Legend: The Priestess Nimue

Sophie-David

Not surprisingly for one with the handle of Sophie-David, The Priestess Nimue, archetype of the unconscious, is one of my favourite cards in the Legend deck. In a deck of delicate and ethereal watercolour, The Priestess has one of the most spectral countenances of any card. I find that unless I view this card under a bright light, her nose is invisible and her mouth is almost so. This is a fitting representation for an entity who bridges the mystic and the mundane, as the deck's book A Keeper of Words suggests, "the priestess walks in both worlds".

Dressed in mystic purple and white, The Priestess is crowned not with the moon but with the gold circle of the Fay, and she is attended by the wild spirits of the Fay. This Priestess does not hold a book, but raises her hands in front of her chest, and a mystic flame of power arises between her hands, an invocation of her authority and insight in the holy realm of feminine darkness.

In one of the book's short stories of Nimue, we also learn that her withdrawal from the world of castles and keeps, to live alone in the forest, has made her the victim of a stalker, Merlin The Magician. Her magical grace and ethereal beauty has become an obsession for Merlin, and in her isolation and vulnerability she must learn to become active in her own defense.

In psychological terms, this aspect of Nimue's story can be understood as an encounter with Merlin as her animus, both in his positive and negative aspects. In studying and learning his magic - understanding that part of her which reflects her experience of the masculine - she empowers her own masculine energy, using it to imprison the negative and for now unredeemable part of her animus in a safe part of the cave of her unconscious.
 

inanna_tarot

I just LOVE this priestess card! Though at first I was a little upset that Morgan La Fey wasn't it, and my first 'real' contact with the myths as Mists of Avalon (complete with a not very flattering view of Nimue) I have to say that I am pleasently surprised. Now I feel that Anna-Marie had made the right choice to put Morgan as the Moon :)

Looking at the card next to Merlin, her male counterpart, and Guenevere her counterpart of the physical world, she fits as true a counterpart to both.
I love the idea of holding a flame rather than a book, for many of the mystical things in life can not be learned in books, but through action and instinct, training of all sorts of magical arts. I also feel it puts Nimue back into her place in the myths as a powerful Priestess, rather than being in Morgan's lime light or Merlin's, here she looks like a woman of the Goddess, able to stand her own.
She definately needs to stand her own with the trees and other natural forces looming over her, attracted to her brightness. With her dress on I can almost see her look like she is floating , or even flying, when she walks. Truely a woman of awesome power, in the original sense.

One thing i will say, is that to me, the Magician is a card about control and willing, but it seems to me that the Priestess has more control than Merlin, who in his Shamanic way seems to just go with the flow.
But on second thoughts, shapeshifting will need a lot of control and willpower to do, what do you think?
One remark about the deck as a whole so far, is that the faces are sometimes difficult to see. The nose of Nimue and Guenevere can be easily missed, the face of Merlin seems a little too angular and haunting, hidden behind the heavy 5 o clock shadow - is that supposed to be a beard?


Sezo
x
 

Lyones

Originally posted by inanna_tarot
Truely a woman of awesome power, in the original sense.

I agree Sezo.

Her sense of power seems to lie in her serenity. The little fellow hanging over her right arm reminds me of Golum in "Lord of the Rings" saying "My Precious" - drawn to her and hypnotised. She seems to attract the nature spirits because she is different to them - she is a mystery to them, and they to her and yet, she has stepped into their world and they have accepted her, and in a way I see it as healing the breach between humans and nature. She is not looking at them, but she is aware of them being there, and she is not afraid - perhaps because she is aware too of her own strengths. Her way of communing with them seems to be in silence, allowing them to touch and make contact with her in their own way.

Nimue sits on a throne (although people would not acknowledge her as royalty, the Fay do). Her gown has the silvery quality of the moon, emphasising her femininity. The flame can also symbolise her passion to serve the old gods.

In other decks, the High Priestess sits between two pillars, with a veil between the pillars - not allowing us to see the wisdom which lies beyond. I think of the two strong trees and the guardian spirit as performing the same function. In being accepted by the spirits, Nimue would be granted the right of passage to this otherwise unreachable place. Looking between the trees I catch a glimps of more branches, it seems to be a glade, the perfect place for worship of the old gods, and the guardian would hide their secret activities from prying eyes.

