The Meaning of the High Priestess Tarot Card
The High Priestess Upright Tarot Card Key Meanings
Mysterious, clairvoyance, femininity, creativity, clarity, stillness and deeper understandings.
The High Priestess Reversed Tarot Card Key Meanings
Lesser psychic powers, reduced clarity, reduced self belief, fertility problems, clouds and tensions in the atmosphere.
The High Priestess Tarot Card is the second trump card of the Major Arcana of the Tarot world. To competently comprehend the High Priestess Tarot Card meaning, you can join me here.
We would discuss The High Priestess Tarot Card in detail to ensure your draw leads you to the rightmost conclusions when this card appears. It is one of the most mystical cards of the pack. Driven by the celestial vision of the Moon, the High Priestess Tarot card’s ruling element is Water.
The High Priestess is a symbol of femininity and the influences of feminine energy rules her. The High Priestess when appears in your draw symbolises insight, mystery, stillness, deeper understandings beyond the obvious with wisdom.
The High Priestess is unlike the other cards in one very unique way. In this pack of cards, she is not an active card, but rather a passive observer. Nothing goes unnoticed when she sits at the entry of King Solomon’s temple. The High Priestess dresses up in a blue robe with a red cape symbolising fertility and freshness similar to the Papal dress code (blue robe with red cape).
She sits at the gate of the temple of Isis as per some deck descriptions, Isis, the Goddess of fertility, wisdom and mystery in the Egyptian world. As per many other decks, the High Priestess sits at the gate of Solomon.
The High Priestess sits between the letters B and J symbolising the two pillars of King Solomon’s temple, the pillars of Boaz and Joachim. The pillar of Joachim in a way would mean “to establish.” The pillar of Boaz has a vague meaning and could mean anything from strength, boldness, striker, fleetness to destruction.
This could be symbolic that The High Priestess watches the demolition as well as the constructions equally and silently. B and J could be the definition of polarity, feminine and masculine, left and right, positive and negative.
The hands of the High Priestess are folded inwards, and she is holding scriptures in her hand, with the word “TORA” visible. TORA could mean the Hebrew word, Torah or holy scriptures/divine law. It could also be an anagram with the last letters hidden beneath her mantle.
The High Priestess was initially known as “La Papesse.” It was mainly a Christian symbol with a woman in the Papal costume. The High Priestess represents the possible legend of Pope Joan. She was a lady in disguise of a man and ruled the papacy for some years. She was identified to be a female only when she gave birth to a child.
Interestingly, the High Priestess has a lunar crescent Moon at her feet. The lunar crescent Moon at her feet is a symbolic representation that she is not doubtful about anything. She is crystal clear about what she is envisioning. Hence, the Moon is at the feet of the High Priestess chained to an invisible pole. The Moon in chains symbolises her clarity of vision. The High Priestess is the Goddess of clarity, sublime energy, truth and wisdom.
The High Priestess wears a horned diadem on her head like a crown with the Earth in between the horns. The Horned diadem symbolises a crown of protection and immortality on her head.
This is similar to the horns on Hathor’s crown, but the shape is more like the half-crescent Moon. The High Priestess has a large Cross hanging on the chest.
It is, however, interesting to note that the High Priestess has a horned crown, representing Hathor, the sky deity and one of the highly acclaimed Egyptian Goddess- consorts, wife of Ra and Horus, majorly a clan of Kingships. Horus was the mother of the representatives of Earthly Gods on Earth in the Egyptian kingdom- the pharaohs.
However, with the incoming of the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, the “La Papesse” card was found to be confusing for the non-Catholics so much that they transformed the figurine of the High Priestess to incorporate this modern version.
In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, the card is representing “Shekhinah” the English transliteration of the Hebrew word for “indwelling” or “settlement in the divine presence of God.”
The gown of the High Priestess is free-flowing and represents the two sisters, one bringing life into the Earth and one moving the mass to esotericism. The pall of the temple sits behind her; the palm leaves and the pomegranates adorn it. The High Priestess sits on her throne that veils the motif hanging behind her throne, guarding the ever-mysterious secrets of the world hidden in the temple.
Let us now see, entwined with this wisdom, what it could mean if you have a draw with an upright High Priestess or a reverse High Priestess.
The depth from which you need to see life when the High Priestess appears in your life is vital for your existence. It is a brutally honest way to convey that you need to look through the most apparent odds and ends of survival into more deeper parts of living and understanding.
