The Popess holds a book that she does not show in its entirety. Her authority comes neither from a spectacular gesture nor from command: it lies in what has been learned, kept, and understood before being passed on. This restraint gives the second card a special place, between the religious figure of the early Italian tarots and the guardian of the sanctuary created for the Waite-Smith deck.
The Popess of the Tarot of Marseille and Pamela Colman Smith's High Priestess should not be confused. The former wears the papal tiara and belongs to the Christian imagination of Renaissance Europe. The latter sits between the columns marked J and B, with a lunar crescent and a scroll bearing the word Tora. They share the book, silence, and reserved knowledge, but their religious language and occult architecture are not the same.
The Popess in the earliest tarot decks
The figure appears as early as the Italian tarots of the 15th century. In the Visconti-Sforza deck held by the Morgan Library, a veiled woman wears the triple tiara and holds a cross and a book. This image predates by several centuries the lunar and Kabbalistic associations later added to it. It belongs to the series of earthly and religious dignitaries placed at the beginning of the trumps. Morgan Library, Visconti-Sforza Tarot, The Popess.
The legend of Pope Joan may have influenced how the card was received, but it is not enough to explain its entire history. The tarot uses immediately recognizable figures of authority: empress, emperor, popess, and pope. In French decks, the open or closed book becomes her main attribute. It gives the card a meaning of reading, doctrine, memory, and knowledge held in reserve.
Iconographic reference. The Papess’s book is not a decorative accessory. It places the card on the side of acquired and preserved knowledge. Depending on the question, this book may represent a study, an archive, a secret, a written rule, or information that has not yet been made public.
From the Papess to the High Priestess
Nineteenth-century occultists transformed the pontifical sovereign into a guardian of hidden science. Mathers calls her “High Priestess or Papess” and sees science, wisdom, and knowledge in her book. Papus and Wirth incorporate her into a French Kabbalistic interpretation in which the second card receives the letter Beth.
The Waite-Smith adopts another series of correspondences. The High Priestess is assigned Gimel and the Moon. Pamela Colman Smith places her between the J and B pillars of the Temple, before a veil adorned with palms and pomegranates. The partially covered scroll indicates that part of the law is stated, while another part remains veiled. The crescent at her feet and the lunar crown make visible an attribution that does not belong to the Marseille Papess.
What the earlier authors attributed to her
Mathers summarizes the card through science, wisdom, knowledge, and education. Reversed, she becomes pretension, ignorance, awkwardness, or superficial knowledge. This contrast is illuminating: possessing a book does not mean having absorbed its content.
Waite emphasizes secrets, silence, perseverance, wisdom, and the future that has not yet been revealed. His High Priestess therefore does not announce that everything must remain hidden. She indicates that the time to speak or act has not yet come, or that the answer requires more attentive reading. The unfavorable aspect appears when reserve becomes affectation, when knowledge remains superficial, or when emotion clouds judgment.
Meaning in a spread
In a favorable reading
The High Priestess asks you to slow down in order to read, verify, listen, and let information take shape. She favors study, quiet preparation, the keeping of a legitimate secret, and attention to what is left unspoken. She may represent an educated person, a reserved adviser, a decisive document, or knowledge the querent already possesses but has not yet put into practice.
The card does not describe empty passivity. Its stillness is that of inner work and maturation. In a project, it advises gathering all the pieces before making an announcement. In a relationship, it asks you to distinguish sincere discretion from silence that maintains ambiguity.
In an unfavorable reading
The High Priestess can signal information being withheld inappropriately, an inaccessible file, a wait that drags on, or a person taking refuge behind silence. It can also indicate book knowledge without experience, a judgment based on assumptions, or an arrogant attitude that refuses dialogue.
Love, work, and finances
| Area | Favorable reading | Shadow aspect | Question to ask |
|---|---|---|---|
| Love | Feelings kept private, a bond that matures, attentive listening, need for intimacy. | Maintained unspoken feelings, distance, hidden relationship, or refusal to respond. | Does silence protect the bond or prevent the truth? |
| Work | Research, training, preparation of a file, advisory role. | Blocked information, incomplete qualifications, project that remains theoretical. | What document or learning is still missing? |
| Finances | Review of the accounts, reserve, decision postponed until the data is received. | Hidden fees, incomplete figures, inaction in the face of a necessary decision. | Are all the conditions written down and understood? |
| Project or study | Documentation, memory, methodical reading, maturation before publication. | Accumulation of notes without taking action, copying without understanding. | What must be understood before producing? |
How to read its associations
The High Priestess brings retained knowledge, memory, the document, and preparation time. The neighboring card shows what this knowledge sheds light on or what helps bring it to the surface.
| Association | Possible dynamic | Point to watch |
|---|---|---|
| High Priestess + Magician | Prepared knowledge moves into action or becomes a demonstration. | Do not act before understanding the method. |
| High Priestess + Empress | A retained idea takes shape, finds a voice, or gains a means of dissemination. | The study must lead to a tangible result. |
| High Priestess + Emperor | A document, rule, or skill supports a decision made by an authority. | Check who controls access to the information. |
| High Priestess + Lovers | A decision requires intimate knowledge of the motives and commitments. | The unspoken can distort consent. |
| High Priestess + Devil | Sensitive knowledge, fascination, secrecy linked to an interest or a power relationship. | Refuse blackmail and information obtained without authorization. |
| High Priestess + Moon | Silence encounters imagination, dreams, or a situation that is difficult to read. | Distinguish intuition from projection. |
| High Priestess + World | The study reaches maturity and can be shared or published. | Do not keep completed work indefinitely. |
Correspondences according to the schools
| Guide | Attribution | Historical scope |
|---|---|---|
| Family | Trump or major arcana II | Second numbered trump in the French series. |
| Old Italian name | La Papessa | Figure attested in 15th-century Italian tarot decks. |
| Tarot de Marseille | The High Priestess, book and tiara | Christian image of religious authority and preserved knowledge. |
| French occultism | Beth; science and knowledge | Attribution found in Papus and Wirth. |
| Golden Dawn | Gimel and the Moon | Distinct system from the French Beth-High Priestess sequence. |
| Waite-Smith | High Priestess, J and B columns, scroll, crescent moon | Initiatory iconography created at the beginning of the 20th century. |
| Element | No universal element | Water appears in editorial frameworks but is not a datum of the Tarot de Marseille. |
| Stone, plant, and season | No stable historical attribution | These associations depend on recent authors and will not be presented as a shared legacy. |
| Reading keywords | Knowledge, study, reserve, secrecy, patience, memory | The card prepares, preserves, and verifies. |
| Shadow aspect | Harmful silence, waiting, superficial knowledge, pretension | The book may remain closed or be misunderstood. |
Reference sources and texts
Morgan Library, Visconti-Sforza Tarot, The Popess ; S. L. MacGregor Mathers, The Tarot, 1888 ; Papus, Le Tarot des Bohémiens, 1889 ; Oswald Wirth, Le Tarot des imagiers du Moyen Âge, 1927 ; Arthur Edward Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1911.
