HIGH PRIESTESS § TEMPERANCE § JUDGEMENT
The High Priestess has been roused from her position at the gate of the underworld to embark on a rare journey on our behalf. It is not often that the High Priestess will come to us, but occasionally she recognizes that we will not understand the important messages we are trying to send to ourselves unless she makes a visit. If you enjoy using altars to expand your experiences, you might want to offer dark chocolate, candied ginger, or licorice tea to let the High Priestess know you are ready for her teachings at this time. The High Priestess wants us to make a big leap in our emotional growth because she wants to turn over the information we keep locked away from our consciousness. She wants to give us a view of the through-line between our reactions in the present and our experiences of the past. She wants us to be able to look directly at how reflexively we try to force and limit others because we think we’re supposed to.
This month holds enormous potential for personal and primal knowledge to surface, so much so that the High Priestess has taken the liberty of alerting Temperance so she may assist us. How we experienced support as younger versions of ourselves deserves our deep consideration. Our patterns of giving and receiving are formed early in life but they are completely mutable. Now is a good time to tell ourselves the story of how we came to understand intimacy in all its varieties. This narrative will likely be full of both glittering gems and gnarly monsters, but they are all ours to name and reorder as we see fit. While the High Priestess helps us to form full understandings from vague or misty memories and dreams, Temperance will demonstrate how to make wild magic right here in the material realm. Temperance is here to assist us with massaging our newfound understandings into our existing relationships and situations. This archetype is capable of doing the seemingly impossible. She will help us to find patience for ourselves as we put old habits to rest. A reliance on sarcasm, rage, withholding, or any other dysfunctional trait does not simply vanish when we no longer require it. We will find, however, that these actions grate on us in a way they did not in the past. It is by way of one self-correction at a time that we become capable of conducting an intimate engagement with life itself. Let those you know mirror who you are and why you are loved. This is how we gain the balance between the practical earth element and the creative water element.
The Judgement card rounds out this highly dynamic month, and it is the perfect vibe. Despite the archaic title, this card indicates that assistance is available in rising to meet a challenge or opportunity if we are open to, and sensitive to, support. If you are inclined, imagine a subtle energy pulling you upward into how you want to feel, what you want to do, and who you would like to become. This could be an especially handy tool during moments of frustration. Just stop and imagine this force acting on you. Nurturing ourselves is not the same as capitalist self-care. Nurturing includes acknowledging mistakes, taking true stock of our general strengths and weaknesses, and teaching ourselves how to incorporate both into our personalities and expectations. Nurturing can mean discipline, but it most definitely means we need to believe in ourselves. May we reserve our resistance for that which does harm.
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illustration by Gurleen Rai