Thursday Night Tarot – Judgment/High Priestess

This is the eleventh in a series of conversations between the Birth Card pairs and Jason C. Lotterhand, through “The Thursday Night Tarot”, (edited by Arisa Victor). The host for this series is the Fool, representing the individual taking the journey. The eleventh Birth Card pair up is Judgment/High Priestess.

Fool:  Welcome to this series of conversations. Information discussed here is based on Jason C. Lotterhand’s work, as presented in “The Thursday Night Tarot”. Something to keep in mind before we enter into the following conversation is the theme for the Judgment/High Ptiestess duo: “The ability to observe, to the point of making good judgment in an objective manner. The ability to access ones intuition, to communicate, and to accept new ideas. ” To my left is Judgment, to my right is the High Priestess, and to the High Priestess’s right we have Mr. Lotterhand. Thank you all for being here. Judgment, you may begin.

Judgment: I would like to thank Mr. Lotterhand and the High Priestess for being here, and the Fool for hosting this series. As we all know, Birth Cards work in pairs. However, we all carry our own identity. Through Mr. Lotterhand’s work, we hope to clarify who we are to those who carry our energy.

Mr. Lotterhand, Judgment has quite the image, with the angel, trumpet, and all. Yet Judgment can be very misunderstood. What does the archetype Judgment represent?

Jason C. Lotterhand: When we reach Judgment, we have moved beyond the conventional universe. We emerge from this three dimensional universe into the fourth dimension, where there are no limits. We are living and experiencing things on a completely different level than the ordinary. Our consciousness has expanded to include an inner awareness of ourselves.

Judgment: What does the coffin represent? That can be a bit off-putting to some people!

Jason C. Lotterhand: The coffin represents three dimensional existence, which has us literally “boxed in”. When we leave the confines of the coffin, we leave these constraints behind and move to a higher vibrational level. Please note: we are still living in the physical world, we simply perceive it, and interact with it, in a different manner.

Judgment: What is the symbolism of the flag attached to the trumpet?

Jason C. Lotterhand: This is the same equal armed cross that appears on the High Priestess. The flag suggests where we can find our answers.

Fool: Thank you, Judgment, and you, Mr. Lotterhand. High Priestess, you have the podium.

The High Priestess: Thank you, Fool. I would like to thank Judgment and Mr. Lotterhand for being here, and the Fool for acting as host.

Mr. Lotterhand,  Can you talk a bit about the High Priestess as the chief feminine principle in the Cabala, please.

Jason C. Lotterhand: The High Priestess is the Divine Mother on the Tree of Life, enthroned in Binah, Root of Water. She is the responsive nature in life that makes magic possible. She is referred to as Universal Mind. Think of it this way … the universe is mind-conceived, mind-constructed, and mind-supported. Our mind is sustained by the Great Mind. She represents the Sub-Conscious, the feminine element that corresponds to the Self-Conscious that we find in the Magician. There must be an exchange between male and female before anything can happen.

High Priestess: Is the archetype of the High Priestess as distant as some people make her out to be?

Jason C. Lotterhand: The High Priestess is in actuality very tender hearted. She protects us because we are her own … we are born of mind. We often say “I have a mind.” We could just as well say “I am mind.” The nature of mind is the nature of spirit.

High Priestess:  What does the symbols of water bring to the archetype of the High Priestess?

Jason C. Lotterhand: Water flows around the High Priestess. It represents our sub-conscious, and the unknown. Water holds everything in solution. In a like manner, the mind holds all possibilities.

High Priestess: Do you have any final thoughts for our audience?

Jason C. Lotterhand: The equal armed cross is reminiscent of Hecate, the Greek goddess of crossroads. She was also a patroness of magic.

Please note: These are, of course, imaginary conversations. The information has been taken from “The Thursday Night Tarot”, Jason C. Lotterhand, edited by Arisa Victor, Newcastle Publishing Co. Inc, 1989. Any errors in translation are mine, and mine alone.

Images are from the Tarot Lovers Tarot (Karyn Easton, http://paranormality.com/ ).

 © November 2012 Bonnie Cehovet

 

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Conversation Overheard: Judgment/High Priestess

I have been trying to think of ways in which I could make the Birth Card pairs come to life. I thought that it might be fun to have a Birth Card pair chatting over coffee or drinks. I was going to work with the gentlest Birth Card pair that I could find, just so the conversation would be, shall we say, a “nice, quiet one” Best laid plans, and all of that. The first two individuals that choose to speak were the ones that were the hardest for me to write about – The Devil and The Lovers. They choose to speak over drinks … fair warning! Today’s Birth Card pair are Judgment and the High Priestess. They exist in an atmosphere of calm and dignity. The man, Jonathon Cord, represents Judgment. The woman, Jaqueline Lefevre, represents the High Priestess.

