There is so much watery symbolism is the first thing I notice in this card with her robes, it’s as if the secret she holds closest to her, is the watery robes against her skin, the consciousness of water without which we would not have life on this planet. Then the pomegranates (apples with hundreds of seeds) and the date tree all motifs for parthenogenesis- this card reminds me so much of the artistic depiction of the Virgin Mary as the woman described in Revelations with the moon at her feet, crowned by 12 stars and the sun behind her which was an astrological alignment in 2017 most recently. But the moon at her feet is an interesting one, cause whenever we see in art, something depicted under one’s feet it usually signifies defeat, dominance, like the archangels depicted with the devil under their foot. Curious if the moon is not our friend in this depiction
Beautiful reflections, thank you for sharing. I think the symbol of water is integral to this version of the High Priestess, as both a birth place of consciousness (and thus a representation of the unconscious psyche), as well its fluidity and formlessness.
Interesting thought on the Moon at her feet. It does remind me of alchemical manuscripts that often depict the Lunar Queen and Solar King with a moon and sun upon which they stand. In that sense, they rise from it, connected to the celestial body, a personification of it.
To your point though, I have always seen a connection between the High Priestess and Moon card in the tarot. If the High Priestess is the method and way of lunar knowing, the Moon, with its uncertainty and mercurial shadows, may be the landscape that plays tricks, confounds consciousness, rich with illusions, etc. Perhaps that is being tapped into with the crescent at her feet.
Hmm that’s one way of interpreting the moon symbolism at the feet! A more positive interpretation to the more ominous interpretation I have of the moon haha, as I perceive we are food for the moon, it feeds off the souls.
I do wonder though if in this case of the high priestess the crescent at the bottom might not be the moon but the planet Venus, as Venus has phases just like the moon and the headdress worn is very reminiscent of the Egyptian goddess Hathor, another parthenogenetic goddess
The phases of Venus is something I've never considered. That definitely opens a whole new realm of symbolic interpretation. How would you interpret a crescent Venus?
Yes! Food for the moon was supposedly first coined by Russian mystic of Greek descent, George Gurdjieff (1872-1949), in explaining the paranormal activity attributed to the moon is part of its slavery of mankind.
And yes! Venus! This is whole reason I started my substack and why I called it the Venus diaries as planning on sharing a mass of research over last few months and it’s still going when you start to pull on the thread that it is actually “Venus” symbolism that was superimposed onto the moon. It’s as if the moon stole Venus face! Now I see the moon as the most masculine thing there is, there is even a “man on the moon” on the side of the moon that always faces earth
Makes me think of our wording around insanity, lunacy, lunatic...madness of the moon and its influences.
That's really fascinating. Would you extend that to mythic figures? Personifications of the moon like Diana or Selene? Do they also have Venusian roots?
Yup! Exactly lunacy, lunatic, also studies have been done in recent years finding a correlation with high suicide rates day before and on a full moon. I’ve also searched for studies to see if women’s cycles and birth happen more often with new moon and full moon like urban myths or rather new age myths tell us, and all the studies done didn’t find women’s menstrual cycles lined up with the moon. Maybe once or twice it would happen to fall
As for mythic characters and goddesses like Selene and Diana. Well those are more “recent” goddesses but if we go even further back, the moon was always perceived as masculine and there were male gods and the sun seen as life giving, warm like the hearth, warm like a mother’s embrace, was seen as feminine. So at some point there was a flip of the genders and their qualities transferred onto the goddesses/ gods respectively. But I would say even goddesses like Selene, Artemis are remnants of older goddesses like Ishtar and even further back into the paleolithic
I really like the Wildwood tarot's visual interpretation where she appears as the Seer. The waters are now in her cauldron and she wears a feathered garment around her shoulders connecting her with the element of air, while the large trunk behind connects her with Earth. It feels far more druidic or shamanic than the churchy feel of the Rider Waite image. My sense is of concentrated inner focus, the cauldron waters can become a skrying tool, and there is profound connection with psyche. If I draws this in a reading I take it as message to go deep, to get into the sandplay, to light a bonfire and sit with it, to unlock, go loose, open the door in the back of the head.
You inspired me to add more versions of the High Priestess from other decks. I really like the Wildwood interpretation, very druidic and shamanic as you said. It reminds me more of the mysteries within nature, and feels more grounding than the other versions.
Love the idea of lighting a bonfire, maybe even scrying within that, as the Priestess would scry with the cauldron.
I have always loved the Wildwood Tarot and have a deep relationship with that deck. What a pleasure to see it in my Substack feed! Thank you!
