we talk about the high priestess like she's only ever a gift. the wise woman, the intuitive, the one who knows things without being told. and she is all of that. but every archetype has a shadow and hers is worth looking at honestly.
the high priestess sits between two pillars and she doesn't move. we call that stillness wisdom and sometimes it is. but sometimes it's avoidance dressed up as patience. she sees what's coming, she knows what needs to be said, and she says nothing. not because the time isn't right. because staying silent feels safer than being seen.
her shadow is the person who has confused isolation with depth. who has gone so far inward that no one can reach them anymore and calls it being selective. who withholds not because the information isn't ready but because holding it feels like power.
there's something about her and secrets too. she keeps them, yes. but the shadow high priestess keeps them past the point of protection. she keeps them until the silence becomes a wall and the wall becomes a way of never having to be known.
and then there's her passivity. she receives, she observes, she waits. in her highest expression that is a spiritual gift. in her shadow it becomes someone who never acts on what she knows. who waits for the perfect moment until the moment is gone. who trusts her intuition so completely that she uses it as a reason to never move.
the dark side of the high priestess is not loud. it doesn't look like destruction. it looks like a woman who knows everything and does nothing with it. who is so committed to the mystery that she has made herself unreachable, even to herself.
if this card has been showing up for you, it might be worth asking which version of her you're living.
if this resonated with you and you would like a more in depth read, feel free to book me on etsy. if you read this differently let me know in the comments below. wishing all of you a great week!
• The King of Wands × Queen of Cups is the perfect yin-yang combo that symbolizes a couple who inspires each other, heals each other, and completes each other’s energy
• This pairing literally represents a destined, balanced, spiritual partnership💧🔥💫
💞🌊 2 of Cups, Lovers, 10 of Cups
Every soulmate/twin card that exists… shows up for us.
Union, harmony, emotional fulfillment, all water-based, all tied to me, all flowing toward him.
The entire emotional arc of the tarot mirrors us.
recognition, union, fulfillment.
Water to fire, intuition to passion, me to him.
Our love is written in the Sun, the Moon, the elements, and the arcana.
A story older than us, and eternal beyond us. ☀️🌙🔥💧
I’m over yandere and obsessive type shit. Now i know what it’s like. I manifested that shit. It doesn’t feel like love or protection it’s just the entitlement to violate you over and over again. Being considered attractive or pretty yeah I manifested that too and it feels powerful and validating until you’re an object or people project their weird fantasies on you and hate you. Other girls copy you but don’t speak the other ones pretend to be your friend and spreads your business. I’m on queen of swords energy now or queen of pentacles. Yeah bitch I look good and rested and pretty and mature and like I don’t give a fuck and that makes you mad. No more Queen of wands reversed yall had me trippin. No more Queen of cups reversed I did too much for yall. This is my lane now I’m going to build succeed and not say everything that I think and feel. No access to me just bc the vibe feels good. The vibe can fucking kill you.
Gonna sing good, write good, look the fuck good, fuck up some commas for the rest of the year no access to the goddess just taking your energy and transmuting it.
Thinking About Tarot Court Cards As The Evolution of A Question
The Court Cards aren’t people. They’re questions-in-progress. Here’s how I think about their evolution.
The Court cards are a little opaque for most people (don't worry, they confound me too sometimes). What helps me is to think of them as people on a search of a particular piece of knowledge -- and their relationship to that topic is the attitude of the court card.
The Courts are roles in a symbolic cycle. They don't show status -- they show steps and signposts along the road to answering a question. Each one is a stage in how we engage with a question, an idea, a topic or a part of ourselves.
The Court Catchphrases: The Evolution of a Question
Page: "Oooh, what's that? What happens if I poke it?" They're the spark of curiosity, the beginning of attention.
Knight: "Let's find out the answer! At the exact speed I want, weee!" They are the pursuit, the action/reaction, the motion.
Queen: "Oh I get it now. The answer clicks -- that's really satisfying. Do you want to know the answer, too?" They're the understanding -- the moment of resonance and integration. The Queens are the feeling of knowing.
King: "I know the answer definitively. I'm going to wield it -- and my accumulated knowledge -- with confidence." They are the wielded synthesis, the directed action, the expression of "I've mastered this topic."
The Focus, Style, and Terrain of the Suits
The other aspect of each court card is the suit. It tells you what kind of question they're asking and how they'll inquire, chase, understand or wield the answer.
