The High Priestess
The High Priestess is a symbol of wisdom, knowledge, intuition, purity, and chastity. She represents the feminine mysteries, connecting the earthly and celestial realms. The imagery of the owl, moons, and pomegranate reflects cycles, hidden truths, and duality of life and death.
Keywords
Description of the Image
The High Priestess opens herself to the Heavens. She delights in the radiance of the stars scattered above her uplifted face. She absorbs this trembling, dazzling light, feeling it intensify within her mind, opening pathways and dancing in filigree patterns. The stars sing: We were here when the mountains were young, And the seas were but a dream... We have seen the hills bloom countless millions of seasons... We watched the clouds paint their visions, speaking through centuries... Let us tell you. An owl hoots in the darkness, calling to its mistress with the music of the night. Its white feathers shimmer in the moonlight, as if glowing from within. It glides through the darkness to rest beside her. The darkness of the night is full of whispers – of the secret knowledge of the stars, the trees, and the earth, whose Spirits narrate their stories and wisdom in a whistling soprano. She weaves these sounds with her fingers, drawing the voices into physical being, and in her fingers, the key of filigree work fuses. She calls the owl. 'Take this and be the bearer of secrets,' she tells it.
Meaning
Wisdom, knowledge, learning, intuition, purity, chastity. The High Priestess raises her hands, and in this gesture, her body itself becomes a living symbol of the chalice. The owl – the guardian of knowledge – bears the key that unlocks mysteries. The pomegranate symbolizes Persephone, who tasted the seeds and thereby bound herself to Hades; it is a fruit of fertility and death. The moons adorning her garments – waxing and waning, the new crescent, the full moon, and the Lunar quarters – create a complete cycle, encapsulated in one.
Explanation
Hades in Greek mythology (or Hades, Ancient Greek Ἀΐδης or ᾍδης, also Ἀϊδωνεύς; Pluto in Roman mythology, Greek Πλούτων, Pluto – 'the wealthy'; also Dis Latin Dis or Orcus) is the god of the underworld and the name of the underworld itself, the entrance to which, according to Homer and other sources, is somewhere 'in the extreme west, beyond the river Oceanus that encircles the earth.' He is the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, brother of Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Hestia, and Demeter. He is the husband of Persephone, who is honored and invoked together with him. Persephone (Ancient Greek Περσεφόνη, dialect variants include Persephoneia / Persephoneia / Persephone, sometimes Ferrephata) in Greek mythology is the goddess of fertility and the underworld. Grim Hades is an Olympian god, though he usually resides in his underground domain. He would ascend to the surface only on business or when overcome by love's passion. Hades ruled together with his wife Persephone (daughter of Zeus and Demeter), whom he kidnapped while she was picking flowers in a meadow. When abducting Persephone, he appeared in a chariot drawn by four horses. Persephone's mother, Demeter, the goddess of earthly fertility, in her sorrowful search for her daughter, neglected her duties, causing a famine. Zeus ordered Persephone be returned to her mother. However, Hades made her swallow some pomegranate seeds, binding her to the underworld forever; she spends part of the year with her mother on earth and the rest ruling the underworld. Zeus decreed that Persephone would spend two-thirds of the year on earth with her mother and one-third with Hades.
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