Example reading: The High Priestess in the advice position
This is an example reading. The querent is fictional.
A woman in her thirties gets a message from a former colleague on a Tuesday evening. A small company wants her as head of operations, the salary is twenty percent higher, and they need an answer by Friday. She lays out three cards for a simple question: what is going on, what stands in the way, and what should I do?
- Situation: Two of Wands. She stands between a familiar role and a wider one, and part of her is already planning the move.
- Obstacle: Seven of Swords. Something in the offer is not fully on the table. It need not be a lie; it may be a detail nobody has mentioned yet.
- Advice: The High Priestess. Do not decide on a deadline someone else set. Wait, listen, and collect what is still hidden.
"Wait and listen" sounds passive, but in practice it is a short list of concrete moves:
- Ask for more time. A week is a normal request for a senior role, and the way they react to it is information in itself.
- Ask the questions the offer skipped: who she would report to, why the previous person left, how the company is funded. Notice which answers come quickly and which come back vague.
- Write down her first gut reaction before discussing it with anyone, then compare it with how she feels once the answers arrive.
If the founder will not answer before Friday, The High Priestess has already pointed at the problem the Seven of Swords was hinting at.
What is The High Priestess card?
Inner knowing, hidden information and the patience to listen before acting: that is The High Priestess, card II of the Major Arcana. The Magician (I) uses will and tools to make things happen; she sits still and understands what is moving beneath the surface. Upright, she says the answer exists but is not fully visible yet, and that your intuition is reading the situation more accurately than the noise around you.
- Upright: intuition, hidden knowledge, secrets, stillness, the subconscious, a truth not yet revealed
- Reversed: ignoring your intuition, secrets coming out, withdrawal, information overload, surface thinking
- Number/Arcana: II, Major Arcana
- Planet/letter: the Moon; Hebrew letter Gimel (Golden Dawn)
- Yes/No: Not yet, or unclear (explained below)
In the Tarot de Marseille the same card is La Papesse, "the Popess": a robed woman in a tiara with an open book on her lap. When A. E. Waite and Pamela Colman Smith published their deck in 1909, Waite set aside the popular reading of her as the legendary Pope Joan and renamed her The High Priestess, a guardian of a temple of hidden knowledge. Crowley's Thoth deck later shortened the name to The Priestess.
What do the pillars, the veil and the scroll mean?
Every detail of the Rider-Waite-Smith image repeats one idea: there is a threshold, and she guards it. She sits between two pillars marked B and J, for Boaz and Jachin, the bronze pillars at the entrance to Solomon's Temple. Boaz is black and Jachin white, so the pair stands for every set of opposites the card holds together: dark and light, receptive and active, unknown and known. Behind her hangs a veil embroidered with pomegranates and palm leaves, the curtain in front of the inner sanctuary. Pomegranates, full of seeds and tied to the myth of Persephone, suggest fertility and life that grows out of sight, and through the gaps at the edges of the veil you can glimpse water: the subconscious, present but not yet open to you. A crescent moon lies at her feet, matching the Golden Dawn attribution of the card to the Moon, with its cycles and its reflected light. On her head is a horned crown with a globe, the headdress of Isis and Hathor in Egyptian art. On her lap she holds a scroll marked TORA, partly hidden by her mantle: the law or teaching, only some of which is shown to the reader. Its letters also rearrange into ROTA, "wheel", and TARO, the same wordplay Waite put on the Wheel of Fortune card. On the Tree of Life her letter, Gimel, is the path from Kether to Tiphareth that crosses the Abyss, the longest path on the Tree.
How does The High Priestess read in each spread position?
| Position | Upright | Reversed |
|---|---|---|
| Past | You trusted a quiet instinct, or kept something to yourself, and it still shapes things | You ignored an early warning, or a secret from back then has just come out |
| Present | You know more than you can prove; information is incomplete | You are drowning in opinions, or overriding what you feel |
| Future | A fact is about to surface, or a pause for reflection comes before the next step | Something hidden comes out abruptly rather than gently |
| Obstacle | Hidden facts, unspoken motives, or your own silence where something needs saying | Gossip, leaks, or too much talking before the plan is ready |
| Advice | Wait, gather information quietly, trust your first impression of people | Stop asking everyone and decide what you already know |
| Outcome | The answer depends on information you do not have yet | The truth comes out, and the situation reshapes around it |
The position people misread most is Outcome. Here The High Priestess is not a result at all. She says the outcome depends on something you have not learned yet, so the useful next move is a clarifying card for "What am I missing?" rather than a guess about the ending.
