The Secret of The High Priestess

Manara Erotic Tarot- High Priestess

Does this image make you uncomfortable?

Excited?

Embarrassed?

Offended?

Wishing you were a fly on the wall, or the person in the picture?  Or maybe it is a mirror...

This image is an exaggeration of the madonna/whore complex many, many people struggle with.  Actually, I am quite sure some of them actually enjoy it, whether consciously or not, because none of us continue any behavior that does not give a pay off, so let's call it the madonna/whore people many of us "experience".

A nun is the most sacred icon of femininity in many cultures, and the premise is they are married to Christ, so they take no earthly husband, and have no carnal knowledge.  Of course, nothing is saying this is not a picture of Himself, and this is how she communes with Him.

I know I have many readers who are not in America, but as an American I have noticed a strange juxtaposition in which our media is filled with violence, but our people are offended by the sight of a breast feeding mother.  We are fascinated by sex, but it must be kept very secret.  Our young women show their bra straps, let their thongs peek out, all suggestive, but the idea of a nun flashing her lover, even if her only lover is herself, mirrored and delighted with her secret, is probably shocking to most of us.

The High Priestess asks us to examine how sexuality and sanctity are entwined in our lives, and if we have any shame feelings around sex, she can, gently, help us figure out where they lie and how they can be addressed, if we want to.  There is a undeniable thrill to feeling a little bit ashamed, at least for some of us, but when feelings of shame keep us from experiencing any amount of joy, and the pleasure our bodies are designed to enjoy, there is an issue and something needs to be done.

As for our naughty nun, she clearly has no shame, and is taking absolute delight in exposing her most secret self, assured of her beauty and sensuality.  I like to imagine this is a mirror, and she simply delights in herself, as we should all be free to do, or it is a high tech device in which she is free to communicate with her lover.  The notion that sex is dirty or ugly needs to be eradicated from our collective conscious, and that happens one free nun at a time.

Let the High Priestess whisper her secrets to you, and notice the frisson of excitement, but don't let anyone or thing make you feel shame at your beauty and your sacred sexuality.

In these deep solitudes and awful cells,
Where heav'nly-pensive contemplation dwells,
And ever-musing melancholy reigns;
What means this tumult in a vestal's veins?
Why rove my thoughts beyond this last retreat?
Why feels my heart its long-forgotten heat?
Yet, yet I love! — From Abelard it came,
And Eloisa yet must kiss the name.

From the epic "Eloisa to Abelard" by Alexander Pope (1688–1744).

You don't need a lover to experience passion, sensuality, and delight in your body, nor, unfortunately, to feel shame in the same.  Ask The High Priestess how to be freed from the bonds that hold you, and how to tighten the ones that thrill you.

The Gatekeeper

Lunatic Tarot- High Priestess

I have learned an important thing about The High Priestess as I wrote this post, about her, about myself.  I tend to take on tasks as something to check off; git 'er done is my philosophy.  The High Priestess does not want to be anyone's task, and she requires a certain finesse in one's approach to her energy.  You can't just feel her up; you have to approach on her terms, and seduce her.  Making demands gets you nowhere.  Sweetness and reverence yield what you desire.

As we leave The Magician, who has all his cards on the table, we come to the High Priestess, a lady who shows nothing.  The High Priestess is gatekeeper to all secret things, and most of us hold sex as one of the most secret things of all.

There is something so tantalizing about the thought of such a prim and proper lady becoming completely undone with desire, and while it is entirely possible to cause her to lose her composure, it come with work,and she never loses her dignity.

The danger, as we approach the High Priestess, is to confuse her chosen consort as The Magician.  While the tarot archetypes come apart and back together in infinite variety in order to best reflect the energies of a situation, The High Priestess, always a lady, is not impressed with the bluster and bravado The Magician can sometimes have, and I think, being full of Magician energy myself when I thought I was ready to write about her, I came at her with an expectation that she would just yield all of her secrets to me, but she is The Gatekeeper, the guardian of all secret things, and you have to give her more than just your words to gain those secrets.  The Magician may make lots of promises, but the High Priestess wants your very heart, at least for the time you spend together.

The pillars she is often portrayed with, her curtained off sanctuary, and her prim and proper dress all indicate that she is to be treated as a sacred object, and while The Magician can be either polarity, the High Priestess most often portrays feminine energy, as her connection to The Moon is so thoroughly displayed, in her headdress, in the crescent by her feet, which may be mere decoration, or may be a deadly weapon.  Try to cross her threshold without her permission and you will find out!

As a symbol in readings regarding love and sex, she often asks us to consider how our sexuality relates to our sanctity, and asks you if you are treating bodies, both your own, and your partners, as sacred and holy.  The answer to that lies in your own belief system, whether you see sex as sacred, or merely recreational.  She can also appear to help you remember your personal boundaries, and in extreme cases, to remind you that you don't have to sleep with just anyone who would jump into bed with you.

Although she is quiet, The High Priestess has much to say in the arena of love and sex, and she will spill her secrets as we tease them out of her over the next few days.