High Priestess Tarot Card Meaning: Upright, Reversed, Love and Career

Quick guide

The High Priestess is card II of the Major Arcana. In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck she sits very still between two pillars, a black one marked B and a white one marked J, in front of a veil patterned with pomegranates. She wears a horned crown with a globe at its centre, holds a partly hidden scroll marked TORA, and rests her feet beside a crescent moon. Upright, her traditional keywords are intuition, stillness, privacy and knowledge that has not yet been spoken. Reversed, readers speak of ignored instincts, secrets causing harm, or a mind too noisy to hear itself. The one question she usually raises is this: what do you already know that you have not let yourself say?

At a glance
Arcana / number / suit	Major Arcana, number II
Upright keywords	Intuition, stillness, mystery, patience, inner knowledge, discretion
Reversed keywords	Ignored instincts, hidden agendas, gossip, confusion, withdrawal
Element / astrological association (tradition)	Water; the Moon (Golden Dawn correspondence)
Yes/no reading (convention)	Usually read as “not yet” or “unclear”: wait for more information

The image and its symbols

Pamela Colman Smith’s 1909 High Priestess is the quietest figure in the deck. She sits facing forward, hands resting, eyes level, in a blue robe that pools at her feet and seems to turn into water as it falls. Nothing in the picture is moving. Where the Magician’s hands are busy, hers are still, and that stillness is the point of the card.

The two pillars beside her carry the letters B and J, traditionally read as Boaz and Jachin, the names given to the two pillars at the entrance of Solomon’s Temple. One is black and one is white, and she sits exactly between them: between opposites, holding both without choosing. Behind her hangs a veil decorated with pomegranates and palms, and through small gaps you can see water beyond it. The veil is usually read as the boundary between what is known and what is not yet revealed, with the pomegranates, full of seeds, standing for hidden potential.

On her head is a crown of horns with a globe between them, a form borrowed from images of the Egyptian goddess Isis and often read as the phases of the moon. A plain cross rests on her chest. In her lap she holds a scroll with the letters TORA visible, the rest tucked under her mantle: knowledge that exists but is only partly shown. At her feet lies a crescent moon, the card’s link to cycles, tides and the parts of the mind that work below the surface. In the older Marseille pattern the card is La Papesse, a seated woman with a book, which carries the same idea of learning kept rather than performed.

Upright meaning

Upright, the High Priestess is traditionally the card of knowing before you can explain. Readers take it to mean that the answer to the question is already present in the quieter part of your mind, and that the task is to stop talking, stop searching and listen. It favours patience over pressure. Where the Magician says “act,” the High Priestess says “not yet, and pay attention.”

Position changes the reading. In a past position, she points to a time when you kept something to yourself or relied on instinct, and readers ask whether that choice is still shaping things. In a present position, she describes a situation where not all the facts are available and where waiting is a decision rather than a failure. In a future position, readers see information still to come, and treat the card as a prompt to prepare for it rather than a forecast of what it will be. In an advice position, she is usually read as keep your own counsel, protect your privacy and trust a well-founded gut feeling.

One practical point. Intuition in this tradition means pattern recognition built on experience, not a mystical sense. A useful test is to ask what evidence your instinct is drawing on. If you can name it, the feeling deserves weight. If the feeling is mainly fear, that is a different signal.

Reversed meaning

Reversed, the High Priestess usually describes a broken connection with your own judgement. Readers see it in people who have asked twelve friends, read every forum and still feel lost, because the one voice they have not consulted is their own. The prompt is to reduce the noise: fewer opinions, a quieter hour, a page of honest notes.

The reversed card has a second reading about secrets. What is kept behind the veil can protect, but it can also fester: unspoken resentments, gossip, a plan nobody has been told about, information someone is withholding. Readers treat this as a prompt to ask a direct question rather than to guess. The card cannot tell you what another person is hiding or whether they are hiding anything at all. It can only point out that something feels unspoken and invite you to say it or ask about it.

In a love reading

Upright in a love question, the High Priestess is traditionally read as depth and patience. For someone single it suggests paying attention to what you actually want before pursuing anyone, and taking the time to know a new person rather than rushing to define things. For a couple, it points to a quiet, intuitive understanding, and sometimes to a stage where one partner needs space and privacy without that meaning anything is wrong.

Reversed, readers often see a relationship with too much unsaid: a partner who seems withdrawn, a question you keep not asking, or a gut feeling you have been talking yourself out of. The traditional advice is to turn the feeling into a sentence and say it out loud. No card confirms love, infidelity or whether someone is “the one,” and tarot does not read another person’s mind. If what you sense is fear, control or threats, speak to a person who can help: the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788.

In a career or money reading

At work, the upright High Priestess is the card of the person who listens in the meeting and speaks last. It appears in readings about research, study, counselling, writing and any role where reading a situation matters more than selling it. Readers also take it as a prompt to keep plans private until they are ready, and to notice what is not being said in a negotiation or an interview.

