The High Priestess

The High Priestess is regarded as the second card in the Major Arcana of Tarot Cards, which comprises of twenty-two cards in total.

The Story behind The High Priestess

After meeting The Magician, the fool comes across someone else who is mysterious and alluring – this time a lady wearing a veil. She is sat between two pillars and appears to be very powerful. The High Priestess remains silent and relaxed. When The Fool asks her for advice, she hands him scrolls instead of talking. What is written in the scrolls help him to decide how he should use his existing tools. She communicates with him by making his inner voice speak rather than directly speaking to him. As The Fool expected, she holds many secrets.

Meaning of The High Priestess Card

The most ironic thing about the High Priestess is that she is so mysterious and hence it is hard to explain what she can offer. As where she meets The Fool in the story above, she helps to bring out his inner voice without saying a word. The High Priestess is probably the hardest Tarot Card to define because her voice comes from within and she embodies mystery and the unconscious. Therefore, this card is much more open to interpretation that any of the others. The High Priestess shows how much (untapped) potential is inside all of us. Most of the time we choose not to use this, but her job is to show it to us without explicitly saying it. She also has this tremendous ability to show us the importance of balance but without thinking about it too much. In short, she’s all about the journey within rather than the journey without. Journeys should involve patience and calm; it’s not always about being loud, vivacious and outspoken like the magician.