“You can ask any question, but the answer will be your next question.”
The Hierophant and the High Priestess are both keepers of mysteries, but where the Hierophant is willing to teach you the secrets of those mysteries (under certain conditions), the High Priestess is reluctant to even acknowledge that there are secrets in the first place. Her presence betrays that fact, but that will be the only piece of information that will be easy to glean from her. She does this not to be cruel, but because she is aware that what the Querent claims to be looking for is often different from what the Querent needs to find, and that the process of discovering the difference can be life-changing for the Querent. She does this, to be kind.
The High Priestess, often portrayed as a woman in most decks but not necessarily presenting as a woman in the Querent’s life, declares that the process of discovering information is as valuable (if not more) than the information being sought. Her challenges to those who petition her are meant to encourage the Querent to think through and rethink their inquiry, to consider if what they are pursuing is worth having, and what that information may do to them once they have it.
The High Priestess may be the leader of a dedicated group of adherents, or she may be a solitary practitioner working out the mysteries in careful silence. She may be separated from mainstream society, or she may be the most popular and sought-after person in the social sphere. She may be installed in a position or office that can be passed from one person to the next, or she may be a transient mantle or state of being that has graced the shoulders of someone the Querent is speaking to for the extent of that conversation.
The mutability of her appearance in a Querent’s life is the first mystery that will be presented to them. The Hierophant requires that his students accept the teachings as presented and without challenge. The High Priestess instead asks is the Querent prepared to question what is being revealed to them and are they prepared to unmake the easy answer for a chance to get a better and/or deeper understanding.
As a single card, the High Priestess answers “Maybe” or “Yes, BUT” to binary inquiries. The card is an indication that the Querent doesn’t have all the information they need to make a fully informed decision, or that the answers they have been given thus far have conditions that have yet to be revealed or explained. As the focus of a multi-card spread, the High Priestess requests that the Querent further examine the other cards, and to consider those same cards reversed to see the “other side of the coin”. When the High Priestess is in a supportive role, it does not negate the card it is referring to, but instead asks the Querent to give that card a deep regard.
Ill-aspected, the High Priestess obscures information from the Querent, or presents it in a deliberately confusing way to force a stagnant or harmful conclusion. She hoards information and will require unfair feats and/or outright bribes to be granted a small portion of the truth or a great portion of fiction. This could manifest in the Querent’s life as a teacher that refuses to consider the very material they are supposed to impart, as an elderly family member that refuses to discuss family history because they disapprove of the Querent’s parentage, as the leader of a personal or religious group that demands undue favors and “gifts” from the Querent for the possibility of being considered for further information. What the High Priestess card does not do is tell the Querent how to find the information they are seeking. She unlocks the doors to the library but doesn’t teach how to use the Dewey Decimal Classification. She gestures towards the doors of the lodge but doesn’t tell you if you meet the requirements to enter. She drops the book you were searching for on your desk but doesn’t explain how to read it or even if the translation holds the key you need. She reveals that further information is available. It remains the purpose of the Querent to obtain it, vet it, and decide what to do with it.
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Noxporium’s Tarot Card Masterpost: 78 Tarot Cards
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