EXERCISE CT #13-2: Courting the High Priestess
Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 22:17:49 (- 00:56:31) +0200
From: Moonchild
To: Comparative Tarot http://comparativetarot.com
Created by Eva YaaAsantewaa
> Select a deck and remove its High Priestess and all Court cards (Kings, Queens, Knights, and Pages).
Place the HP to one side. State your question or concern, then shuffle the Court cards thoroughly. Draw one
Court card by random, placing it face up side-by-side with the HP.The question again is: "How can I manifest my inner wisdom? How can I better practice what I preach?"
> The Court card will have an audience with the HP to present your question or concern in his or her own fashion. ...
Keeping in mind the specific qualities your deck's HP and Court card offer, imagine the interaction and conversation
between these two fascinating characters. You should get a very interesting answer to your question.Arthurian Tarot Lady of the Lake meets the Grail Queen.
I'm having a hard time getting these two to communicate with each other (the sky is just too beautiful this evening), so I'll
just interpret the pair. Book says: "In Celtic tradition, the Wall of Knowledge had five streams which flowed from it, each
one representing one of the senses by which knowledge is acquired. The ways of the Grail are many, but each leads to the
truth of knowledge. Meanings: She is intuitive and sympathetic, her compassionate nature embraces all; she imparts the gifts
of love to all who encounter her; the depth of her emotion marks her as the upholder of the Grail."Lancelot's loves, one worldly, one otherworldly, both oracular. The Lady is isolated and remote, and mostly concerned
with what's "right" for the good of all (in the sense that it was "right" for Arthur to have Excalibur.) The Queen is involved
in the world of the senses, and is mostly concerned with the good of the many through the good of each one. I see her as
most likely to sacrifice resources, time, even her life out of love for another person. In fact, isn't our Patchwork Queen of
Cups the Lady of Shalott, the fair Elaine "White Hands"? Yes, this Queen definitely has all the qualities of an Elaine. How
many children did she have anyway? In the past few years I've learned that nothing brings wisdom with more intensity and
speed than raising a child. The Lady of the Lake did it too, fostering Lancelot and perhaps also Arthur. The difference
between the Lady and the Queen remind me of the characters in _Zanoni_ : the lover wants only knowledge, and the wise
one wants only love. The Lady has the more spiritual knowledge and love, and the Queen has the more earthly knowledge
and love. The Lady loves All as One, and the Queen loves All as Each. Seen? They are sisters, both diviners, connecting
us to the wisdom above and below, beyond and within. In terms of Tarot, the Lady would represent the study of Tarot for
self, and the Queen would represent sharing one's insights with others.There are two things I get from all this in relation to my question.
First of all, connect to spiritual knowledge and love through contemplation of and attention to spiritual things. Fill my "vessel"
with living water, spirit of truth, knowledge of love. Then pour it out again on those I can see, hear, smell, taste or touch.
Wisdom is proved righteous by its works.Secondly, since the Queen repects each individual person, and their feelings reflect in her heart, her empathy gives her tolerance.
She knows that the Lady doesn't possess the *only* Book--just the most important one in her language.Ancestral Path High Priestess meets Guinevere, the Queen of Cups.
Of all the QCs, this is the one I see as most defined by her reflection of others. She lives in a dream world, a fairy tale, and
is much more reactive than proactive. She loves in both wisdom and unwisdom, and looks a bit trepidatious about meeting
the HP. She follows her heart, and calls it her wisdom, regardless of the ancient scroll.Dali's La Sacerdotisa meets the Sota de Bastos (Page of Wands).
Oh, he is so gallant! Or is it a woman, dressed as man? Shades of Pope Joan. This pair of cross-dressers shows me that I
don't have to limit myself to my own world or current system, neither in my wisdom nor in my manifestation or expression of
it. (Actually, I think it means I need a female lover.) I'm too tired to elaborate on this. I'll just add that the Sota says to the HP:
"Awake!
Shake dreams from your hair,
My pretty child, my sweet one!
Choose the day,
And choose the sign of your day--
The day's divinity--
First thing you see."One Love All Love,
Moonchild~~~~~~~~~
Wild child, full of grace,
Savior of the human race. <Jim Morrison>
This page is excerpted from my original contributions to the Comparative Tarot discussion group.
Graphics created and generously shared by Full Moon Graphics.
http://www.moonchild.ch/Tarot/personal/exercise/EX13_2.html
