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.
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.