Card of the Here and Now - II The High Priestess

Today is the first time a card from the Major Arcana has shown up for my little card of the Here and Now exercise. The Minor cards are a little more situational and depict life situations. The metaphysical nature of the Major cards has to do with personal development, or the growth of our soul. Each of these cards represents an awareness. While this awareness could be applied to a person, place, or thing, it is the message of the card that is important, not how closely someone in our reality may embody an archetype.  To me, it is almost psychologically damaging to our interpersonal relationships as well as ourselves when we apply a Major Arcana card literally to a person. That being said, let's talk about this lady:

II The High Priestess

What is Happening on this card?

    The High Priestess sits in a meditative pose on a pedestal, showing she is to be paid respect. Each of her palms are open in a state of receptivity. Her gaze is forward, but from her position she sees into the viewer and beyond, while maintaining a neutral expression. She understands her own two-sidedness and does not judge you for your own.

    In the Priestess' right hand rests a butterfly, embodying the fragile beauty of nature, the transformative cycle of life and her own

gentleness. The right side of her body is adorned by leaves and flowers in bloom, suggesting the fertility of the maiden. Her hair is kept short on the right side like the shaved head of a devotee. Her right eye is blue, like water, the yielding element. Success comes from the ability to flow flexibly with the situation at hand.

    In the Priestess' left hand is a bright yellow serpent embodying the harsh side of nature, the ability to "shed our skin" to let in new ideas, and her hidden strength. This left side is covered by the snake and the otherwise nude female is not as vulnerable as she may seem. On this side of her head is a silver tiara and masque representing her relationship to the Moon. Her hair grows wild like the fur of an animal. Her left eye is white in reflection of the Moon and allows her to understand the meaning of influence.  

    The White and Black pillars of her Temple show opposing forces. Each one must exist to hold up her temple and if one were to prevail completely over the other in this temple there would be a collapse. There must be conscious and unconscious. Without sleep there can be no awake. The pillars are crowned by glyphs showing the phases of the Moon, the eternal shift from light to dark.

    The great window between the pillars is a framework for the rising Moon. The window is half-covered, showing that the Priestess has her secrets. The red curtain with its pomegranate pattern is a symbol for the feminine mystique, as well as fertility. At this stage, we are not ready to drink in the whole Moon. What she works with so easily would be too much for us to handle.

    The "II" at the top represents the receptive and the feminine principle. The number 2 also stands for the duality, and once the number one has been defined, that suggests there must be another. This "yin" energy to the Magician's "yang" symbolizes the merit of non-action and its equality to action.

Attitude of the Card

High Priestess knowledge is the heavier stuff. We are still learning, so we can't know everything yet. A high-end physics book would only mystify a beginner, but we could ask someone with more learning questions. Information that is kept secret from a novice of any field is usually done so for safety's sake. The High Priestess can be your guide, but she won't tell you a straight answer.

She is our "mystic." Mysticism can be both a powerful tool and a horrible way to distract ourselves. The mystic is a person who applies the human imagination to reality. When this is done correctly, the invisible angles we are missing from our understanding of a subject come forth. When it is misused, we create a playland that instead of helping us through reality, hinders us in a bubble of our own delusion.

What are we working on?

Intuition. What do our feelings tell us? Have we become so insensitive that we DON'T get feelings on a situation. Have we become so sensitive that we have enfeebled ourselves?
As the intuitive, sit between these extremes and see what appear at this angle. When something speaks out to us In life and as well as dreams, perhaps instead of wondering what it means, ask ourselves why we notice it.