2 The High Priestess
As I look at the card I feel the freedom and power of standing in a natural place with the wild wind blowing through flowing clothes, night time and the power of the full moon over head affecting us all - turning the tides, and making subtle changes in our moods and temperaments as the water in our bodies responds the the moons pulling and pushing.
Deck created by Anna Franklin and Published by Llewellyn Deck available to buy from both websites.
There is a willow round the edge of the card which reminds me of the strength that comes from being flexible. I associate willow with the feminine power, it can grow in water, implying we can grow being in touch with our emotions, our feeding from the honouring of how we feel whatever external others (other trees) might say or need for themselves.
I see a stone circle in the background and feel the power is rooted in the earth and in tradition. The High Priestess is holding a crystal ball which mirror the full moon above and she can see truths within it as she claims her power. Trusting herself and all she knows intuitively.
I walk into the card frame and ask the willows for a message " Be free and flexible like I am. Allow life to touch you and go with the flow - this flexibility is my strength and it is what prevents harsh gales from harming me." As the willow says this I see a picture of people holding so rigidly to thoughts and ways of conceptualising the world, that when the winds of change blow they snap - it reminds me that if we are flexible in our thinking then we survive the gales of change without being uprooted or broken by them.
I ask if there is any thing further she wishes to say (for I feel the willow is a softly spoken she) she says that she grows with her feet in water, in emotions, and it is the emotional realm that she governs, where things can't be rationally deduced or explained away but have to be experienced. Like water has to be drunk to know how thirst quenching it is, we must drink of our emotions and know that it will quench our thirst for ourselves."
Then I walk further into the card, I see snowdrops on the ground and these have a personal meaning for me as a new beginning, one of friendship and of love that is timeless and enduring. One that has had to withstand the struggles of formation but has weathered these storms and now is almost untouchable by outside influences, the bond is one of great strength, all inside conflicts have been confronted and nothing to come can challenge the bond in the future. They say "We are delicate and short lived. We mark the beginning of a new time of fresh hope and light. We foretell the future coming is bright and optimistic."
There is a swan by the High Priestess and I feel he is saying " Do not mess with me for I am the High Priestess' protector - I will keep the area safe for the High Priestess to fully claim her power, to talk with the other realms, to know the unknowable and to be who she truly is" I feel he is the inner protector in each of us, that we need whenever we need to have quiet space and time to go within - he is the one who is saying "No" to families and friends and other distractions. He turns off the phone and tells everyone not to disturb for an hour or 2 while the true inner work and communing with the soul takes place.
I come to the High Priestess herself and ask of her what she is doing and what message she has. In a powerful authoritative voice she says..." I am communing with the highest part of myself and with the guides and spirits who can help me vision my own future in the highest possible way. I am gaining knowledge and insight in a feeling sense, gaining the 'knowing' about situations. Is there a question you would ask of the ball - of the moon - of that mass of earth reflecting all back to you? - You can ask a question to gain a clearer reflection of yourself as you look into the crystal - sometimes it is the future that is shown and sometimes the past. But there is a warning - be careful what you ask - for things will be revealed - do you really want to know? With an open heart and an honest need to know answers will help you go through your life and gain smoother passage in the way of challenges that so often is our destiny path."
I say I want to know how things will be for me in the future....
She tells me to look into the crystal ball and slowly allow images to come
I find it hard to see anything and she asks me "Do you really want to know?" - I say yes and she says "Open your heart and allow it to come to you. Ask what does the future hold"
I see images of myself and my son and how we are playing happily together, I see this in my current house and I ask about the future re moving and feel my heart shut down as I do so - as if I deep down don't want previous feelings about it to be challenged - I understand what she means about being sure I want to see the future.
With less attachment to what I want to see the images come clearer. What do I need to know to help me now? I ask. I hear her say - "You are going to be freer happier and more powerful than you are now, - Know that your true self will be expressed freely" - It is like I will become like her I think, able to maintain my boundaries whilst still holding my intuition as my highest knowledge. I realise that I asked the wrong question initially for what I truly wanted to know at this time, the gates opened as I freed myself to receive what I could digest at this time.
"What do you feel about the moon with the rainbow aura round it?" I ask
She replies "It is the moon being heralded in its glory as it should be for it reminds us that we move in cycles too that there is no "this is it forever, now" but always a movement and state of flux and a flow. It is the mirror of the sun and as such it is the mirror of ourselves, when we want to see ourselves the Moon reminds us that people all around us are mirroring us back to ourselves and we only need to see these mirrors and we can gain much insight into who we truly are.
"When you appear reversed in a reading what are you saying?" I ask.
"Please look within. You are floating around in a 'cosmic flow man' and not seeing any mirrors anywhere - it is like you are in the dark and yet you have so much potential to see the light as it is being reflected back at you all the time. It is your choice though - you need to choose to see. Once you do then I will return the right way up and you will gain knowledge of yourself and others. Reversed I am saying you are blocking your feelings about a situation your emotions are not feeding you you are cutting yourself off from them. You can do this through excesses of all sorts. It is your desire to know yourself conflicting with your fear of what you will find if you do indeed see yourself. My message is to face it, you are delaying the inevitable and you are cutting yourself off from your true joy and power. Face the fears and go with in - Look at the mirrors and messaged the universe shows up to you. See - for it is all in front of you."
"Thank you" I say. She holds her hand to my forehead blessing me and sending me great love - I feel her compassion now and her knowing of the journey that we must all go through - How sometimes strict sternness is called for and other times compassion. Her own value is not based on what you think of her, for she is self confident and assured. Strong in her sense of self and rooted in her connection to the Earth.
My journey ends..... I feel I have been challenged and loved at the same time!
Some time later I look at the card and notice in my journey there was no pool of water at her feet as there is in the card. As I look at this I see that the pool is reflecting as the moon does and that the moon is reflected in the pools surface - somehow grounding the energy I feel. I also see the pool is surrounded by rocks and is very contained - so The High Priestess lives in her feeling or emotional self but the emotions are contained they are not spilling over uncontrolled into everything. Its as if she can be with her emotions without them taking over her life, she uses them as food for her inner self in someway. I also notice the card is very purple and this strikes me as the third eye intuitive colour - she is very intuitive in all her aspects.
Meditation Tapes
For those of you who have one of our tapes the B side of any of the tapes can be ideal for use like this. When you are led into the garden you can visualise the card there in front of you.
Often people find it easier to maintain the focus into the card when using the light visualisation as directed in these tapes. It stops your mind wandering so much and helps you receive the images, developing your intuition. Go to Seeds of Light home to explore or buy one of our tapes.
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