Be thou as Artemis to Pan!
Read thou in the Book of the Law, and break through the veil of the Virgin!"
-Aleister Crowley.
"From a certain point of view, esotericism has never really been hidden; it is simply invisible. It is self-protected by nature, since it cannot be truly grasped without an adequate inner preparation."
-Michel de Salzmann
"The real world is beyond our thoughts and ideas; we see it through the net of our desires, divided into pleasure and pain, right and wrong, inner and outer. To see the universe as it is, you must step beyond the net. It is not hard to do so, for the net is full of holes."
-Sri Nisargadatta
Contemplation
The Priestess is the riddle which can't be solved logically. She, like The Fool, is in a state of choiceless awareness. The difference between them is that The Fool is blissfully unaware of this, whereas The Priestess is very conscious of the fact. To understand choiceless awareness requires a deep understanding of the relationship between the conscious and subconscious mind. For starters, the former is largely at the mercy of the latter.
Much of what we call our “choices” have been decided long before they occur to us in a conscious fashion. Using the Tree of Life as a conceptual guide, we can get an idea of what this understanding entails (Diagram located in Appendix):
Looking at the Mundane Triangle on the Tree of Life, that is, Sephiroth seven, eight, and nine, we see that consciousness is its content. We see that the very foundation of Being is fluctuation and change (Yesod=the moon). Thought (Hod) is bound to desire (Netzach). Hod and Netzach come together in Yesod, and eventually give birth to the ego or personality (Tiphareth). From this foundation grows all manner of illusion, for to project anything from this center is to act fragmentarily. For example, to exclusively pursue happiness is to become blind to the misery creeping in through the back door. I don't include the tenth Sephira, Malkuth, in this instance for the simple fact that the physical body is already a holistic center, acting almost entirely independent of the ego.
Says Dr. David Bohm:
"We think we function psychologically, from a center. Physically we are forced to function from a center because the body is the center of our field of perception. Psychologically we form an imitation of that, we have the thought of the center. That form is useful physically, but then it was extended psychologically."
The Priestess is listening to the inner Voice, awaiting the flash of insight. Once this illumination occurs the eight trump, Adjustment, enters the scene and takes an active but invisible role. If you look at the Adjustment card you'll see, resting in the scales of balance, the Greek letters Alpha and Omega (Beginning and End). This “beginning” is represented in Tarot by The Fool, and the end is represented by The Universe. This timeline is by no means linear, but cyclical. Adjustment is the alignment of the ego and its personae to the will of the Whole, a process that begins when The Fool confronts The Priestess with that most timeless of all questions:
“Who am I?”
In other words: action, will, and self-inquiry have entered the scene and The Fool is no longer aimless. But it’s important to understand that this active inquiry isn’t a logical one. That is, it doesn’t rely on rationality to uncover a truth. Rather, intuition is the guide here.
The Priestess also symbolizes what’s been called Essence, also known as the Philosopher's Stone, the Medicine of Metals, the Stone of the Wise, the Alkahest, the Divine Dewdrop, the Shekinah, and so forth. The Priestess, together with her loyal knight, The Chariot, is also the Guardian of this substance.
Essence is the inscrutable force that reveals itself after a long process is completed in which all the warring elements within you have been reconciled. The Taoists call it Shen Ling, or the supernatural aspect of the awakened mind. It is the very force behind what Nietzsche called “The Organizing Principle” of one’s being which manifests as True Will. Kabbalistically speaking, the crystallization of this force begins in Yesod: the seat of the "Great Crystallization of Energy" within you and the foundation of the entire Tree of Life. This accumulated Essence is that which breaks through the Veil of Paroketh and into the Kingdom of Tiphareth. It’s the very foundation upon which the adept develops the so-called Body of Light, which is an esoteric way of saying that you must cultivate a certain anatomy to harness the skills of Lucid Dreaming, Astral Projection, and other psychic gifts.
However, to say that The Priestess is no more than the guardian of Essence is like saying The Hermit is just a hobo! The Priestess is essentially a mirror. She reminds us that correct understanding is dependent upon the integrity of the instrument of perception. To put it somewhat poetically, if one wishes to combine the silence of a pond with the image of the full moon reflected within it, it's an absolute necessity that the surface of the pond be undisturbed, and the moon be unobstructed by clouds. Only then can the water clearly reflect the silver disk of the full moon. Similarly, you can’t obtain accurate data if your mind is preoccupied or disturbed by any conflict.
The Priestess also shares a very intimate relationship with The Magus. The Priestess is the inner teacher and The Magus is the creative insights that occur during the lesson. These insights are sustained by The Priestess and articulated by The Magus (more on this later).
The Priestess represents the link to the real you, that sacred spot inside you that no one can ever touch. She’s the unattainable moon in the clear night sky. She's the virginal guardian of pure unratified consciousness, the face you had before your parents were born; the source from which spring all thought, emotion, and action. Therefore, the figure of this virginal Goddess is seen in the final trump, The Universe, and is ascending to the throne of The Priestess. As your Essence increases, you’re eventually granted access to the big picture of who you truly are. This state is lived in until the time comes when the structure of the ego begins to crumble (the ordeal of the Abyss), its energy robbed by the gravity of increased awareness, eventually giving rise to a new integration of being. This is one example of the Solve Et Coagula formula of the Alchemists (more on this later).
