Description: The High Priestess sits with a crescent moon at her feet. On her head is a diadem showing the full moon set in two crescent moons. On her breast is a solar cross showing the union of the positive and negative life elements. In her lap sits the scroll of the Tora (Divine Law); and it is only slightly unrolled, meaning that the instructions in it are hidden from the ordinary human eye except for a partial glimpse. A veil covers half the scroll, suggesting that only one half of the mystery of being can be comprehended.

The High Priestess sits between the pillars of the positive and negative life forces. The black pillar, Boaz, represents the negative life principle, while the while pillar, Jakin, represents the positive life principle.
The High Priestess is both eternal and the subconscious mind. She is the balancing power between initiative and resistance - so she sits between the pillars. The veil between the pillars is decorated with pomegranates (female) and palms (male), indicating that the subconscious is only potentially reproductive. Only when this veil is penetrated by conscious desire can creativity be made manifest.

Divinatory Meaning: An unrevealed future, silence, mystery, duality. There are hidden influences at work.

Reversed: The blind acceptance of surface knowledge, sensual enjoyment, conceit.