High Priestess As Feelings

Julien

As I read the posts above, it struck me that I am not sure moodiness and "fluctuations of feelings" are the same thing. Moodiness might be the reversed HP, but I can conceive of a way that fluctuating feelings (and intuitions) may lead to balance rather than moodiness. Moodiness suggests, to me at least, that you move between the poles of emotions... "Fluctuations" suggests more possibilities, more nuances, and quite likely a deeper sensibility as a result.

Games with words, I know -- but I think the upright HP is aware of herself to the degree that she knows and owns her feelings, but is not really "captured" by them in the way that moodiness generally suggests.

Julien
 

Thirteen

Julien said:
As I read the posts above, it struck me that I am not sure moodiness and "fluctuations of feelings" are the same thing.
Maybe not, but "fluctuations of feelings" doesn't suggest to me ownership of feelings. It's rather like being in a movie and letting those feelings being manipulated by the movie: sad part = cry, happy part = laugh, scary part = fear.

It suggests also inconstancy, the sort of woman who might be horribly upset with someone one moment, then forgiving them the next, then weeping over their inconsideration the next...a woman who gives in and displays every emotions that strikes her the moment it strikes her. This is more the Queen/Cups to me.

That's how I read the word "fluctuation" which usually means unpredictable changes. By compare, I see the HPS as intuitively adjusting her feelings to suit the situation (if she's upright! Reversed is a different story). If the situation requires calmness to maintain the balance, than calmness is what she will feel. If tearful sympathy is needed to maintain it, than that is what she will feel. I don't mean she's calculated or insincere, only that she intuits and feels what's wanted, rather than *indulges* in feelings for her own benefit.

Putting it another way, her changes in feelings are, IMHO, due to empathy and psychic intuition rather than "fluctuations" or moodiness.
 

Sophie

Thirteen said:
But wouldn't moodiness and fluctuations be a reversed HPS? As pictured, and as you point out, the upright HPS is actually following a very regular cycle of the moon, and therefore not going to fluctuate so much as adjust in order to maintain that balance between the two pillars. What I'm saying is that, I've always seen the HPS as the slowly spinning fulcrum of a seesaw. In her card, the sides of that seesaw are balanced, but we expect that moment to end and one side to go up, the other down. BUT, the HPS adjusts--goes through a cycle if you will--that keeps them equal.

This relates back to Isis, by the way, who in the story of Osiris and the conception of Horus maintains the balance between death and life. Osiris has been killed, and this has unbalanced the universe, left it without a god of light, only death and darkness. And so Isis uses her magic of restoring life, temporarily (a woman's ability to arouse a man to orgasm) in order to conceive Osiris' heir and replacement. She is the fulcrum, standing between death and life, dark and light, past and future. She, alone, knows how to maintain that impossible in-between.

Though she may look like she's remaining still, on a psychic level she is changing, like the moon; adjusting so neither side has an advantage over the other, so they both remain equal. It isn't fluctuation so much as necessary and regular adjustments, like the tides coming in and going out.
Yes, exactly, Thirteen! And yes, I would also see moodiness as a reversed HP (that is why meditating with her can help mood swings linked to menstual or pre-menstrual problems). The HP's feelings are cyclical, but she's not moody. I love what you write about Isis, Osiris and the HP's ability to stand between life and death - and as I see it, negotiate between them.
 

Glass Owl

Thirteen said:
And who says we can't feel dark and mysterious ourselves. Sometimes we do. We feel a certain delight in being in the know, in having and keeping secrets. One of the feelings you get with the HPS is that of power. Because you have inside knowledge. Others will get lost in the dark, but not you. You know your way around. You know all the traps and dead ends. You know all the secret passages. You've read all the forbidden texts, the true histories, and locked diaries.

Now, you may also feel like keeping quiet, like you want to be alone and not have company, other people may feel like an intrusion on your deepest thoughts and important ideas; even more, you may feel a little cut off from people, an observer rather than a participant. Nevertheless, you probably also feel smug. A nice, cool smugness. Because you have all this secret power. And the only reason you're not using it is because you choose not to.
You pinned down exactly why the character Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler in the book "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" by E. L. Konigsburg loves keeping secrets! I sort of see the High Priestess as a person who looks like the cat who swallowed the canary.
 

Grizabella

I haven't read all the posts in this thread, so I hope I'm not popping into the middle of another conversation, but I've been off doing a search to see if I could find a thread where I remember we were discussing the sexuality of the High Priestess some time back. It was asserted that she isn't such a Goodie Two Shoes as you might think. I couldn't find the thread, though. Maybe someone else remembers what thread it was in.
 

Seafra

Grizabella said:
I haven't read all the posts in this thread, so I hope I'm not popping into the middle of another conversation, but I've been off doing a search to see if I could find a thread where I remember we were discussing the sexuality of the High Priestess some time back. It was asserted that she isn't such a Goodie Two Shoes as you might think. I couldn't find the thread, though. Maybe someone else remembers what thread it was in.

If it is the thread I remember there was a great difference in opinion as to how the HP would react reversed/ill dignified. Sexually I see her as in for the physical in reverse. No want of depth. Wham, bam, thank you, sir. Or, at the extreme, terrified of the physical. BTW I've no idea who Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler might be so can't begin to draw a parallel.
 

angelarenea

The High Priestess is a woman who is in charge of her own life - therefore her feelings are influenced by the fact she is not psychologically owned, directed or otherwise beholden to anyone (even if she is married with 10 kids!). I like Jenessa's word "self-possession" - which expresses exactly that quality of the High Priestess.

