The High Priestess Keywords
UPRIGHT: intuition | mystery | sacred knowledge | unconscious awareness
REVERSED: secrets | disconnected from intuition | deceit
The High Priestess Description
The High Priestess in the Tarot is depicted sitting before a veil adorned with pomegranates, symbolizing the division between the conscious and subconscious realms and the boundary to the uninitiated. The pomegranates represent abundance, fertility, and the divine feminine, linked to the myth of Persephone and the underworld. Flanked by two pillars, black (Boaz) and white (Jachin), they signify the entrance to a sacred space and embody duality, including masculine and feminine, darkness and light, indicating that understanding this duality is essential for accessing this sacred knowledge.
The High Priestess's attire, a blue robe with a cross and a horned diadem, underscores her divine wisdom and authority. She holds a partially obscured scroll labeled TORA, hinting at hidden spiritual truths that are revealed only to those prepared to transcend the material world. At her feet, a crescent moon reflects her deep connection with the divine feminine, intuition, and the cyclical nature of the moon, further emphasizing her role as a guardian of mystical secrets.
NOTE: The Tarot card meaning description is based on the Rider-Waite deck and Decoding The Cards