The Rider - Waite Tarot Deck - Starbridge Centre

The Rider - Waite Tarot Deck
CARD 2: THE HIGH PRIESTESS
Keyword:
Contemplation:
The lure of the feminine, the veil deepens.
THE ETERNAL FEMININE VALUES, WHAT ARE THEY
The mysterious High Priestess is sitting between the black pillar of Boaz (the pole of the
feminine-negative power) and the white pillar of Jachin (the pole of the masculine-positive
power).
These two pillars are, like the staff mentioned in card 1, THE MAGICIAN, an ongoing
theme in many major arcana cards.
The pillars are illustrating the fundamental polarity, the dual nature of the manifested,
physical world. Everything that is happening in the created world can be defined as
"dissonant energy currents", or "energy turbulence", between a negative and a positive
energy pole. These two "poles" of the created world are traditionally depicted as twin
pillars in tarot cards, often a white (the male, positive or dynamic pole), and a black (the
female, negative and receptive pole). The tension, or the accumulation of dissonance that
occurs in the space between these two poles, will on the astral level display itself as a
particular visual image, a symbolisation more or less familiar to the human eye, like THE
HIGH PRIESTESS in this card.
THE HIGH PRIESTESS is in front of a veil, decorated with what looks like alternating
pomeogranate fruits and palm trees, which may be understod as feminine and masculine
forces respectively. The veil is "maya`s veil", the curtain of illusion which covers the
mysteries of life.
The crown on her head, which is the moon with its three faces, the waxing moon, the full
moon and the waning moon, shows the kingly nature of the power she represents. On the
high priestess` dress at the heart there is a white cross with four equally long arms, a
© 2005 Starbridge Centre Ulla and Erik Sandersen
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