Buckland Romani- High Priestess

[Belladonna]

I like when an artist depicts the High Priestess as an old woman for many reasons. The High Priestess has a subtle and instinctual knowledge of the lifecycles of people, the earth, and of nature. She trusts in her own wisdom gleaned from experience and her own intuition. The crone, especially, has lived a life of many cycles, has years of experiencing and understanding her own intuition and has learned to trust her own wisdom. Having gone through childhood, young womanhood, perhaps marriage and raising children of her own she now finally has the freedom and experience to explore the "other side" of life, what's behind the scenes so to speak. She has seen it all, heard it all, and makes an excellent listener and teacher.

 

[LittleWing]

An old woman ........ and a new baby = showing the cycle of life. The High Priestess (Puuridai) has seen and heard all - seeing and living many life cycles. she wears all colours - representing all things - such as health, hope, fertility, passion, luck etc ........

the ultimate message ....... who knows what the future holds???

 

[galadrial]

I can imagine the High Priestess being consulted. She knows that "to everything there is a season". She senses when to harvest and when to sow and when to just wait. She may withold some of what she knows if she feels the querent is not ready for full knowledge; or may withold her blessing from a particular course of action if she feels the timing isn't right. I can see her as the one who bestowed upon the Magician the pentagram bracelet that designates her a priestess of the Old Religion. She would have realized just when the Magician's maturity in the knowledge and use of the Old Religion was fully ripe.

 

[DarkElectric]

I also love to see the High Priestess depicted as a crone.

She is the repository of not only her own wisdom, but that of her people as well. What is she thinking, as she sits and smokes her pipe? Is it the future of the clan, the future of the babe? Maybe not the future at all, but the present, or the past? She can access all of the conditions of time, because those who live long are the ultimate time travelers. Here is a woman who sees so much, precisely because she has seen so much.

 

[LittleWing]

i dont think she is thinking of the future - to think of the future creates anxiety , or a false sense of hope / insecurity etc. I think she smokes her pipe, at peace ...... not really thinking much .... because she is wise, she has seen it all, and she knows all there is to know - so she knows she has an answer for whatever arises.

 

[DarkElectric]

I used to work as a nurse in a retirement home, and something I came to realise about the oldest of the elders there, which blew me away... Right across the board, none of them were afraid of the future anymore. Not a single one. They were unhappy about the present, being sick, in pain, deteriorated, all of that, and missed the past a lot. But the future? No fear. And not even of the great inevitable. Many of the sicker ones, in fact, longed for it.

I wonder if her vision might be different from ours...I mean, she has lived soooooo long, and is wise enough to maybe see that the future is pretty much exactly the same as the past, only with a different cast of characters.

 

[romreader]

For awhile it bothered me that she wasn't holding onto the baby---it seems to just be precariously propped against her. But in looking again just now, I think may signify that she's not trying to hold onto youth.

 

[Cocobird55]

I hope you don't mind if I jump in here. I've been studying this deck for a while, and I find that I get incredibly clear information from it.

The other day I was concentrating on what I needed to do to relieve some work-related stress, and I picked the High Priestess. Without looking at the book, I knew that this card was telling me that I needed to honor my inner child, and that once I did that, the stress would lessen.

I did and it did. Amazing...

Sue

 

[ScarabFlight]

At first I was a bit put off by the fact that this card had a crone on it as I really enjoy the High Priestess cards. The more I thought about it, the more sense that it made. I also liked it for the fact that it made me stop and think about the real meaning of the card and not just as a pretty picture that I would enjoy looking at.

I really liked what Romreader said about the baby and not holding on to youth. I was wondering about the 'floating baby' and now it makes perfect sense!

I enjoy the fact that she smokes a pipe. Perhaps the Romani women smoked pipes all their lives, but to me it seems like she knows who she is and what she wants. She wants to smoke a pipe and to heck with what anyone else says.

I also like that she has many bracelets and several different types of necklaces, kind of like several lessons or knowledge that she has gathered though the years.