The Tarot of Eli, LLC: The Priestess-Key/ATU 2

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The Priestess-ATU-2 is the 13th Path on the Qabalistic Tree of Life and is given the Hebrew letter of Gimel-meaning Camel. This path is not a literal return to the warm enclosure of the Cosmic Womb, as is THE EMPRESS-Key 3. Rather, she represents the Supreme Mother-Androgyne, who is yet, nether female or male but designs the concept.

There are no Soul's born as children yet, so she is shown without her smiling mask, revealing a True face of cold yet beautiful countenance. Represented by Her, is an intelligence where all veils are removed, all illusion is dispersed, and upon visiting, one must face the crystalline reality of one's own absolute free will, a task not for the weak.

Her planet is the Moon, her Path is Gimel, a Hebrew word meaning camel, which is most appropriate, as she is the one who "carries our Personality across the vast desert of the Abyss".

There are 3 Paths that represent the same intelligent energy, although as different but similar aspects, they are The Paths of Gimel (THE HIGH PRIESTESS), the Path of Samekh (THE ART) and the Path of Tau (THE UNIVERSE) which together makeup the devotional middle pillar. The Indigo Middle Path color in Atziluth (the highest of the Four Worlds) is Indigo, a deep-dark- water blue that suggests the Moon, as all three Paths relate to the Moon.

The State of Intelligence that is The Path of Gimel, will carry those cleansed of the desire of thinking, across the longest and most important Path on the Tree of Life; A path which radiates down from the Supernal Triangle, composed of unimaginable potential, to the Ethical Triangle, the "actual", also making this the path a position between God the Father in Kether, and God the Son in Tiphareth. This is a Path of the Highest Initiation.

The Tradition depiction of the Priestess is the High Priestess. "High", because she is thought to be the most pure essence of consciousness, a hypersurface symbolized in Tarot as the very source of all Water (Consciousness); also to the initiate, she is considered the "lower Chokmah" (Wisdom), wisdom is being expressed here as both masculine and feminine (The Goddess Sophia of the Greeks-means Wisdom , as does Chokmah) When applied to Chokmah the word Wisdom is masculine, for here it is "sent forth" and as the Seed of wisdom is ejaculated, it expands outward, applying the seed of expansion that contains its own limitation.

In my opinion Crowley didn't apply the common term of High Priestess to key 2 because she isn't what we think. First off, she isn't a "she" and second, she represents an infinite plane of the One Mind.

You may think a plane 2 dimensional; However, a plane in mathematics can be considered infinite. In geometry, a plane is a flat, two-dimensional surface that extends infinitely in all directions. This is a theoretical concept used in Euclidean geometry. While you can describe a plane by defining three points (such as those of a triangle), the plane itself extends beyond those points indefinitely, with no edges or boundaries.

In practical or physical terms, planes are often bounded (like a sheet of paper or a screen), but mathematically, they are infinite. The three points used to define the plane determine its position and orientation in space, but they don’t limit its size.

Therefore, the Tree of Life and its Priestess, is more of an mobius strip rather than a linear 2-dimensional drawing.

The image I am describing is more like a manifold or a hypersurface that is capable of twisting upon itself in higher-dimensional space. More specifically, the term used to describe such a structure is often called a "hyperspatial manifold" or a "non-Euclidean manifold" in geometry and physics. In Western Hermetic Qabalah, it is called a Lemniscate.

However, in some specialized contexts, this type of structure could also refer to:

1. A Möbius strip (in two dimensions): A surface that twists upon itself, forming a non-orientable object with only one side.
2. A Klein bottle (in three dimensions): A closed surface that twists and intersects itself, which is also non-orientable.
3. A Calabi-Yau manifold (in string theory): A higher-dimensional, compact, twisted structure used to describe extra dimensions in theories like string theory.
4. A Torus: A doughnut-shaped object that twists around itself but is embedded in a higher-dimensional space.

The term often depends on the context of how this "twist" is occurring, such as whether it's in a physical or mathematical context, and the dimensions involved.

When applying the word "high" to priestess-we are also easily misled, for she is the Dark Lady of the Underworld, where all our Power of Self is residing. She is more Ereshkigal than Inanna for you must be stripped of all your previous concepts of self, just like her sister Inanna before you can be presented before her.

The Feminine is Formative, here Wisdom is taken into the most Spiritual (Spiral) manifestation of the feminine abyssal womb and formulates it into herself as any geometrical point into which to contemplate any possibility, i.e., the All Seeing "I" (Horus) of the original consciousness is born here. That is why both curved lines of frequency are shown above the Priestess, with arms held above forming a curved bowl or Cup. This is considered the beginning of the Feminine Grail/Womb. The lower body is strong, masculine, and shows the masculine straight lines of frequency-the phallic wand. Here, is the idea of Androgyne, where 2 sexes are begun. 0=2.

