II. High Priestess - Schala

[Syna]

II.
THE HIGH PRIESTESS:

Schala

Summary: *Reserved*

Symbolism: "The High Priestess is identified with the Shekhinah, the female indwelling presence of the divine. She wears plain blue robes and sits with her hands in her lap. She has a lunar crescent at her feet, "a horned diadem on her head, with a globe in the middle place"[1] similar to the crown of the ancient Egyptian goddess Hathor, but with the horns having a shape more like half-crescents, and a large cross on her breast. The scroll in her hands, partly covered by her mantle, bears the word TORA. She is seated between the white and black pillars—'J' and 'B' for Jachin and Boaz—of the mystic Temple of Solomon. The veil of the Temple is behind her: it is embroidered with palm leaves and pomegranates.[2] The motif that hangs behind the High Priestess’s throne, veiling what ever mysteries she guards, is suggested in the pattern of The Empress’ gown. The two are sisters, one bringing life into the world, the other inviting the living to the esoteric mysteries. Further behind all of that is what seems to be a body of water, most probably the sea. The water flows through most of the cards of the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot."
(From wikipedia)

Keywords: Nonaction, Unconscious Awareness, Potential, Mystery, Wisdom, Intuition, Purity, Virtue, Mystical Vision, Ethereality
Reversed: Ignorance, Lack of Understanding, Selfishness, Shallowness
(From learntarot.com  & themysticeye.com)

Description: "Once you have an idea, you also have decisions to make. The High Priestess holds scrolls of arcane information in her arms. In addition, the moon crown on her head as well as the crescent by her foot indicates her willingness to illuminate what you otherwise might not see about a job possibility, an investment, love, career, family, etc. But you need some alone time, some quiet time to meditate and reflect.
This is what the card is all about. Seated between two pillars as between two choices, the High Priestess is not about making a decision so much as holding decision-making at bay while you take time to listen to your inner voice. She wants you to gain knowledge before you act: instinctual knowledge, supernatural knowledge, secret knowledge, self-knowledge.
    The High Priestess, however, goes beyond even that for those who seek more. Behind her throne is the curtain that leads to the deepest, most esoteric knowledge; the pomegranates that decorate it remind us of Persephone, who was taken down into the land of the dead, ate its fruit and became the only goddess allowed to travel to and from that strange land. The High Priestess is our guide to all that is mysterious and mystical."
(From Aeclectic Tarot)

Fool's Journey: "Continuing his journey, the Fool comes upon a beautiful and mysterious veiled lady enthroned between two pillars and illuminated by the moon. She is the opposite of the Magician, quiet where he was loquacious, still where he was in motion, sitting while he stood, shrouded in the night where he was out in the bright of day. Sensing that she is a great seer, the Fool lays out his sword, chalice, staff and pentacle before her. 'The Magician showed me these, but now I'm in a quandary. There are so many things I could do with them. I can't decide.'
      The High Priestess doesn't speak. Instead she hands him a pair of ancient scrolls. Seating himself at her feet, the Fool puts his decision-making on hold and reads by the light of her crescent moon.
     'I did not know any of this,' says the Fool. The scrolls, like a secret manual, have given him insight into his new tools. "This information helps me to narrow things down, but I'm still afraid of making a wrong decision."
     The words come to him then, not from without but from within: 'What do your instincts tell you?' The Fool reflects on that, and that's when he knows what he should do. Decision made, he rises to leave even though he suspects that the High Priestess has more secrets she could reveal to him--like what lies behind the pomegranate curtain. Right now, however, he is focused and ready to be on his way.
     Thanking the High Priestess, he heads off. But as he leaves he hears that inner voice, rising like the waters which spring and flow from beneath her throne: 'We'll meet again...when you're ready to travel the most secret path of all.'"
(from Aeclectic Tarot)

Feel free to post additional insights into the card, questions, & ideas for the artists to consider!

[Syna]

Here are some personal notes and opinions:
-- I like the idea of Schala in some indistinct Zealian throne room as Lady Marle suggested. Zeal fits the aesthetic of the High Priestess beautifully. If you go with this idea and want to incorporate the traditional symbolism, there would have to be a fair amount of emphasis on Zealian architecture.
-- I personally think the pomegranates & veil would fit very well. Schala is very much a Persephone-esque figure, and it would be a beautiful touch. They could be highly subtly incorporated, opposed to how they are depicted on the card. If not this, then something to suggest her relationship to Lavos might be appropriate.
- The two pillars could be replaced with the Zeal statues, as has been suggested, and it would not be too much trouble to inscribe a B and J into them.
- Linking it up with the Empress - Queen Leene really isn't necessary -- there's already a physical resemblance between Leene, Marle, and Schala, which works beautifully in terms of the cards.
- The horned diadem, or crescent moon, should also be easy enough to integrate, and I think it would be fairly important. Alternately, some people draw a mirror, which has similar symbolism.  
- There are established relationships between this card ad the Magician (undecided as of now), as well as the Hierophant (also undecided). If we can, it may be cool to link up the cards, but I realize that's a lot to ask.

