Known also as Priestess of the Silver Star and Unity Directing Consciousness, The High Priestess is ruled by The Moon, and representing intuition, healing, walking the inner path and independence. It is significant to me that this card has turned up today, since the High Priestess is ruled by The Moon, and the Moon is at its closest orbit to the Earth, and being a Full Moon, is known as a perigree-syzygy. It should be especially significant to those Cancerians who are reading this, since this is your ruling planet. This card brings inner confidence in ones intuition, the ability to focus on one's own truth and follow the line of that truth to its natural outcome, without being sidetracked and distracted by mundane concerns. Of course, life goes on and the rent has to be paid and the dinner cooked, but these things are incidental to your true focus and purpose. When you are able to channel The High Priestess, you are following the path of your life's meaning and have access to altered states of consciousness - extra-sensory perception, intuition, shamanistic journeys, empathy and healing. The High Priestess turns up now to tell you that it is time to trust your intuition, start to practice listening to your own inner intelligence which will never lead you astray - it may be lonely, in fact it is not something you would discuss around the water cooler at the office, but it is a secret knowledge and source of life that you can tap into, know and become nourished by. She is often depicted with the Book of Knowledge or The Torah in her lap, and this indicates that she has access to the deepest knowledge traditions available to humankind. She has the key to the Akashic Records, which are said to contain all the knowledge of all of space and all of time, and can be accessed with the right mind, intention and attitude. When She turns up in a reading, it is time to begin or deepen your study of accessing your intuitive powers, discovering, perhaps for the first time, what your purpose in this life is, and finally gain an understanding of the power that is available to us all, when we approach the task with intention and feeling. Image "The High Priestess" © Cathy McClelland