THE HIGH PRIESTESS archetype

THE HIGH PRIESTESS archetype

“Intuition is really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life, where the histories of all people are connected, and we are able to know everything, because it’s all written there.”

― Paolo Coelho ~ The Alchemist

“When you reach the end of what you should know, you will be at the beginning of what you should sense.” 
― Kahlil Gibran ~ Sea and Foam

We journey now from 1-The Magician to sit in the presence of 2-The High Priestess, who teaches us a different kind of magic – that of the intuitive and mystical realm of the feminine psyche. Knowing that everything has its time and its season, The High Priestess “likes to let things happen without prematurely intervening in their course.” She is ready, but practices patience, trusting her inner voice to specify a particular path and let her know when, where, and how action should be taken. Her domain is that of intuitive awareness, insight, and deep connection to her essential Divine nature.

Boaz and Jachin, the two pillars of Solomon’s Temple, flank her, representing the black and white of duality, such as between day and night, light and dark, conscious and unconscious. The High Priestess sits at the center of this polarity, knowing that both poles are necessary to create wholeness.

Representing the receptive lunar principle, she is the feminine counterpart to The Magician. Just as he represents the “solar consciousness that illuminates all things and strives for transparency and clarity”, The High Priestess dwells in the indirect twilight of the moon that lets us perceive things that are not within our conscious awareness and are seldom brought to the surface in daily life.

She wears a crown bearing the three phases of the moon – waxing, full, and waning – with another crescent moon at her feet, her cascading robe reminiscent of flowing water – perhaps the watery depths of the emotions, women’s lunar cycles, and the collective unconscious that we all share. The backdrop of ripe, bursting pomegranates suggests fertility and abundance.

Just as the Magician is analogous to the logical, left side of the brain, the High Priestess symbolizes the intuitive nature of the right side of the brain. “His is the path of the Western human being, the active path of external power and action. Hers is a view of life most likely found in the Eastern traditions. The Magician seeks, the mystic lets herself be found.

Course Syllabus

• THE HIGH PRIESTESS archetype Lesson 3

  

   

   

  “Intuition is really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life, where the histories of all people are connected, and we are able to know everything, because it’s all written there.”

  ― Paolo Coelho ~ The Alchemist

   “When you reach the end of what you should know, you will be at the beginning of what you should sense.” 
  ― Kahlil Gibran ~ Sea and Foam

   

   We journey now from 1-The Magician to sit in the presence of 2-The High Priestess, who teaches us a different kind of magic – that of the intuitive and mystical realm of the feminine psyche. Knowing that everything has its time and its season, The High Priestess “likes to let things happen without prematurely intervening in their course.” She is ready, but practices patience, trusting her inner voice to specify a particular path and let her know when, where, and how action should be taken. Her domain is that of intuitive awareness, insight, and deep connection to her essential Divine nature.

  Boaz and Jachin, the two pillars of Solomon’s Temple, flank her, representing the black and white of duality, such as between day and night, light and dark, conscious and unconscious. The High Priestess sits at the center of this polarity, knowing that both poles are necessary to create wholeness.

  Representing the receptive lunar principle, she is the feminine counterpart to The Magician. Just as he represents the “solar consciousness that illuminates all things and strives for transparency and clarity”, The High Priestess dwells in the indirect twilight of the moon that lets us perceive things that are not within our conscious awareness and are seldom brought to the surface in daily life.

  She wears a crown bearing the three phases of the moon – waxing, full, and waning – with another crescent moon at her feet, her cascading robe reminiscent of flowing water – perhaps the watery depths of the emotions, women’s lunar cycles, and the collective unconscious that we all share. The backdrop of ripe, bursting pomegranates suggests fertility and abundance.

  Just as the Magician is analogous to the logical, left side of the brain, the High Priestess symbolizes the intuitive nature of the right side of the brain. “His is the path of the Western human being, the active path of external power and action. Hers is a view of life most likely found in the Eastern traditions. The Magician seeks, the mystic lets herself be found.