The Priestess

When we hear the word "automaton" we think foremost of mindlessness, a creation with no will of its own, so not many beautiful images spring to mind. Some objects, however, brim with delectable mystery and secret wisdom that is far greater than the sum of their gears. The Silver Swan, for example, was built in 1773 by mechanical prodigy John Joseph Merlin. To this day, rapt audiences gather at the Bowes Museum in England to watch it spring to life, preening and dipping its beak to catch fish. An equally enchanting automaton plays the harp while surveying her audience with eyes that are unnervingly wide and arrestingly gentle.

These clockworks exert a strange power over us. They grasp at our imaginations and communicate with us on a level we barely understand. It's this secret source of wisdom that we can rely on the Priestess to provide, as this card represents powerful revelations that come to us naturally on their own, information that can't be sought or taught. It's something you can merely acknowledge, after it has already become clear.

The best you can do to actively cultivate this sort of knowledge is remain open and observant. Pay keen attention to your dreams, or to any unexplained emotional reactions that crop up. Explore your connections to certain works of art. Look for the places in your life where worlds overlap, and explore that twilit space. And keep your eyes peeled for signs of secrets and conspiracies around you, whose walls may finally tumble on their own and reveal what has been going on right under your nose. Parts of your life that you thought mindless and meaningless may take on fascinating secret properties, all you have to do is dust them off and wind them up.