Timely Tarot: The High Priestess and the Way of Initiation By Lisa De La O Wyman
Timely Tarot: The High Priestess and the Way of Initiation
By Lisa De La O Wyman
We are currently wading through the dreamy, sometimes murky waters of Pisces season, looking ahead to what we hope will be brighter days in the Spring. This time of year is ruled by The Moon card in the Tarot, which often means feeling lost in a fog of feelings, confusion, and old, repeating patterns that seem to want to tell us something. For more on this, see here for a review of that card. However, today it is the High Priestess who wants to speak to us. Out of her hidden depths, she calls with gentle but insistent whispers of what your spirit knows but your mind doesn’t want to hear. For one who tends to operate in silence, she’s been extremely chatty as of late, and she wants to talk about initiation. The past two years have been incredibly challenging and changed our lives in many ways. We experienced beginnings and endings, lost dreams and fresh opportunities, boredom and fear, and everything in between. We walked through the wilderness without a compass together and often felt alone and on the defensive. You were changed forever. In the quiet of your heart, do you continue to feel a call to change? Has something shifted that is undeniable? Are you being called forward in a way you can’t understand but feel somewhere deep in your gut? That’s her voice. Let’s listen more closely . . .
The High Priestess is one of the most beloved cards of the Tarot. Ruled by the moon and corresponding to the element of water, she represents the ultimate mystery. Often depicted between dark and light pillars, clothed in the colors of water, and crowned with the moon phases, she is the keeper of spiritual wisdom. She is another face of goddesses like Hecate, Isis, Hathor, Artemis, and the Virgin Mary. Like these figures, she is seen as pure and virginal – not because she is frigid or asexual but because she is complete unto herself. She radiates both self- and-worldly knowledge that leaves nothing lacking. In many depictions, she is holding scrolls or sacred texts and is surrounded by pomegranates, that powerful symbol of fertility, blood, death, and carnal knowledge. Latin for “seeded apple,” in some traditions the pomegranate is thought to be the fruit of the Tree of Eden – one bite and the world and its sorrows (and joys) are made known. Another version of this is the Greek myth of Persephone, who was taken into the underworld by Hades and fed six pomegranate seeds. Through this process, she transitions from the innocence of maidenhood to the maturity and wisdom of womanly power. It is her initiation into the role of queen of the underworld, now fully aware of the mysteries of life and death and her place in it all.
The High Priestess is associated with the Hebrew letter gimel, or “camel”. Like that great “ship of the desert,” she carries the eternal waters of spiritual wisdom with her wherever she goes. She is the silent stream running underground forever, always hydrating and effortlessly fluid. She is the secret source of spiritual refreshment that we all crave, the holy grail of our longing. Artist Mel Meleen states in Book M: Liber Mundi that “to drink from the grail is the experience of initiation, to glimpse the Torah scroll of Wisdom she carries.” She initiates us into higher mysteries, where there’s no playing it safe, playing dumb, or dialing it in. In seeking her, we seek ourselves – the mystery of our being that often feels so out of reach in a busy and frenetic world that has us running on a hamster wheel.
So how do we do it? How do we peek behind that veil that seems to separate her from us? How do we hear the wisdom she offers? The answer is something we were all forced to do during the pandemic – get quiet. As much as we may have tried to soothe our anxieties with TV, social media, food, alcohol, and Netflix binging, that whisper kept nudging you, didn’t it? Sometimes it was clothed in the guise of anxiety, anger, or frustration, but underneath all that, a veil was being parted and revealing a closer look into the heart of your being. Some of us saw that our relationships weren’t working, our careers were built on duty instead of passion, and that we were lonely for fellowship and neighborly kindness. Being quiet with our thoughts is difficult and scary, but somewhere underneath the discomfort, you can hear the gentle trickling of that silent stream, calling you forward on a path of initiation. Naked and afraid in the wilderness we wander toward the sound of water and our path back home to ourselves. It will never be the same. You are different now. Can’t that be a good thing?
You can make this grail quest meaningful by bringing something back that will enrich and inspire you in the days ahead. Your harrowing journey of initiation can bless you with wisdom, deep self-knowledge, and empathy for the experience of your earthly companions. Like the High Priestess, at times we all must negotiate between the worlds, whether we reach the glorious heights of paradise or struggle through the dark tunnels of our underworlds. We can always find our way back, carrying that life-vivifying grail of refreshment for ourselves and others.
Lisa De La O Wyman is a Tarot reader and writer based in Redondo Beach. At Tarot for Empowerment she works with individual clients, private parties, and special events. Through her work she seeks to connect people with their innate power as well as encounter the mystery in everyday life. She can be reached via Instagram and Facebook at @tarotforempowerment, email at info@tarotforempowerment.com and website www.tarotforempowerment.com.
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