The Papess Art and Meaning
A woman crowned with a high mitre or tiara (her head encircled by a veil), a stole (or a solar cross) upon her breast, and the Book of Science open in her hand. She represents Science, Wisdom, or Knowledge.
About the Deck
A reproduction of an authentic Genovean Tarot exhibited at the Fournier Playing Card Museum.
Provenance
Genova, Italy. 1887
Meaning of The Papess from the Tarot Genoves Tarot Deck
Upright
Science, Wisdom, Knowledge, Education;
Reversed
Conceit, Ignorance, Unskillfulness, Superficial Knowledge.
According to Many Schools of Thought
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
The High Priestess, the Pope Joan, or Female Pontiff; early expositors have sought to term this card the Mother, or Pope's Wife, which is opposed to the symbolism. It is sometimes held to represent the Divine Law and the Gnosis, in which case the Priestess corresponds to the idea of the Shekinah. She is the Secret Tradition and the higher sense of the instituted Mysteries.
S. L. MacGregor Mathers's Divinatory Meanings
Upright
Science, Wisdom, Knowledge, Education
Reversed
Conceit, Ignorance, Unskilfulness, Superficial Knowledge.
Papus's Divinatory Meanings
Female Inquirer.