The High Priestess walks Path 13 on the Tree of Life

The High Priestess walks Path 13 on the Tree of life and represents the connection between the conscious and unconscious realms and the power of intuition and inner knowledge. She embodies the feminine aspect of the divine, associated with understanding, nurturing, and the ability to bring forth new life. Her journey through the Tree of Life represents the process of accessing the hidden knowledge and wisdom of the subconscious mind and integrating it with the conscious mind to gain a deeper understanding of the world and one’s place in it.

The High Priestess reminds us to trust our inner voice and explore the hidden realms of the subconscious mind to better understand ourselves and the world around us. This path teaches us to pay attention to the subtleties of life.  As a life path, this one opens the energies of the Abyss & crosses through the hidden sphere of Daat.  This is the life path of the Dark Night of the Soul Journey.  No one remains untouched by this path.  This path across the Abyss is known as the ‘Gateway of Knowledge & the High Priestess helps us learn to balance the emotions so we can hear our inner voice.  The message is that only by exercising an iron will & a balance of wisdom and understanding can this journey be made successfully.

Benefits: True knowledge, completion of work, true power of faith in the Divine, peace with oneself, giving birth to the Light within.

The Hebrew letter representing this path is Gimel which is an expansion of what came before it.  The essential consciousness with form expanding both beyond and inside of itself, Gimel emerges as the third and unifying pathway, resolving and harmonizing the opposites between the first two forming a sacred link.  Gimel relates with Camel, the self-sufficient animal that travels for days across the desert which otherwise was uncrossable in ancient times.  Back then camels were seen as this sacred golden creature capable of moving through the sandy abyss.  The camel’s journey bares significance to the Tree of Life by representing the pathway which crosses the barrier between Chokmah and Binah referred to as The Abyss.  This process of consciousness traversing the abyss is also referred to as ‘the dark night of the soul’.  A period of suffering or facing one’s own death after which the soul dissolves into unity and emerges enlightened.  Further Gimel is a symbol of the expansion of civilization and creation through different states of being.  To us it may also represent the spirit of giving and receiving, the unification of opposites and the deep intuition of just simply knowing.

In her book Kabbala Pathworking, Sandy Anastasi suggests some of the areas Path 13 can helps us work on include: Aligning, cleansing, clearing, balancing yourself; grounding, yet elevating your consciousness at the same time; Being able to remain open without pain; Radiating feelings of joy, love and oneness; Accepting yourself as part of God, and therefore good and worthy; Releasing blocked emotions; creativity; self-responsibility.

Andy Matzner, in his book Tarot for Transformation, Using the Major Arcana to Discover Your Best Self and Create a Life Worth Living says of The High Priestess:

I trust my own wisdom. Everything I need to know is available to me right now. Lauren Frontiera

He says: The High Priestess sits before the veil separating our conscious mind from our subconscious. This is the aspect of our mind that exists just below awareness, with the unconscious hidden away even deeper within. This cards asks: How we can best move between the conscious and subconscious parts of ourselves?

He continues: We may think that we know why we do what we do. Why we make the decisions we make. And yet it is typically our subconscious needs and desires that motivate us. That shape us. That direct the show. in that sense, the conscious mind, our conscious awareness is simply the small tip of an enormous iceberg. The waterline is where our imagination lives. That is our access point. And of course, those dreams that bubble up in the night from below are messengers from that world.

Gut feelings are guardian angels. Neil Strauss.

In his book The Soul's Journey, Finding Spiritual Messages in the Tarot, James Ricklef says of The High Priestess:

The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within. Mahatma Gandhi

The High Priestess is the archetype of the oracles of myth and legend, and as such, she represents the quiet, intuitive voice within that reveals and expresses the ineffable secrets of life. She also represents and comments on duality by her numerological association.

One of the ways he suggests one might wish to use his book is to do a daily draw and review the basic messages and then consider one of the messages for the card as a lesson or insight to keep in mind throughout the day. In the case of the High Priestess the messages to choose from are: The still voice within; The Oracle; Duality and Polarity;

Do any of these speak to you right now?

While both Andy Matzner and Sandy Anastasi focus only on the Major Arcana, James Ricklef also has information on the Minor Arcana. Since I chose a card for each of the Sephirot I thought I'd share some of his information on these too.

Three of Cups: This card is about friendship and all that it entails. It indicates the value of our platonic relationships and how they both support and challenge us.

 His messages to consider with the Three of Cups are: Friendship advice; Quality time with friends; The influence of friendships; Friends and enemies.

Ace of Swords: The Ace of Swords indicates the wondrous power of thought. indeed, what we communicate to ourselves and to the world brings creative potential (for better or for worse) into our lives. At a deeper level this card represents the divine consciousness that underlies all reality. The image most commonly seen on it is that of a heavenly hand offering a sword, thus indicating a state of pure consciousness. Also, a state of unadulterated awareness - a state wherein we leave distractions, labels and judgments behind - is the way to see the world from a divine perspective.

His messages to consider with the Ace of Swords are: Singularity of consciousness; Pure awareness; The way of divine recollectedness; See with new eyes; Thought manifests in reality; Words matter; Look for truth.

Where will your journey take you?