Aquarian: The High Priestess

The High Priestess card is one of my favorite cards in the whole deck. Partly because it's a beautiful card, but also because it is one of the few cards in the Aquarian deck that has a fully illustrated background. Here we have the High Priestess sitting (I am assuming she is) and appearently contemplating some flowers (and probably the mysteries of the universe at the same time.) She wears concealing robes and a hat, and her shirt has a leaf pattern on it (I don't know what kind of leaves.) Behind her is a red curtain with pomegranates on it. From what I've read, the color red has lots of symbolism, including love and energy. Pomegranates represent (amongst other things) fertility and are sacred to many goddesses.

Next to her are what looks (to me) like two scrolls, one labeled with the letter B, the other with the letter J. The card appears to be combining the traditional scroll held by the RWS High Priestess (which symbolizes the mysteries of life) and the two pillars in the same RWS card marked B and J. Those are supposed to be the two pillars at the entrence of Solomon's Temple named Boaz and Jakin.

Behind the High Priestess is, in the distance, is a path leading to some mountains. In the mountains is a city. My feeling is that the city represents the great mysteries of the universe, or basically why things are the way they are. A seeker can find the answer to his or her questions there. But to get there, you have to get through the High Priestess. She decides whether you are worthy enough.

Any ideas? (Pardon me for being long winded, but I'm very tired!)

I've decided that the Aquarian High Priestess is my favorite of any deck I've ever seen. The mountain reflected in the still water, and her far away look always make me think of "reflections" when I look at this card.

The pattern on her shirt appears to be oak leaves. I searched the Internet for some ideas about the symbolic significance of oak leaves, and found that they represent wisdom and strength and long life.

I think it's interesting that her hand is white and featureless, the same as the Fool's hand clutching his staff. I assume this is meant to represent purity--the whole idea of the "white glove test," etc. The flower in her hand kind of looks like a monarch butterfly, and traditionally the butterfly is often associated with the Fool, although not so in this deck.

I also very much like this card, especially as I study it more.

The castle in the distance evoked the sense of long journeys and hidden places -- of a destination that is partly visible but still mysterious.

The colored beads draped across her shoulder caught my eye. They may be intended as pure decoration, but I prefer to imagine they are prayer beads of some sort, to help with meditation.

Does anyone know if there is significance to the position of the hand, with the flower held between the middle and "ring" fingers?

I found it interesting that the panorama is set during the day, since the High Priestess is association with the Moon. It makes me think of days you look up and see the moon in the sky during the afternoon, pale white against the blue. That sense of hidden things being revealed, if you pay attention.

Does anyone know what kind of flower is in her hand? There might be some symbolic meaning to it. I thought at first that it was a chrysanthemum, but the leaves are wrong.

She looks a lot more solitary and contemplative to me. I don't have the deck (as I mentioned in my comment on the 5 of rods), so I have to rely on what I see online. I can't tell what kind of flower it is, but the butterfly is a symbol or air and to me, it looks like the path shown in the background is only reflected in the water, but not through the actuall hills above the water. I don't see the "castle" or whatever that is in the background in the reflection either. A bit of mystery?
Also, what's the thing on her head dress? Is that a cross? (I really can't tell from the online scan).

I think her headress is more of the Art Deco styling of the deck.

and it don't matter to her.

Look at that face...distant, feeling, caring...but not detatched.

The Aquarian Tarot - High Priestess card

Hi everyone,

I was studying the High Priestess card from the Aquarian tarot last night, I just recently got the deck. Can someone tell me what is the type of flower she holds in her hand and does it have some significance? I was racking my brain last night and trawling the interwebz to find out what kind of flower it is, and the closest I got was maybe a windflower or poppy of some sort. Can someone enlighten me on this?

It looks like three different flowers to me. I think there is a poppy and some lavender - but I don't know what the third one is. I don't know what the significance of these flowers is either...

Perhaps someone will come along and explain.

ETA: Just checked the Study Group section and no-one has identified the flower(s) there either.

I think the yellow flower might be an unfurling coreopsis, a familiar roadside weed in Australia that puts on a fantastic show just before Christmas.

I agree about the lavender, but that umbrella-like flower doesn't look like any of the poppy varieties I know. It has a flapper-era hat-feel to me.

If you had to combine three things for inner spirituality, they would be sunshine (coreopsis), peace (lavender) and ... what? Perhaps we can reverse-engineer it.

She is, of course, wearing oak leaves, and her canopy is covered with ripening rye seed-stalks (rye is associated with argot, which can be associated with visions (hallucinations).