I was lead to study this card in a special position very recently. To start with, I’ll say that she actually comes to me as the personification of a virtue – maybe Faith, but better yet Prudence, the missing fourth cardinal virtue. It is true that Faith was presented with a book (the Gospels), and that some representations of the Papess included a cross, another symbol of Faith. Plus, she is a Papess!! And still…
In fifteenth-century imagery, the virtue of Prudentia (Prudence) was some times depicted as a woman sitting in a chair, holding a book in her hand, and showing it to disciples at her feet (in Émile Mâle, L'art religieux du XIIe siècle en France, Étude sur les origines de l'iconographie du moyen âge; with English translation).
The Greek goddess Métis, Zeus’s first wife, also personified this virtue, as can be seen in the celebrated tomb of François II, in Nantes cathedral. Her name is usually translated as Prudence, thought it seems that “Counsel” would be a more correct reading (and the reason why it can also be interpreted as Deceit or Perfidy, the “bad” counsel). In addition, Métis also represented wisdom and knowledge; as stated in Hesiod’s Theogony, “she knew more than all the gods or mortal people”.
This kind of early representation of Prudence, sitting in a chair and teaching from a book, reminds obviously Métis and her two main qualities, prudence or advise and wisdom / knowledge. And it reminds me (doesn’t it strike you too?) this High Priestess card. Some authors have tried to find the “fourth” virtue hiding in cards like the Hanged Man, since the other three, Justitia (Justice), Fortitudo (Force), and Temperantia (Temperance), are depicted in a clear manner. Now, I would say the High Priestess is a very logical answer to this question.
And what about the card’s name? Call it the “Popess” or the High Priestess; it still bears a logical connection with the image of Zeus’s counterpart, a Goddess, a Titaness. Also, Métis was considered to be an enchantress, since she was the one that prepared the potion given to Cronos (Uranus) in order to make him vomit the children he had eaten: "When Zeus was grown, he engaged Okeanos' daughter Métis as a colleague. She gave Kronos a drug, by which he was forced to vomit forth first the stone and then the children he had swallowed" - Apollodorus 1.6.
Ah! But Métis – I shall call her Prudence or Counsel – is Athena’s mother, although she seldom receives credits for this, since Zeus ate her before she gave birth, and, as we all know, the goddess came to the world from within her father’s head:
"Zeus, as king of the gods, took as his first wife Métis, and she knew more than all the gods or mortal people. But when she was about to be delivered of the goddess, gray-eyed Athena, then Zeus, deceiving her perception by treachery and by slippery speeches, put her away inside his own belly. This was by the advices of Gaia and starry Ouranos, for so they counseled, in order that no other everlasting god, beside Zeus, should ever be given kingly position. For it had been arranged that, from her, children surpassing in wisdom should be born, first the gray-eyed girl, the Tritogeneia Athena; but then a son to be king over gods and mortals was to be born to her and his heart would be overmastering; but before this, Zeus put her away inside his own belly so that this goddess should think for him, for good and for evil." - Theogony 886
Later on, Zeus was suffering from a headache, and asked Hephaestus to relieve him by striking his head with an axe. Athena jumped out of Zeus' head, fully armed. It is said that Métis stayed forever inside Zeus, remaining as the source for his wisdom. Mother and daughter have several things in common, both presiding over wisdom, knowledge, and the choice of right actions. The goddess Athena was the first to teach the science of numbers and all ancient women's arts, such as cooking, weaving and spinning. She was also the goddess of war, but not in the combative sense, preferring to settle conflict through mediation and good words.
Well, I have another reason to believe that The Popess can be understood as Prudence, and thus associated with Métis. When meditating on my Marseilles deck, I felt the need to find an “opposite” card for each major, in order to understand them better; and then something curious happened. The Popess appeared to me as card number four, and not as number two… odd, till I found out that this was her placement in some early decks (coming after the Empress and the Emperor, and before the Pope). Interesting enough, Métis was the Titaness of the fourth day.
If you consider the Fool to be the last card, them the exact opposite card to The Popess is The Tower. And isn’t The Tower a perfect visual metaphor to Athena’s birth? Even her epithet, the "bright-eyed" goddess, refers to the fact that she was originally a storm and lightning goddess. . . .
