The High Priestess relates to the part of ourselves that has been in close relationship with forms of birth and death. Those among us who have come close to losing our own lives are likely to gain new senses, as parents do when their first child arrives on the earth. When we experience the possibility of losing our life or the life of someone very close, especially if we are the ones who must care for a defenseless baby, we tend to become more aware of the mystery and depth of life itself.
she offers the silver light of a crescent moon to remind us that the world of the living is still ours.
Grief, regret, longing, birth, and mental confusion are all underworld experiences that we will encounter in life. A High Priestess can not guide us or act as our companion in the underworld because our walk through the feelings and realizations that exist there are ours alone. But we may always know that she sees us and understands us, she offers the silver light of a crescent moon to remind us that the world of the living is still ours. The archetype of the High Priestess can be considered to embody within those who work as counselors in mental and/or spiritual health, as directors of funeral homes and hospices, as birth doulas and midwives, and as practitioners of hands-on magick and mediumship.
An ideal example is certainly Marie Catherine Laveau. She was born and lived her life in Louisiana from 1801 to 1881. She was an herbalist, a practitioner of voodoo, and a midwife. Her life story continues to be celebrated and mythologized by the people of Louisiana and those who tour there as well.
Some say she would provide herbs and poisons that would make the process of death easier for them.
Laveau was known to have attended to prisoners who were sentenced to death. She would prepare the final meal and pray with the condemned. Some say she would provide herbs and poisons that would make the process of death easier for them. She sought pardons and commutations for some and was often successful in gaining these mercies.
She became known as the Queen of Voodoo in New Orleans where she opened a beauty parlor that served as both a way to gain money from the wealthy and also as a place where women could gather freely. She was an activist for many causes and a woman willing to do what was needed.
Laveau tended to the doorway between life and death as well as the doorway into life itself. She tended to what is needed during pregnancy and birth and like midwives and birth doulas of today, death is a large part of their work as pregnancy, birth, and parenthood are fraught with its reality. It is this knowledge and experience with the paradoxical (to us) workings of the underworld that provides the power to heal the living, welcome those taking that first breath, and pray for the souls of the condemned all in a day’s work.
May we support the High Priestess in her form as midwife and activist now more than ever.
Author of Daydream Tarot: A Basic Guide for Visionaries
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