Meaning and interpretation Papesse / High Priestess

The sumptuous Visconti-Sforza tarot, created around 1450 for the Duke and Duchess of Milan, may hide a family secret. Some historians think that the High Priestess of this deck represents Maifreda da Pirovano, a relative of the Visconti burned for heresy in 1300.

The story of Guglielma and Maifreda

It all begins in the 1260s with the arrival in Milan of a mysterious woman named Guglielma. Accompanied by a young son, she presents herself as a widow, but no one knows her origins. After her death in 1282, her tomb becomes a pilgrimage site where miracles occur.

Sister Maifreda, member of the religious order of the Umiliati and cousin of the Visconti family, then develops a bold belief. With priest Andrea Saramita, she proclaims that Guglielma was the feminine incarnation of the Holy Spirit. This revolutionary idea foresees that a woman could lead the Church.

In 1300, the Inquisition intervenes. Maifreda and her accomplices are burned alive. Ten years later, when the Church investigates the Visconti family for heresy, it carefully recalls that the famous heretic Maifreda was indeed a cousin of this powerful lineage.

A questionable identification

Historian Gertrude Moakley first proposed this identification between the Visconti-Sforza High Priestess and Maifreda. Her main argument: the card's costume would resemble the habit of the Umiliati. However, careful examination reveals that the High Priestess actually wears the brown habit of the Franciscan Poor Clares, with its characteristic knotted cord, and not the simple white habit of the Umiliati.

This difference opens another fascinating hypothesis. A legend had circulated in Lombardy since the early 14th century: Guglielma would actually be Vilemina, daughter of the king and queen of Bohemia. Now, the real Vilemina had a younger sister who became Saint Agnes after founding an order of Poor Clares in Prague with the help of Saint Clare of Assisi.

Did the Duchess of Milan know this legend? Representing Saint Agnes rather than the heretic Maifreda would have allowed discreetly honoring Guglielma's memory while avoiding any reproach of heresy. This hypothesis remains appealing, even if it remains unverifiable.

Jean Noblet represents the High Priestess with her tiara cut off, indeed we only see 2 of the 3 crowns of the headdress. Previous versions all showed the tiara in its entirety. There is therefore a clear intention by Jean Noblet to signify a message through this particularity. We have two options:

• Either the wisdom of the High Priestess is so immeasurable that her tiara exceeds the limits of the card.
• Or the tiara of the High Priestess is truncated, because the wisdom of the High Priestess is itself truncated, incomplete.

Because the previous card, the Magician himself has a truncated table with 3 legs out of 4. I think that Noblet's message here is to signify that the knowledge of the High Priestess is incomplete. And that is precisely why she has an open book before her eyes: to learn. Thus Noblet's High Priestess, who does not have her key, and who therefore no longer has her full power over the kingdom of men, is a symbol of searching for truth and inner knowledge, not to say spiritual. Just like the Magician, the High Priestess is becoming.

Jean Dodal has exactly the same approach as Noblet, because he also truncates the High Priestess's tiara. There was a shared intention between the two master craftsman, or even a common vision of the entire corporation, to show the High Priestess as an incomplete character. However Jean Dodal adds an unexpected detail: a beauty mark (or a 'Beauty spot') on the cheek. Noblet and Dodal were not afraid, they both had a freedom of thought and expression of their opinion, quite remarkable for the time. The High Priestess with a beauty mark reminds us that the character remains nonetheless a woman, who can be beautiful and even seductive. We can love her for that too. A spiritual woman is probably not an unreachable woman, a woman without desire, or an immaculate woman.

Another very interesting aspect of Dodal's version, he calls the card "La pances", which could be translated as:

• "thought", meaning that the card focuses on learning knowledge or philosophy (as articulation of thought).
• "the belly", meaning that the woman is pregnant or that she is digesting (what she reads).

Personally, I think it is more about the first option, unless the master craftsman wanted to play on both words.

Subsequently, we will notice that the message of these master craftsman is lost. Indeed the popular Conver tarot of 1762 shows a complete high priestess with the 3 visible crowns of her tiara. Then on the Grimaud tarot engraved by Paul Marteau in 1930, you can notice (image from the introduction) that the High Priestess has her tiara overflowing onto the upper cartouche. This detail probably wants to signify that the High Priestess has superhuman or divine wisdom or power. We understand well that the initial message is totally distorted.

The tarot of Besançon is a tarot derived from the Marseille that appeared in eastern France. It is quite early in the history of French tradition tarot that the cards of the High Priestess and the Pope were replaced by less "blasphemous" characters because the figure of the Pope offended Protestants, and the figure of the High Priestess was offensive to Catholics.

