The High Priestess stands at the entrance to the realm of inner wisdom, the Otherworld and the unconscious. When the occultist P.D. Ouspensky tuned into this card, The High Priestess spoke to him of this realm: 'This is the Hall of Wisdom. No one can reveal it, no one can hide it... Look only on that which is invisible, and remember that in you yourself is the Temple and the gate to it, and the mystery, and the initiation.'
- From the DruidCraft Tarot companion book by Philip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm

ONE OF THE MOST ENIGMATIC CARDS of the Tarot, The High Priestess sits silent on her throne, often holding a scroll or book upon her lap.

Her secrets are not easily accessible to the masses, however, because her way is the narrow way. In fact, the High Priestess often sits between two pillars colored white and black, serving as a gatekeeper past duality and dualistic thinking. Her number is two, which in numerology indicates opposites and contrasts.

Although not pictured in the Baroque Bohemian Cats' Tarot version of this card, a crescent moon often lies at the feet of the High Priestess. The lunar crescent represents cycles, feminine wisdom, receptivity, intuition, psychic impressions and inner truth.

If the Magician is the one pointing at the moon, then perhaps the High Priestess is the moon itself - the internal container of wisdom that lies at the center of our very being. That is, while The Magician opens up the box of wisdom through changing perspectives, then maybe the High Priestess is the actual box. After all, the High Priestess is often associated with Sophia, a word that means "seat of wisdom."

The irony is, of course, that a treasure trove of wisdom has always sat within us! However, accessing this wisdom - or even realizing it is there in the first place - requires navigating through the terrain of duality, of opposites. Can we know joy without suffering? Can we know black without white? Can we know belonging without knowing exclusion? Would we want to go within, or abide within, unless something external - "outside" - made us want to dwell within safety, peace and comfort?

In the Age of Pisces, the era Christianity and duality, the answer might be "no" to those questions. However, as infinite beings dwelling in a holographic universe, it is possible to hold two (or more) seemingly contradictory ideas in our minds, realizing that we sometimes toggle between worlds in the process of ascension. In fact, the High Priestess is said to be the epitome of balance as she sits between the pillars of two extremes.

For example, we may know that we are all One, yet still find ourselves wrestling within relationships - between people, our body, and our mind - as we attempt to reconcile this Truth with our authentic, human "truth."

In the Bible, the word "know" has its roots in the word for intimacy - intercourse, to be exact. Thus, when Adam "knew" Eve, it went beyond a mere personal interview!

So, if the Magician is a form of "knowing" that is intellectual, mind based, and conveyed through communication or teaching, then it is the High Priestess that is the biblical "knowing." That is, the energy of the High Priestess symbolizes our direct link to the Divine, that storehouse of wisdom that speaks with a "still, small voice," in silence, and through personal experience with the God of our understanding.

The High Priestess guards the bottomless pool behind her (in many versions of this card, there is a body of water beyond the veil), the vast nothingness that might be termed by some as the unconscious. In her book Tarot Wisdom, Rachel Pollack delineates the unconscious from the subconscious, describing the unconscious symbolized in the High Priestess as "...the vast sea of life beyond our personal experience, needs, and desires." In fact, the High Priestess is often enrobed in blue, further connecting her to water.

The moon is often associated with dreams in the Tarot, further linking the High Priestess to realms that only make it to light through dreams, art or spiritual experiences - as well as a sense of wordless wonder.

Author Mark Patrick Hederman makes this eloquent observation about the High Priestess card in his book Tarot: Talisman or Taboo?:

At the level of the unconscious, this card portrays a link with that underworld that psychology tries to reach. This world is beyond the reach of our everyday consciousness and any attempt by the very masculine tools of reason to force a way in is inadequate. It contains both our hidden potentiality and our darkest, most primeval layers of personality. We glimpse it through dreams; we sense a possible weave in its texture from strange incidents that happen, unusual coincidences that impose themselves. It requires a great deal of patience and long-term vigilance at the various hidden exits from the underground network before we detect a possible pattern that can eventually become possible in the workaday world. This silent and still figure of the second card bears witness to a history being woven through the vicissitudes of life, which comes from an invisible source and which can only be sensed by us as the red thread of our destiny through intuition and meditation.

