The next card The Fool reaches, represents the “denying force” that automatically opposes any active force.
Thus, The Fool’s path gets blocked from the very start.
We are of course talking about “The High Priestess” card, that sits on an entrance between two pillars and does not let The Fool pass between those pillars.
The High Priestess allows passing only if the person acquired an understanding of what is written on the scroll that she’s holding. She grants additional knowledge to the one given by The Magician, but without the understanding of this knowledge, one cannot proceed.
To gain understanding, a man needs two components: knowledge and being. The first component is the knowledge, which The Fool acquired from the Magician along with the knowledge The High Priestess now grants him. The second component – the being, is our ability to apply the knowledge. If the ability exists the person is able to have an experience and apply his knowledge. Together, knowledge and being creating man’s understanding.
The pillars represent the two Pillars of Solomon, which King Solomon placed at the entrance to the Temple and called one “Yachin” and the other “Boaz.” They symbolize the knowledge and the being which create the understanding. Without this understanding, a man cannot understand what is written on the scroll held by The High Priestess and cannot enter the Temple.
On her head is a strange crown which is reminiscent of the crown of the Egyptian goddess “Isis,” which symbolizes the merging of the Moon and the Sun. The merged Moon and the Sun signify the same thing which the hexagram on her chest signifies. Both of them show that combining knowledge with being create understanding.
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