It’s a beautiful depiction of the Priestess :)
There is so much watery symbolism is the first thing I notice in this card with her robes, it’s as if the secret she holds closest to her, is the watery robes against her skin, the consciousness of water without which we would not have life on this planet. Then the pomegranates (apples with hundreds of seeds) and the date tree all motifs for parthenogenesis- this card reminds me so much of the artistic depiction of the Virgin Mary as the woman described in Revelations with the moon at her feet, crowned by 12 stars and the sun behind her which was an astrological alignment in 2017 most recently. But the moon at her feet is an interesting one, cause whenever we see in art, something depicted under one’s feet it usually signifies defeat, dominance, like the archangels depicted with the devil under their foot. Curious if the moon is not our friend in this depiction
Beautiful reflections, thank you for sharing. I think the symbol of water is integral to this version of the High Priestess, as both a birth place of consciousness (and thus a representation of the unconscious psyche), as well its fluidity and formlessness.
Interesting thought on the Moon at her feet. It does remind me of alchemical manuscripts that often depict the Lunar Queen and Solar King with a moon and sun upon which they stand. In that sense, they rise from it, connected to the celestial body, a personification of it.
To your point though, I have always seen a connection between the High Priestess and Moon card in the tarot. If the High Priestess is the method and way of lunar knowing, the Moon, with its uncertainty and mercurial shadows, may be the landscape that plays tricks, confounds consciousness, rich with illusions, etc. Perhaps that is being tapped into with the crescent at her feet.
Hmm that’s one way of interpreting the moon symbolism at the feet! A more positive interpretation to the more ominous interpretation I have of the moon haha, as I perceive we are food for the moon, it feeds off the souls.
I do wonder though if in this case of the high priestess the crescent at the bottom might not be the moon but the planet Venus, as Venus has phases just like the moon and the headdress worn is very reminiscent of the Egyptian goddess Hathor, another parthenogenetic goddess
Food for the moon, I like that!
The phases of Venus is something I've never considered. That definitely opens a whole new realm of symbolic interpretation. How would you interpret a crescent Venus?
Yes! Food for the moon was supposedly first coined by Russian mystic of Greek descent, George Gurdjieff (1872-1949), in explaining the paranormal activity attributed to the moon is part of its slavery of mankind.
And yes! Venus! This is whole reason I started my substack and why I called it the Venus diaries as planning on sharing a mass of research over last few months and it’s still going when you start to pull on the thread that it is actually “Venus” symbolism that was superimposed onto the moon. It’s as if the moon stole Venus face! Now I see the moon as the most masculine thing there is, there is even a “man on the moon” on the side of the moon that always faces earth
Makes me think of our wording around insanity, lunacy, lunatic...madness of the moon and its influences.
That's really fascinating. Would you extend that to mythic figures? Personifications of the moon like Diana or Selene? Do they also have Venusian roots?
Yup! Exactly lunacy, lunatic, also studies have been done in recent years finding a correlation with high suicide rates day before and on a full moon. I’ve also searched for studies to see if women’s cycles and birth happen more often with new moon and full moon like urban myths or rather new age myths tell us, and all the studies done didn’t find women’s menstrual cycles lined up with the moon. Maybe once or twice it would happen to fall
As for mythic characters and goddesses like Selene and Diana. Well those are more “recent” goddesses but if we go even further back, the moon was always perceived as masculine and there were male gods and the sun seen as life giving, warm like the hearth, warm like a mother’s embrace, was seen as feminine. So at some point there was a flip of the genders and their qualities transferred onto the goddesses/ gods respectively. But I would say even goddesses like Selene, Artemis are remnants of older goddesses like Ishtar and even further back into the paleolithic
I really like the Wildwood tarot's visual interpretation where she appears as the Seer. The waters are now in her cauldron and she wears a feathered garment around her shoulders connecting her with the element of air, while the large trunk behind connects her with Earth. It feels far more druidic or shamanic than the churchy feel of the Rider Waite image. My sense is of concentrated inner focus, the cauldron waters can become a skrying tool, and there is profound connection with psyche. If I draws this in a reading I take it as message to go deep, to get into the sandplay, to light a bonfire and sit with it, to unlock, go loose, open the door in the back of the head.
You inspired me to add more versions of the High Priestess from other decks. I really like the Wildwood interpretation, very druidic and shamanic as you said. It reminds me more of the mysteries within nature, and feels more grounding than the other versions.
Love the idea of lighting a bonfire, maybe even scrying within that, as the Priestess would scry with the cauldron.
You know, I've never thought of scrying with the bonfire - what a great idea . Thanks.
You’re welcome!