Theory: Pope/Beith/Number 2
Symbolic elements: A mature woman seated on a throne. She wears the papal tiara and holds two keys in her left hand and a half-open book in her right hand.
Hermeneutic dimension: Renouncing the ego's claims (symbolism of the priestly function) in order to better listen to the impulses of the spirit (symbolism of the seated woman).
Anagogical dimension: Welcoming the power of the spirit.
The injunction: To introspect and use one's intuition.
Elements to develop: The spirit of hospitality and contemplation.
Card description:
This arcanum depicts a young woman seated, wearing a tiara formed by two gold circles surmounted by an upward-facing crescent moon. She holds a half-open book on her lap, on which the figure of Tao is visible. In her left hand she holds two keys, one in silver and the other in gold. She is dressed in a blue gown covered by a voluminous red cloak lined in green and edged in yellow. A white veil falls over her shoulders, completely covering her hair. A white star bearing four crosses is crossed on her chest.
When looking more closely, behind the High Priestess, a white veil lined with yellow is also stretched between two columns (one blue and one red). Seated on a throne, she places her right foot on a green cushion, her left foot being hidden by a fold of the ample red mantle that falls onto the floor paved with alternating white and black tiles. The armrests of the throne represent two sphinxes, one black and the other white. However, only the black sphinx is visible, the white one being hidden by the mantle.
Symbolic interpretation of the arcanum:
The High Priestess is seated. This detail is very important, as it essentially evokes an attitude of receptivity. This posture is moreover perfectly in accord with the symbolism of the crescent moon found above her tiara. The fact that she captures the sun’s rays—since the moon is a symbol par excellence of receptivity, capturing the sun’s light—represents the spirit; the High Priestess embodies an openness to inner planes. The upward orientation of the crescent moon clearly recalls this openness to the celestial spheres. The two other yellow circles adorning the tiara indicate that consciousness (symbolized by the head) is fully receptive to this light of the spirit (the number 2 being a symbol of receptivity). And that she is also a matrix welcoming this fertilizing force descending from the sky (what the figure of the circle symbolically represents).
She also cultivates letting go, thereby relinquishing the claims of the ego (the personal self) in order to better attune to the impulses of the spirit, which is what the great white veil concealing her hair represents. Having one’s hair hidden corresponds to a sacrifice, a voluntary or imposed renunciation of the virtues and prerogatives of one’s own personality. The veil concealing the hair clearly indicates a capacity to silence the claims of the personal self in order to better serve the spirit (the divinity).
The presence of the white stole crossed over his chest recalls that of a priest, signifying that he has made a cross over his personal self (renunciation) to devote himself entirely to the service of God. The white color of the stole specifies that the graces received from heaven must be put at the service of others. The four crosses evoke the four elements.
(earth, water, air, fire) or, in other words, the fundamental qualities of the being having become fully receptive to the divine force.
In her left hand, the High Priestess holds two keys. Symbolically, the keys represent the power to open and to close. In the number two, they specify that consciousness now has access to the spiritual spheres (opened by the gold key) and to the material plane (the silver key). The two keys of the High Priestess represent her ability to perceive the invisible and visible worlds, as well as her power to fully embody divine power while bringing the earthly plane to participate in divine realities (a process of dissolution and sublimation).
The High Priestess also holds a half-open book in her right hand. This signifies that she now accesses the heart of reality; from a Judeo-Christian perspective, the profound nature of things. One can also distinguish on the book’s cover a figure of the Tao, represented by a circle divided by a sinuous line into two equal halves: a black part (yin), the dark, earthly, negative, or feminine aspect, and a white part (yang), the bright, celestial, positive, masculine aspect. It is important to remember that the juxtaposition of a black half and a white half does not illustrate an antagonism between earthly realities (yin) and celestial realities (yang), but rather implies, on the contrary, a fundamental complementarity of one with respect to the other. Although heaven and earth, yin and yang, appear as different, this difference is entirely relative, since they are in fact the expression of a single and same principle. However, this unique principle from which all things proceed is not visible. Indeed, God can neither be perceived, conceived, nor imagined by humans. This is why the Sefer HaZohar designates Him as the Mysterious of the Mysterious and the Unknown of the Unknowns.
On the arcanum of the High Priestess, this said principle, whose understanding can only be attained through the path of negation, is concealed behind the veil stretched between the two columns associated with the throne (the white-colored veil, the radiance, doubled by the color gold, and the throne (this veil is white, the color of radiance, doubled by the color gold, the color of the spirit). However, one must not conclude that Yin and Yang are an illusion (mere appearance); they truly exist from the phenomenal point of view. In this regard, the card of the High Priestess emphasizes the objective existence of these two principles (black and white tiling).
According to Wirth, the latter mentions
[…] around her [The High Priestess], a pavement with alternating white and black slabs suggests that all our perceptions are subject to the law of contrasts. Light can only be conceived in opposition to darkness; good would be unknown to us without evil; we would know how to appreciate happiness without having suffered, etc. (p. 80).
The two panels of the robe are similar to the concept of yin and yang (polarity). The two columns erected behind the High Priestess also signify the essential polarities (masculine and feminine principles), that is to say, two primordial polarities. Once again, Wirth mentions […] Of the two columns, one is red and the other blue. The first corresponds to fire (vital, devouring ardor, male activity, the Sulfur of the alchemists), the second relates to air (the breath that sustains life, feminine sensitivity, the Mercury of the Sages), p. 81. All of creation stems from this fundamental duality.
The two sphinxes (black and white) adorning the Pope’s throne also echo the symbolism of the two columns. But this is not the only reason for their presence. They symbolize the riddle that humanity must solve. The sphinx’s primary function is to lead the human being to discover the meaning of their existence. The black sphinx, for its part, is visible; the question posed concerns only the problem of incarnation and its significance.
The figure of the High Priestess embodies the feminine principle (due to the fact that she is a woman) but also evokes the masculine principle to which she is fully receptive. The High Priestess is a privileged emblem of creation fully imbued with divine power. She embodies the power of the spirit (blue robe), which she expresses on the earthly plane (red mantle trimmed with yellow) and through the privileged medium of cardiac values (heart), that of love (the green lining of the mantle). She receives the divine power because she herself accesses the divine realities and unites herself closely with them. She no longer belongs to the profane world but is truly consecrated.
As you have noticed, the High Priestess places her right foot on a green cushion. Green is the color closely associated with the process of regeneration. The foot symbolically represents the ability to engage on the earthly plane. Hence the expression... to have one's feet on the ground. Or its opposite, to lose one's footing, which is used when an individual loses contact with the reality surrounding them.
The right foot suggests a positive investment. It is progressive, whereas the left foot indicates a perspective of regression. By placing the right foot on the green cushion, the High Priestess teaches that by cultivating an attitude of receptivity toward divine power, any action in the world is inscribed in a dynamic of elevation toward the subtle planes (the ground), thus contributing to the regeneration of the world.
The fact that her left foot is concealed, she carefully avoids any tendency to assert herself as a personality.