portion is greater than half but not a full Moon. The period between a first quarter moon and a full moon is known as a waxing gibbous moon, because the illuminated region of the Moon is increasing from day to day. After it becomes a full moon, but hasn’t reached the last quarter, the Moon is called a waning gibbous moon.)
Crowley says:
The card represents the most spiritual form of Isis the Eternal Virgin; the
Artemis of the Greeks...Upon her knees is the bow of Artemis, which is also a musical
instrument, for she is huntress, and hunts by enchantment.
I'm assuming that the Hermetic High Priestess also holds the musical instrument or the bow of Artemis.
Crowley goes on to explain her sub title:
Thus far concerning this path, considered as issuing downwards from the
Crown; but to the aspirant, that is, to the adept who is already in Tiphareth, to
him who has attained to the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian
Angel, this is the path which leads upwards; and this card, in one system
entitled the Priestess of the Silver Star, is symbolic of the thought (or rather of
the intelligible radiance) of that Angel. It is, in short, a symbol of the highest
Initiation.
Crowley goes on to say:
It is important to reflect that this card is wholly feminine, wholly virginal, for it
represents the influence and the means of manifestation (or, from below, of
attainment) in itself. It represents possibility in its second stage without any
beginning of consummation.
Unlike most High Priestesses, this High Priestess looks to her right. Her posture is unlike any High Priestess I have seen as she has her sleeves rolled up, she has bare feet with her ankles crossed. Her knees are wide apart like other depictions of the Queen of Wands and although she sits between two pillars, they are not the usual pillars of Jachin and Boaz from the Temple of Solomon. These pillars are usually important in Free Masonary as they guard 'the mysteries' and feature on most Masonic buildings and are all built in the same way as described by Eliphas Levi in Dogme et Rituel for example.
These pillars however are different and have pointed tops. There are 9 balls featured. Six either side of the Priestess and three at her feet. As far as I am aware the two pillars represent the twin pillars of the Sepiroth: Justice and Mercy. The third or the middle pillar is beauty which is supposed to be perfected humankind. I can only assume that the three balls at either side refer to Wisdom, Justice, Splendor on her right and to which she looks and on her left: Intelligence, Mercy, Firmness. I'm not sure what the three at her feet refer to. If the moon above her head is the Crown then the three at her feet are possibly: Beauty, Foundation, Kingdom.
I know that the globes have masculine and feminine potencies:
http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/secret_teachings_of_all_ages/tree_of_the_sephiroth.htmThe column on the right, which is called Jachin, has its foundation on Chochmah, the outpouring Wisdom of God; the three globes suspended from it are all masculine potencies. The column at the left is called Boaz. The three globes upon it are feminine and receptive potencies, for it is founded in Understanding, a receptive and maternal potency. Wisdom, it will be noted, is considered as radiant or outpouring, and Understanding as receptive, or something which is filled by the flowing of Wisdom. The three pillars are ultimately united in Malchuth, in which all the powers of the superior worlds are manifested.
The crescent moon I guess is a reference to Isis. Instead of the usual scroll she seems to be holding a (locked) book in her right hand. Four steps lead up to her throne and there doesn't seem to be a veil separating her or us from the mysteries either.
Not having the LWB I don't know what the Hebrew above her says.