Wands (Fire): Story, creation, and desire. The court is curious about inspiration and driven by impact. They want to know what lights them up, what inspires them.
Cups (Water): Emotion, intuition, and connection. The court is curious about feeling and driven by intimacy. They want to know what moves them, what makes them feel, what heals them and others.
Swords (Air): Thought, speech and truth. The court is curious about logic and driven by clarity. They want to know what's right, what cuts through the fog.
Pentacles (Earth): Labor, time and value. The court is curious about process and driven by concrete results and longevity. They want to know what's real, what will last.
Layering them Together: The 16-Role Court System
Now we layer these perpendicular lines of the tarot on top of each other and we get the grid of the Court Cards.
Court of Wands
Page of Wands: "Oooh, what's that spark?" The Page of Wands wants to touch the fire -- it doesn't know yet if it's hot. It wants inspiration, novelty and a quest to start out on. It wants to see what something can become. They're the most impetuous of the Pages. They're a lit match.
Knight of Wands: "Let's chase this spark. Let's get some momentum going. Let's GO." They want to run while the story is still being written. It's curiosity that spurs them to get on their horse and fly like the wind -- fast. They're the fastest of the Knights (maybe tied with the Knight of Swords) but they're going off in every direction. They're a Roman Candle. They are yang fire -- but unbalanced.
Queen of Wands: "I understand this spark. I feel it inside. It makes me radiant. Do you want to feel it too?" The Queen understands and owns her fire. It makes her a beacon. She's a bonfire, warm and ready to share themselves. They radiate their knowledge like the sun. They are balanced yin fire.
King of Wands: "This flame is mine to lead with. I can shape the world in its image -- or inspire you to do the same." (Be careful you don't burn it down.) He leads via inspiration and turns passion into direction. He directs the myth of the flame and commands its narrative. He's a wielded torch. They are balanced yang fire.
Court of Cups
Page of Cups: "Oooh, what's this feeling? It it love? Is it magic? Is it sadness shaped like a fish?" They're the kid with their first crush, the first rush of emotion and tenderness. They are innocent, dreamy and porous -- very few emotional boundaries because they haven't learned their necessity yet. They sigh, look out the window, and draw hearts in their notebook. They're the first burble of a spring coming out of the ground, the first drops of a cup poured gently.
Knight of Cups: "Let's follow the longing and desire. Let's find the answer in beauty." They know the direction to go -- but it's up to them the loops they'll take to get there. They follow every beautiful interest and romanticize the entire process. They sigh and look over their shoulder at someone new. When they are centered, they are deeply set on their pilgrimage toward love and beauty. They are romantic, devotional and deeply escapist. They hold emotion up like a banner standard as they chase (tail). He's a dolphin, squirting water at you.
Queen of Cups: "I’ve held this feeling. I know how it moves. Would you like to feel safe with it?" She is the emotional vessel, and the wisdom of being with. She holds the feeling and understands it deeply, and she invites you into her calm, deep pool. She is a wading pond found in a moonlit clearing in the forest. Come join her.
King of Cups: "I know what this feeling requires. I know what love needs. I can lead with compassion." He's a lake with waves deep under the surface. He looks calm on the outside but "still waters run deep" -- he can turn into a tide pool, too. He's mastered himself in order to hold the needs and emotions of others.
Court of Swords
Page of Swords: "Oooh, what's that idea? I'm going to watch it, listen, and ask questions." They are smart and just a touch skeptical. They're "the smart kid" with boundless intellectual curiosity. They tend to watch from the sidelines -- they're used to living in the world of the mind. They are the first, rising breeze that begins to ruffle your papers.
Knight of Swords: "Let's go find the truth and wrestle it into submission. Let's fight to find the answer. Right now." They act fast, speak fast and sometimes think mid-motion. They are urgency personified -- just as fast as the Knight of Wands, but directed -- pointedly so. They are a jetstream, knocking you over. They speed-read everything and toss the book aside.
Queen of Swords: "I know what's true, even if it hurts. I'll speak it and clearly. I see the truth now, and I see its structure." Her voice is even-toned and rings out across a room, even if she speaks quietly. Her words don't necessarily hurt, even if the truth does. She is wisdom with precision, and her empathy is earned from her. She is a room with completely still air, where you could hear a pin drop. She is the angel of illumination in the devil's details.
King of Swords: "I will wield this truth and I will decide what matters. Truth is a tool and I know how to use it." He is logic as authority. His belief is hardened into a worldview -- for better or for worse. He is a gale-force wind, flattening everything in his path. You will submit. There will be no questions.
