Notes on The High Priestess
(Silent Divinity)
Four Pillars Society Tarot by Gary Rosenberg (GAR) and Nyxsaurius Fallsong
Artist’s Note :
A woman, dressed in white is reading from a stone that has Egyptian Hieroglyphs on its outer face. She has one hand to her mouth beckoning silence. On her right side a phoenix is dissolving into flame and on her left is an egg. In the sky, the moon is oddly showing all of its phases at once.
The Magus’s movement of energy is quite showy noticeably is loud. He speaks the reality he wishes to see into existence The High Priestess, on the other hand, is silent and represents an apprehension that is internal rather than external. Not only is she silent but with her fingers to her lips, she beckons our quietude as well.
In many decks, the High Priestess is surrounded by the two pillars Boaz and Joachim. The two pillars of Masonic tradition represent a boundary between that which is known and the unknown. In Greek mythos, these are called the Pillars of Hercules and the philosopher Plato suggested that Atlantis existed somewhere beyond. In this card, the two pillars are represented by the Phoenix in flames and the egg which symbolize respectively the undying and the never-born. Each of them in its own way is a boundary that separates the known from the unknown.
The Priestess reads from her stone that on the outward face has Hieroglyphs. What language she sees and reads from her side is yet another mystery that she contains. The stone emits a multi-coloured mist that obscures the scene for what she reads falls into the realm of that which can not be named by words but felt as internal knowledge, more lunar than mercurial in nature. For reality to exist it must be spoken. Comprehension is more likely to come with silence.
About the Archetype:
The High Priestess is feminine to the Magician’s masculine. Where the Magician represents Active Will, the Priestess represents Passive Intuition. The Magician gives forth and the High Priestess takes in. She represents the lunar current which ties into the subconscious. When our mind is silent and still any and all answers can arise from us from the abyss which links us to the all. We may not be able to consciously carry the answers back yet the knowledge remains.
Tho the High Priestess represents the feminine, the card also represents the balance between all dualities. After all, everything is contained within the temple of the subconscious. She is at the entrance to the temple between the two pillars, the dark and the light (each which like the yin-yang sign contains a bit of its counterpart). From the interplay of duality, almost anything can come forth. She is a figure of devotion, receptive to all. The number 2 (represented by the pillars among other things can be seen as symbolic of the vagina. In silence, she accepts all and in silence, she answers. Because we can’t hear the words she says, we often believe the answers come from our own minds.
Astrological Correspondence:
The Moon (☾) – The astrological moon relates to the unconscious and the messages that come from there. It casts no light of its own but reflects whatever light strikes it (and in turn reflects that light onto whatever it touches). The Moon lights our dark night and shows us what we need to protect ourselves. It goes through cycles of casting greater and lesser amounts of light and influences tides (both in the water and our bodies which are mostly water) and emotions. It is the part of us that knows on a deep intuitive level whether or not we can communicate our knowledge.
In a Reading:
When the High Priestess turns up in a reading it indicates that this is a time to be silent and tune into our own unconscious and listen to what it is trying to tell us. It tells us to pay attention to dreams and other symbols that may be appearing to us. This may be a time of incredible spiritual growth happening beneath the surface, not yet ready to manifest in the physical. Changes are coming if we but open ourselves to them. In a reading, it may also represent the need for us to turn to our feminine side and the understanding that that gives us. We may have grown inattentive to the Goddess force that lies within all of us (men included). The card may also represent a romance that we may wish for but will not manifest in a sexual way at least. At its most essential tho, the card means to be open to whatever intuitive messages are coming through in whatever area is being asked about.
When the High Priestess is reversed or badly aspected it can mean that we have not been listening to the guidance we have been given and are suffering because of it. It may mean that we are blocking our subconscious and need to find ways to open ourselves up to it. It is a good time to meditate and clear and try to reestablish connections with our inner self. It may be that while the querent is usually well-tuned to their inner nature, events of late have felt too rushed or too chaotic and so they have been blocking that voice. Nothing is ever so busy that a time out to reflect and meditate is not a good idea.
Fate’s Whisper:
In the Legends passed down by the dragons they mentored, the Four Pillars were the first manifestations of Energy’s Will. Their undying nature and pure embodiment of balance meant they were meant to be a subtle part of their creation. In the High Priestess, it can be seen that the phoenix, a force that represents immortality, and an egg, which represents birth, act as the pillars around the high priestess.
This image shows the true nature of energy itself. Despite not being “born”, energy is very much alive even when it remains in potential
It is from this well of potential that the pillars were able to create the gods and dragons that were to flow from them.
This subtlety of existence is what is embodied on this card. The idea is that we, as people, hold this aspect within each of us, regardless of what the “norm of society” becomes with the changing times. Each and every person holds this subtle “infinity” in the very fibre of our being. This goes beyond the power or anything external to us. Instead, it manifests as each of our own “silent divinities” that minor difference we make using it is what makes it so unique for each of us.