Discussion: The High Priestess Tarot Card
Let’s discuss the meaning of the High Priestess tarot card
As an archetypal constellation, the High Priestess tarot card explores themes such as initiation into mystery, inner knowing, and insight through communion with sources beyond the ego’s understanding. She stands at the veil between consciousness and the unconscious and is thus a psychopomp, mediating seemingly opposing forces and acting as a psychological bridge to foster integration, understanding, and discovery of meaning.
In a reading, she activates our ability to be in direct communion with the wellspring of wisdom that comes from the unconscious. She quiets the mind and has us search for the subtle symbols that are leading the way in life. She teaches us the language of the depths, the primacy of image, the sacred rites of descent and return.
Share your thoughts, questions and ideas around the High Priestess. How do you work with this card in a tarot reading? Have you struggled to interpret its meaning, if so, how? Are there any mythic figures1 or stories that the High Priestess reminds you of?
This is an open forum and communal exchange. Feel free to comment on other posts if you’re inspired or have an insight to share.
An example of this is the class I taught on the High Priestess and the myth of the descent of Inanna.
I have always loved the Wildwood Tarot and have a deep relationship with that deck. What a pleasure to see it in my Substack feed! Thank you!
There is so much watery symbolism is the first thing I notice in this card with her robes, it’s as if the secret she holds closest to her, is the watery robes against her skin, the consciousness of water without which we would not have life on this planet. Then the pomegranates (apples with hundreds of seeds) and the date tree all motifs for parthenogenesis- this card reminds me so much of the artistic depiction of the Virgin Mary as the woman described in Revelations with the moon at her feet, crowned by 12 stars and the sun behind her which was an astrological alignment in 2017 most recently. But the moon at her feet is an interesting one, cause whenever we see in art, something depicted under one’s feet it usually signifies defeat, dominance, like the archangels depicted with the devil under their foot. Curious if the moon is not our friend in this depiction