Rider Waite Card Meaning - The High Priestess

II - The High Priestess - Intuition

The High Priestess is a classical feminine figure representing the gateway to the knowledge possessed by the Magician. In Judaism, she is Shekinah and Sophia to the Greeks. In the postmodern West, the High Priestess serves as a personification of hidden knowledge and intuition. She sits between two pillars, one black, representing evil, and one white, representing good, and holds a scroll that contains valuable information about both, and since she knows both, she can speak the truth.

The High Priestess signals the need to pay attention to the inner voice and to act on gut feelings, premonitions, and intuitive sense. What is perceived is correct, even though the source of the information is as wispy as a hunch, and it should be acted on. The message reads: listen to the inner voice for the right guidance.

Reversed, the High Priestess shows problems and complications arising from the failure to hear the inner voice. She describes situations in which people are in doubt and second guess themselves too much, trusting in the opinion of others more than their own gut feelings.