Crowley says (parentheses mine):
"In the Wind of the mind arises the turbulence called "I". It breaks; down shower the barren thoughts. All life is choked. This desert is the abyss wherein is the Universe (The Tower). The Stars are but thistles in that waste. Yet this desert is but one spot accursed in a world of bliss. Now and again Travelers cross the desert; they come from the Great Sea, and to the Great Sea they go. And as they go they spill water (The Star); one day they will irrigate the desert, till it flower (The Empress). See! Five footprints of a Camel! V.V.V.V.V. (The Hierophant).
Sandra A Thomson, in her lovely book, “Pictures from the Heart”, associates The Priestess with The Empress and The Star. She notes that The Empress symbolizes the feminine Archetype in the material sense whereas The Priestess symbolizes the feminine in its spiritual sense (Lust symbolizes the feminine in its psychosexual sense). She also points out that while The Priestess conceals, The Empress reveals. This makes sense when we look at the bottom portion of The Priestess with its whorls, crystals, seeds and flowers. Indeed, the path of Daleth, upon which The Empress is found, intersects the path of Gimel, forming the horizontal bar of a cross. It's interesting to note that the horizontal bar of a cross is typically attributed to all things material, while the vertical bar almost invariably represents the spiritual plane. The Priestess represents, as Aleister Crowley once said, "The one connection between the archetypal and formative worlds."
The Priestess is the bridge, The Empress is the door, and The Star is the window through which we glimpse Eternity (The Universe).
The Priestess, as the full moon, is also the force of growth that causes the fetus within the belly of The Empress to mature. The Priestess is the divine midwife, the Greek goddess Artemis. In the wonderful book, “Mythic Astrology Applied”, by Ariel/Gail Guttman and Kenneth Johnson (2004), this is explained rather cl
early (parenthesis mine):
"As soon as she emerged (when Artemis was born), the first act she performed was to help her mother to the nearby island of Delos, where, under a sacred palm tree guarded by lions, she acted as midwife to her brother Apollo's birth. This was an instinctual act upon the part of Artemis, who was regarded as the patroness of childbirth and children, and especially orphans."
One could also argue that The Priestess is the Chapel of the Holy Grail itself, and that the middle-pillar, also called the "Royal Road", is the red carpet leading to it. Indeed, The Priestess does resemble a chalice if you view the card as a whole, as there are eight chalice-like crescent moons upholding the full moon that crowns her head. The Thelemic goddess, Babalon, elevates the Grail in Lust card, located on the path of Teth, which intersects the path of Gimel.
I can't stress enough that the ultimate Truth concealed by The Priestess can't be grasped by reason. In fact, the legend says that a hunter by the name of Actaeon accidentally happened upon a virginal goddess while she was bathing in the nude (the Star). As punishment for this unwelcome glance, she turned Actaeon into a donkey. He was then hunted down by his own dogs and torn to shreds. This is a metaphor for the vain attempt to penetrate Truth by a tour de force. This may be one meaning behind the symbolic admonition found on the lap of the Priestess. We see this warning in the form of three objects in one:
•A book
•A harp
•A bow and arrow.
The book warns about the pitfalls of knowledge (Daath: the false Sephira). The bow and arrow exhort us to see things directly, without devising any word or imposing any theory upon Truth. We're warned that knowledge, though necessary to a point, is eventually the greatest barrier to understanding; true wisdom is to come to know that we know nothing (The Fool). We become capable of seeing the naked Truth (The Star) only when we cease to look at life through the screen of our unconscious conditioning.
If we regard life as a mystery to be appreciated and not a riddle to be solved, we've understood the riddle of The Priestess. It's been said that Beauty is another word for Truth, but it's truer to say that beauty is a veil before Truth, indicating that Truth is somewhere nearby. In much the same way, we don't see the actual goddess in the card but only the light reflecting off her body, which is good if we're not prepared to see the source of this Light. If one is sufficiently aware, then The Priestess will lift her veil a little more, appearing in the guise of Beauty. This brings us to the last object on her lap: the harp.
Rajneesh says:
"All of the meditations which are concerned with listening are feminine in nature, passive: you have just to listen, not to do anything. Listening to the birds, the wind, some music, or to the noise of the traffic—just listening, doing nothing. Great silence comes in, and great peace starts falling and showering on you."
Krishnamurti also has an insight into this when he says:
"When you are in a receptive state of mind, things can be easily understood; you are listening when your real attention is given to something. Unfortunately, most of us listen through a screen of resistance. We are screened with prejudices, whether religious or spiritual, psychological, or scientific; or with our daily worries, desires, and fears. And with these for a screen, we listen. Therefore, we listen really to our own noise, to our own sound, not to what is being said. It is extremely difficult to put aside our training, our prejudices, our inclination, our resistance, and, reaching beyond the verbal expression, to listen so that we understand instantaneously. That is going to be one of our difficulties."
