Beyond the Veil
The Veil
Now we cross the threshold between our two tree pillars and beyond the veil into the womb of the unconscious where creativity gestates, on the verge of being born. The symbols in this card tell a little bit of her story, you must intuit the rest, because her wisdom is beyond language.
The Goddess veiled is the natural world that we can see. The Goddess unveiled is the mythical, spiritual world hidden from our perception, the mysteries. However, it is the same world, just separated by that veil of illusion. Drawing aside the veil is the metaphor for discovery and revelation.
The Moon
“The moon does not fight. It attacks no one. It does not worry. It does not try to crush others. It keeps to its course, but by its very nature, it gently influences. What other body could pull an entire ocean from shore to shore? The moon is faithful to its nature and its power is never diminished.”
― Ming-Dao Deng, Everyday Tao: Living with Balance and Harmony
The Magician is the sun- constant and predictable. The Priestess is the moon – mysterious, veiled and changeable. She is the threshold between the light of the sun and the dark of night. The power of the moon is the power to stir the dark night of the unconscious, dreams and imagination and draw out wisdom and inspiration.
The Water
“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.” - Rumi
The High Priestess evokes the deep, mysterious depths of water where wondrous secrets lie; our dream world, our unconscious, the collective unconscious, genetic memory. Who really knows what lies beneath water’s reflective surface? Well, the High Priestess of course knows. Well, the High Priestess of course knows. Do you have the patience to stop, to be quiet, and listen and reflect* and go with the flow?
*Pun intended. Water is the first mirror. There is ourself and our reflection. It would seem that two figures are present, ourself and our reflection, but that is an illusion. There really is only one real self.
The Book
Perhaps someday there will appear a poet courageous enough to give expression to the voices of the "mothers."
~Carl Jung, Letters Vol. II, Pages 386-387
The High Priestess carries a closed book. What would we see if she were to open it for us? Would the words be in a foreign language or the pages blank?
On our side of the veil, we don’t have the eyes to perceive what is written within. It is a deep, intuitive wisdom that can’t be put directly into words.
Unless it is a book of mythic stories, fairytales or poems, where deep knowledge can be hinted at in subtle patterns and connections.
The Tarot Deck itself is a book unbound with many stories to tell us.
