Experience the Mystery of the High Priestess
Experience the Mystery of Tarot: Ceremonies, Spreads, and Meditations to Deepen Your Connection to the Cards
Katalin Jett Koda
In Experience the Mystery of Tarot, Koda gives us interpretations, meditations, spreads, and ceremonies that deepen our connection with the cards and with ourselves. As readers, many of us relate to the High Priestess. This excerpt shares some of Koda’s insight into the card as well as a ceremony for connecting with your intuition.
As the number two, the High Priestess stands between one and the other. The point of division indicates the moment of reflection, when we look back upon ourselves. She is a bridge: between the worlds of conscious and unconscious; dark and light; masculine and feminine. Her number is two: a sprout producing two leaves from the one seed. Two reflects and we see the High Priestess standing between two pillars, one black, one white. In between lies her wisdom, her crystal ball of insight above her head and resting upon the crescent moon of the Goddess. The two is the seed which sprouts its first two leaves and is tender, full of life and potential and growth.
Now the path becomes a dance and will become more complex as we wind our way onward. Here the Fool encounters oneself in the looking glass; it is the Universe eyeing itself, the eye, the gaze, the peering into a crystal ball or mirror to divine our path and where we are headed. The High Priestess stands between two worlds: the conscious and the unconscious, the dark and the light, the seen and the unseen. The High Priestess is the liminal space between what was and what is to come, the moment of transition and crossing over.
While the Magician offers us the brilliant visionary perspective, the High Priestess is the wise, shadow counterpart which may help us in the more troubling times of our own soul’s journey on the path. Oftentimes we seek out help during times of transition, pain, trouble or fear. Intuitive readers, diviners, mediums and seers rest at the crossroads comfortably offering wise counsel only because they themselves have delved deep into the subterranean of pain, darkness and sorrow and transformed it into wisdom, light and compassion. They are imbued with the gift of seeing into the non-ordinary or unseen worlds.
Divination Moon Ceremony
The art of divination is as old as humans themselves. Used primarily to assist in finding water, resources, tracking animals and to connect with non-humans and the unseen world, this craft still has its place in many indigenous cultures as well as modern day issues around money, relationships, career and love. One way that people used a natural method was to scry or gaze into water or a crystal ball to determine the future. When we take time to do this, we activate our intuitive centers and open ourselves to non-ordinary reality.
For this practice, you can look at the moon reflected in water. Go out into the nature to a lake, river or pool of water on a full moon night and practice gazing into the water. If this is inaccessible, simply set up a bowl of water on a moonlit night and sit outside with you bowl. You may wish to set up a simple altar like the one you worked with in the Magician card. Visualize a bright, vivid sphere of light surrounding and protecting you before you begin.
Before you begin, it is helpful to set an intention or ask a question about something that is troubling you. Take a few moments to close your eyes, focus on the breath and feel into your question. Then slowly open your eyes and gaze into the water before you. You can do this several times, closing the eyes and then looking into the water. Allow impressions, images, thoughts to move across your mind’s eye opening you up to your more intuitive self. Do not be concerned with receiving a direct, immediate answer right away! Simply allow yourself to have this experience.
When you are finished, thank the waters and the moon for their presence and guidance. You may want to make an offering at the water’s edge or pour your bowl of water with intention before closing this simply divination ceremony. Before you go to sleep, ask to receive further guidance in your dream state continuing the process of connecting to your intuitive and wise self.
