The High Priestess

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The High Priestess Tarot Card Meaning

Intuition • Unconscious • Mystery

The High Priestess sees that you have an idea filled with potential and takes you aside. Representing the subconscious, she asks you to meditate and reflect on all possible choices. This is the moment between the idea and action. Listen to your inner voice, and access the deep fountain of knowledge in the back of your mind, before you make a decision.

Unlike the Magician, The High Priestess represents not active energy but the pure potency of stable energy. Think of the influence, mastery, and weight behind being calm and still. Some things are not achieved solely by might.

Symbolized by the moon in a starry sky, The High Priestess is the the second teacher the Fool finds on their journey to spiritual completion. She teaches the Fool that some things take staying still and waiting for them to reveal themselves to you.

If you get the High Priestess card in a reading, it poses a challenge to go deeper. As always, the number 2 represents a duality. You are reaching the point where you have to make a choice. In work or career readings, the High Priestess may be saying you should trust that things will come to you naturally. If you have been drinking coffee and pulling all-nighters to get to your goal, this may be a sign that what would serve you better is crisp, quiet mornings and early dreams.

The High Priestess Reversed

Ignorance • Confusion • Doubt

If you received the High Priestess reversed in a reading, it’s a positive sign that your intuition is starting to make itself known. However, because of the reversed position, there’s an indicator of an imbalance. It could be a sign that you are not listening to your intuition or that you are letting yourself get carried away with ideas that have no basis in reality.

The High Priestess reversed asks that we care for ourselves and intuition. In contrast the Magician, card 2 is not an individualistic card but rather one of intimate relationships. Ask deeply, what do I need from my intuition? And what does it need from me?

In simpler or time-based spreads, the High Priestess reversed can indicate a past choice or choice in the near future of a negative fashion.