The High Priestess Upright Tarot Meaning Guide
General Meaning and Interpretations (Upright)
If you obtain a draw with the upright position of the High Priestess Tarot, it would mean that you require to listen to your subtle consciousness or intuition or what we term as our “Sixth Sense,” rather than looking to our intellectual mind.
Wisdom, learning, knowledge, purity, are some of the virtues you may need at this moment. You may also need a teacher if your path is not clear. You need to learn a lot of things to come out of your current circumstances when the High Priestess upright arises in your draw.
Your inner eyes are open and you need to look around through them, not with your external eyes. Only then, can you find the real truth over the apparent truth; the truth that is evident over the truth that lies at the bottom of the ocean.
Love & Relationships (Upright)
The High Priestess Tarot Card for love shows, if you are a man, you would be attracted to a very attractive woman. She would be the most mysterious person in your life and you would never be able to attain her. She is wise, she is containing the knowledge of life within her, she knows that your infatuation would one day wane off.
If you are a woman, more than one man is eyeing you, but then you know that all this attention is not true.
Money & Career (Upright)
In the High Priestess Tarot for career and money tells you about your creativity, it provokes you to follow the heart. It tells you about most benefiting opportunities of your life. For a student, a good teacher is about to appear in your life who would pull you out of your struggles.
Health (Upright)
This upright posture of High Priestess Tarot Card for health is telling you that you need to obey your body’s demands. You are right now ignoring it and it would be wise to listen to your body before it is too late. For menstruation troubles you can charge a bead of carnelian with moonlight and keep it with you for relief.
Spirituality (Upright)
When the High Priestess Tarot Card appears you can connect with your inner intuition and know more about your soul, your deep down self that mostly sleeps in our lives.
The High Priestess Reversed Tarot Meaning Guide
General Meaning and Interpretation (Reversed)
The High Priestess reversed means you are facing difficulty in tapping your intuition, you are not capable of going into your unconscious /subconscious realms. It is then time to find out an alternative way in which you can connect back to your subconscious self. It is essential to find out if you can meditate upon it.
The High Priestess reversed means there is no way to find a solution at this point with the use of your logical or intellectual mind; you have to knock into your innermost self.
The High Priestess reversed card in its extremes signify shallow understanding, selfish desires, understanding deficiency and an ignorant self.
There could be a storm of chaos and confusion around you. You are unable to find a clear path out of your life’s chaotic build. The High Priestess reversed appears to tell you to listen to your intuition, however you might be ignoring it.
The High Priestess Tarot Card is a card of wisdom and ‘the subconscious.’
Whenever the High Priestess appears in your draw, it is time to wield your inner eyes, focussing them right through the dark hurricane. The High Priestess upright and High Priestess reversed are two very different scenarios, in the upright position, you need to look through your self to find a solution engraved within your soul.
If the High Priestess is reversed you need to understand that you are not paying heed to your subconscious warnings. Silently wait aside, calmly observe every tide that flows in and out of your life. Along with these waves runs to you your wisdom, your energy and your subconscious mild rays of hope to show you the way through the whirlpool.
Thus The High Priestess Tarot Card is a beautiful reflection of the feminine being within each individual. When the High Priestess Tarot Card Upright appears in your draw, you must be ascertained that your deep understandings need to rise more. When the High Priestess reversed takes over, you are not in tune with your inner self. You need to make sure that life moves more deeper into your subconscious self, your inner energies need to work well with your outer energies with the appearance of this High Priestess reverse position card.
Love & Relationships (Reversed)
In the High Priestess Tarot Card for love and relationship, you could be the centre of attraction but rather than pleasing you, it causes uncomfortability within you. You do not like it. You can sense the lie in all this attention being given to you. If you are in a relationship, you might be getting into frequent arguments with your partner. Take time out for yourself.
Money & Career (Reversed)
In the High Priestess Tarot Card for career and money, there could be someone around especially a woman in higher ranks who is not well disposed towards you. Make sure you take care of all the conditions before jumping into any kind of financial risk. Avoid taking loans at this point of time or consider all your conditions before taking one.
Health (Reversed)
When the High Priestess Tarot for health is upright, this High Priestess reverse card also suggests that you are not taking proper care of yourself. You need to listen more to your body.
Spirituality (Reversed)
When you have the High Priestess Tarot Card reversed card, you are feeling like your strong connection with your inner self is lost completely. You need to find that point within yourself where you can connect back to the self.
