One of the strangest readings I ever had was by a woman who
REFUSED to interpret the High Priestess or Magician card; this was rather frustrating since those came up in my reading, as they do quite a bit. When I asked why she simply said she could not, they were magic cards in the
tarot. I got the feeling they scared her. I've still no idea why. Or maybe she just didn't want to study too hard?
The High Priestess in many ways is reminiscent of early goddess figures, which eventually became for catholicism the Virgin Mary. Yet this figure, as seen in the Rider Waite deck does not seem to play any second fiddles to
corresponding cards. She sits as regal as can be on her thrown, the Crescent Moon at her feet, her crown holding two halves of the crescent moon with perhaps the sun inbetween, or is it the full moon (somewhat giving the three phases of the goddess, Maiden, Mother, Crone). The colors of this card are serene and contemplative, calming. We see her between two columns or pillars, one dark, one light, holding the book of Tora with a veil between them. Water flows behind her.
The high priestess heightens our awareness of the intuitive side, the inner knowledge and wisdom which sometimes we have, or perhaps we must gain. She brings to us the knowledge that we must at this time turn inwards, looking
not to others for guidance, but to that which is buried within our souls. It is a time of meditation, outer silence necessary so that we can hear the whispers of what our heart knows.
Recall the Magician who uses the outer tools available to him- here, with the High Priestess, the tools are within. The subconscious mind, that energy which moves of its own accord and is made up of our memories, as well as the
memories of all mankind that we inherit as humans. This card reminds us that the energy inside is the core source of what can help us progress.
If you recall one of the versions of the myth of Demeter and the Descent of the Goddess into the underworld, you might recall that She at one point suffers a scourging by the god of the Underworld, and in doing so 'dies' enough, goes within enough to understand the mysteries of life.
In doing so she turns in love to Dis, whom she had heretofor scorned. Perhaps the High Priestess is telling one that it is time to let go of the outer world and delve into the darkness, for only then will you find light.
Duality comes into play here and we have the two pillars, various meanings might bee the light and dark, the male and female, the two pillars of the Kabalah. The High Priestess sits balanced, comfortably, between them. Perhaps we have spent too much energy in one area, and become off
balanced. Time spent looking for a middle ground might be well spent. They could also represent the conscious and subconscious mind. The white pillar has the letter "J" on it, which meant Jachin ('established') in
the Temple of SOlomon, while the "B" on the black pillar stands for Boaz ("strength").
The veil, or tapestry in the background has the designs of
pomegranates (fertility) in the yellow skin (masculine) again connoting balance of the two. The palms are representative of both protection and spiritual praise.
We see yellow (male) and blue (female) in this card, with a grey stone for the HP to sit, grey symbolizing the balance of white and black, wisdom found from the balance of those two extremes.
The scroll is the book of knowledge, TORA meaning "law" in Hebrew. It has also been associated with ROTA which is latin for wheel, involution, physical path. Some writers associate the word tarot with this, but the word tarot most likely is a derivation of tarocchi and its french derivation.
This card evokes thoughts of mystery. What do you think of when you think of a mystery, something unknown or something unknowable? Is it a puzzle to be solve, or even more complex. While modern science has dissolved much of what
was once mysterious, it is important to remember that for quite some time the way a woman's body functioned, with its menstrual cycles and birth giving capabilities, was a mystery to mankind. It put women on a pedestal, or in a place to be feared. This card is reminiscent of the mysteries of a woman. We will see that the tarot emphasizes over and over the male and female roles- perhaps all inside of oneself, or in various roles with the world itself. It is important when this card is drawn to look carefully
at the situations, see where these duality meanings come into play.
Some older cards refer to the HP as the "Papess" and this goes back to a bit of lore about a female Pope who was discovered only when she gave birth. There is some history that suggests that a female relative of the
Visconti family was a nun, and in time was nominated to be Pope. Hence the reference to the Papess. Maybe it happened, or maybe someone thought surely a better job could be done by a woman!
When you pull this card you are drawn into thinking about perhaps intuition, contemplation, mystery, advice, seeking inner illumination. In a way she reminds us that to become whole we must indeed seek the dark side of ourselves, of our egos. Without doing so, we remain unbalanced, unknowing.
If this card is reversed you might see it as spending too much energy on oneself, out of balance in that area. Perhaps even reveling in deceit by not acknowledge one's dark side, ones intuition thus staying in the farce.
The theme of the veil appears also, in the tarot but also in the kaballah and occult studies. When you look at the High Preistess card you see this veil, with its male and female symbolism, lying behind the High Priestess, but
allowing us glimpses of the water of knoledge that exists behind the temple. Do you pull the veil aside, work to have it disappear, or tear it down? One thing that the veil reminds one of is dreaming. Dreams are often like veils,
we see bits and pieces of a picture. Sometimes this card
indicates that we should pay attention to our dreams, those moments when we lie between the sun and moon.
With the High Priestess you see indication of hope for solutions to problems, and a path to take to find some of those answers. A time to be still, to listen to the soul, the dreams, the night and possibly to start recognizing
your shadow, first recognizing, and soon accepting. But remember, balance is the key here, and too much time internalizing may get you stuck in the path of enlightenment.