Turning to numerology we see that the number two, true to its paradoxical nature, represents both conflict and marriage (As if you could separate the two!) It can symbolize coming to a crossroads in life. It's also the number of the second Sephira on the Tree of Life, Chokmah (Wisdom), which suggests that insight arises only when we have clear sight, when we have learned to listen to the inner Voice.
When it comes to The Priestess and her relationship to the four Twos, we're dealing with the polarities of life. For example, A longs to be B because A isn't satisfied with being A. The grass just looks so much greener over there where B is! Usually B doesn't exist at all but is merely a fabrication which A projects onto the distant horizon. So, A keeps running and running, hoping to someday reach B, for only then will A be happy. When A reaches B, A finds that B isn't as satisfying as A had anticipated. So, what does A do? A projects C and commences running all over again! Keep this in mind while reading the following. Again, these are only a few suggestions, and the reader should endeavor to add to the ones listed here:
The Priestess/Two of Wands: The hidden blocks within the unconscious portion of our mind rob most of our energy. When these blocks are loosened or dissolved in the light of awareness and understanding, the energy becomes available for consciousness to use. Thus, this card-duo symbolizes the movement and release of powerful energies into the Now by freeing yourself from unconscious influences. This is the finding of your True Will, the structuring of which occurs in the Four of Wands *(see The Emperor and The Empress).
The Priestess/Two of Cups: This pair tells of the passive observation of one's emotions, appetites, dreams, and moods. At its worst, this combination warns us of hidden influences, mood-swings, desires and cravings, or contradictory ideas and perspectives (Olam Ha Briah). As goddess of the moon, The Priestess also signifies a woman's menstrual cycle (Cancer="moon time") and the well-known hormonal responses that come along with it (disturbance in emotional harmony). The influence of the moon on our dreams, our creative processes, and the balancing of fluids in your body, all belong to this card-couple. The most literal level of interpretation is that of Love. Not the love of codependence or attachment, but the Love arising from the depths of a soul at peace. This Love has no need for an object and is therefore capable of infinite movement (inexhaustible expression).
The Priestess/Two of Swords: This card-combination warns of the power of the word. The sound of the word, the meaning behind words, and the emotional responses they generate. The art of finding the most appropriate and direct way to communicate feelings and ideas is suggested by this pair of cards. Extending our Kabbalistic understanding as broadly as we can, we see that The Priestess is operating here on the world of Olam Ha Yetzirah, which is the World of Formation, introducing the element of psychological Time and the distance between the idea and the actual. In the world of Atziluth, that is, the world of Emanations represented by the suit of Wands, there's no such division, for there the seeing is the doing. This isn't the case in the world of Yetzirah, where the image of what one wants gets in the way of what one is. Here, even though the title of the card is "Peace," we're still missing out on the chance to attain genuine understanding, for to run away from the fact of war for the sake of obtaining peace is to negate the opportunity to understand the former by projecting and hiding out in the latter. Thus, in this card-combo---as is the case with all the suits other than Wands---we're standing outside the shrine of The Priestess, a slave to our own idea, for the word (Yetzirah), and therefore the image (Briah) have come between our big Self (Yechidah) and our little self (Ruach).
The Priestess/Two of Disks: Here we encounter the vast and multifaceted subject of Environment, the influence of Environment upon consciousness, and the influence of consciousness upon Environment. The issue of change, and the finding of that which remains stable in change also confronts us. We're asked to find out whether the "self" is more than merely the product of Environment or if there's something inexpressible, unique, and unchanging within us. We're admonished to see clearly where it is we’re being influenced or pushed around by the people, circumstances, and challenges. Most importantly, we're being asked to seriously question ourselves as to how we deal with these issues. We're being reminded of the alchemical separation of our pure and exalted consciousness from the prison of Matter and Time.
In closing:
By now you’ve probably guessed that the key to unlockin
g the secret of The Priestess is a little word called totality. Until you’ve completed the individuation process you can't hope to gaze into the fathomless depths of the Priestess. A divided being can't approach Her. Only individuals with direct perception can lift her Veil, because in all reality there's no Veil at all! To understand what this means, we must turn our attention to the two cards from the Major Arcana representing the alchemical Solve Et Coagula formula:
•The Lovers: (dissolution)
•Art: (reintegration)
As we've seen, the dissolution happens when the observer recognizes the fact that he is the observed. For example, suppose you are an envious person. The normal response is to justify it, modify it, or replace it with the ideal of non-envy, all of which is an escape from the fact of envy. It's like an overweight man who, upon deciding to lose weight, attempts to do so by imagining that he's exercising! Now, let's say that you’ve got an insight into this and, instead of escaping from envy, you turn around and face the fact. You've realized that any attempt to modify it is still within the same field of thought that produced the conflict to begin with.
Totality unlocks the door to the palace of The Priestess, the realization of that which exists behind the conditioned reflex of the mind. In the language of mysticism, this is the return to Virginity. Here, the word "Virgin" has nothing to do with sex, but is used to indicate totality, aloneness, and independence. To be complete within yourself implies that nothing can be added to or taken away from you. Put simply, it means that you’ve found the door leading out of the darkness of your past, fresh and again pure.
Predicting The Present Page 5