Journey in 78 Steps

Daily Reading (Alchemical) High Priestess / Queen of Vessels

Starting a new month and a new week and I'm going to try to get back into this regularly.  This week I'm going to use the lovely Alchemical Tarot and draw two cards a day for Theme and Response.

Today's Theme:
The High Priestess
The High Priestess is the keeper of secrets, wisdom and intuition.  In this image, she stands quietly on a lunar boat as water rushes swiftly past her, but she appears to be calm and unflappable.  In her right hand is a green book that appears to have a lock on it (like those little diary locked books we had as young girls).  There is a downward facing 'receptive' triangle on the face of the book.  With her left hand the High Priestess holds her index finger to her lips as if saying 'shhh..don't tell'.  She is dressed, fully covered, in a purple robe and wears a crescent moon circlet covering her forehead.  Above her, to her right, a full moon lights up the night sky.

Today should be a fairly quiet day, at least internally for me (externally, I have some errands to run assuming I hear back on some paperwork I need to get notarized) - a good day to get back in touch with my inner self and to hear the voice of my own intuition. 

It is striking me that I may not hear back or get the paperwork I'm waiting for at all.. that the silence suggested by the High Priestess is going to color my day by waiting in vain.  (I'll figure that out by the end of the day - due to time zone differences, there is only a small window of opportunity for getting what I need, getting to a notary, and back to them before the end of their workday).

Whether it comes or not ... and I do hope it does... I will be able to use the stillness of waiting to good effect if I let myself be quiet and listen.

Recommended Response:
Queen of Vessels

There are some interesting similarities and comparisons between this Queen of Cups and the High Priestess... the same receptive triangle that is one the HP's book is in the upper left corner of the card. They are each riding the water, although with the HP, she appears to be stationary while the water moves past her... here, the Queen of Vessels is clearly pushing forward through the water, leaving a trail as she goes.   Instead of riding in a lunar boat, the Queen, one of the merfolk, curls her own tail into a crescent shape so that she appears to be riding the top of the water.  She is entirely unclothed, but her tail fin and a ruffle of fins that look like a small skirt have a purplish hue.  The scene is daytime here and there is no heavenly body in the sky, but the round vessel she carries looks similar to the moon hanging overhead in the HP card.  Rather than a lunar head circlet, the Queen wears an ornate crown and her hair hangs freely.  She isn't looking outward at me, but instead is gazing at the round vessel she carries.

In some ways, this Queen is more open than the High Priestess.. she isn't fully dressed, and what she contemplates (the round vessel) is on open display rather than hidden in a book.  She is not separated from the water by a lunar boat, but swims through it - the lunar qualities are a part of who she is, without ever being directly referenced.  And she is not still, but moves through the emotional waters naturally.

In terms of a response, this Queen is very comfortable and at home with emotional and intuitive concerns - she consciously lives in this world and uses the guidance she receives to move freely in this world.  She is not secretive or ashamed of her feelings (if in fact she even notices that anyone observes her at all).  At the same time, she doesn't look as if she's concerned that much about explaining what she knows of her watery world.. she is receptive to information and understanding - not so much involved in trying to express it.  It just is.

So if I am to have a quiet day with the opportunity to turn inward and listen to the voice of wisdom, this is telling me that it is a good day to handle some of the emotions I've been pushing off for later - to heed them, feel them, live with them.

It may not be as 'productive' a day as I'd hoped for, but it could be a very necessary and positive day to tune out the world, and tune into myself.

Daily Draw: II - Wisdom (Sarasvati)

my description:

an Indian woman wearing a white sari and ornate headpiece sits on a giant pink lotus blossom surrounded by water.  She has four arms, two playing a stringed instrument, one left hand holding a red book and the other turned palm up and facing outward.

The water around her is glowing, as if she is radiating light.  Behind her are purple snowpeaked mountains.

The border around the main image shows swans (associated with Sarasvati) and dragonflies.

Sarasvati is the Hindu goddess of knowledge and the arts, symbolized by the musical instrument and book she holds.  The lotus she sits on, symbolic of the soul's higher consciousness because it grows up above the mud and water from which it comes, sits on a sea surrounded by mountains... the intuitive, spiritual center in the midst of intellectual knowledge.  Here, wisdom is a blend of intuition and intellect and the blending of the two generates creative expression and an aesthetic awareness.

In looking around for more detail about Sarasvati, I find connections between her and my more familiar understanding of the High Priestess.  She is described as one who usually declines lavish adornment in favor of a simple white sari (though in this image, she's bedecked in jewels) and one who forgoes "the cravings of the flesh" and instead embraces wisdom, the arts, and knowledge.  She is the patron of libraries and schools, and these are regarded as her temples.

Sarasvati ('one who flows') is a river goddess and was the first to emerge from Brahma, riding a swan, and co-creator with him of the World. She was his counselor, teaching him the ways of wisdom, and there is a story of how he was enamored of her but she insisted their relationship lead to higher minded things.  Eventually, she found a way to cool his ardor enough to be able to be near him and they became man and wife, blending creative energy with wisdom and knowledge.