Free Tarot Readings

 THE  PAPESS

II The Papess

The Female Pope, or High Priestess, is depicted as a wise woman dressed in elaborate robes and heavy crown similar to those  of the Pope. She holds an open book or a scroll in her lap and a veil or curtain is seen to hang behind her. On some examples of this card she is shown sitting between two pillars.

The legend of the Papess seems to have first appeared in Europe around the end of the twelfth century and became increasingly well known from then until it reached its peak of popularity at the time of the Reformation.

According to the story, she was a native of the town of Mainz in Germany who fell in love with an Englishman and, disguised as a boy, travelled with him to Athens and then Rome, studying there under the name Johannes Angelicus.
By reason of her talent and brilliance she eventually rose to the Papal chair, taking the name John VIII. She was believed to have reigned successfully from 854 to 856, between the Popes Leo IV

and Benedict III, but unfortunately became pregnant and died near the Coliseum whilst giving birth to a child during a solemn procession.
This curious tale was without foundation,1 and was probably compounded from half-remembered pagan myth allied to heretical speculation. In the Cathari and other Medieval sects women are known to have been admitted to the highest officiating positions.

In the Tarot sequence the Female Pope is assigned the number two, which symbolises counterpoise, relativity, the dualism of the "pairs of opposites" that develop from the number one, or unity. It represents the interaction of poles which gives rise to manifesta­tion, and in the human sphere signifies man's experience of individual existence, as a separate ego divorced from the world around him. It is the number of time, as opposed to timelessness, creation as opposed to the creator, the reflected light of the moon as opposed to the direct light of the sun.
Following from this, the Female Pope can be seen as a linear descendant of the High Priestesses of antiquity, the embodiment of the lunar goddesses of combination and procreation.

The appearance of the Female Pope in some Tarot packs resembles that of the Egyptian goddess Isis, or the lunar diety Hathor. Hathor was the guide to a secret land—the land of the dead, hence her title Queen of the West. Her protection was invoked on behalf of the dead and the dying. In the great temple of Hathor at Denderah was to be found a shrine dedicated to the dog-star Sothis, or Sirius, and the dog, too, is traditionally a guide to the land of the dead.

Curiously, one of the esoteric titles of the Female Pope is "Priestess of the Silver Star".
It has been said of her that she is "the great feminine force con­trolling the very source of life, gathering into herself all the energising forces and holding them in solution until the time of release."2 Therefore she is depicted sitting between the twin pillars of positive and negative power upon which the universe is founded, absorbing and unifying the opposing energies.
She is the passive link between the physical and spiritual planes; through her, it is said, God can be realised in the heart of man, hence her title "The Indwelling Glory".
As the unspoken words of initiation can only be heard by the

intuition, the Fool's first task is to learn the secret language of the High Priestess so that he might at length read the words in her book of wisdom. The book or scroll she holds in her lap repre­sents the mysteries of the hidden temple of which she is the guardian.

In Qabalistic language she is said to be the Shekhinah, the Indwelling Glory that descends to irradiate the temple when the two pillars are brought into perfect equilibrium; she is the visible reflection of the divine radiance upon which no man can look and live. As such she is the bringer of inspiration and the source of all intuitory knowledge, the channel whereby the divine is made manifest on earth.

Psychologically, she symbolises one of the bridges linking the twin pillars of the conscious and unconscious minds, the inspirer of dreams and visions that reveal the continuance of life beyond conscious boundaries.

The veil behind her hides a door that gives entrance into the inner worlds of the psyche; it allows the conscious mind to pass within and enables the powers of the unconscious to manifest themselves without. Creative inspiration and intuitive revelation are two of the forces which can only flow when the way is open.

To those who are prepared she reveals herself as the Lady of Light who points out the concealed path by the beams of her gentle lunar radiance, and gives freely her patronage and protec­tion. Under this aspect she is Divine Inspiration—Sophia, the Gnostic goddess of wisdom.

The High Priestess can also be seen as one aspect of the feniinine element within man, the Anima. This is a primeval image contained in the masculine unconscious which in no way repre­sents any single woman, yet which will be projected on to several women in the course of a lifetime, endowing them for a space with a magic that can either inspire or lead to destruction.

The negative aspect of this image is revealed when the reality and potency of the feminine element within is unrecognised or misunderstood. In this guise the Goddess of Wisdom becomes the femme fatale; Hecate, Queen of the Dark of the Moon, Lilith, Ruler of Demons, the weaver of illusions who destroys her lovers.