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A calm woman in blue robes sits between a black pillar marked B and a white pillar marked J. She wears a crown shaped like the moon's phases, holds a partly hidden scroll marked TORA, and a crescent moon rests at her feet. A veil patterned with pomegranates hangs behind her, hinting at water beyond. The High Priestess
Major Arcana · II

The High Priestess

intuitionstillnessmystery

The High Priestess asks you to listen inward. Some answers cannot be forced or reasoned out quickly, and they reveal themselves when you are quiet enough to hear them. Trust the knowing that arrives as a feeling, a dream or a hunch.

Love There may be more beneath the surface than has been said. Give your feelings, and the other person, time and space to unfold.

Water lily · Purity of heart (Greenaway, 1884)
Symbols in the glass
  • black and white pillars the balance of opposites, with wisdom found in the space between
  • half-hidden scroll knowledge that is only partly revealed and must be approached patiently
  • crescent moon intuition, cycles and the reflective mind
  • pomegranate veil the fertile mysteries that lie just beyond ordinary sight
  • lunar crown mastery of changing inner tides
  • blue robes calm depth and flowing feeling

A calm woman in blue robes sits between a black pillar marked B and a white pillar marked J. She wears a crown shaped like the moon's phases, holds a partly hidden scroll marked TORA, and a crescent moon rests at her feet. A veil patterned with pomegranates hangs behind her, hinting at water beyond.

Deeper lore
Astrology
Moon
Hebrew letter
Gimel (ג)
Tree of Life path
13: Kether to Tiphareth
Golden Dawn title
The Priestess of the Silver Star
Number
Two is duality and receptivity: the pause between opposites where reflection becomes possible.
Names
The High Priestess · La Papesse · 女祭司
Waite, 1911

Waite (1911) lists: secrets, mystery, the future as yet unrevealed, silence, tenacity, wisdom, science. Reversed: passion, moral or physical ardour, conceit, surface knowledge.

What do I already know, deep down, that I have not yet admitted?

Ask Iris about this card

For reflection and entertainment. Meanings follow the Smith-Waite tradition.