Now I know this concept is an impossibly difficult one to understand and the most descriptive of Qabalistic terms may seem nonsensical, but the Priestess is the Womb of Consciousness, she is both Male and Female.......much like a Hermaphrodite (Hermes-Aphrodite) that can impregnate itself.

The Higher Chokmah is a Sun, and the Lower Chokmah is a Moon. Thus, when viewing THE PRIESTESS Thoth-Tarot card, you will see a slight feminine figure with arms raised, behind vibrations of curved light and a strong lower masculine leg section with a bow across the knees, amongst straight lines of light. Yet, she is a virginal force, because no "Outside" Male force fertilizes her.

To reiterate: From Her, the source of Water, is the idea behind the idea of form, Paul Foster Case said this best in saying that,"... no matter how many forms develop from it, the virgin substance is itself unchanged. Like Water, which holds matter in suspension or solution, this substance remains over itself. Here is one key to the alchemical mystery of the First Matter. Here, too, one may find a clue to the inner significance of the Virgin Myths of all Religions." [ Remaining "over itself" may also be a clue as to why Lilith wished to lay on top of the First Male Form called Adam, in the Genesis Myth and was banished from the Garden of E Den for a more compliant Eve. So, the Patriarch could oversee sexuality and own the woman's body as a way of owning Life. Therefore, making our military fantasy world of his-story rather the her-story of the Priestess. A fun, sorrow filled, and enlightening study for the curious.

The aspirant for true knowledge of Self, may want to order this book from Amazon.com. Her-story is well told here.

In his book, THE THIRTY-TWO PATHS OF WISDOM, Mr. Case calls the Path of Gimel, the Uniting Intelligence, because it is the "Essence of Glory" and/or "The Grace of God". No matter the terms, the fact is that your personality must be shed of all the reality and desires that our conscious has constructed as ourselves before She is able to "carry One across the Abyss, into Daath (Knowledge) the often-invisible Chakra of the Tree of Life that resides below Kether, on the Middle Path. It is that Knowledge that our conscious essence "consumed", so that it could become the operator of the "Image of God".

Daath is no longer invisible to one who has entered the Garden of inherited Knowledge that resides between the mother named Understanding and the father named Wisdom.

The Priestess is often called the Prima Materia, or Root Matter (First Matter) as she can be considered the result of Self-Conscious/I AM.

Now the MAGUS, (Will-Kether), symbolizes a condition prior to "Unconscious thought" This condition acts upon THE PRIESTESS in such a way, that the Path of Gimel becomes the "mind" capable of carrying the thought forms (knowledge) of which the Universe will eventually be composed. Being that She is the source underlying all vibratory patterns that compose form, she is shown on the Thoth Deck Card as a figure composed of vibratory waves of energy. Moreover, nothing can grow in the Garden of the Empress without this wave structure that underlays energy. It is for this very reason that the Moon is assigned to this path, for it is a pattern of waxing and waning, fluctuation, dualities, and tides, just as the waves of energy in a vibratory pattern. Here, the Goddess is both Force and Form, and as a Moon she controls the tides of consciousness.

Now if you wish to scry this card, remember, she is Pure Virginal Conscious and without empathy, she is as Durga the Hindu Goddess of Life and Death.

Unless you have a mentor, who has been through the initiation of THE PRIESTESS, you may find her Cold Beauty destructive to your sensibilities as she strips your personality of all that is not worthy of Pure Self Conscious. Hence, the Sumerian mythological metaphor of being stripped naked when entering the "nether world" of the Abyssal Womb.

The Wisdom of THE PRIESTESS is in regulation, as Her fluctuation rates establish the direction for the "First Matter" as it descends in to greater and greater density. Thus, she is THE MOON, which regulates the tides of the Waters of consciousness.

As stated before, the four paths rising into the Supernal Triangle, each represent a Alchemical element, each a composite of the "Garden of E Den". THE PRIESTESS is the Uniting Spirit, the Fifth element, symbolized as the top point of the Pentagram. THE HIEROPHANT= Earth, LOVERS= Air, THE CHARIOT= Water, THE EMPEROR =Fire and THE PRIESTESS= Spirit.

Overall, THE PRIESTESS, is the vessel for all operations of the Supernal Triangle, the top triangle of the Tree of Life; she is the crucible where the Alchemical activity of Mercury, Sulfur, and Salt take place. She is also the source of the Four Rivers of Paradise, The Pison (River of Fire), The Gibon (River of Water), The Hiddikel (River of Air) and the Phrath (River of Earth). All of which goes a long way in describing her fluctuating nature, as rivers are often "waves of serpentine flow".

