The High Priestess - #TarotImageTuesday
Good morning!! it's #TarotImageTuesday
This week, it's the The High Priestess, and I've selected the Ellis Deck.
Gods, how I LOVE this version of the High Priestess! There are elements of the RWS High Priestess, with the pillars Joachim and Boaz, the curtain with it's pomegranate pattern and the moon, partially-veiled, beyond it...but the High Priestess herself is unlike any other that I've seen.
Here she is portrayed without a throne, instead choosing to sit in the lotus position, emphasising her status as conduit between the earth and the beyond. Half of her body is entwined in ivy and flowers, for she represents that connection with the earth where wisdom can bring growth and strength, and a butterfly is just above her outstretched hand, showing us that there is power for transformation and transmutation in the messages that she encourages us to hear.
The other half of her body is entwined in a snake, another symbol of transformation, but one that emphasises growth through release of the old, as it sheds its skin and renews itself season upon season. The snake also represents a welcoming of silence, the keeping of our own truth, and the introspection that comes when the outside world is quieted and we become still and open to the messages that are meant for us. This side of her face is also adorned with a circlet or diadem, and her eye is a reflection of the starlight that she has seen beyond the veil behind her. She is interlocutrix, she is the conductor of messages from those hidden parts of ourself, as well as from beyond the veil, and by her very presence she encourages us to hear those messages as they pertain to our own journey.
Other than the ivy and the snake, she is naked, showing us that she has nothing to hide, no trickery or sleight of hand, no showy robes or finery to distract us, unlike the Magician that came before her - she encourages us to be similarly open to the truth, stripped bare and revealed to us.
What do you see in the image? I'd love to hear your thoughts on it, and we can share the similarities and differences between the images in the various decks!
The Ellis Deck is by the very down to earth, and rather smashing, Taylor Ellis, and the image is © and used with courtesy. The deck itself is available from his website
