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The High Priestess denotes unconscious power, tenderness, sensitivity, and often inexplicable but deeply rooted certainty. She is the key to the mysterious truth that cannot be approached with a logically thinking mind. She knows that the truth that can be spoken is never the eternal truth. Her clear side is the expression of patience, understanding, apology, goodness and forgiveness, as a helper, a healer, or a visionary for the power of the unconscious. But her shady side is the "dark nurse", the embodiment of the witch who uses the power of her spiritual power to seduce, paralyze or harm others. However, Tarot's interpretations emphasize only a friendly, helpful side.

I. THE HIGH PRIESTESS

This card is referred to the letter Gimel ג, which means a Camel. (The symbolism of the Camel is explained later.)

The card refers to the Moon. The Moon (being the general feminine symbol, the symbol of the second order corresponding to the Sun as the Yoni does to the Lingam) is universal, and goes from the highest to the lowest. It is a symbol which will recur frequently in these hieroglyphs. But in the earlier Trumps the concern is with Nature above the Abyss; the High Priestess is the first card which connects the Supernal Triad with the Hexad; and her path, as shown in the diagram, makes a direct connection between the Father in his highest aspect, and the Son in his most perfect manifestation. This path is in exact balance in the middle pillar. There is here, therefore, the purest and most exalted conception of the Moon. (At the other end of the scale is Atu XVIII, q.v.)

The card represents the most spiritual form of Isis the Eternal Virgin; the Artemis of the Greeks. She is clothed only in the luminous veil of light. It is important for high initiation to regard Light not as the perfect manifestation of the Eternal Spirit, but rather as the veil which hides that Spirit It does so all the more effectively because of its incomparably dazzling brilliance.

[The tradition of the best schools of Hindu mysticism has a precise parallelism. The final obstacle to full Enlightenment is exactly this Vision of Formless Effulgence].

Thus she is light and the body of light. She is the truth behind the veil of light. She is the soul of light. Upon her knees is the bow of Artemis, which is also a musical instrument, for she is huntress, and hunts by enchantment.

Now, regard this idea as from behind the Veil of Light, the third Veil of the original Nothing. This light is the menstruum of manifestation, the goddess Nuith, the possibility of Form. This first and most spiritual manifestation of the feminine takes to itself a masculine correlative, by formulating in itself any geometrical point from which to contemplate possibility. This virginal goddess is then potentially the goddess of fertility. She is the idea behind all form; as soon as the influence of the triad descends below the Abyss, there is the completion of concrete idea.

The following chapter of the Book of Lies (falsely so-called), may assist the student to understand this doctrine by dint of meditation:

DUST DEVILS 

In the Wind of the mind arises the turbulence called I. 
It breaks; down shower the barren thoughts. 
All life is choked. 
This desert is the Abyss wherein is the Universe. 
The Stars are but thistles in that waste. 
Yet this desert is but one spot accurséd in a world of bliss. Now and again Travellers cross the desert; they come from the Great Sea, and to the Great Sea they go. 
And as they go they spill water; one day they will irrigate the desert, till it flower. 
See! Five footprints of a Camel! V.V.V.V.V. 

(For the classical description of the Abyss, the student should consult Liber 418, The Vision and the Voice, especially the Tenth Aethyr - The Equinox, Vol. I, No.5, Supplement.)

At the bottom of the card, accordingly, are shown nascent forms, whorls, crystals, seeds, pods, symbolising the beginnings of life. In the midst is the Camel which is mentioned in the chapter quoted above. In this card is the one link between the archetypal and formative worlds.

Thus far concerning this path, considered as issuing downwards from the Crown; but to the aspirant, that is, to the adept who is already in Tiphareth, to him who has attained to the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, this is the path which leads upwards; and this card, in one system entitled the Priestess of the Silver Star, is symbolic of the thought (or rather of the intelligible radiance) of that Angel. It is, in short, a symbol of the highest Initiation. Now it is a condition of Initiation that its keys are to be communicated by those who possess them to all true aspirants. This card is thus very peculiarly a glyph of the work of the A∴A∴

Some idea of the formula is given in this other chapter of the Book of Lies:

THE OYSTER 

The Brothers of A∴A∴ are one with the Mother of the Child. 
The Many is as adorable to the One as the One is to the Many. This is the Love of These; creation-parturition is the Bliss of the One; coition-dissolution is the Bliss of the Many. 
The All, thus interwoven of These, is Bliss. 
Naught is beyond Bliss. 
The Man delights in uniting with the Woman; the Woman in parting from the Child. 
The Brothers of A∴A∴ are Women; the Aspirants to A∴A∴ are Men.

