View Full Version : RWS II The High Priestess
She sits between two pillars, that symbolize the entrance to the temple of Jerusalem on the one hand. On the other hand these pillars stand for the tree of life and thus making herself the middle pillar. According to the GD her path is in the middle and leads from Kether to Tiphareth.
The veil behind her is the veil of the temple, again showing the tree of life with the ten Sephiroth on it. In her hands she holds a scroll with "TORA" written on it,so it is the holy text of the Jews. (the Tora comes again in the Wheel of Fortune). On the bottom of the cards is a Moon as the card is assigned to that "planet". The HPS´s hat seems to symbolize the waxing, full and waning moon as well - but I am not sure about that.
Hi Lupo138, I too am unsure about the hat, but I always thought of the moon at the bottom as a symbol of her 'intuition'. She to me stands for 'Innocense and Wisdom', like being naive with street smarts.
Cheers
Karen
:TQC
Macavity
28-01-2003, 05:31
I always assume the hat is a stylised version of the Crown of Egyptian Goddess Hathor as fairly often worn by the Goddess and High Priestess Isis. The two cow horns either side of the Ra solar disk... :)
I've always read her like this: where the Magician symbolizes knowledge from with out, the High Priestess symbolizes knowledge from with in.
The two pillars could also be seen to represent the vagina(so says Rachel Pollack in 78DW). This would represent the sacred feminine.
Let's also look at the colours used in her clothing. Blue and white. Blue represents healing and emotions. White represents purity. Together they make a very regal combination, showing not only he purity, but also her emotional side, which is chown by her associations with the moon.
What about the cross she has on her chest? There is a white cross on her chest in my deck, and I've always wondered if they intended the card to be a equalibrium between all religeons.
If no one else's deck has the cross I can scan my card to prove I'm not crazy.
Please do. It always helps to have a pic to look at. ;)
a picture can be found here http://www.learntarot.com/bigjpgs/maj02.jpg
anyway I do not know about the meaning of the cross. The HPS is on the middle pillar so she could wear a sign of Tiphareth, namely the six-pointed star. The equal armed cross would be Chesed, but her path does not lead there. Maybe the cross is to be seen in connection with the hat and so telling us that she unites the old as well as the "new" religion(s) ?
One of the interesting aspects of the placement of the High Priestess 'over' the background of the Pomegranate Tree of Life pattern is that whilst her head is located where one would find Da'at, the Cross, over her heart, has its lower arm at Tifaret's location.
Her throne itself is the firm Foundation upon which she sits, and the Torah scroll is where one would expect the veil (Paroket).
With regards to her crown, that the two lunar crescents also reach, respectively, Hockmah and Binah should also be noted...
Just some of my reflections on some of the 'less' obvious aspects as I look again at this card.
just read about the cross today in one of Regardie´s books: The equal armed cross stands for the balance of the four elements, and for Tiphareth, as each part would stand for one letter of Y-H-V-H.
much of love to all of you
L.
firemaiden
06-02-2003, 05:20
I think it is interesting that her skirt falls in what looks like curling waves about her feet. It ties in with the moon card as well and its reflective pool of water.
firemaiden
07-02-2003, 18:14
Terenar --I see the cross. I think it is very convenient the cross is there -- yes, I thought it might be there to bring all the religions together in one card too, but I also like it because it goes with the crossed swords of the two of swords, and because I feel it also ties her to the Virgin Mary (read: the resurrection of Isis).
firemaiden
07-02-2003, 20:20
I am reminded since viewing the "hidden faces" thread, that some see a wizard hidden in her skirt. I haven't particularly been able to see this wizard, but in the skirt of the HP in the Secret Tarot I see a watermark which ressembles a wizard for sure, as well as a slain deer (or wolf). Obviously, if this watermark was intended in the Secret Tarot, then was inspired by this famous wizard hiding in the skirts of Rider-Waite-Smith's High Priestess.
I particularly like seeing the High Priestess's skirt as water tumbling about a rock, and in which one can discover hidden faces -- water is transparency, movement, passage, reflections, water is the scrying medium, the stuff of visions.
If her skirt is made of water, she is both of and about water. That means, all at the same time, she is the keeper, the means, and the traveler of this passage through the gate.
