Actually, this is one of the most complicated cards at times, when I get too stuck in my head trying to logic everything out. The Magician is easy to understand, but The High Priestess is almost maddening more often than not. It doesn't help that often society at large places almost no importance in intuitive wisdom. So it's often also difficult to learn to trust your own instincts.
The wisdom of The High Priestess is the kind you can't simply learn in a classroom or from a book. It's the intuitive wisdom gained from experiencing something and can't be properly quantified in any amount of words. It's more like music than just a little bit, at least as I understand things. And I have many, many thoughts and feelings about music.
Have you ever tried explaining the pure magic of some music to someone, because you simply can't stop looping for hours at a time? Only to never get the right words to the point of rambling? Because the truth is that it's all like trying to measure the span of the waves on a beach with popsicle sticks. You'll never truly be able to do it.
The High Priestess is an emphasis on feeling to understand something. Even The Magician isn't just books and studying alone, but The High Priestess dives all in with feeling over intellectualizing the experience. It's the trying to quantify the whole reality of the wisdom into defined and fixed terms that gets you stuck. It just ain't gonna happen, pal. At some point, you kinda have to accept that concrete empirical evidence isn't everything, even if you don't believe in spiritual or religious things. Emotions can't be understood intellectually alone, either, or a person's will.
Our Magician is the kind of person who can pick up and master any instrument with enough dedication and practice. He can use his studies and training to compose new, and quite enchanting music that will blow others out of the water. He knows all the things you're expected to as a musician, and then some. There's never a time he doesn't weave magic into the heart of a song, and it's what puts him in a class of his own.
But our High Priestess understands the music at a deeper, far more emotional level. If The Magician is the one who mostly follows the established rules of composition, she's the one who creates more out of what feels right, even if it breaks nearly every long-established rule in the book. And it's very likely that even she can't even totally explain how she does it. She just does, and it's exactly that simple in her mind.
Just as the Fool learns the power of concentration and will from the Magician, they must also learn from his sister, the High Priestess, in her temple to the moon. It is through her that they must learn the mysterious workings of their own subconscious. While the Magician provides the resources to manifest, the High Priestess bestows the potential, the fertile grounds in which creativity springs forth.
Despite your grasp on the real and tangible, the Fates remind you that there is more to the world than what is seen. The High Priestess, as she travels between the worlds of awareness and subconscious, gains the divine and mysterious wisdom of the world beyond.
Do you find yourself at a loss for answers, and unsure where to proceed? The answers you see may be within yourself already, waiting to be discovered when you gain the desire and skill to look. You must learn to trust your intuition in how it guides you. As the Magician reminds you of your resources, his sister compels you first look inward to seek them out.
The High Priestess has a plea for you. Make sure you devote enough time and attention to be still and look within. Your internal world is one untouched by the half truths of the physical. There are no secrets here. It is safe to think here. Do not give in to the paranoia of potential secrets, and instead keep open and honest expression with both yourself and the people around you.
💜 Sun square/conjunct/opposite/inconjunct (quincunx) Pluto. Inconjunctions should be maximum 2/3 degrees. If I see this in a natal chart it would indicate to me that the native has had issues with their father or figures with authority in general. Could also be men in their family. I have also noticed the fathers side of the family were absent, early on they could have been separated. The separation could be due to many threats. If not cultivated well, this aspect is common amongst serial killers and people notorious for being bullies.
💙 Moon square/conjunct/opposite/inconjunct (quincunx) Pluto. Inconjunctions should be maximum 2/3 degrees. Now this would indicate a person who has issues with the mother figure in their family. This could also indicate issues with the women figures in their life. These people are also very distant with their mother’s side of the family. Like harsh Pluto and Sun, they were separated early on. Which again potentially could’ve been due to threats to their safety in general. If not cultivated well, this can lead to mental health issues, especially those relating to Pluto. Dark obsessions and desires etc.
💜 Having square placements to personal planets, this alone is very hard to deal with as there is strong friction no matter which side you look at. These people need to work on the aspect and appropriately release the energy, depending on the house, sign, and degree.
💙 Pluto in 12th. These individuals harbour a lot of their trauma in the subconscious. They have probably also seen some crazy things in the spirit world. It’s like they attract that sort of attention without really meaning to aswell. These individuals may also have very disturbing dreams and sleep paralysis.
💜 Saturn/Uranus/Chiron in 11th. This is a constant cycle of feeling alienated from society. These people may feel like they never found their group of friends. They crave for a home they’ve never had. These are also the type of people who have had friends make secret group chats behind their back and never include them. Just because Uranus is at home here, doesn’t make it any easier. This is also true if these placements are in Aquarius.
💙 Harsh Venus and Saturn aspect (square, opposition, inconjunction). Or Venus in Capricorn/aquarius. These people were made to feel unworthy of love and care when they were younger. There’s a constant battle between loving oneself and self destructive behaviours. There is an imbalance with their feminine side, due to masculine/ figures of authority, making them feel like they weren’t good enough.
💜 Harsh Moon and Venus aspects (square, opposition, inconjunction). Again made to feel like they weren’t pretty enough and probably dealt with a lot of toxicity from maternal figures. There is also an imbalance with their feminine side due to issues with women, and maternal figures. These people also a lot of the times refuse to acknowledge their emotions and bottle things up a lot.
💙 Having inconjunctions/quincunx aspects. They need to be at a maximum 2/3 degree orb. This is similar to opposition. But the difference here is that two signs that have no similarity are making a harsh aspect. There’s bound to be heat and constant internal conflict. This one is about learning to balance the scale of energies from both areas.
💜 8th house placements. These people are constantly undergoing transformations in their life. They can easily leave everyone on delivered for months and when they return, they are no longer the same person. Then the cycle repeats. There’s a lot of trauma in these people’s lives, and a lot of it comes from family. But they’re also naturally talented when it comes to things like the occult. This aspect is powerful for astrologers as it gives the native the talent to deeply study and observe people for long periods of time. This also includes psychology.
💙 Saturn opposite/square/inconjunct Pluto. Again inconjunctions should be maximum 2/3 degrees to be truly felt. This is more of a generational aspect (may reflect the society more so). These individuals dad could carry some sort of deep trauma. This is a pretty heavy energy so will require a lot of work for the generation that has this. In addition, the themes of the abuse they dealt with surround feeling restricted from expressing oneself in regards to what Pluto represents. They seem like the sheep or the scape goat of the family. Also if they have siblings that don’t have a similar aspect, if they make a mistake, the punishment they receive can be harsher than if their sibling was to make the same mistake. Their dad/ authority figures in their family can also be/ may have been involved in the dark side of structured systems and have a lot of experience and knowledge regarding the world from that.
May 7th, I've got a new poem coming out in Uncanny magazine! It's called "The High Priestess Writes a Love Letter to The Magician." I'm super excited for y'all to read it. Will post when it's out!
The High Priestess is the card of intuition, mystery, and inner knowledge. This card teaches what is hidden and shows the ability to travel the realms of the mind. When reversed, the high priestess indicates superficiality and confusion.