The High Priestess is also the gestator of the tarot. Ideas, children, thoughts grow in the depth of her being, in the dark, before they come out in the light of the Empress's garden. Her feelings therefore are protective and patient, turned towards making sure the gestation is serene and without trouble.


I think I can understand what Willowfox means by fluctuating feelings. The High Priestess is linked to the Moon - I would say her feelings are cyclical rather than fluctuating without rhyme or reason. The High Priestess can also represent a menstruating or premenstrual woman because of the link between the Moon and menstruation - with all the different feelings that time in a woman's month brings! A reversed High Priestess can show trouble with PMS for instance. I found that meditating with the High Priestess helped with pre-menstrual trouble - she is a healer in that sense!


The High Priestess has some strong connection with Mary, the Virgin - and through that connection, I see her feelings as compassionate and ardent. She is able to suffer with others, and feel their pain as her own. She surrounds all those who need love with her tender care.


The High Priestess has been linked for a long time to Isis (who is in turn related to the Virgin Mary). Many decks actually represent her as Isis. The love of Isis for her husband and brother Osiris is well-known. When he was killed by their brother Set and his remains scattered, she wept so much she flooded the countryside. As she wept, she collected the remains of her beloved and chanted spells - finally reviving him. They had one night of love together, during which Horus was conceived, and then Osiris left to take up his place as King of the Underworld, for even Isis could not defeat death entirely. Isis/the High Priestess is therefore the epitome of the passionate lover, who will weep their heart out when they lose the one they love, yet at the same time retain enough self-possession (that word again) to work on the situation. The High Priestess, more than any other arcanum, is capable of huge self-sacrifice for the one she loves, of unstinting devotion, and of using her skill and imagination in pursuit of her love.

This is everything! I kept getting HP in a relationship reading in which my beau suddenly cut off all communication. I cried everyday for for almost 4 months. I also kept my composure enough to try to figure out what went wrong and to creatively/ deliberately find ways to get him to talk to me again. I wasn't giving up over a stupid misunderstanding. I didn't care what I looked like pursuing the guy who could just drop me basically but what was important was that he knew how much I loved him and what I was willing to do to preserve what we had. Hence- HP. I searched high and low to understand this card in my situation. This is interpretation is golden. Now whether being the HP is a good thing or not is a different story but that's who she was in my reading.
 

Lady D Tarot

Yes to this Angelarena

This is everything! I kept getting HP in a relationship reading in which my beau suddenly cut off all communication. I cried everyday for for almost 4 months. I also kept my composure enough to try to figure out what went wrong and to creatively/ deliberately find ways to get him to talk to me again. I wasn't giving up over a stupid misunderstanding. I didn't care what I looked like pursuing the guy who could just drop me basically but what was important was that he knew how much I loved him and what I was willing to do to preserve what we had. Hence- HP. I searched high and low to understand this card in my situation. This is interpretation is golden. Now whether being the HP is a good thing or not is a different story but that's who she was in my reading.


Yes to this! Exactly where I'm at right now in my life with my relationship - thanks for posting your experience.
 

Ruby Jewel

I don't associate the High Priestess with feelings, per se. I have a hard time reading this lady. She's mysterious and quiet, she patiently awaits 'till things change or reveal themselves. She doesn't say much, and somewhere in there, I also don't think she feels much. Am I wrong?

What does she mean as a feeling...for someone else, towards someone/something else? If someone has High Priestess feelings towards you, what feelings are those? If you feel High Priestess feelings for someone else, how is that you really feel?

Do you feel divided? Torn? Undecided? Unsure? But are those really associated with the High Priestess?

Can someone shed some light on this?

GA

I think she has a lot of feelings because she is governed by the Moon which is Cancer and also Pisces/12th house. Water signs are all about feelings. She is stoic and doesn't show her feelings....perhaps her feelings are more about empathy and compassion for humanity as opposed to "passion" on a mundane level.. I see her as being more about platonic love than sensual love. Both the HP and the Hierophant feel love as platonic. Their love is spiritual and they serve as your "spiritual guides". The HP is the lower vibration of The Moon card, and Rx, she actually is the Moon card in which one is lost. Upright, she is telling you how to escape the Moon card: still the mind, and give up reacting. She is also telling you there are "secrets" .... something you don't know about, yet. When someone dumps you without an explanation it is usually because of guilt. And the guilt is usually because you have been replaced by someone else. If you have the wisdom of the High Priestess, you will count your blessings and move on. The book she holds in her lap is the book of karma.
 

Enlightenment23

I've always seen the feelings radiating from The High Priestess card as an "inexplicable connection." Many, many times, I've pulled this card for couples who no longer speak to each other and have gone on with their lives, but there is still this invisible string tying them together - a deep rooted link or a bond that strongly, quietly, mysteriously keeps two people magnetically chained.

It's as if your connected long-lost lover is thinking of you, you will feel it. If they're happy, you will feel it. If they're sad, you will feel it. You don't know why, but you do. You get that intuitive feeling. You can both feel if you're still thinking of each other.

Think of how the ocean's tides which are affected by the gravitational forces of the Moon. Your emotions are stirring (much like the ocean's tide), but by something far, far away ...