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.The High Priestess is the feminine Chokmah,personified in proverbs as a woman, passive in her relation to Kether.Literally, her name means The Superior Feminine Elder, or the archetypal feminine principle.She is what Hindus call Prakriti, the inferior nature of the Supreme Spirit.Yet she is one inessence with the superior nature, Purusha, from which she proceeds.The Emerald Table ofHermes says the same thing, As above, so below; and the bearing of this upon Qabalisticdoctrine in the Tarot is the fact that the Sepher Yetzirah attributes to Beth (The Magician) thedirection Above, and to Gimel (the High Priestess) the direction Below. She is Eve, beforeher union with Adam; and she also wears the horned crown and blue robe of Isis.The color ofher vestments likewise connects her with the Virgin Mary, and the moon at her feet suggests thegoddess Artemis, or Diana, also a virgin.In more than sex is she the antithesis of the Magician.His mantle represents Fire and Light; hergarments, in both color and line, remind us of Cold and Moisture.The Magician stands; but shesits on a cubic stone, a symbol of Salt, which crystallizes in perfect cubes, and a reminder of thesaltness of that mystic Sea which is associated with the name of Mary.The Magician is out-of-doors; but the High Priestess sits in a temple.He is the objective aspect of consciousness, theCognizer of the universe and its laws; she is the subjective aspect, reflecting what he perceives,and recording it upon the scroll of the Memory of Nature.That scroll is inscribed with the wordTORA, the four letters of which, arranged in certain ways, afford a clue to the whole mystery ofthe Tarot.As written on the scroll, they are the phonetic equivalent of the Hebrew Torah, theLaw.The pillars are those of Solomon and Hermes.Opposite in color, but alike in form, theyrepresent Affirmation ( J or Jachin) and Negation ( B or Boaz).For strength (Boaz) is rootedin resistance, or inertia - the negation of the Establishing Principle (Jachin) of all things.TheHigh Priestess sits between the pillars, because she is the equilibrating principle between the Yes and the No, the initiative and the resistance, the Light and the Darkness.From the pillars hangs a veil, embroidered with palms and pomegranates.The palms aremasculine emblems, and the pomegranates are feminine.The latter are so disposed upon theveil, that, although but seven can be seen, three more would be shown were not the HighPriestess in the way.The basis of this design is the Qabalistic Tree of Life. Qabalists willnotice that the crown of the High Priestess has its horns in Chokmah ,and Binah, and its orb inDaath (Knowledge).The lower point of the solar cross on her breast touches Tiphareth; and herseat, the Cubic Stone of Salt and of the Material Universe, is in Yesod, the Foundation, andMalkuth, the Kingdom.Lack of space forbids a more extended explanation of this arrangement;but the keys to it are already in the possession of readers who have mastered the elements of the23 preceding chapters, and it will be even more intelligible as we proceed with the interpretation ofthe other major trumps.Such is an outline of the significance of the first triad.Let the student ponder upon it, andamplify it for himself.To each person some aspects of the doctrine of the Tarot are moreobvious than others.Yet they are all related, and he who masters these first principles may besure that, in due time, he will find them leading him to other, and higher aspects of that OneTruth that is back of them all.24 Introduction to the Study of TarotCHAPTER VIArrange the major trumps from 0 to 5 as follows:13 25 4The Empress will then be in Binah, the Emperor in Chesed, and the Hierophant in Geburah, onthe Tree of Life.As final Heh of the archetypal world, the Empress is a synthesis of 0, 1, and 2.Her yellow hair, bound by a green wreath, repeats the symbolism of the Fool; her uplifted sceptreresembles the Magician s wand; and, like the High Priestess, she is a woman, seated on a cubicstone.As Yod of Heh, she is both the reflection and the antithesis of the Fool.He is a youth,standing on a barren height: she is a matron, sitting in the midst of a fertile valley.She is Binah, Understanding, the Sanctifying Intelligence, termed the foundation of PrimordialWisdom, because Divine Wisdom proceeds from that perfect understanding of Itself and of Itspower through which Spirit purifies and completes all its creations.This purifying power isassociated with Water (represented by a stream and pool in the background of the picture), andBinah, as the root of Water, corresponds to the Great Sea Prakriti, Aphrodite, Mare Mary.She is also the Salt which is the active principle of that Sea.In Chapter IV I have shown how the word BINH, through its number, 67, which reduces to 13,symbolizes the apparent self-division of Spirit
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