In the Rider-Waite version of this card, a pomegranate veil hangs between the pillars of the High Priestess, reminiscent of the curtain in Solomon's temple. In the New Testament, it is said that after the death of Jesus, the curtain was rent in two from top to bottom. This is significant, because although a human could tear the curtain from bottom to top, it would have been impossible for it to be torn from top to bottom - unless there was some type of Divine intervention, the descent of Christ consciousness, the parting of the veil between God and man, ignorance and knowing, darkened understanding to illumination.

The Goddess Sophia is often called the female aspect of God; in the same way, some view the High Priestess as guarding the deep waters of Shekinah, the indwelling presence of God that also resided in the Temple and was considered the female counterpart to the masculine "King."

If card five, The Hierophant, is exoteric, formal religion, then the High Priestess is hidden wisdom, spiritual secrets, and direct experience with the Divine. The Hierophant may instruct on knowing about God, pontificating religious truths and opinions about timeless wisdom. But to embody this wisdom, to know something beyond the earthly realm or to access secret teachings without the aid of a human teacher, is an altogether different mode of being and understanding.

Have a romp in the energy of The High Priestess. Ponder its implications not just in a Tarot reading, but also in your waking life - when it surfaces via conscious contemplation, meditation or symbol. Below are some questions to ponder for your edification... Consider journaling the answers to these questions for some surprising and illuminating wisdom direct from the open book on the lap of the High Priestess:

1. The High Priestess counsels to trust Self first, last and only. What might this mean? How might this apply to your own spiritual path, as well as day-to-day living?
    
2. The High Priestess offers you her open book. What will you do?
    
3. If you chose to read the book of secrets, center yourself, take several deep breaths, and look at the pages. What is on those pages? What imagery or counsel might you take back with you to your waking life?
    
4. Make a daily or weekly appointment with the High Priestess to obtain deeper truths, hidden mysteries and spiritual secrets. Record your sessions in the form of journaling, storytelling, painting, sculpting, music, collage art, drawing, singing, dancing - any physical expression that will aid you in embodying the wisdom of the High Priestess so it stays with you?
    
5. Some associate The High Priestess with the Virgin Mary, Isis or the Triple Goddess - feminine, receptive energy connected with the moon. How might these associations modify the delivery, content and impact of the wisdom offered by The High Priestess? How would her wisdom differ from that of Jehovah, Abraham, Allah or a masculine, active sun god?

Text © 2009 by Janet Boyer
Art © 2007 by Alex Ukolov and Karen Mahony. All images used with permission.

Join us as Janet takes us on a romp
through each of the Major Arcana, one-by-one!

Next Month: The Empress

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Janet Boyer is the author of The Back in Time Tarot Book (Hampton Roads) which features her innovative Back in Time (BIT) Method for experiencing the cards. Dubbed the Queen of Tarot, Janet has written over a thousand reviews, articles and interviews for both print and online publications, specializing in Tarot, New Age and Self Help topics. She is an Amazon.com Top 10 Reviewer, as well as an Editor at TheTarotChannel.com.

You can visit Janet on the web at JanetBoyer.com where she provides hundreds of pages of content, as well as eBooks, a monthly New Releases page, a Shop, intuitive counseling services and Tarot readings. Janet makes her home in the gorgeous state of Pennsylvania with her soulmate, Ron, their son (whom she homeschools), and two cats. In her free time (yes, she actually has some!), she enjoys her lush backyard, the laughter of her two guys, mystery novels, thriller movies, RUSH, bookstores, hidden object PC games, and gourmet eating.