Tarot card meanings › Major Arcana
The High Priestess Tarot Card Meaning
The High Priestess tarot card means intuition, stillness and hidden knowledge. Trust what you already sense.
Upright
- Intuition
- stillness
- hidden knowledge
Reversed
- Ignored instincts
- secrets
- surface answers
Yes or no
Maybe
The High Priestess is card II of the 22 major arcana.
What the card shows
A woman in blue sits between a black pillar marked B and a white pillar marked J. A veil patterned with pomegranates hangs behind her, a crescent moon rests at her feet, and she holds a scroll half hidden in her robe.
This is the card as drawn by Pamela Colman Smith for the 1909 Rider-Waite-Smith deck, which is in the public domain.
Upright meaning
The High Priestess is read as quiet knowing. The answer is not out in the open yet, and pushing will not bring it faster. She points to intuition, patience and things that are understood before they are said.
The High Priestess reversed
Reversed, she is read as ignoring a gut feeling, keeping or being kept from a secret, or looking for answers everywhere except inside.
Yes or no?
In a yes or no question, The High Priestess is usually read as a maybe: the answer depends on something not settled yet. Readers differ on some cards, so treat this as one common reading. You can ask a yes or no question and draw a card for it.
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More Major Arcana cards
The FoolThe MagicianThe EmpressThe EmperorThe HierophantThe LoversThe ChariotStrengthThe HermitWheel of FortuneJusticeThe Hanged ManDeathTemperanceThe DevilThe TowerThe StarThe MoonThe SunJudgementThe World
‹ The MagicianAll 78 cardsThe Empress ›
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