Juno is the most important Roman goddess. She is queen of the gods, protector of women and symbol of marriage. Needless to say that with this figure, the second trump had lost all its initial meaning.

Bruno de Nys' tarot is a modern Marseille Tarot, revised and completed. Some details like the keys, the tiara, the relatively masculine face of the character are not to my preference. However, I find the setting very interesting. Seeing the high priestess framed by two columns, almost secluded in her library, perfectly emphasizes the inner search dimension of the card. The sun rays that pass through the two skylights to illuminate the face, evoke the idea that the outer dimension and concrete experience of life comes to illuminate and develop our wisdom, our inner life.

I like in this card the evocation of the dichotomy in which women live: They must remain beautiful and seductive, while they remain serious and professional at work, while they are devoted to taking care of their children, while they manage their home and take care of house maintenance. The High Priestess parading before men's eyes can evoke this paradox of the modern Western woman. The character's body hair can also show her freedom of thought and action as an eminently spiritual woman. But it must be said that this aspect is common to all female characters in this tarot, so in the end the "right to body hair" is perhaps emptied of its meaning here.

With the Mad House tarot, we perhaps have a less provocative approach than the Exotic Cancer Tarot regarding the evocation of the femininity of the most spiritual character in the tarot. Here, the High Priestess reveals her nudity sparingly. She shows a voluptuous body far from the skeletal canons of beauty (which fortunately are now being questioned). This body is perhaps that of a pregnant woman, recalling the notion of gestation inherent in this card. The woman only reveals herself partially, denoting both true modesty (without provocation) and also mystery, the unknown remaining to be discovered and elucidated. Because to journey toward truth and inner knowledge, one must see oneself as one is, naked as on the first day.

I like the character's multiple eyes, emphasizing the lucidity and vision one must acquire. Seeking to see better, all aspects of the world and everywhere. However, it should be noted that these multiple eyes are characteristic of all characters in this tarot, not just this card. Too bad.

The High Priestess taking her bath in relatively opaque water, brings me back to the idea of a character diving into the mystery and depths of her being. This practically unfathomable water can evoke the character's unconscious, her emotional interiority, since it is the Water element of course. In her introspection, the High Priestess undoubtedly evokes, through the search for self-knowledge, the development of her emotions. And at the end of the Fool's journey, particularly with the cards of The Tower, The Star and The Moon, emotional intelligence is paramount.

Perhaps more directly and clearly than the Tarot Del Fuego does with its multiple eyes, the eye on the High Priestess's forehead symbolizes the 3rd eye. This eye speaks of the awareness process, of self-knowledge. Even if this symbol comes from Eastern cultures, far from the Judeo-Christian tradition of the Marseille Tarot, it is still very relevant to carry the fundamental aspects of the High Priestess.

As soon as we talk about interiority, people quickly make the association with the Moon. Which makes sense of course. But the lunar star is a symbol that is certainly powerful, but also catch-all, used for everything. I am not convinced of its use through the High Priestess card, for several reasons.

First, if the High Priestess becomes a lunar card. What becomes of the Moon card? What will be its scope, its symbolic dimension? In the use of a divinatory tool, it is important that the interpretation domains of the cards do not overlap. Indeed, we must avoid expressing the same symbolic aspects through cards that are nevertheless different, at the risk of providing nebulous interpretations. An essential aspect of learning tarot is being able to isolate the meaning of each card in a unique way. This approach allows gaining precision and clarity, even if I admit, it is demanding. Waite cheerfully mixes symbols of very different origins, the whole forming a cloud of truths conveying no clear, precise and synthetic message.

The High Priestess is above all a card of introspection, research, gestation. She is a character listening to her feelings, which is different from intuition. The High Priestess knows how to read between the lines of the text before her eyes. But here we are talking about lucidity based on intellectual understanding, reasoning. Intuition is immediate knowledge that goes beyond logic and reason. Intuition is a talent that is developed much later during the Fool's journey, at the time of the Moon stage precisely. Dodal names this card "la pances" probably meaning "thought". So it is indeed intellectual capacities that are evoked here.

Finally the Torah is a book of transmission, teaching, law, revelation. The High Priestess's book is "Her" book, it contains her own identity, which she must become aware of. The stakes are not the same. Even if I must admit that it is quite possible that the High Priestess also learns the rules of the world around her and in which she is preparing to journey. This book could also be a book of laws.