Whatever you do, there's no need to strictly follow the Rider-Waite symbolism. The card has been interpreted in plenty of ways: the point is to get the general meaning across (and in this case, Schala is such a good fit that no one needs fret too much about tying tarot & Chrono together!).

Here are a few different versions of the High Priestess card to contrast with Rider-Waite.

I'll post up some other depictions when I get a photobucket set up so I don't hotlink like a jerk.

[tushantin]

Try Imgur. It's easier. =P

BTW, there's another character (from a completely different series) that would actually fit the role of High Priestess (or Heirophant / Magician). Here's pictures for design inspiration. I think you folks know her already (I love Psychological series).

[Angerona]

Try Imgur. It's easier. =P

BTW, there's another character (from a completely different series) that would actually fit the role of High Priestess (or Heirophant / Magician). Here's pictures for design inspiration. I think you folks know her already (I love Psychological series).

I really like XXXHolic’s style. I really want to contribute with this card, so I  will start working on something similar today.

[xcalibur]

awesome art!

further reference:

[Syna]

MOAR HIGH PRIESTESS!







Not as fond of this one, but it seems like it may be inspiring! It certainly has the right color scheme:



My favorites from the link I have up there:



And only because I <3 the William Blake Tarot.

[xcalibur]

Here are some personal notes and opinions:
-- I like the idea of Schala in some indistinct Zealian throne room as Lady Marle suggested. Zeal fits the aesthetic of the High Priestess beautifully. If you go with this idea and want to incorporate the traditional symbolism, there would have to be a fair amount of emphasis on Zealian architecture.
-- I personally think the pomegranates & veil would fit very well. Schala is very much a Persephone-esque figure, and it would be a beautiful touch. They could be highly subtly incorporated, opposed to how they are depicted on the card. If not this, then something to suggest her relationship to Lavos might be appropriate.
- The two pillars could be replaced with the Zeal statues, as has been suggested, and it would not be too much trouble to inscribe a B and J into them.
- Linking it up with the Empress - Queen Leene really isn't necessary -- there's already a physical resemblance between Leene, Marle, and Schala, which works beautifully in terms of the cards.
- The horned diadem, or crescent moon, should also be easy enough to integrate, and I think it would be fairly important. Alternately, some people draw a mirror, which has similar symbolism.  
- There are established relationships between this card ad the Magician (undecided as of now), as well as the Hierophant (also undecided). If we can, it may be cool to link up the cards, but I realize that's a lot to ask.

Whatever you do, there's no need to strictly follow the Rider-Waite symbolism. The card has been interpreted in plenty of ways: the point is to get the general meaning across (and in this case, Schala is such a good fit that no one needs fret too much about tying tarot & Chrono together!).

Here are a few different versions of the High Priestess card to contrast with Rider-Waite.

I'll post up some other depictions when I get a photobucket set up so I don't hotlink like a jerk.

Indeed, and the bolded is my suggestion. Here are the tiles of the various Zealian statues as another reference (might as well have as many resources as possible):

[tushantin]

See attachment. I didn't feel like experimenting much while drawing the Zealian architectural set, because I'd have to set up perspective lines and shit for every complex detail, so decided to do the set in 3D instead, which I'll trace and modify later.

Is this an unprecedented level of laziness for me? Hell, yeah! Do I give a shit? Hell, no!

Anywho, now that this is done, I'll do draw the statues by hand because I'm too lazy to sculpt / model them. (I wonder why I made the window-side pillars considering they'll be obscured by the statues anyway.)

EDIT: I wish I had somebody to ink the drawings, so that I can only focus on drawing, composition and coloring.

[tushantin]

The composition came out quite nice. The sketch... eh... Not so much. Just hope I can smooth it all out in the inking phase. And I hope I can stay true to the coloring-style of the last entry I made.

[tushantin]

And it's done! So that's one more Tarot crossed off the list.

Though... I've failed to replicate my own art-style from 2 years ago. Goddammit...

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/ELwm60

[Boo the Gentleman Caller]

Looks great, tushantin!

[ZeaLitY]

Boo and anyone still active, at what point should we scour this forum and save the work-in-progress items for the encyclopedia? I think there were a few finished, so I would hate to let them languish in here forever...

[xcalibur]

I haven't forgotten about this (although the past couple years have been alot to deal with). You can harvest the finished or half-finished illustrations anytime IMO. Myself and Syna did much of the theoretical work, but we've stalled out due to a lack of art production. If I had the hand for it, I'd do it myself, but that's not where my talents lie (or at least, I haven't developed that faculty). All I ask is that you leave the forum up, at least for now; I want to finish filling in theoretical details.