SYMBOLS

This Arcana contains less symbols than the two previous ones. The priestess is simpler, more austere; she does not need much orchestration to intone her melody.

She is Isis, the most illustrious of the Egyptian Goddesses, who protects the dead under her wings and resurrects them. Initially, she was the goddess of the home, but when she assumed the secret name of her grandfather, Ra, the supreme god, her power extended throughout the Universe.

According to tradition, every living being is a drop of Isis' blood. She is the great initiator, who possesses the secrets of life, death and resurrection. She embodies the Universal Feminine Principle, the magical source of fecundity and transformation.

This card depicts Isis in her most spiritual form, the Greek Artemis, the Roman equivalent to Diana. Born to Latona and Zeus, Artemis is a virgin goddess and the twin sister of Apollo. Untamable and ferocious with men, she is the protector of the female in the face of the brute physical supremacy of men.

As the goddess of childbirth, she protects purity and rewards her adoring followers with immortality. Her mythological figure appears as the union of Venus and Aphrodite, as we shall see in Arcana III - The Empress.

According to some psychoanalysts, Artemis represents the castrating, jealous, and domineering aspect of the mother, as opposed to Venus, who embodies her nourishing, loving, and life-giving facet. Hindu mythology draws a parallel with the consorts or feminine aspects of Shiva: Ali and Parvati.

Artemis shrouds herself in a veil of light, indicating that light is not the manifestation of the spirit, but rather, the veil that hides the spirit from unprepared eyes. As Crowley states, "the Empress is the truth beyond the veil".

The bow and arrow that lie in her lap are both weapons and musical instruments for enchanting her prey, since Artemis is both huntress and sorceress.

The Sorceress represents all of the virgin goddesses - the meaning of their virginity shall be seen in the Empress card - who are potentially goddesses of fecundity and fertility.

Seeds, fruits, flowers, and crystals appear on the lower half of the card, along with the camel, Guimel, as symbols of the onset of life and its development. Crystals have been used by a wide array of cultures, ranging from Borneo, Melanesia, and Australia, to the Mayas, Navajo, and Hopi peoples, and thus is considered a bridge between matter and spirit, between the visible and the invisible. Crystals are used for healing and divining, and symbolize wisdom and magical powers.