Scene: Andre’s at the Monte Carlo, in Las Vegas. It is a weekday evening, and the restaurant is humming with activity. The decor is in subtle shades of blue, the tables covered with gleaming white cloths. The atmosphere resembles that of a French chateau – elegant, yet understated. Two people are seated in a secluded dining area. The man is tall and distinguished – wearing a deep gray suit, a blinding white shirt with French cuffs, square gold cufflinks, and an understated light gray tie. He has dark hair, graying at the temples. The woman sitting opposite him is the epitome of grace – dark hair tumbling over her shoulders, deep brown eyes, makeup is subdued and flawless. She is wearing a cream colored silk dress, with pearl earrings and a long strand of pearls around her neck. On the seat beside her is a cream colored Coco Chanel clutch evening bag.

The wine steward appears quietly at their table. “Good evening. Would you like to see the wine list, Sir?”

“Yes, please.” Even though he knew the wine list by heart, Jonathon wanted to create a small break in the conversation. He knew that Jacqueline liked to take the time to ease into their talks.

The wine steward handed them both wine lists, then discretely stepped back.

“Would you like to start with a Chateaux, Jacqueline?” Jonathon asked as he glanced over the candlelight at his dinner companion. He loved that she always looked so composed and serene.

“That will be fine. I will leave the selection to you, Jonathon. Your choices have always pleased me.”

Jonathon conferred with the wine steward, ordering a Chateaux for pre-dinner, and a Bordeaux to go with dinner. He sat back, taking in the ambiance of the elegant, understated room. It was interesting, moving in and out of lifetimes, fitting in to each timeline as if they were born to it. He and Jacqueline had the honor of monitoring the 20/2 lifetime. It was up to them to teach people how to observe, how to make judgments in an effective manner, as well as how to open themselves to intuitive knowledge, to the mysteries. Well balanced, the ability to make good judgments and the ability to access the mysteries flowed freely back and forth, like the ebb and tide of the ocean.

The wine steward was at their table, offering him the wine for his approval. He nodded his head, and the wine was poured. Like magic, chilled shrimp cocktails were set before them.

“Jonathon”, Jacqueline spoke in her soft, clear voice. “You are aware of the quickening, yes?”

“I am aware of the quickening, yes. I think we are right where we need to be right now. We knew that with the changes that humans would need to re-evaluate their belief systems, to accept that what was working no longer works, and to define their new sense of purpose. Most are doing very well. It is heartening when they look at their watches, or their clocks, and see the repetitive numbers. It took a small time for them to notice that this was happening, but then they quickly went on to wondering about the “why”, to wanting to know what was going on. No one seems overly upset, and t hose that understand they are being given information from the mysteries seem fine with it. Quite amusing that they are calling it a “mystical download”. Perhaps they are becoming to ingrained in this technological age?”

“Mystical download” is fine. It was the best way that I could get them to accept the phenomenon and not be frightened by it. For them, time is moving very quickly. I personally think that we had a much harder time getting them to accept women in any role outside of the home. Then once we had that reasonably well down we rolled right into the technological age. I do think that we are holding our own.”

At this point the shrimp cocktail dishes were cleared, and two Caesar salad plates were placed on the table.

“What are your thoughts on this 2012, end of life as we know it thing, Jacqueline?”

“Jonathon, please don’t make fun of humanity. We have talked about this before – they are rather clueless about the Mayan calendar, and what it all means. I was quite relieved to see that it is going better than the turn of the century did. We did what we could, but they worried so needlessly about moving from 1999 into the year 2000. They were not technologically advanced enough to understand that they were not going to see computer crashes, that they were not going to lose information, they were not going to lose life as they knew it, and that they just needed to trust in their own abilities.”

“Do you feel that those who are going to be the leaders in the near future understand the task before them? Do you think they are ready?”

“Jonathon, I see two things. Those who are not ready for the new world are choosing to leave the physical world at this time. It is part of their agreement that they have this choice. Those who are going to be part of the new world, but not necessarily leaders, feel the change, and are working with it. Those who are going to be leaders understand the changes they are going through, and are accepting them well. They know that their life path is being redefined, and understand that the one they were on was right for them up until now, but that now something different is in order.”

Their waiter came up quietly beside them, clearing the salad plates and placing their main course before them: filet of beef for Jonathon, and apple stuffed pork tenderloin for Jacqueline. By unspoken agreement they made only small talk as they ate, catching each other up on their lives. At the end of the meal they opted not to order desert, but to go into the lounge for coffee and cognac.

As they sat in a private area of the lounge, cognac snifters in hand and soft music playing in the background, Jonathon addressed Jacqueline: “What do you see as our next step? What do we need to do to keep the balance at this point in time?”

“Jonathon, I think we have set a solid foundation for the changes to come. The information they need in order to not take a step back is being channeled to them on a daily basis. Per our agreement, we can show them the way, but we cannot make their choices for them. Agreed?”’

“Agreed, Jacqueline.”

© February 2012 Bonnie Cehovet