Buckland Romani-High Priestess

An elderly woman sits in a chair holding a baby and smoking her pipe. She is deep in thought. Buckland refers to her as The Puridai "considered the font of wisdom, the holder of the tribal records,the arbitrator of disputes. She is the ruler, yet she is not the leader".


Within her are the secrets of a long life richly lived and the lives of those who have come before her. In her arms she holds the key to the future. The potential that may grow in many directions. Within the tribe she is highly respected, the final authority as it were, although this if often expressed simply by a nod of the head or a flick of the hand. It must be quite a blessing to have your child taken care of by her.


She sits at peace with the infant, both silent in their own thoughts. To me the child represents symbolized potentials that still lie within the Puridai as well.

I think the child in this card shows the passing of old wisdom down to new generations to keep the cycle of knowledge flowing (although not buying the wisdom of smoking near a baby ).

When I got my deck a year ago from Hearth Cricket( )
I could not look at this card without starting to cry. I had to put it away.
I try now, but my eyes are watering again.....
Especially because of what Emeraldgirl posted before me...
See, when my grandmother Elizza was fred from the concentration camp Bergen Belsen she hhd no more hair and no more teeth due to .... welll read this here post....
http://www.tarotforum.net/showpost.php?p=1186718&postcount=23

When I was born after the war was over Elizza was blind and very ill. in a home for KZ victims in the harbour town of Hamburg. I was 1 month old, when my mother brought me to her to see = feel and smell me.
as I was told, she touched me all over and even made my mom take of my swaddelings.
Then she sang to me...
Then she drew signs onto my belly and chest with her spit and sang her Powers over to me.
My mother was upset and also VERY moved. She cried.
It was the only time I was with my Gran.

A month later Grandma Elizza died.

The Lady in the card smokes the pipe.
She has grey hair.
But still........

Mi-Shell it's such an honor to have you share your stories with us.

I don't know anything at all about the culture of the Gypsies, so my posts will surely all sound ameturish, because they are...

I was drawn to this card before I bought the deck. The wisdom of the ancestors has always inspired me, no matter what the culture. I have always admired those that take the time to teach us, and those of us who take the time to listen. There is magic in a life well lived, and well received. This is what the card means to me.