Wheel of Fortune

the high Priestess

I belong to a yahoo group that is a discussion group based on the writings from Meditations on the Tarot--a journey into Christian Hermeticism. It is a dense, profound, often obscure (to me) text that links the 21 cards of the Major Arcana with Christian mysticism and development of the soul. One of the things that intrigues me about the book is that it has a preface written by Cardinal Hans Urs von Balthasar, a noted Catholic theologian. And I have come across a photo on the Internet of Pope John Paul II with this book in a stack on his desk.

Today's post is about the #2 card of the Tarot majors--the High Priestess.....and that she is associated with the quality of mercy.

One correspondent suggested that the traditional Jesus Prayer, "Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me a sinner"...might be better translated to read, "Jesus, have compassion on me"...that resonates better with me....

I like the image of the High Priestess relating as she does to the quality of Wisdom, Sophia, the feminine countenance of the Almighty.

My BFF (best friend forever) Jill has a friend from high school days that I've never met. Bonnie is Jewish, though just culturally and doesn't practice Judaism. She recently became romantically involved with a Lutheran minister and was thinking about converting to Christianity. Well, the romance hasn't gone in the direction she hoped, but Bonnie has started exploring what religion and spirituality mean to her. She suggested to Jill that she was going to start her own church...

I have suggested a new denomination called Church of the Post-Menopausal Broads for God....we will be an inclusive church...our creed is Jesus is the son of God, maybe.....Mohammad is a son of God, maybe....Buddha was right, perhaps....

but I think we will start with the precepts of mercy and compassion
and go forward from there...



Heavenly Mother,

make us a soft religion
a respite for a weary traveler
like a bench
set by the side of the road
along a path
at the end
a house
made of mercy
and wisdom.

Amen.