Originally posted by Sophie-David
This is a fitting representation for an entity who bridges the mystic and the mundane, as the deck's book A Keeper of Words suggests, "the priestess walks in both worlds".

Considering the role of a priestess, she bridges the gap between the old gods and the people, perhaps her intuitive and psychic qualities allow her to prophesy or foretell as well as counsel - being a channel of this nature entails not only being available as a reciprocal, but also speaking or acting on what you know (otherwise the wisdom or talent lies dormant and unused and is useless - perhaps another reason for the flame between her hands - a symbol of actioning what is received). Her bond with nature and instinctive gentleness enable her to heal, and just as the spirits touch her and her life, she is able to touch the lives of those around her, and is respected for her ministry.
 

WalesWoman

Lyones said:
In other decks, the High Priestess sits between two pillars, with a veil between the pillars - not allowing us to see the wisdom which lies beyond. I think of the two strong trees and the guardian spirit as performing the same function. In being accepted by the spirits, Nimue would be granted the right of passage to this otherwise unreachable place. Looking between the trees I catch a glimps of more branches, it seems to be a glade, the perfect place for worship of the old gods, and the guardian would hide their secret activities from prying eyes........She seems to attract the nature spirits because she is different to them - she is a mystery to them, and they to her and yet, she has stepped into their world and they have accepted her, and in a way I see it as healing the breach between humans and nature. She is not looking at them, but she is aware of them being there, and she is not afraid - perhaps because she is aware too of her own strengths. Her way of communing with them seems to be in silence, allowing them to touch and make contact with her in their own way.

Sorry for taking it out of context, but I just got a connection between the veil and the creepy looking spirit above and behind her...she is not afraid, but perhaps we are, afraid of what we don't know, of what lies behind her, of learning what is behind what we don't know, of discovering some boogie man in the dark? So the flame in her hands illuminates to give us the knowledge, serentiy and courage to face them and go beyond...to get clear of the entanglements we create or percieve to reach that open glade.

It's so funny how the different views are of Merlin and Nimue, in some stories he is the stalker, leacherous old man, in other's he is the dupe of her charms, leading to his downfall and imprisionment...like the two pillars with someone inbetween, lies the truth...maybe.
 

Sophie-David

Yes, the "creepy looking spirit" reminds me of the shadows in one's psyche - which can be uncomfortable, even frightening to deal with - all those things which we deny about ourselves. The Priestess of one's unconscious will bring forth these shadows in any of a number of ways, such as in dreams, meditation, the Tarot, psychoanalysis, or creative work. In a well functioning psyche she will bring forth only those shadows which we are ready to deal with, so that we may reclaim the treasures they contain. And some shadows, like Nimue's Merlin - in stories in which he is the stalker - must remained imprisoned in their caves.
 

Lyones

Originally posted by WalesWoman
Sorry for taking it out of context, but I just got a connection between the veil and the creepy looking spirit above and behind her...she is not afraid, but perhaps we are, afraid of what we don't know, of what lies behind her, of learning what is behind what we don't know, of discovering some boogie man in the dark? So the flame in her hands illuminates to give us the knowledge, serentiy and courage to face them and go beyond...to get clear of the entanglements we create or percieve to reach that open glade.

I like that idea too :) ... infact I used to think of him as the "boogie man" myself, but I could never figure out why there'd be something of that nature symbolically on this card, so your explination works really well for me.

I think I began associating him as a gardian, firstly because he is bowed in a crescent shape (and his "fingers" also have the crescent shapes) - which I subsequently associated with the moon and Knot of Isis and their representation of protection in other decks, and secondly because Nimue doesn't seem afraid of him, I didn't feel the need to be either - he forms a sort of canopy overhead ... perhaps he has a dual purpose? :)

I've also just noticed all the leafy twigs ... everything seems to be sprouting around Nimue - apart from inspiring growth, I'm wondering if it pertains to her knowledge of the plants and how to use them in a healing capacity.
 

WalesWoman

Lyones said:
I think I began associating him as a gardian, firstly because he is bowed in a crescent shape (and his "fingers" also have the crescent shapes) - which I subsequently associated with the moon and Knot of Isis and their representation of protection in other decks, and secondly because Nimue doesn't seem afraid of him, I didn't feel the need to be either - he forms a sort of canopy overhead ... perhaps he has a dual purpose?

