Secret of the High Priestess Spread
Difficulty: Average
This spread is a nice alternative to the Celtic Cross, which covers basically the same ground. It is useful when a question doesn’t quite call for the Ankh spread. This spread is helpful when you are looking into a current trend. The High Priestess may or may not present a mysterious secret to be analyzed after the rest of the spread.
1. and 2. Main impulses that represent the topic at hand. They may compliment or oppose one another.
3. This is the current influence at this time.
5. The Waning Moon is the influence that you are putting behind you, what is moving into the past.
4. The Waxing Moon indicates what is on the horizon, or the approaching influence. This is the immediate future.
7. The Light is what is clearly recognized, what is conscious.
6. The Dark shows what is there but not fully perceived, though noticed on a deeper level of consciousness.
8. The Next Step is the near future, where this journey will take you.
9. The last card, if it happens to be of the Major Arcana, reveals the Secret of the High Priestess. This is a special message that you should pay extra special attention to.
Your Secret of the High Priestess Reading
The Waxing Moon  Knight of Cups |
The Full Moon  The Universe |
The Waning Moon  The Star |
|
Significator #1  Art |
Significator #2  10 of Swords- Ruin |
||
The Dark  Prince of Disks |
The Secret of the High Priestess  The Chariot |
The Light  10 of Disks - Wealth |
|
The Next Step  Knight of Swords |
|||
Significator #1
Art
Saggitarius
Temperence or Alchemy. Creation by way of the marriage of opposites. You are what you create. An androgenous figure stirs the pot. The unity of opposite alchemical symbols (lion + eagle) has produced alchemical GOLD.
Meaning:
Realization of objectives and goals. Successful combination of energies. A string of successful magickal maneuvers culminating in solidification. Calculated action. Management.
Significator #2
10 of Swords- Ruin
Sun in Gemini
Ten swords form the shape of the tree of life. The sixth and tenth swords are broken to pieces. In the center of Tiphareth, the heart is broken. This is the worst omen of the deck. Rock bottom. But upon deeper inspection, something highly significant is achieved through the process.
Meaning:
Reason divorced from reality, the end of sanity, disaster, failure, desolation, dishonor. Spiritually may mean the end of delusion.
The Waning Moon is the influence that you are putting behind you, as it moves into the past.
The Star
Aquarius
Everyone is a Star. This card suggests using your talents.
Meaning:
Clear vision, spiritual insight, hope, charity.
When ill-dignified: error in judgement, disillusion, delusions, lack of understanding.
The Full Moon is the current influence at this time.
The Universe
Earth
The spider in the man's head is a reference to Leary's octave rhythms. The spider and web indicate man's nature to perceive and even weave his own reality. The web also indicates being trapped in our own perception of reality. It may also hint at the nature of the interaction between this and other universes.
Meaning:
The realization of the whole matter. The essence of the query itself. Synthesis. Crystalization. Could represent something extremely important.
When ill-dignified: A cruel world.
The Waxing Moon indicates what is on the horizon; the approaching influence.
Knight of Cups
Pisces
The Knight of Cups rides a black horse, symbolizing the dark unconscious force of water. In his left hand he holds a gold cup filled with gold. His horse leaps above a wave, symbolizing the element of water at its most active state. Two dolphins leap along with the horse, representing Pisces.
Meaning:
A very sensitive, yet shallow man, who is quick to respond to attraction.
When ill-dignified: a sensual, idle man, a liar and a loser, prone to drug abuse.
The Light is what is clearly recognized.
10 of Disks - Wealth
Mercury in Virgo
Coins of gold, silver, and copper fall to earth. The ten coins in the foreground form the tree of life, each with a symbol matching its particular sephiroth. The coins in the background represent the different pathways. This card represents something valuable.
Meaning:
Material prosperity. Completion of material building. Good health.
When ill-dignified: sloth, heaviness, dullness.
The Dark shows what is there but not fully perceived, though it has been noticed on a deeper level of consciousness.
Prince of Disks
8:00 - 10:00 Male
Taurus
The Prince of Disks rides his chariot pulled by the bull. His disk is a sphere. The air of earth is represented by the vegetation he ploughs through. He is a worker at heart, grounded on the earth plane, and conscerned with materialism above all else. He may resent the spirituality that eludes his grasp.
Meaning:
A young man with skill in practical matters, reliable, and perhaps dull.
The Next Step is the near future, where this journey will take you.
Knight of Swords
Gemini
The Knight of Swords rides a red horse, symbolizing the fiery passion that drives his intellectual pursuits. The birds that fly beneath him symbolize quick-wittedness. He bears a great sword in his right hand while he stashes a dagger in his left, symbolizing the witty two-sided personality of a Gemini.
Meaning:
An active, skillful, witty, clever, fierce man.
When ill-dignified: An indecisive, cunning, deceitful man.
The Secret of the High Priestess - if, and only if this card a Major Arcana, it reveals the Secret of the High Priestess. This is a special spiritual message that you should pay extra special attention to. If it is not a trump, the Priestess has revealed no secret.
The Chariot
Cancer
Your soul is like the driver and your body is the vehicle for your personal exploration of the universe.
Meaning:
The charioteer is a link in a chain of command. Exploration of the universe, obedience, hope, triumph.
When ill-dignified: status-quo maintenance muscle.
