The High Priestess Tarot Card Meanings

The High Priestess Upright Meaning

The High Priestess is a Major Arcana, or "trump" card, that represents human wisdom. The High Priestess can be viewed as a kind of female Pope (a Papess), or the ancient Egyptian Priestess of Isis, the even more ancient snake and bird goddesses, the Greek goddess Persephone, or Eve, before the fall.

For the accused heretics who were burnt at the stake for revering her in the 14th and 15th century, the Priestess symbolized the prophecy of the return of the Holy Spirit, which was perceived as the female aspect of the Holy Trinity.

In terms of the Major Arcana ordering of cards, The High Priestess appears in the sequence as soon as the Fool decides he wants to develop his innate powers, making a move toward becoming a Magician. The High Priestess is his first teacher, representing the inner life and the method for contacting it, as well as the contemplative study of nature and spiritual mystery.

The High Priestess Reversed Meaning

The High Priestess card reversed suggests that when you have problems, it's usually because you are so attracted to your inner life that it has become an addiction in itself. It blots out your interest in ordinary reality, friends, and family -- the connections that hold us fast to our worldly identities.

Don't take this card as permission to abandon the world. This is a reminder to balance your outer identifications with internal cultivation, so you can more effectively bring the spiritual world to the material world.

The High Priestess Advice Position

The High Priestess advises you to adhere to your chosen spiritual practice on a more regular basis. If you want the benefits of evolution, you'll have to cooperate with spirit. We all have distractions, demands -- a whole life full of reasons why we cannot find the time to retreat into our inner sanctum.

Until you consider this as vital to your well-being as the need to eat and sleep, you are likely to be eternally restless and deeply dissatisfied. A spiritual routine that suits your temperament, practiced every day, is the most trustworthy path to freedom.

The High Priestess Love Position

The High Priestess craves deep communion with Nature and attunement with cosmic law. She wants to be far from the hustle and bustle, the daily traffic of life, so she can meditate.

Get your ego out of the way and let your mind become attuned to a more subtle, spiritual view. Seek to divine the principles behind seemingly chaotic events, daily life or society in general. Take some time out. Write in your journal. Sit on a mountaintop. Work with your feelings until you become reflective like the smooth calm of still waters at dawn.

The High Priestess Career Position

There is no need to take the actions and reactions going on at your workplace personally. Be grateful that you still possess a strong sense of objectivity. It takes willpower to resist the urge to form opinions, take sides or sit in judgment. Watch closely but hold your emotions in check.

Soon enough you will discover what is really going on. You may be the only person in this situation capable of taking an objective view, so hold your center in service to the greater good.

The High Priestess in a Yes or No Card Reading

The High Priestess is a card of introspection. If you're looking for simple Yes or No guidance and receive The High Priestess, the answer is NO. Pause and wait for your intuition to make itself known.