In money questions the card traditionally advises waiting for the full picture: an offer that cannot be explained clearly, a deal with details behind a veil, or a decision made under pressure usually gets a “not yet.” Reversed, it can describe ignoring a well-founded doubt or acting on gossip rather than facts. The card is a reflection tool, not financial advice. For investments, debt or contracts, use the reading to list your questions and then put them to a qualified adviser.

How to work with this card

Write the unsaid sentence. Complete “What I already know about this is…” without editing, then read it back.
Separate instinct from fear. List the evidence behind your gut feeling; if the list is empty, treat the feeling as worry and address that instead.
Find the veil. Name the one piece of information you do not yet have, and decide whether you can get it or must decide without it.
Protect something. Choose one plan or feeling to keep private for now, deliberately rather than by avoidance.
Revisit in a week. Note whether waiting produced new information or just delay.

Cards that often appear with it

With the Moon, the High Priestess is traditionally read as intuition mixed with anxiety: there is real insight here, but also fear and imagination, so readers check which part of the feeling is which. With the Hierophant, the pair sets private knowing against public teaching, and the question becomes whether to follow the established rule or your own reading of the situation. With the Seven of Swords, readers usually see information being withheld, by you or by someone else, and treat it as a prompt to ask a plain question before assuming the worst.

Key takeaways

The High Priestess is card II of the Major Arcana and the traditional card of intuition, stillness and knowledge not yet spoken.
Her Rider-Waite-Smith symbols, the B and J pillars, the pomegranate veil, the TORA scroll and the crescent moon, all describe what is known but not shown.
Reversed, she points to ignored instincts, too much outside noise or secrets that have started to cause harm.
In love and work she favours patience and privacy, but she cannot reveal what another person is thinking or hiding.
Use the card to write down what you already know, test instinct against evidence and ask the question you have been avoiding.

Frequently asked questions

1. What does the High Priestess card mean in tarot?

In the Rider-Waite-Smith tradition the High Priestess stands for intuition, stillness, privacy and knowledge that has not yet been spoken. It is a prompt to listen to your own judgement, not a prediction that something hidden will be revealed.

2. Is the High Priestess a good card?

Most readers see it as calm and protective rather than good or bad. It usually advises patience and discretion, which is welcome in some questions and frustrating in others.

3. What does the High Priestess mean reversed?

Reversed, the High Priestess traditionally points to ignored instincts, confusion caused by too many outside opinions, or secrets and gossip that have begun to cause harm. Readers decide which applies from the question and the surrounding cards.

4. What does the High Priestess mean in a love reading?

Upright, it suggests depth, patience and a quiet understanding, or a need for space that is not a sign of trouble. Reversed, it often points to things left unsaid, which is a prompt for an honest conversation rather than proof of anything about a partner.

5. What does the High Priestess mean for career and money?

At work it favours roles built on listening, research and discretion, and advises keeping plans private until they are ready. In money questions it usually means wait for the full picture, and it is never a substitute for professional financial advice.

6. Does the High Priestess mean yes or no?

By convention the High Priestess is read as not yet or unclear, because the card is about information still behind the veil. Yes/no readings are a simplified use of the cards and carry no predictive power.

7. What do the B and J pillars on the High Priestess card mean?

The letters are traditionally read as Boaz and Jachin, the names of the two pillars at the entrance of Solomon’s Temple. One is black and one is white, and the High Priestess sits between them to show balance between opposites.

8. What does the scroll marked TORA mean?

The partly hidden scroll stands for knowledge that exists but is not fully shown. Readers take it as a reminder that the answer may be available to you even though it has not been spoken or written out yet.

9. What does the High Priestess card mean as a person?

As a person, the High Priestess describes someone calm, perceptive and private who notices more than they say. It can also represent your own intuitive side rather than another person.

10. Does the High Priestess mean someone is keeping a secret?

The card can point to something unspoken in a situation, but it cannot tell you whether a specific person is hiding something or what it might be. Readers use it as a prompt to ask a direct question rather than to assume.

11. Which planet is linked to the High Priestess?

The Golden Dawn system assigned the High Priestess to the Moon and to the element of Water, which is why a crescent moon appears at her feet. This is a tradition used in astrological tarot, not a fact about the Moon or about people.

12. What does the High Priestess mean in a past, present or future position?

In a past position it points to a time you relied on instinct or kept something private; in the present it describes a situation where not all the facts are available; in a future position it suggests information still to come. Readers treat the future position as something to prepare for, not a forecast.

Evidence note: The meanings on this page are conventions attached to the Rider-Waite-Smith deck (1909) and the guidebooks that follow it, not findings about how the world works. Tarot began as a card game in Italy in the 1430s and divinatory use came centuries later (see Britannica on tarot). No reading predicts events, reads another person’s mind or sets a timeline. Intuition here means judgement built on experience, and when a feeling is mostly worry it helps to treat the worry directly; the NIMH guide to caring for your mental health is a good starting point. If your question is about health, legal matters or money, use the card to clarify your thinking and then take the question to a qualified professional. In the US, call or text 988 if you are struggling with low mood or thoughts of self-harm.