As I have mentioned before, the journey up the Paths of the Tree of Life is about Remembering our beginning, by going naked into our subconscious underworld, a critical part of "Above all things, Know thyself". THE PRIESTESS conceals within Her Vibrations, all the knowledge/memories of the Race, as well as those of the Cosmos as Self.

Behind Her resides Daath (Knowledge), invisible because of Vibratory Veils. As stated before, these veils are shown as Light in vibratory form, on the Thoth Deck Card or as a colorful tapestry behind her as shown in the Ryder-Waite-Smith or traditional tarot decks. The Qabalist knows that it is Light that conceals the True Spirit---the one we've called "The Fiery Darkness", because Dark Energy is the True Light, as it is the substance of Supernal Potential.

It is said that to look upon the Light of the PRIESTESS, one must become Virginal in nature. For it is a Light so bright one of mundane persona cannot look upon it and will be shocked right back into their Malkuth realm of Race sponsored egregore consciousness. If the egregore false conscious is conquered/stripped away, the Light of the Priestess is welcoming, and brilliantly beautiful...but without heat this it is a cool light resembling the dazzling brightness of Ice in full Sun or Moon Light. Passing through the "Light", one enters the Abyss of Dark Matter/Dark Energy where the only sense is the original "I" sight of the One.

Obviously, when considering Light, the Qabalist must re-think the essence of Light. It is apparent to the researcher that all religions that stress "the Light", are based on Tiphareth-The Sun God. For instance, religions based on the teachings of Christ, Buddha, Apollo, Osiris, Ahurda-Mazda, Mithra, etc. However, the Gnostic Mysteries, unlike organized religions, states that Light conceals, rather than reveals, by its very brilliance. As does the Moon, so does the PRIESTESS go from brilliant light on self-reflection to absolute darkness of the source. Thus, the Mythology of the Moon and her deities, such as. Dianna-Artemis, Hecate and Hel-Aine (Later as Helen), better known to those of Celtic origin as Elaine the Moon-Goddess, etc. She is the Goddess of 10,000 names.

The Thoth Deck Card Shows THE PRIESTESS as Hecate-Selene (The Triple Goddess as described by Hesiod) which means "The Far Shooting Moon", an aspect of Artemis. Artemis is also known as the "maiden of the silver bow", suggesting the "lower" aspect of THE PRIESTESS, which is Sagittarius, the archer. That is why she is illustrated with a bow across her knees. A bow whose shape is much like a lemniscate.

Artemis is the triple Goddess, represented as the Maiden, then the Orgiastic Nymph, then the Old Crone. As some say, Maid, Mother and Crone.

To reiterate, THE PRIESTESS acts upon the First Matter of the MAGUS, causing it to function in the pattern of a figure eight lying on its side. This represents a totally unified energy cycle of both opposed and duplicated vibration. This holding, enclosing, and duplicating function is that of the first female quality on the Tree of Life.

THE PRIESTESS represents what Carl Jung called the "virgin anima", related to "virgin milk" which he called the "life giving power of the unconscious."

To the inquiring mind, I really recommend one gets the book: THE WOMAN'S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MYTHS AND SECRETS, by Barbara G. Walker and looks up the Moon Goddess Myths. THE PRIESTESS relates a concept so subjective, that much repetition of information, in differentiating perspectives is required.

When the PRIESTESS, is thrown during a reading for the non-initiated, the querent is experiencing:

• the principle of self-trust, indicating an easy working state of harmony and inner independence.
•  A self-knowing. 
• Accessing hidden Knowledge from the unconscious. 
• Self-sufficiency, self-trust, and intuition.
• Experiencing cycles and fluctuations, in emotional persona. To the initiated male, She represents the Spiritual Bride of the Just man (The Prince, no longer of this world) When he reads the Law, she gives the Divine Meaning. The Arcana is revealed, the Mystery is unfolded, futures are seen. and the man becomes whole.

To the Initiated Female, She is the Papess, associated with St. Mary Magdalene, or the Great Shakti of the triple Hindu Goddess Kali, or the Greek Gnostic Sophia, the original Mother of the Holy Trinity. She is Ereshkigal and/or Lilith. Considered one of the Highest and Holiest of the Major Arcana. Complete development of Feminine Powers that go deeper in meaning than the words, intuition, or insight, can convey. She is the Law of inherited Wisdom buried deep in the Womb of the Abyss.

Thank you for your interest, comments, and supportive donations. May you live long and prosper.