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Difference between revisions of "The High Priestess"
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In the creation of the [[Rider–Waite Tarot]] deck, the Popess was changed into The High Priestess. She wears a crown similar to the one used by the goddess [[Hathor]], and is depicted with Marian imagery. [[A.E. Waite]], the co-creator of the Rider–Waite deck, speculated that the card was connected to the ancient cult of Astarte. | In the creation of the [[Rider–Waite Tarot]] deck, the Popess was changed into The High Priestess. She wears a crown similar to the one used by the goddess [[Hathor]], and is depicted with Marian imagery. [[A.E. Waite]], the co-creator of the Rider–Waite deck, speculated that the card was connected to the ancient cult of Astarte. | ||
The High Priestess is identified with the Shekhinah, the female indwelling presence of the divine. She wears plain blue robes and sits with her hands in her lap. She has a lunar crescent at her feet, "a horned diadem on her head, with a globe in the middle place," similar to the crown of the ancient Egyptian goddess Hathor, but with the horns having a shape more like half-crescents, and a large cross on her breast, the balance between the four elements; fire, water, earth, and air. The scroll in her hands, partly covered by her mantle, bears the letters TORA (meaning "divine law"), that symbolizes the memory we carry inside about the past, present and future, named Akasha. She is seated between the white and black pillars—'J' and 'B' for Jachin and Boaz—of the mystic Temple of Solomon. The veil of the Temple is behind her: it is embroidered with palm leaves (male) and pomegranates (female), growing on a tree shaped like the tree of life. | The High Priestess is identified with the Shekhinah, the female indwelling presence of the divine. She wears plain blue robes and sits with her hands in her lap. She has a lunar crescent at her feet, "a horned diadem on her head, with a globe in the middle place," similar to the crown of the ancient Egyptian goddess Hathor, but with the horns having a shape more like half-crescents, and a large cross on her breast, the balance between the four elements; [[fire (element)|fire]], [[water (element)|water]], [[earth (element)|earth]], and [[air (element)|air]]. The scroll in her hands, partly covered by her mantle, bears the letters TORA (meaning "divine law"), that symbolizes the memory we carry inside about the past, present and future, named Akasha. She is seated between the white and black pillars—'J' and 'B' for Jachin and Boaz—of the mystic Temple of Solomon. The veil of the Temple is behind her: it is embroidered with palm leaves (male) and pomegranates (female), growing on a tree shaped like the tree of life. | ||
The motif that hangs behind the High Priestess’s throne, veiling what ever mysteries she guards, is suggested in the pattern of The Empress' gown. The two are sisters, one bringing life into the world, the other inviting the living to the esoteric mysteries. Further behind all of that is what seems to be a body of water, most probably the sea. The water flows through most of the cards of the Rider–Waite–Smith Tarot. | The motif that hangs behind the High Priestess’s throne, veiling what ever mysteries she guards, is suggested in the pattern of The Empress' gown. The two are sisters, one bringing life into the world, the other inviting the living to the esoteric mysteries. Further behind all of that is what seems to be a body of water, most probably the sea. The water flows through most of the cards of the Rider–Waite–Smith Tarot. | ||
==Alternate names== | ==Alternate names== | ||
Other variant names for this card are the Virgin Mary, Isis, the metaphorical Bride of Christ or Holy Mother Church. In Swiss Troccas decks, she is called Junon ("Juno"), the Roman Queen of the Gods. The "Flemish Deck" by Vandenborre (c. 1750-1760) refers to this card as ''Le Espagnol Capitano Eracasse'' ("The Spanish Captain Fracasse"), after a version of ''Il Capitano'', a character from ''Commedia dell'Arte''. | Other variant names for this card are the Virgin Mary, [[Isis]], the metaphorical Bride of Christ or Holy Mother Church. In Swiss Troccas decks, she is called Junon ("Juno"), the Roman Queen of the Gods. The "Flemish Deck" by Vandenborre (c. 1750-1760) refers to this card as ''Le Espagnol Capitano Eracasse'' ("The Spanish Captain Fracasse"), after a version of ''Il Capitano'', a character from ''Commedia dell'Arte''. | ||
In the [[Hieronymus Bosch Tarot]] by [[Travis McHenry]], this card is called The Mistress of Terror, and uses an image from [[Hieronymus Bosch]]'s | In the [[Hieronymus Bosch Tarot]] by [[Travis McHenry]], this card is called The Mistress of Terror, and uses an image from [[Hieronymus Bosch]]'s painting "In the Garden of Earthly Delights" as the embodiment of the meanings behind the High Priestess. | ||
==Divinatory meaning== | ==Divinatory meaning== | ||