Swedish Witch / Jolanda Tarot - The High Priestess

Alan Ross

This High Priestess doesn't seem very mysterious or aloof to me. She seems more cheerful and approachable, but that's consistent with the deck as a whole. She wears an Egyptian headdress that reminds me of the headdress worn by the enigmatic Sphinx, perhaps signifying hidden wisdom. above her head is a crescent moon surmounted by a full moon, linking her to lunar energies and cycles. It's also reminiscent of the horned lunar crown that the Egyptian goddess Isis is frequently depicted as wearing. The High Priestess is also wearing full moon earrings.

She's topless, assertively revealing her femininity, but is covered below the waist by a skirt adorned with oak leaves. I did a little research on oak symbology and came up with the following at a site devoted to tree worship:

"The Greek historian Herodotus 484 - 424 BC (often called the “father of history”.) reported that the sacred Oak grove at Dodona had the greatest reputation for the gifts of prophecy. Situated at the foot of Mt. Tomarus, Dodona was the oldest and most hallowed sanctuary in Greece. An ancient legend tells of two black doves that flew from the Egyptian city of Thebes, one flew to the Libyan Ammon and the other flew to Dodona. Each alighted on an Oak tree and so began the oracular Oak cults dedicated to the Gods and Goddesses. The cult at Dodona was dedicated to the goddess Dione (Diana) but was later seized by Zeus who claimed it for his own, though he retained the services of her priestesses to read his oracles. This they did listening to the cooing of black doves, the rustle of the Oaks leaves in the wind, or the clanging of pots and pans hung in the tree branches to produce sound. They claimed that within the sounds could be heard the voice of Zeus."

Dione was a Titan in Greek mythology, whose name is the feminine form of Zeus (dios). She may have been derived from a more ancient Mother Goddess worshipped in Asia Minor.

The combination lyre/bow and arrow is a symbol also seen in the same card in the Thoth Tarot. The bow and arrow relates the High Priestess to Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt, but the bow is also a lyre, signifying that the High Priestess hunts by enchantment.

The camel is an esoteric reference to the Qabalah. The Golden Dawn associated the High Priestess with the Hebrew letter Gimel, which translates to "camel." On the Tree of Life, the High Priestess is associated with the path connecting Kether with Tipareth, the single middle pillar path that connects the supernal triad above the abyss with the rest of the sephirah below the abyss. The High Priestess crosses over the abyss separating the two parts of the tree the same way a camel crosses over a desert.

Gerd Ziegler, in "Tarot: Mirror of the Soul," provides a less esoteric significance for the camel: "Like the camel, which can travel long stretches in the desert without water, you, when you have discovered your own inner spring, also radiate a satisfied sense of self-sufficiency. You find fertile oases in the innermost reaches of your being."

I'm not sure of the significance of the peapod full of smiling peas. I discovered that peas were often used for divination during the middle ages, by throwing them into a field and interpreting the pattern, so maybe it has something to do with that. I have no idea what the pink blobby thing in front of the peapod is.
 

Luna's Crone

Here is a pix of the priestess

Preistess. Heck don't know which way to spell it.
 

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rylla

Could that blobby thing in the front be an egg? Signifying that by intuition the HP gets to the heart of the matter?
 

Luna's Crone

bump for information on the priestess card
 

Luna's Crone

The combination lyre/bow and arrow is a symbol also seen in the same card in the Thoth Tarot. The bow and arrow relates the High Priestess to Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt, but the bow is also a lyre, signifying that the High Priestess hunts by enchantment.

The camel is an esoteric reference to the Qabalah. The Golden Dawn associated the High Priestess with the Hebrew letter Gimel, which translates to "camel." On the Tree of Life, the High Priestess is associated with the path connecting Kether with Tipareth, the single middle pillar path that connects the supernal triad above the abyss with the rest of the sephirah below the abyss. The High Priestess crosses over the abyss separating the two parts of the tree the same way a camel crosses over a desert.

Gerd Ziegler, in "Tarot: Mirror of the Soul," provides a less esoteric significance for the camel: "Like the camel, which can travel long stretches in the desert without water, you, when you have discovered your own inner spring, also radiate a satisfied sense of self-sufficiency. You find fertile oases in the innermost reaches of your being."

I think Gerd Ziegler got it right. Thats how i now see the camel with the priestess. You may right about the peas. there is not much on them. maybe its is a swedish or norse thing with the peas. I sometimes wish my ancesters where here becuz i have so many questions on both the swedish and celtic sides.