Perhaps as a guardian, he frightens the unworthy away, to pass beyond is part of the intitiation process to enter the hidden realm of the priestess. So if one had purity of purpose, the spark of illumination as a guide, he will let them enter unmolested. Also since he is formed like the branches and twigs, he might be the disguise or the camophlage for the opening into this inner, unknown, secret world, again, only the worthy would be able to see him for what he is, other wise they would just see a knarly old tree and walk past without noticing what is really there.
Lyones said:
I've also just noticed all the leafy twigs ... everything seems to be sprouting around Nimue - apart from inspiring growth, I'm wondering if it pertains to her knowledge of the plants and how to use them in a healing capacity.

The use of herbs for healing was very much a part of the preistesshood, of the Druidic arts, and healers have been persecuted for ages, thought of as witches, doing magic with the use of herbs. If the equivalent of physicians were butchers and barbers during the Dark Ages, it's no wonder they viewed true healers as witches, out of spitefulness, jealousy and ignorance, since most of their patients died of infections caused by...well, ewwww! Even now herbal lore is looked askance upon, like it is some sort of superstition instead of nature's pharmacopia. Well, not everyone looks on it in this way, but for the most part...it's not "REAL" medicine, unless western physicians decide it's got some merit. Yet pharmecutical companies are researching and synthesizing natural herbs for modern use.
 

Sophie-David

Excuse the interuption with a bit of trivia, but I was puzzling over how to pronounce the name Nimue. Sure enough, I was not saying it correctly. The phonetics are NIM-oo-ay, i.e. the accent is on the first syllable. This is referenced at http://www.behindthename.com/php/search.php?terms=nimue&nmd=n. The name's meaning is unknown.
 

Sophie-David

My Date with the Priestess

Inspired by Lyones's wonderful poem about the Five of Cups, I decided to share my dream of the Priestess.

It became clear to me after December 8, when I happened to begin my study of the Legend: The Arthurian Tarot Fool just before I went to sleep and then had two wonderful dreams, that I needed to at least allow for having significant dreams about each card. There was no remembered dream about the Magician, but December 10 there was a dream about the High Priestess.

It was a fairly lengthy dream, but all that I remember clearly is that I was dating a beautiful Asian woman and we were attending College together. We had gone on a class field trip to Vancouver and eaten in a fast food restaurant. We caught a crowded bus. There was no room to sit beside her, so she sat in the seat in front of me, beside the right-hand wall of the bus. Without realizing what I was doing I reached out my hand and stroked her face from her forehead, across her nose to her lips. Then I realized what I had done and felt awkward. I was surprised to see how much she had enjoyed it, she was in ecstasy. For the first time I realized that she loved me as much as I loved her. The dream ended.

Analysis I recalled the wonder one experiences in new love when one realizes that the worshipped Beloved actually feels the same way towards oneself. It is quite humbling but at the same time exciting. Like the dream of skating with Eirian after studying the Fool, this dream spoke of new beginnings. The bus appears to be a flashback to my dates with [Asian Girlfriend], which normally took place by bus.

The dream ego reaches out to his date without thinking, acting from his intuition and emotion, not analyzing or preplanning, but in an unconscious way. Having done so, consciousness returns and he feels embarrassed. But then he realizes what he had witnessed while in love's trance, that their love is mutual. He had dared to boldly caress her because in the moment before their souls had secretly touched, and the chemistry between them had ignited.

It was clear to me after the dream that the dream date was Sophie (the Intimate/Emotional Inner Beloved), although one who was highly integrated with Eirian (the Creative/Romantic Inner Beloved). Sophie does not normally appear as Asian, but she is definitely the reflection of the archetype of the High Priestess, the gatekeeper and guide to the unconscious. As the Inner Beloved, she guides a man to his mate, projecting herself on to the external person.

And this is what its like when the High Priestess acts in a man's life, bringing to consciousness hidden wisdom and desire.
 

Lyones

Wow! it seems like you get quite a lot from looking at the cards through dreams David.

Originally posted by Sophie-David
And this is what its like when the High Priestess acts in a man's life, bringing to consciousness hidden wisdom and desire.

So, it's like revealing to you something you hadn't thought about before, or not quite in that way?