Symbolism of The High Priestess in Tarot

What do the B and J mean on the High Priestess tarot card?

If the Arcana the Magician is a symbol of active autocracy, initiative and masculinity, then in the Arcana the High Priestess is a symbol of such qualities as femininity and developed intuition.

The High Priestess is one of the Astral Guides, personifies the inner law, proclaims the need to use intuition in making decisions. She is the guardian between the light and dark world and governs the timeline. This card speaks primarily about human health, connects a person with nature and gives him a sense of space and time.

Medieval fortune-tellers associated the High Priestess card with “gnosis” – knowledge of the truth. She personifies the spiritual principle, but its hidden part, the subconscious.
The Arcana of the High Priestess personifies the harmony of opposites. The High Priestess of the Tarot is the archetype of the feminine principle. If we draw an analogy with Greek mythology, it can be compared with the goddess of the moon Hecate. The women of Ancient Greece turned to her for protection.
The First (Magician) and Second (High Priestess) Arcana of the Tarot represent two hypostases of God / Universe – the Active and Passive halves of it. It symbolizes neutrality between positive and negative, between rejection and consent.

Archetype: female energy, Great Mother, Holy Spirit, mystery, fate, magic.
Number: 2 – duality, division into object and subject, doubt, choice.

At the entrance to the mystical temple sits a woman in monastic robes with a scroll on her knees. Her robes flow in waves, and seem to emit a shimmering light. This is the light of the Sun, reflected by the Moon – the light of all that is, like Yin and Yang – a symbol of the unity of day and night, good and evil, male and female. She guards the mysteries of life.

Symbols

Two columns behind the High Priestess
They symbolize: black – the Moon, and white – the Sun. This is the hidden and the obvious, good and evil, as well as doubts, choice, indecision, duality. According to a legend, these are the pillars of the Solomon’s temple. It is assumed that J and B are the initial letters of the words Jachin and Boaz, which translate as “let [the temple] stand unshakable” and “in it the power of God.” The Black Column represents negative vitality, while the White Column represents positive vitality. From above, the columns open like flower buds, which means readiness for perception.

Cover
Fixed between the columns, it hides the entrance to the temple from view and embodies the mystery of life.
We cannot look inside or go through because we do not yet fully understand what the veil hides.

Pomegranate Fruit
They are arranged according to the tree of life.
The symbol of the feminine sensual principle. It is also a symbol of fertility.

Palm trees
The symbol of masculinity, growth and renewal.

Static pose and clothed figure
The symbol of the passive feminine principle. The High Priestess does not strive for action, she observes and perceives.

Crown (Two-horned diadem with a ball in the middle)
Symbolizes the 3 phases of the moon: waxing, full and waning. Also symbolizes the future, present and past. This is a symbol of true time knowledge. The High Priestess is the keeper of sacred knowledge. It may also indicate that there are some hidden, invisible factors.

Sun Cross on the chest
Means spirituality. It unites masculine and feminine energies.

Scroll – Book of Knowledge
Scroll with the inscription TORA – Law or Supreme Law. It is partly covered by mathia, indicating that some things are implied, but not spoken out loud. It also means that only a sage who owns himself and knows himself will be able to discover the true secret.

Blue Clothes of the High Priestess
Softness and intuition. It symbolizes the psyche (the element of Water), intuition, memory and the ability to perceive.

Water
Which spreads from the High Priestess’s robes into the calm sea surface. Water has the ability to absorb and carry information. This sea symbolizes such qualities as telepathy, prophetic gift, clairvoyance and intuitive communication using the language of universal symbols. The High Priestess is a channel of communication with the subtle world, the patroness of the Tarot system. But she will reveal her secrets only to those who are ready to perceive them.

Moon Sickle
The symbol of yin, dark, passive intuition. It also means receptivity.
Moon, ruler of the water element.

Moon and Water are the opposite of fire and sun, the symbols of the masculine principle, personified by the Magician.

White card color
Talks about the spiritual purity that is necessary for those entering the temple.

Number 2
The spiritual essence of number 2 is unity, the creation of strong bonds that will balance any opposites. The esoteric meaning of the number 2 in numerology is the feminine principle, receptive, spiritual, sensitive, soft and passive yin energy, which is polarity to yang (one). The cosmic vibrations of the deuce bring harmony to the Universe in everything: in beauty, things of the spiritual plane, music, energy and other aspects of our world.

The High Priestess is the key to that mysterious truth that eludes the logical mind.
She knows that the truth that we can express in words is never eternal.
Its bright side is the expression of patience, understanding, condescension, kindness and the ability to forgive, the use of the forces of the subconscious for the good of people – for the sake of help, healing, clairvoyance.
Her shadow side corresponds to the archetype of the “dark sister” who uses her spiritual powers to seduce others, lure them into traps or otherwise harm them.
In Tarot, however, its bright, kind side most often stands out.
She is considered one of the three “guardian angels” because, according to Christian mythology, the Holy Virgin can make a person invulnerable.

The High Priestess comes to protect and teach, not divide and rule. She understands how reality is arranged, and it is this understanding, and not the ability to control dark forces, that is the essence of her being.

Discover symbolism of other Major Arcana: