Sweet Twilight - High Priestess

Aerin

I find her a little sinister. Well, perhaps that's the cat with he All White Eyes, perhaps seeing only the future. And then there's the mice which seem to almost grow from her hair.

She looks a little weary, a little hardened....

If I met her on a dark night I might run.
 

Alan Ross

Aerin said:
I find her a little sinister. Well, perhaps that's the cat with he All White Eyes, perhaps seeing only the future. And then there's the mice which seem to almost grow from her hair.

She looks a little weary, a little hardened....

If I met her on a dark night I might run.

Yes, definitely! I think I dated her once <shudder>. She looks like she's either off her meds or she's taken too many.

And what's up with the creepy cat? Is that supposed to be her familiar? Are the mice intended to be a tasty treat for the cat? Exactly what sort of cat-and-mouse game is this High Priestess playing?

I don't have the lwb with me. Hopefully, it will provide some clue as to what's going on in this card. Right now, it's a mystery to me. I guess that's appropriate, considering that mystery is partly what the High Priestess is about.

Alan
 

Aerin

The LWB says

The High Priestess is familiar with the life that goes unseen, beneath the floors and in the walls. What others may demean, she values and protects.

Maybe she has some vampire blood or something.
 

Alan Ross

Aerin said:
Maybe she has some vampire blood or something.

Yeah, she does give off a vampiric vibe, but vampires get good press these days, so we can't hold that against her.

What I get from the lwb quote you provided is that she's actually protecting the mice from the creepy cat. She sees that which is hidden or overlooked, which connects her with one of the traditional High Priestess significances, as the possessor and guardian of hidden knowledge. But this card goes further, not just seeing her as the possessor of hidden knowledge, but also using that knowledge to nurture and protect.

It's interesting that she isn't looking at either the mice or the cat. Instead, her gaze looks beyond the immediate scene, like some mystic oracle or seer. Where the Empress has a tattoo of heart on her cheek, this High Priestess has a tattoo of a star. That, to me, signifies the unearthly source of the High Priestess's inspired knowledge as opposed to the earthly love associated with the Empress.

Alan
 

RiccardoLS

Can't she be a bit of a dark Cindarella?
 

Hemera

She looks a lot like a friend of mine who is rather nice but not exactly an easy person to be friends with..

This High Priestess looks calm and determined. Maybe she is feeding the mice to the cat? Somehow I feel that she could be connected to the Nature from the darker side, you know, from the not-much-talked-about side of things like decay, death, and all the raw edges of the meat-eating side of the natural world. Usually, when we talk about Mother Nature we want to just think of the pretty procreating bunny and Empressy side of it.

This High Priestess could be someone who breeds and tests mice in a laboratory for research purposes. Maybe for developing a vaccine against the swine flu? Something that may seem to be evil but in the end is not.
 

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Alan Ross

RiccardoLS said:
Can't she be a bit of a dark Cindarella?
A dark Cinderella? hmmm. Is there a dark fairy godmother who will change her mice into horses? Where is her pumpkin carriage?

Or are you saying that having a bit of "dark Cinderella" in her, she has a natural empathy for the weak and helpless, and can see the hidden value within them. That would be an interesting concept for a High Priestess.

Alan
 

Hemera

I thought it means the same thing that I tried to say above..? That she is more closely connected with the darker aspects of life and nature than the Empress for instance. A Dark Goddess, or a witch, if you like. Someone who knows that blind mice and hungry cats are also true.
You can´t always just have empathy for the weak and helpless. Often it is the weak and helpless who get eaten and that´s just one of the laws of Nature.
 

Alan Ross

Hemera said:
I thought it means the same thing that I tried to say above..? That she is more closely connected with the darker aspects of life and nature than the Empress for instance. A Dark Goddess, or a witch, if you like. Someone who knows that blind mice and hungry cats are also true.
You can´t always just have empathy for the weak and helpless. Often it is the weak and helpless who get eaten and that´s just one of the laws of Nature.
I was keeping in mind what the lwb had to say: "The High Priestess is familiar with the life that goes unseen, beneath the floors and in the walls. What others may demean, she values and protects."

"Life that goes unseen, beneath the floors and in the walls" is a perfect description for mice. But the quote doesn't say that she lacks empathy for that life or that she's predatory. Instead, the quote goes on to say: "What others may demean, she values and protects." My understanding of that statement is that she values what others demean, including mice, and that she protects it.

Alan