Secret of the High Priestess Spread
Difficulty: Average
This spread makes 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 tarot spread is helpful for looking into a current trend. The High Priestess may or may not present a mysterious secret to be analysed after the rest of the spread.
1. & 2. Main impulses representing 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 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, consciously.
6. The Dark indicates 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 leads.
9. The final tarot card, only if it happens to be of the Major Arcana, reveals the Secret of the High Priestess. This is a special message that should be given added weight.
Your Secret of the High Priestess Reading
The Waxing Moon  The Moon |
The Full Moon  3 of Pentacles |
The Waning Moon  The Sorcerer |
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Significator #1  8 of Pentacles The Secret of the High Priestess |
Significator #2  5 of Swords |
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The Dark  Queen of Cups |
 8 of Swords |
The Light  The Lovers |
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The Next Step  The Fool |
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Significator #1
8 of Pentacles
Things grow from other dead things. Don't overlook them for their dark origins, and don't dismiss the dead as a total erasure of what was.
Significator #2
5 of Swords
An homage to Bosch and Bruegel, and a card symbolic of victory to the well-armed and pain to the unprepared or unwilling to defend.
The Waning Moon is the influence that you are putting behind you, as it moves into the past.
The Sorcerer
AKA The Magician in traditional Tarot.
The sort of guy who knows, wills, dares and keeps his mouth shut.
The Full Moon is the current influence at this time.
3 of Pentacles
Nature grows in the most desolate, diseased places. Study how nature does it to survive your own climate.
The Waxing Moon indicates what is on the horizon; the approaching influence.
The Moon
Tranquillity, calm, beauty, and for some reason I never understood, lobster. Don't ask me, blame antiquity.
The Light is what is clearly recognized.
The Lovers
9:00 – Card 6
Male, Air, Sagittarius.
Ceration is the alchemical act of adding a liquid to the substance while heated, yielding a softer substance with a wax-like texture. Not to be confused with alchemical union, but an important step toward it.
The Dark shows what is there but not fully perceived, though it has been noticed on a deeper level of consciousness.
Queen of Cups
Queen Bees begin developing in specially constructed cells within the hive. They are often oriented differently from other cells in the honeycomb, and are filled with Royal Jelly, a substance which determines the physiology of the queen to be.
The Next Step is the near future, where this journey will take you.
The Fool
6:00 – Card 0
Male, Water, Pisces.
Ignorance is a trait of the most basic. To let the currents of time and fate dictate one's actions completely, to seek the lowest, easiest path will lead one downwards. One's hunger will destroy what's beautiful, resulting in the squandering of things put to better use.
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.
8 of Swords
Why in Pulp Fiction did he go with a Samurai Sword? He had a damn Chainsaw! Half the swords in pawn shops are cheap crap that'll break if you try to use it, chainsaws are dangerous, vicious weapons. It would have been way wiser and way cooler if he went with the Chainsaw. Way cooler.
That aside: It's about sacrifice. Nothing's free and nothing ventured means nothing gained.
