All of this is just my humble opinion, of course.

immediately upon seeing the card i felt the creature that is still alive & “above” her was in an entranced, connected state, conducting a sacred energy of love vulnerability, surrender & healing.

like sickness, which is imbalance, the “yucky stuff” has to surface in order to be cleansed ( they’re both in white & there’s an old aura of grey thickness clearing & airing out of them & around them )

& life is restored & replenished,
like the way your body needs sleep

those who meet this card ( or anyone or anything, for that matter ) with fear, have some getting in touch with themselves, some things to face within to do.

this feels like life balancing itself out,
in the moment we may not always understand
or see the big picture, the ultimate purpose
but it is always happening & when we let go of our preceptions, particularly the negative ones, we see & become in contact with all the beauty & love that is unfolding within & all around us

I must admit I am not familiar with this deck and am reacting strictly to the Art itself, which is certainly beautifully executed and disturbing; IMHO the first question we must ask ourselves is whether the 2nd Character knelling at the head of the slain woman, the woman herself. Do we see the soul having passed through the veil on the other side of the archway … If so we have a very different card, than if as IRMATA suggests she has been murdered, “I infer this from the clawed “WHY???” fists of the other figure.” Perhaps, but I tend to see the figure bringing the thumb and forefinger of otherwise open hands together in a more meditational pose.

Ritual death, even unto real death; is quite a different thing from Murder; which in the ancient world was held to leave a restless, not enlightened spirit.

In the end I tend to like this card if only because;

If you have seen a person through Addiction, Alcoholism, other such troubles, you know the terrible price that must be paid to reach for the calm and wisdom the Priestess represents; the path to that attainment can be quite bloody indeed.

And while Kevin makes a good point about not using the Deck for Consulting, I personally only use 3 or 4 decks for consultations anymore; but a long standing part of my own practice has been to use reversals as a cue that basically says to me; this card, different deck and intuitively go to another deck. That Inner deck we all have, that is multidimensional and made up of all the various visions of various decks we have exposed ourselves too is surely enriched by exposure to challenging images like this one. It might make a very interesting deck to take ones own daily draws from for a month.

If feel compelled to take a moment for an aside on Marks comments, “Some responses to this card point to a limitation faced by certain contemporary Tarot card readers, who tend to confuse reading the cards with projecting personal issues upon them.
This approach to reading the cards is popular — primarily, I think, because it does not require its adherents to read any books. But this approach is also a bit limiting, in the same way that trying to study art history by staring in a mirror would be, and the rewards gleaned through exclusive application of this approach will be limited, as well.”

And I would say … at the end of the Day the Art has to speak for itself. It will have to speak to for itself in the context of any given reading for which the deck is selected. I find the hostility he expresses for people relying on their intuitive/ instinctual responses to the Art, as projecting there own issues on the cards odd, and perhaps a projection itself. After all Mark’s income comes from people reading Books, certainly he wants them to read those books.
I think most of us here understand,

Reading the Tarot is no “Instant” thing. IMHO it makes a good Year and Day project; just to develop a working relationship with your first deck. It can take a lifetime from there expanding that contract, expanding ones knowledge of the language ones guide speaks, through the Tarot; and yes Books can be helpful, but I don’t think we should rely on them to heavily; only when we have exhausted the possibilities for interpreting the art on its own merits first.

The Moon Goddess speakes to us of the never ending cycle of rebirth and decay in the realm of Sorrow and Karma.

I find the Artwork most fitting.

Bobby Jack

Some final notes;

- I do think there’s room in my personal collection for decks that feature more than smiling, rainbow-hued prancing unicorns or rehashes of Rider-Waite-Smith themes and images. I do think it’s okay for a deck to incorporate cards that startle or unsettle me or my clients. I think that some truths are disturbing, and I think that the language of Tarot should be diverse enough to address those truths.

- I don’t think every deck is for everybody. I don’t think every deck can or should be or has to be for everybody.

- I don’t think the Tarot of the Elves is for everybody. Some folks will like it. Some folks won’t. I don’t take it personally when people don’t like this deck, but I do like to point out the difference between what’s actually going on in the card and what people *imagine* is going on there.

- I do think that knowing the story behind this particular card is absolutely essential to fully understanding and appreciating it. I do think there are important messages that the Tarot of the Elves (once you learn its language and symbol set) can deliver with this card that you will *not* get from drawing the High Priestess from, say, the Waite-Smith.

But lacking that context, I can see how folks would imagine all sorts of things going on. Many people will be content to stop there, with what they have imagined, and never find out more. Some, though, will be motivated to ask questions and dig a little deeper.

I have a special place in my heart for those kinds of people, and I confess I made this deck especially for them.

Later today, I’m going to do a further entry about the points I think are raised by this entry and the comments, which have little to do with this specific card.

In the meantime, feel free to add more comments. I’ll definitely check them before posting.

Thank you!

Mark, as the creator of the deck, maybe you could educate us as to the story behind the card. I am interested to see how many of us would feel differently if we knew the aim of this artwork.