What does The High Priestess mean upright?
Upright, The High Priestess describes a situation where you sense more than you can explain. A friend says "everything is fine" in a tone that tells you it is not. A contract looks good on paper, but one clause keeps bothering you on the third read. The card says that signal deserves weight, even if you cannot yet justify it to anyone else.
She also speaks about timing. Not every question needs an answer this week, and some answers arrive only once you stop chasing them.
As a person, The High Priestess shows someone reserved, perceptive and hard to read: a mentor who says little but notices everything, or a woman who keeps her private life private.
What does The High Priestess mean reversed?
Reversed, the card usually means that your access to your own judgement is blocked, or that hidden things are starting to move. Three readings are common:
- Ignoring your intuition. You feel the warning and override it, because the logic looks fine or because everyone else is enthusiastic. Think of saying yes to a group trip after a planning call that left you uneasy for reasons you could not name.
- Secrets surfacing. Something kept quiet is about to come out, yours or someone else's. A forwarded screenshot or a casual comment from a colleague is often how it happens.
- Too much noise. You are asking everyone for advice, reading forums at midnight, drawing card after card on the same question. Cut the input before you decide.
The cards around her help you choose. The Moon or Seven of Swords nearby leans toward secrets; a cluster of Swords leans toward overthinking.
What does The High Priestess mean in love?
Early dating. Someone you have just met is hard to read: warm on a date, quiet for three days afterwards. The card asks you not to fill the silence with guesses. Let the connection show itself at its own pace, and notice how you feel after each meeting rather than how they act.
Long-term couple. She shows depth that is not always put into words. The bond may run on understanding rather than declarations, or one partner may be holding something back. If you sense a shift, you are probably right; ask gently instead of waiting for proof.
What they're not saying. In a question about someone's feelings, The High Priestess means interest held back. They think about you more than they let on and are watching rather than acting.
Reversed. Mixed signals, a hidden relationship, or you ignoring what you already know about a partner. It can also mean something concealed is about to come into the open.
What does The High Priestess mean for career and money?
Quiet work wins under this card. She favours research, preparation and keeping plans confidential until they are ready, and she suits any job where listening is the main skill. In a salary talk, say less and learn more: let the other side name a number first.
Financially, she warns against acting on incomplete information. Read the terms, look for the fees nobody mentioned, and slow down when a deal is being rushed. Reversed, she can point to hidden costs, office gossip, or politics you have been choosing not to see.
Is The High Priestess a yes or no card?
The High Priestess rarely gives a clean yes or no. Her answer is closer to not yet: the facts you need are not fully available, so a firm answer now would be a guess. If you have to act today, read her as a soft no. If the question is "Is there something I am not being told?" or "Should I trust my instinct here?", the answer is yes.
For timing, her link to the Moon suggests one lunar cycle, roughly four weeks, or the moment hidden information comes to light. Reversed, the answer tends to come sooner and less gently, often through something being revealed.
FAQ
Does The High Priestess mean someone is lying to me?
Not by itself. She shows missing information, and missing is not the same as false: a person may simply not have told you yet, or may not know. Deceit becomes the likelier reading when Seven of Swords or The Moon sits next to her.
Can The High Priestess point to a secret relationship?
She can, especially reversed or beside The Moon or Seven of Swords. Upright and alone, she more often describes a private connection that two people keep low-key by choice, not one that is being hidden from a partner.
What does it mean when she appears next to The Moon?
Both cards belong to the Moon, so together they double the theme of the unseen. Expect a period where facts are unclear and feelings run strong. The advice is to delay big decisions until something concrete comes to light.
Does The High Priestess mean I should do nothing?
No. She asks for a different kind of action: observing, asking, writing things down, checking facts. What she discourages is acting on impulse or on someone else's deadline before you know enough.
What does The High Priestess mean when I ask about an ex?
Usually that there is unfinished understanding rather than unfinished romance. You may still be learning why it ended, or they may be thinking about you without any intention of reaching out. Draw one more card for "What do I need to understand?" before deciding to make contact.