The High Priestess Tarot Card: Complete Guide to Meaning & Symbolism
BY NICOLE LAU
The High Priestess sits between two pillars, one black and one white, guarding the threshold between the conscious and unconscious realms. Behind her hangs a veil decorated with pomegranates, concealing mysteries that can only be accessed through intuition. In her lap rests the Torah, the book of divine law and hidden wisdom. At her feet, a crescent moon glows—symbol of the feminine, the subconscious, and the ever-changing tides of intuition. This is The High Priestess: keeper of secrets, guardian of the inner temple, the voice of your deepest knowing.
Core Symbolism of The High Priestess
Every element in The High Priestess card carries profound meaning. She is numbered 2—the number of duality, balance, and the receptive feminine principle. Where The Magician (1) acts, The High Priestess (2) receives. Where he manifests outwardly, she knows inwardly.
The Pillars: Boaz and Jachin
The High Priestess sits between two pillars—one black (Boaz, representing severity and the feminine), one white (Jachin, representing mercy and the masculine). These are the pillars of Solomon's Temple, symbolizing the duality of existence: light and dark, conscious and unconscious, known and unknown.
She sits at the threshold, the liminal space between opposites. She doesn't choose one over the other—she holds the tension between them. This is her power: the ability to exist in paradox, to know that truth contains both light and shadow.
The Veil: The Threshold of Mystery
Behind The High Priestess hangs a veil decorated with pomegranates (symbols of Persephone, the underworld, and hidden knowledge). This veil separates the seen from the unseen, the conscious from the subconscious, the known from the mystery.
The High Priestess guards this threshold. She knows what lies beyond the veil, but she won't tell you—you must discover it yourself through intuition, meditation, and inner work. The mysteries cannot be spoken; they can only be experienced.
The Torah: Sacred Knowledge
In her lap, The High Priestess holds the Torah (or sometimes a scroll labeled "TORA"), representing divine law, sacred wisdom, and esoteric knowledge. Part of the scroll is visible, part is hidden beneath her robes—suggesting that some knowledge is accessible, while deeper mysteries remain concealed.
This isn't intellectual knowledge—it's gnosis, direct spiritual knowing. The High Priestess doesn't learn from books alone; she knows from within.
The Crescent Moon
At her feet rests a crescent moon, symbol of the feminine, the subconscious, cycles, and intuition. The moon doesn't generate its own light—it reflects the sun's light, just as The High Priestess reflects divine wisdom. She is receptive, reflective, cyclical.
The moon also represents the ever-changing nature of intuition and emotion. The High Priestess teaches us to trust these fluctuations rather than seeking constant rational certainty.
The Blue Robe and Cross
The High Priestess wears flowing blue robes (representing water, emotion, and the subconscious) and a solar cross on her chest (representing the union of the four elements and the integration of opposites). She is both spiritual and embodied, both transcendent and grounded.
Numerology: The Power of Two
The High Priestess is numbered 2—the number of duality, partnership, balance, and receptivity. Two is the first division from unity (1), creating the possibility of relationship, reflection, and dialogue.
In numerology, 2 represents:
- Receptivity and intuition
- Balance and harmony
- Partnership and relationship
- The feminine principle
- Patience and waiting
- The subconscious and hidden realms
Where The Magician (1) is active yang energy, The High Priestess (2) is receptive yin energy. Where he speaks, she listens. Where he acts, she waits. Where he manifests, she incubates.
Lunar Association: The Moon
The High Priestess is associated with the Moon—not the sun's active, masculine energy, but the moon's receptive, feminine wisdom. The moon governs intuition, dreams, the subconscious, and the hidden tides of emotion.
Lunar qualities in The High Priestess:
- Cyclical wisdom (waxing, full, waning, dark)
- Reflection rather than generation
- Influence over tides (emotional and literal)
- Connection to the feminine and the night
- Mystery and the unseen
Upright Meaning: Intuition & Inner Knowing
When The High Priestess appears upright in a reading, she announces: "The answer is within. Listen."
Key upright meanings:
- Intuition: Trust your inner knowing over external advice
- Hidden knowledge: Secrets, mysteries, or information not yet revealed
- The subconscious: Pay attention to dreams, symbols, and subtle messages
- Patience: This is not the time for action—wait and listen
- Sacred feminine: Honor the receptive, intuitive, cyclical aspects of yourself
- Study and research: Deeper knowledge is available through dedicated inquiry
- Silence: Sometimes the most powerful response is to say nothing
The High Priestess doesn't give you answers—she reminds you that you already know. The wisdom you seek isn't in books, experts, or external authorities. It's in the quiet voice within, the gut feeling you've been ignoring, the dream that keeps recurring.
