“Knowledge. Understanding, self-examination, asking yourself questions, reasoning with your own mind. Do not judge. Be prudent with your words. Inner peace. Knowledge is not an end in and of itself.”
Glyph: Fall
Fall is a time of growth and maturity, a time of changes. Appropriate for this card.
The central figure in this card is the Priestess. She is a young woman dressed in blue robes. Her head is covered in a veil. She stands barefoot in ankle deep water, and appears to be meditating. At her feet lies an open book submerged just beneath the surface of the water. The water is still. A yellow crescent moon is reflected on the water’s surface.
This card plays with a lot of the traditional imagery found in the High Priestess card.
The High Priestess is usually associated with the moon, typically depicted as a crescent moon that lies by her feet. The moon represents the feminine, emotional, unconscious and intuitive elements of our psyches. The moon symbolizes the subtle light of intuition. The moon also represents things that may remain unseen. The moon is feminine night and often represents the shadowed aspects to psyches.
There is no veil behind the Priestess, rather she wear her blue veil over her head and face. Typically, the veil symbolizes all that remains unseen in the natural world and conceals the High Priestess’s hidden knowledge. It is significant that in this card, the Priestess wears the veil. The veil separates her from the outside world and allows her to look within herself for the things she needs rather relying on the outside world for guidance. She is the wise teacher and urges one to look beyond their own veil of rational thinking and peer into their own unconscious wisdom.
The High Priestess usually has a scroll in her lap. In traditional tarot decks, the scroll is associated to the Hebrew Torah. This refers to the High Priestess’s need to uphold the divine laws of the natural world. It is also the parchment in which she records her memories. This represents the High Priestess’s body of knowledge and experience.
This Priestess’s book lies open at her feet, though perhaps it is partially obscured by the water. Perhaps she is reading the book, or simply meditating on the open page before her.
And of course, the water symbolizes the unconscious. The fact that the Priestess’s bare feet are submerged in the water show that she is deeply in touch with her subconscious.
This card is deeply pensive, as is appropriate for the High Priestess card. This card breaks from the militant defensiveness of card IV. Protection of the land and is transformed into the limitless possibilities available through self discovery, thought and learning. The Priestess represents the nature of our individual faith.
The Priestess, even tempered by the more masculine V, is an archetype of passive femininity, the keeper of wisdom not easily expressed. Not words, but experiences, intuition and dreams. Her appearance signals both overt and covert feelings. She is a guide who helps you to listen to your inner voice so that you can move forward.
However, the presence of the new number does seem to alter her message slightly. Rather than being completely passive, her solid stance in the water illustrates that while the water is calm now, should it become more violent, she will not be moved from her meditative stance. Her stance shows an admirable strength. Even as she searches deep within herself, she maintains her sense of self and refuses to be washed away either by her own subconscious or the outside world. She pays no heed to others’ presence or opinions, whether they are other people or forces of nature. She is secure in herself and within her own knowledge of universal matters.
At her core, she is about "impossibilities." Secret knowledge, instincts, even magic. Hers is a card about personal and individual journeys across dark deserts to enlightenment.
Note: there may be more depth to a situation than you have seen. Unexplored potentials abound, look again you may have missed something.
Blue is one of the most central colors of this card:
Blue is seen as trustworthy, dependable and committed. The color of sky and the ocean, blue is perceived as a constant in our lives. As the collective color of the spirit, it invokes rest and can cause the body to produce chemicals that are calming; however not all blues are serene and sedate. Some shades or the overuse of blue may come across as cold or uncaring. Blue is the least "gender specific" color, having equal appeal to both men and women.
Blue is the color of the Throat Chakra, also known as Visuddha, which is connected with speech and hearing, and encourages spiritual communication.
How the color blue affects us physically and mentally:
* Calming and sedate
* Cooling
* Aids intuition
