The High Priestess from the Tarot of the Elves is probably one of the most controversial images in tarot. Many people were appalled and had a very strong negative reaction to this card. However, people don’t have a problem associating The High Priestess with the Greek goddess Persephone. She was kidnapped by Hades, the god of Death, and taken to the underworld to live--kidnapped, taken from her family and a life she loved to live underground. She was, in a sense, dead. Without the experience of her death, the joy and power of her consequent rebirth could not have been. Many initiatory experiences recreate a symbolic death. We find them in most mystery religions, many modern pagan and

I'm back from Florida and the Samhain Florida Pagan Gathering. It was great! The weather was perfect and the people were wonderful. The music group, Coyote Run, really rocked the place. It turns out that one of the members had been to a lecture I gave (on Linda Falorio and Fred Fowler's Shadow Tarot) many years ago when I lived in Minnesota. Singer Kellianna was a down-to-earth delight with a powerful voice. Thanks to everyone who made FPG possible. I hope they'll bring me back sooner than nine years. The people at FPG put me up in a large and airy bunk room (the site is a 4H club campground). The land was grassy, gentle hills, with a large lake on one side. Every so often an alligator