Court of Pentacles
Page of Pentacles: "Oooh, what's this seed doing here? I wonder what will happen if I plant it and tend it? Can I make it last?" They are curious about systems, cycles and craft. They want to make something real. They're the kid who plays in the dirt and turns it into joyful gardening. They want to create. They are the kid in the FFA (Future Farmers of America) with dirt always under their nails. They probably major in mycology later. They are a well-tended first sprout.
Knight of Pentacles: "Let's do the work. Let's walk the slow road. No shortcuts. We will get to the answer precisely when we are meant to." He's loyal, methodical, and sometimes stubborn. He’ll finish the hard work even if no one’s watching. He's the odd one out among his brother Knights, but he's the one you can trust to pack out in the morning, and set up the cookpot at night. He is the process of dotting your i's and crossing your t's in notes no one but you will ever see. If the Eight of Pentacles is the action, the Knight of Pentacles is the one who does it. He's a well-plowed field (as opposed to the Knight of Cups, who just leaves you well-plowed.)
Queen of Pentacles: "I understand this process and the rhythm of the soil. I know its worth. It has value. I will tend it with both hands." She is quiet power embodied as nourishment. She's the keeper of the garden -- be it edible or ornamental, though she prefers the former. She makes abundance sustainable. She is the Empress refracted into the courts. She's a soup-pot always simmering on the back of the stove. She feeds the entire village. She flourishes through hard work and careful loving tending. She's the hug that pulls you up by your bootstraps. She's not soft because she's weak -- she's soft because she's strong enough to care.
King of Pentacles: "I've built this from nothing into something, and I'll protect it. I will ensure it lasts." He is authority through provision -- he makes sure the village stays standing, sheltered, fed, and protected. He is the legacy-bearer -- he is the fortress. His walls aren't flashy like the King of Wands. They tell a story only through the fingerprints of those who built them. He guards what matters (and hopefully doesn't hoard it). He may, in his worst moments, veer into territory-guarding and over-protection, but he always means the very best. He is walls of mud and brick, and a figure standing sentinel in front of them. He is foundation.
Some Final Thoughts -- and a Question
The Court Cards don't have to be people -- they can be processes. They can show us how we move through questions on the way to the answer, and what we do with the answer once we have it.
You don't have to "identify" with one court card. You can become each of them in turn, changing from one moment to another, depending on the question you are pursuing. Today you are the King, tomorrow you are the Page. You can become any of them -- It all depends on where you are in a cycle.
What are you curious about right now? What do you already know? And who are you becoming as you follow that question?
Autumn Equinox Observations | Dark Academia 🌾 MBTI | Earth Signs
When the days and nights are the same length the symbolism in the collective unconscious is especially significant. Here are some observations for 🍂 Earth Signs 🍁 In some ways naturalled attuned to this time of year.
🐌 As always, take what resonates and leave the rest! 🌬
🍊 this time of year can have a sense of 'all will be revealed' and 'how the tables have turned. For Taurus, ruled by venus, themes of fertility and harvest are yours, whatever energy is coming your way, is coming in abundance. Think of a writers block freeing up, or waiting ages for a job offer and 3 come along at once
🍎 the traditional tendencies of capricorn can be felt early even though we are three signs away in libra. Yet this time is all to do with the earth and you may feel like you cannot wait for your sign to come around. might want winter or the rest of autumn to come faster. remedy the blues by curling up with a good book
🍐 this is a time of exchange, thus this can even manifest emotionally. you may be exchanging one bad mindset for a better one. this can also be a time of travels, literal exchanges of goods or services, or switching one group of people for another.
