Tag: The High Priestess

The Fool’s Journey Through the Major Arcana: SunFest: The High Priestess

Posted C. LaVielleLeave a commentPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

HPS: (Placing finger to lips) Shhhhhhh. There is a secret here. Do you wish to know what it is? Seekers answer “yes.” HPS: Very well, then. The Great Secret is this:  Your life—and the world you live it in—is a beautiful and terrifying…but instructive illusion. That which makes up your particular and personal illusion is behind that Veil. The purpose of your life—and yours, and yours—is to discover how to discover what is behind the Veil. And then to do it. Simple, isn’t it? (Shaking her head, ‘no.’) But take heart. The journey you are on right now will bring you at least a few steps closer to understanding. In the Place of Perfect Equilibrium, I stand watch over the Gateway of Knowing. Have you any questions? (When questioning comes to an end or no one speaks…) It is well. Now, pass on and continue your journey.

Moonshine and the Major Arcana

Posted C. LaVielle2 CommentsPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

The Moon is all about the way we interface with the unknown, or the unconscious , or the astral plane, or the spirit world, or the realms of gods, daemons, and demons, or parallel universes. These are the strange and frightening worlds every hero must travel to complete his or her quest. Since the keys of the major arcana trace the story arc of this journey, The Moon is a pivotal card, casting its eerie shadows over many of the other keys. The card most obviously connected to The Moon is The High Priestess because the planet attributed to this card is the Moon. To make absolutely sure you get the connection most depictions of this card are loaded with lunar images. The High Priestess is the guardian of the threshold between the known and the unknown, the conscious and the unconscious mind, the hero’s ordinary world and the world he must enter to complete his quest. She can either help or hinder him as… Read More »

The Tarot Major Arcana and the Hero’s Journey: The High Priestess

Posted C. LaVielle1 CommentPosted in Tarot, The Hero's Journey

What’s behind the curtain? That’s the whole point of this card. The front of the curtain, the part we can see, is alive with green palm trees and crimson pomegranates. It represents our world and all the things we know about it. Everything Else lies behind it, on the Other Side. This is the realm of the subconscious, the hidden memories of things past, present, and future; dark secrets; dangerous knowledge; those umpteen other dimensions mathematicians keep talking about, and all the things that inhabit them and “go bump in the night.” The High Priestess guards the veil between this world and our everyday world. She has the power to give or withhold access to it and all the hidden wisdom it contains. The scroll in her hands suggests that this wisdom is at her fingertips. Gimel is the Hebrew letter associated with The High Priestess card, and the camel is one of its meanings. To cultures in arid parts of Asia, the Middle East… Read More »