SweetSiren
For years, I have stuck with the average associations with this card. Lately, I've seen it quite a bit and I decided to take another look. This may not be news for some of you, but for others, it might be an interesting ride.
The High Priestess at a glance is very much linked to the Greek Goddess Persephone. She was captured by the ruler of the underworld, Hades. Zeus demanded she be returned, but Hades tricked her into eating pomegranate seeds, and by doing so, she was obligated to return to the underworld half of every year.
The myth of Persephone is not a pretty one. In some stories, she was the one to carry out the punishments in the underworld. For a long time, when the idea of immortality was first introduced, it was believed that when one dies, no matter the person they were when alive, they would be tortured. There was a great fear of death, and Persephone was forced to occupy that space.
The High Priestess is not simply a symbol of hidden knowledge, but that which you fear to know. The pomegranates, a symbol of lust and the feminine, also depicts the cross she bears due to deceit. They serve as a warning that things do not always go according to plan and to be aware that others may have hidden motivations.
In reading, this may not always be a bad thing. If you are anticipating the worst in a situation, she may be telling you that there are things you are not seeing that will work to your benefit. She represents that which is outside of your realm of knowledge, the conversations your love interest may be having about you with others, the cheaper priced oil change down the road that you didn't think to research. So she asks you to seek this information out, to look in places that you do not see.
And sometimes, you are Persephone, the one with the knowledge, and in that case, she asks you to be at peace with what you know and to remind you that you cannot go back to ignorance.
The High Priestess at a glance is very much linked to the Greek Goddess Persephone. She was captured by the ruler of the underworld, Hades. Zeus demanded she be returned, but Hades tricked her into eating pomegranate seeds, and by doing so, she was obligated to return to the underworld half of every year.
The myth of Persephone is not a pretty one. In some stories, she was the one to carry out the punishments in the underworld. For a long time, when the idea of immortality was first introduced, it was believed that when one dies, no matter the person they were when alive, they would be tortured. There was a great fear of death, and Persephone was forced to occupy that space.
The High Priestess is not simply a symbol of hidden knowledge, but that which you fear to know. The pomegranates, a symbol of lust and the feminine, also depicts the cross she bears due to deceit. They serve as a warning that things do not always go according to plan and to be aware that others may have hidden motivations.
In reading, this may not always be a bad thing. If you are anticipating the worst in a situation, she may be telling you that there are things you are not seeing that will work to your benefit. She represents that which is outside of your realm of knowledge, the conversations your love interest may be having about you with others, the cheaper priced oil change down the road that you didn't think to research. So she asks you to seek this information out, to look in places that you do not see.
And sometimes, you are Persephone, the one with the knowledge, and in that case, she asks you to be at peace with what you know and to remind you that you cannot go back to ignorance.