She is all at the same time:
A Medium: -- one who can see through to another world,
the medium: -- the means, or instrument, by which one can access a deeper world,
medium: -- one who stands in the middle, obscuring the pathway, and
the medium -- the very stuff itself of visions: water.
firemaiden
08-02-2003, 11:59
Pomegranates show up on both on the veil of the High Priestess and the dress of the Empress? (am I right? these are pomegranates in each case?).
In the Persephone myth the pomegranate seed is the magic seed that gives Hades his power over her. He slips her the seed so she must stay by his side in the Underworld. The eating of the seed also suggests their sexual union. And I have heard it said that the Eve's fated apple is really a pomegranate.
A seed the color of fire weds day to night, spring to winter, heaven to hell.
Here is a collection of images related to Persephone (http://oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/as/classics/students/Grinter/Hades.htm) (just don't read the idiotic commentary)
Here is a link to the part of the Homeric Hymn (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0138&query=card%3D%239&layout=&loc=2.398) about Persephone and the pomegranate.
The red seeds of the pomegranate, contained within the womb of the fruit, certainly lead to considerations of their sexual symbolic meaning - and also knowledge of Good and Evil.
As with this symbol, the High Priestess card is also clearly connected - and yet opposed - to the next card, it may be an appropriate time to begin on the next card (continuing discussions here too, of course :)).
Firemaiden, even if your posts do not seem to have many responses, from past PM experience this only indicates that your thoughts are well read and vastly appreciated... silence is at times like the space created when someone says something of value, allowing its echoes to distill and metamorphosise in various ways upon the hearers.
The crown fits where Da'ath would...wow, I didn't even THINK of that! It's one of those things that's totally obvious once you think about it...gah.
It always struck me that the crown and the veil around her head look like the sign of Pisces, the astrological sign connected to the card of the Moon, and thus a reinforcement of the lunar symbolism.
Originally posted by jmd
and the Torah scroll is where one would expect the veil (Paroket).
I'm a bit of a heathen when it comes to Qabalah, but I think I can remember some of what I've learned recently, and I think I heard that the Veil of Paroket is what one has to cross to get to the Adept stage: It's the Abyss of something... (Again I say, I'm a heathen when it comes to Qabalah and am probably getting all the jargon completely wrong.)
If the above IS the case, then the fact that the HPS card is the card which 'carries' the seeker across the Abyss (Her Hebrew letter is Gimel, the Camel) to the Magician (Adept) stage could be indicating that in order to be carried across, or to get across, we need a certain kind of knowledge, indicated by the Torah scroll... Bearing in mind this deck has significant Qabalistic tendencies, the Torah can be seen as a holy book even if we ourselves aren't Jewish, so maybe it is spiritual knowledge and understanding we need in order to finally cross the abyss?
Any thoughts, or am I completely off-track here? :eek:
Kiama
Just a thought here…We see through the curtain, and there is water on the other side.
In the Bible, they tell us that outside the Temple, was a large pool, a sea cast in bronze. It also describes the wood used on the inside…
Therefore, would our viewpoint then be from the inside looking out?
firemaiden
15-05-2003, 15:00
That is a really cool thought Umbrae. From the inside, looking out! If so, what might the implications be for meaning, I wonder.
Perhaps out is in and in is out?
(Is my mind just permanently stuck in the gutter?
We are talking about a virgin... a veil between two pillars...the salty sea beyond...hmmm)
Kore Persephone
19-09-2003, 12:01
As somone who's pagan, the Jewish symbolism just really doesn't mean much to me, nor does the Tora. Being pagan, I don't follow any sacred book. I liked the concept that The Magician means knowledge from without and The High Priestess knowledge from within. I see the pillars more as meaning yin-yang. The moon represents the goddess. I think each card is very personal and different for everybody.
aurarcana
05-07-2009, 14:27
Here is my interpretation:
In a reading, The High Priestess Tarot card represents unconscious thoughts and tapping into the power of discovering the true meaning or potential of something that may not be obvious at first. She is the gatekeeper to knowledge in this card, and she represents any person who would be in this same role. There is much that is unknown to the naked eye, or mind, in this card. If one opens up the gates–and causes a flood–there is endless potential.
I am using the Universal Waite Tarot deck, so I didn't put the imagery/symbols in this post (that's on my bog).
However, I do want to participate in the threads in this study group since the parallel themes are similar. There isn't a separate Study Group for the Universal Waite and it was suggested that I follow along with this group as I start out.