It is important to reflect that this card is wholly feminine, wholly virginal, for it represents the influence and the means of manifestation (or, from below, of attainment) in itself. It represents possibility in its second stage without any beginning of consummation.

It is especially to be observed that the three consecutive letters, Gimel, Daleth, He’ (Atu II, Atu III, Atu XVII) show the Feminine Symbol (Yin) in three forms composing a Triune Goddess. This Trinity is immediately followed by the three corresponding and complementary Fathers, Vau, Tzaddi, Yod (Atu IV, Atu V, Atu IX). The Trumps 0 and I are hermaphrodite. The remaining fourteen Trumps represent these Primordial Quintessences of Being in conjunction, function, or manifestation.

II. THE PRIESTESS

Moon in Scorpio in house 12, the moon as symbol for the lunar consciousness, Scorpio standing for the powers of the unconscious. House 12 stands for the mysteries. Planet: Moon Tree of life: The connection between Kether and Tiphareth Element: Water Number: 2 as the symbol of duality (female)

The High Priestess represents the deeper, more subtile aspect of the female archetype - the darkness, the mystery, psychic power, the might of the moon to enlighten the subconscious. The High Priestess is silcence, passivity, containing a power of her own. Only when retiring from the world, can we allow our subconscious to rise, listen to our inner voice and recognize our spiritual power. 

Most people never rest like this, as our society supports the total surpression of the subconscious, but without it we will never understand ourselves. The High Priestess is inner wisdom at its deepest, a wisdom that cannot be expressed in rational terms. Trying so, we would already falsify and restrict it 

As a symbol for deeper knowledge, the card can express a feeling of darkness, which might also be a feeling of fear, but also a feeling of beauty. We know there is more inside than we can see. 

In a negative aspect, the High Priestess could stand for passivity at the wrong time, leading to weakness and a fear of life. It could mean that a person is very sensitive but unable to touch their feelings or just live with their feelings.

Drive: The desire to find the inner sources, the own springs 

Light: Being one with the beginning of all, aware of the wisdom from the subconscious, intuitive knowledge, patience 

Shadow: Dreaming, changing moods, doubts, ignoring of reality

II. THE HIGH PRIESTESS (Priestess / Female Pope) - Moon - Feeling

Keywords: Moon, Road to Intuitive Forces, Healing, Independence, Internal Balance, Enhanced Self-Confidence

Advice: Now connected with your intuitive forces. Continue to develop them completely. Pay attention to your independence!

Question: Are there any areas in your life where you let others influence you, rather than relying on your own intuition?

Suggestion: Find water as often as you can. Meditate on water and learn as much as you can.

Revelation: I trust in my intuitive abilities.

Analogies:

Ji-Ching: 2. K'un (The Host)

Mythology: Queen of Heaven (Matriarchin, Creatrix, Initiatrix)

(Eurynome, Maya, Nut)

(Isis-Nephtys; Eva-Lilith; Inanna-Ereschkigal; Demeter-Persephone)

keywords: lunarism, compassionate power, power of our unknown powers, mystery, mystery

Knowledge comes from concentration, from prayer to concentration.

II. THE HIGH PRIESTESS

General 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.

In the Reversed Position

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.

In the Advice Positon

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.

Read more:

• » The Book of Thoth - A Short Essay on the Tarot of the Egyptians by Aleister Crowley.
• » Liber LXXVIII - On the Tarot - A complete treatise on the Tarot giving the correct designs of the cards with their attributions and symbolic meanings on all planes. - A description of the Cards of the Tarot, with their attributions, including a method of divination by their use.
• » Manuscript N - The Tarot - A Golden Dawn Manuscript - A Theoricus Adeptus Minor Paper.