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 ![]() 5 of Wands |
The Full Moon ![]() Knight of Pentacles |
The Waning Moon ![]() Ace of Pentacles |
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Significator #1 ![]() The Moon The Secret of the High Priestess |
Significator #2 ![]() The Lovers |
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The Dark ![]() Ace of Wands |
![]() 8 of Pentacles |
The Light ![]() 3 of Swords |
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The Next Step ![]() Knight of Swords |
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Significator #1
The Moon
Tranquillity, calm, beauty, and for some reason I never understood, lobster. Don't ask me, blame antiquity.
Significator #2
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 Waning Moon is the influence that you are putting behind you, as it moves into the past.
Ace of Pentacles
A fencing mask on a skeleton with a cadeceus over a black sun before fire. Refer to the symbolic meaning of each to find the answers you seek.
The Full Moon is the current influence at this time.
Knight of Pentacles
Stone is hard and sand is soft, yet one can erode the other in time and fundamentally, both are the exact same thing. Odd that the smaller of the two can destroy the larger and make it more like itself. Also note the Wolfs angle rune.
The Waxing Moon indicates what is on the horizon; the approaching influence.
5 of Wands
The means may be grotesque, but if they get you what you want you'd do well to use them.
The Light is what is clearly recognized.
3 of Swords
The Vikings were once the most feared force on the northern seas, now they are remembered by statues, Swedish death metal, and Antonio Banderas movies. Do what you will to ensure your name, but once you're gone you have no control over what will become of it.
The Dark shows what is there but not fully perceived, though it has been noticed on a deeper level of consciousness.
Ace of Wands
A wand is a means to a magical end. If you don't like what you're seeing, use yours to change the channel.
The Next Step is the near future, where this journey will take you.
Knight of Swords
The guillotine is the most effective method of killing ever invented. You can poison or shock or stab or shoot people but nothing is so certain to cause death as severing their head. Amazing how fast the world forgot that.
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 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.