The High Priestess represents our connection to our lunar nature and trusting our instincts, subconscious influences that are hidden beneath the surface.  She suggests a need to pay attention to subtleties.  But it also indicates a need to connect with our inner wisdom and deep spiritual knowledge.  This card is the 2nd Major Arcana card.  Twos symbolize formation, polarity, balance, and the coming together of opposites.  The High Priestess is the guardian of the veil, the guide through to the unseen world of intuition, inner wisdom and self-knowledge.  She represents a woman's individual nature - apart from family responsibilities and expectations.  The High Priestess is a card of intuition and listening to your inner voice. 

Gail Fairfield:  Attunement is needed now.  It could be valuable for your to set aside worldly worries and meditate or become unified with a large more Universal  consciousness.  Your meditation or attunement is taking a conscious, even physically observable form.  You may literally be removed from the activities of your day-to-day life, in retreat or in your own space, while you tune in to your inner voice and spiritual awareness.

Fairy Tale:  Spiritual wisdom from within; divination and foresight; touching life's mysteries and hidden knowledge; following your own path to a strong and individual spiritual vision; finding your own way to wisdom. 

Karen Mahony used the Bohemian folktale of Libuše to illustrated the meaning behind The High Priestess.  She is the legendary ancestor of the Czech Přemyslid dynasty.  She was renowned for her wisdom and guidance of her people.  She used her powers of prophecy for the good of her people and never expected any reward.  Even when her people challenged her right to rule she did not completely abandon them.  Instead she slipped into a trance state and offered them guidance to help find a man who would be a suitable husband and co-ruler with her.  The result was the Přemyslid dynasty and the building of Prague.

I have drawn the High Priestess twice in a less than a week.  Maybe I'm missing the point here.  I've often expressed a discomfort with the High Priestess.  Somehow I felt that we didn't understand each other.  She has always seemed rather passive to me.  But at RS09 and in the months since she has re-appeared a few times.  I think she is trying to tell me that whether I like it or not this is a role I need to serve.  It's not that I see myself as the wise, all-knowing one (although I'd like to), but that I may have a voice that can help others work through their own issues.  I can help others find their way through the gate or beneath the veil; help them face what awaits on the other side.  Maybe the reality is that I take my own talents for granted and don't really appreciate them or see them as special.  Which is ironic because I always admire others' skills and talents. 

It's part of the same pattern of self-doubt and low self-esteem that has often plagued me.  If I can do it well or if something comes easy to me then I don't value it.  It's only when I have to struggle to achieve something that I appreciate it.  A rather ridiculous approach to life when you consider it.  Perhaps the High Priestess is trying to drag me through the gate, rip aside the veil and force me to face what lies on the other side - the real, whole me.  What a scary thought.