This card is a call to stillness. Stop seeking outside yourself. Sit in silence. Listen to what emerges from the depths. Trust what you know without knowing how you know it.
Reversed Meaning: Blocked Intuition & Secrets
Reversed, The High Priestess's wisdom becomes inaccessible. The inner voice is drowned out by noise, the intuition is blocked, or secrets are being kept (by you or from you).
Key reversed meanings:
- Blocked intuition: Unable to hear or trust your inner voice
- Secrets and deception: Hidden information, lies, or things being concealed
- Disconnection from the feminine: Rejecting receptivity, intuition, or cyclical wisdom
- Information overload: Too much external input drowning out inner knowing
- Repressed subconscious: Ignoring dreams, symbols, or emotional messages
- Impatience: Forcing action when you should be waiting
- Surface-level understanding: Skimming the surface instead of going deep
The reversed High Priestess can indicate that you've lost connection to your intuition—perhaps through trauma, conditioning, or simply the noise of modern life. Or it might suggest that someone is keeping secrets from you, or that you're keeping secrets from yourself.
The invitation: Reconnect with your inner knowing. Create space for silence. Honor what you feel even if you can't explain it. Trust the wisdom of your body, your dreams, your gut.
The High Priestess's Journey: From Action to Receptivity
In the Fool's Journey through the Major Arcana, The High Priestess is the second teacher The Fool encounters. Where The Magician taught conscious manifestation and outward action, The High Priestess teaches receptivity and inward knowing.
The High Priestess teaches The Fool:
- Not all wisdom comes from doing—some comes from being
- The answers you seek are already within you
- Silence is as powerful as speech
- Waiting is as important as acting
- The subconscious holds truths the conscious mind cannot access
- Mystery is sacred—not everything needs to be explained
This is the transition from yang to yin, from external to internal, from speaking to listening. The Fool learns that power isn't only in manifestation—it's also in receptivity.
The High Priestess in Your Reading
When The High Priestess appears in your reading, pay attention to her position:
In the past: You've recently accessed deep intuitive wisdom or encountered hidden knowledge
In the present: Trust your intuition right now; the answer is within, not without
In the future: Secrets will be revealed, or you'll develop stronger intuitive abilities
As advice: Be still, listen within, wait for clarity before acting
As an obstacle: Secrets, hidden information, or blocked intuition is creating difficulty
The High Priestess asks you to examine your relationship with intuition, the feminine, and the unknown. Are you listening to your inner voice? Are you honoring the mystery? Are you patient enough to wait for wisdom to emerge?
Working with The High Priestess's Energy
To invoke The High Priestess's energy in your life:
- Create silence: Turn off devices, sit in quiet, let your inner voice emerge
- Trust your gut: When you "just know" something, honor that knowing
- Work with the moon: Track lunar cycles and notice how your intuition shifts
- Keep a dream journal: Your subconscious speaks through dreams
- Study sacred texts: Engage with wisdom traditions that resonate
- Practice receptivity: Listen more than you speak; receive more than you give
- Honor mystery: Not everything needs to be understood or explained
The High Priestess's Shadow
Every archetype has a shadow, and The High Priestess's is particularly subtle:
The Keeper of Secrets: Withholding information as a form of power or control.
The Passive Observer: Using "waiting for clarity" as an excuse to avoid necessary action.
The Spiritual Bypasser: Using intuition or spirituality to avoid dealing with practical reality.
The Gatekeeper: Deciding who is "worthy" of knowledge or access to mystery.
Working with The High Priestess means confronting these shadows. Are you using intuition as wisdom or as avoidance? Are you honoring mystery or hiding behind it? Are you receptive or passive?
The High Priestess's Message
The High Priestess's core message is this: You already know. You've always known.
The wisdom you seek isn't in another book, another teacher, another course. It's in the quiet voice that whispers when you're still enough to hear it. It's in the gut feeling you rationalize away. It's in the dream you dismiss as "just a dream."
The High Priestess sits at the threshold between worlds, guarding the mysteries. But she's not keeping you out—she's waiting for you to remember that you have access. The veil is thin. The knowledge is available. The intuition is active.
You just have to be still enough to listen.
The question isn't whether you have intuition. The question is: are you listening to it?
