[lunalafey]

She's a bit spooky-
holding that cape should produce a blob of a shadow, but it does not. Her shadow stretches as a slim figure following the curves of the path......what is that? horns on her shadow's head?
There are many of these 'crescent' shapes about in the card. The reflection of the Moons light upon the stones of the Priestess circle, the line from ear tip to ear tip of the owl....the Moon herself takes the shape. Rightly so considering the Moons association to the card. Her shadow that is inconsistant with her body expresses the mystery that is about her as well as he adaptability. The owl being that symbol of wisdom. Her spiritual nature is reflected in her blue body. I feel the twisting of her shadow body represents the 'distortions' of reality that we find within our dreams......the shadow upon the path could suggest that one is to follow the intuitive information that comes from ones dreams.

[Sulis]

A dark, mysterious card.
A stone circle stands bathed in moonlight within a woodland clearing.
At the centre of the circle is a woman. She is naked and in the moonlight her skin looks blue. She holds her viel aloft; it streams out behind her. The horned moon rises behind her and casts her shadow forward onto the path which winds between two trees; one in light and one in shadow. Her shadow appears to be horned making it look like the Horned God.
The whole atmosphere of this card is magical. She celebrates the power of the moon, of nature and her own power.
An owl, symbol of wisdom watches from a tree.
The grass within the circle almost looks like fire.
She's beckoning us into the circle. What can we learn from her if we dare to go?

The cards number is 2 - I see the female figure with her 'male shadow. 2 trees, one light representing the concious mind and one dark, representing the unconcious

Luna, I wrote this out last night so sorry if I've repeated anything you've said. I love your take on the twisty shadow and distortions of reality from our dreams - going straight in my journal.

Love and light

Sulis xx

[lunalafey]

Originally posted by Sulis

Luna, I wrote this out last night so sorry if I've repeated anything you've said. I love your take on the twisty shadow and distortions of reality from our dreams - going straight in my journal.

Sulis xx

sorry? same but different is a good thing!.....I did not see the shadow being the male side......but that is a good one, for in our dreams, when we encounter that mysterious tall dark and handsome.....it's usually the male side of ourselves coming through......
and ya' know......it's funny you posted after me...... for some mysterious reason, this card reminds me of you

[13thFaeChylde]

I love this card so much, it reminds me of my circle in the woods in a clearing of trees that I'm creating.

Her nudity symbolizes that she has nothing to hide, and also "working skyclad"...casting off the everyday clothes to be one's magical self.

The owl is a symbol of Athena and Hecate...meaning wisdom, and knowing what lies beyond. In Native American culture, owls are associated with magic, clairvoyance and astral travel. Owls are birds of the night – they have the power to see the unseen in the blackest of darkness, to hunt for food and fly silently through the night.


The woman being underneath the moon with hands upraised makes me think of the ritual "drawing down the moon," as if she is performing this rite, and the shadow could before her could be the God/dess as seen by her, or through her. The crone's moon...it can't be seen shining in the sky, but can be seen on the fallen leaves.

[Sulis]

We're restarting this study group, I think that the Majors are as good a place as any to start.

Love

Sulis xx

[13thFaeChylde]

I just have to say that I think this is my *favorite* High Priestess card in the herstory of High Priestess cards.

[lark]

Originally posted by 13thFaeChylde
I just have to say that I think this is my *favorite* High Priestess card in the herstory of High Priestess cards.

As I was reading your beautiful post I was thinking the same thing.
This is such a symbolic and unique way to picture the High Priestess.
When I look at this card I feel that tickle of excitement that comes with mystery.
The shadow that falls to the ground is horned like the moon.
And the two trees that stand at the entrance of the card are one in the dark and one in light like the traditional pillars in RWS.
This card depicts my understanding of the High Priestess so well.
The little red flowers hidden in the base of that tree remind me of virginity.
We see her nude and what could be more open and unhidden then that.
Yet the shadow speaks of mystery, intuition and things not revealed.
Any moment she could cover herself with her veil or a cloud could cover the brightness of the moon.
I don't know very much about 'drawing down the moon" but I still can feel the sacred moment in this card.
And the stone circle is a place prepared especially for her.
As time goes on these places take on an energy and life of there own.
I've made my own stone circle in my back yard and it feels like a sacred place to me.
So that circle felt so familar to me.
This is a great card to enter for meditation.

[Satori]

You have all said just about all there is to say....but.....
There is one more figure visible to me on the card.
If you look at the light part of the walkway just beyond the horned shadow, very bottom of the card is another person with arms up. It is a figure/ground kind of interplay...I found that to be like there are so many layers to the personality, to the person...

Also, the reflection of the moonlight off the top of the High Priestess's head is so subtle, showing her affinity with the moon, that the moon is in her mind, or that moon and priestess are unified.

Her palms are up and open, offering her power to the moon and accepting whatever gifts are given.

The grass in the circle looks like little flames to me, that she stands comfortably within an area that is not really of the earth, between the worlds.

Our distance from her can look either close or far depending on where we are spiritually.

Thanks for sharing.

[Inana]

I agree with all you in this card being full of mystery and magic. The more intellectual side of the Priestess has been omitted in this deck, only can see it on the little owl. This gives her a more wild and dark twist that I like. Her knowledge is not a kind of knowledge you will learn from the books, it comes from another place.

Her temple being the forest, and the usual pillars being two trees makes this priestess more attuned with nature. Also, the woods at night are a bit scary as her shadow is. Thats the first we find if trying to approach her.
Those horns can be a reflection of the moon on her head or just her wild and dark side revealed.
The shadow is the fake illusions one can find before getting to the truth, represented by her naked body. And is a shadow in the middle of the path.

Why the veil has no shade on the ground? Also, im I the only one who thinks that moon is eclipsed?

[Seed Crystal]

First, I like that she is not trapped within robes and Temple, as traditionally imaged in the R-W-S cards. She is free and wild and not necessarily to be found where you look for her, or where others before you have found her. Holy ground is where she is. She IS the Mysteries, not a librarian or figurehead title holder in some man-made stone building. She is powerful, and active, like the magician; I find this dynamism in many if not all World Spirit cards (and love that aspect of the deck).

I see a cauldron shape in her veil, and maybe in the standing stones her live presence dwarfs. I see Bridget's Cross in her shadow (and she is standing in the sun as well as in moonlight). She is the High Priestess, she is Diana, Hecate, Athena, Bridget,... She is the Virgin, a woman who answers to no man (and is not ignorant or afraid of sexuality). The dark and the light, she knows them, and they know her.

She invites you into the woods - what you have learned by reading, what you have been told by others, is not the knowledge she has for you; it must be experienced directly.