🍓 for virgo - this exchange is MOST likely to be practical for you of all the signs. for you it is MOST likely to involve physical goods or services. this year you may find your brain freeing up as Mercury finally leaves all vestiges of retrograde energy aside on the 22nd when it reaches it's furthest elongation at the end of the Mercury Max cycle
🍍 of all the earth signs it's Capricorn who may have the most difficult time as this is a time of change which confronts your need for tradition. you can mark the occasion by investing in a new aesthetic, whether that means a desk tidy, new pair of glasses or so on. You are one of the signs who suits the dark academia aesthetic best and doing something like this can make any life changes easier
🍏 all signs - you may have a tendency to intellectualise and overanalyse any changes or life events that happen at this time, but you can combat this by going with your gut and feelings as opposed to what is practical. this can be harder for you than for water signs but shadow work on the upcoming Harvest Full Moon can make things easier 🌚
🍄 most likely to embrace the change are perceiving types ESXP ISXP INFP and ENFP 🦝
🌽 SJ types have a tendency to enjoy this time of year as there is a lot to keep busy with in terms of new school terms, foraging and preserving wild food, or whatever floats your boat
🌰 INFJ and ENFJ have a tendency to be in their element around this time of year as life tends to throw them the perfect combination of variety and routine. Taurus XNFJ may have the urge to buy new clothes. Virgo INFJ may enjoy a new venture and Capricorn ENFJ tends to indulge themselves around this time 🪶
Archetypes you may attract:
At times like this our ability to tap into the collective unconscious is particularly strong. Thus there may be a mythological element to the people we attract. This can look like:
🍁 People showing up that mimic patterns found in myth and legend (e.g. A relationship dynamic mimics, say, Orpheus and Eurydice)
🍁 Notable archetypes from the tarot around this time are The Empress (harvest), Justice (balance), Judgement, The Moon Reversed, The Emperor, and any of the Kings and Queens
🍁Several comets will be nearing earth in the period after the equinox and into october. These can signify temporal archetypes such as change, destruction/creation, karma, lessons learned etc. I will do another post on these in more detail.
🍁Virgo and Taurus, if your luck has been looking down you may attract the mentor archetype (from Joseph Campbell's hero's journey) around this time as your energy is in the right place and those well suited to you can tell when you need an extra hand.
🍁Capricorn, you may be in the return home stage of the hero's journey. As the year reaches it's final quarter your sign approaches (although it is not there yet!) however, Saturn, your ruling planet, governs some of the themes of reaping and sowing associated with the Equinox. Thus, you may be returning to stage one, the drawing board, or the start of a cycle.
If you found this interesting (especially the archetypes bit) I am offering free readings on my Etsy Store for the Tarot of Archetypes which looks at this kinda stuff in more detail. Use the code GIVEAWAY1234 for 100% off (Tarot of Archetypes only)
Alternatively DM me to suggest future topics if you want to see more of this kinda Jungian Archetypal spin on them - we have some pretty neat comets coming up, stuff on Ophiuchus, plus the Harvest Moon and Draconids meteor shower in October HOWEVER I am always open to suggestions and challenges
Okay, since I’ve decided to fancy this blog a Tarot blog, let’s make a Tarot-related post.
One of the many reasons why I love Hannibal so much, despite its not being the best TV series I've seen (but still obviously being a high-quality show, and a very special one and not just for me but in a sui generis sense), is the sheer variety of the Tarot archetypes the show efficiently uses. You can basically see almost all of the Major Arcana in this series (I personally believe that The World is very hard to apply, so, I don’t feel guilty ignoring this archetype’s absence in the show; we don’t get to see The Tower as well, though, but it probably would have been too much for the cosmography of the show...).
Just see for yourself how broad is the range of archetypes in Hannibal:
Will Graham - The Hermit (with the Shadow: The Justice)
Hannibal Lecter - The Devil (with the Shadow: The Hierophant)
Jack Crawford - The Emperor
Alana Bloom - The High Priestess
Frederick Chilton - The Fool
Bedelia Du Maurier - The Empress
Garret Jacob Hobbs - The Hanged Man
Abigail Hobbs - The Сhariot
Freddie Lounds & Matthew Brown - The Wheel of Fortune
Beverly Katz - The Strength
Mason Verger - The Death
Miriam Lass - The Star
Randall Tier - The Temperance
Georgia Madchen - The Moon
And, as you know, these are not even all the characters we get to see in the show!
Oh, and if you chose to believe that the third season is a part of canon, which I - for various reasons - try not to do most of the time, then also:
Francis Dolarhyde - The Mage
Rinaldo Pazzi - The Justice
Molly Foster Graham - The Sun
Apropos, influence of The Lovers is seen more than once throughout the third season of the show (Bedelia & Hannibal, the degraded version of Will and Hannibal etc.) and partly in the second half of the second season.
Importantly, this list doesn’t include the different cosmographic functions that characters fulfill in Hannibal’s canon at various stages of their development, all the “doubles”, apart from Matthew & Freddie, because I think that they’re equally representative of the archetype, if the archetypes are negated or not, and the archetypes’ evolutionary transformations, which were mostly initiated by the events of 2x13 (e.g. that's when Will’s degradation into The Temperance accelerated etc.).
