The High Priestess as Intentions: To Wait, Watch and Keep Her Own Counsel

Written by Chaya the Medium.

The High Priestess as intentions is a plan she has not told anyone, including you. Here is what I would read in it, upright and reversed.

If you want the short answer, I would read the High Priestess as intentions that are private and unhurried. In an intentions position the card suggests the person means to wait, to watch, to understand before acting, and to keep whatever they decide behind the veil until they are sure. The intention exists. It is not going to be announced, and pressing for it makes the veil thicker.

This is the figure between the pillars with the scroll half hidden. She intends something. She intends to tell you when she is ready, and not before.

The High Priestess upright as intentions

Tina Gong's the High Priestess guide at Labyrinthos associates the upright card with intuition, mystery, the subconscious and hidden knowledge. When the card lands in a position that asks what someone intends toward you, I read those meanings as the shape of their plan rather than as a promise about what they will do. Feelings and intentions are different questions; the High Priestess as feelings covers the first, and this page covers the second. The Major Arcana overview at Biddy Tarot is a useful second reference.

Upright, I read the High Priestess as a person whose intention toward you is being formed quietly: they are paying close attention, they are sensing more than they say, and they intend to act only once they are certain. There is no plan to approach and no plan to withdraw. There is a plan to know.

What I would not read into it is absence of intention. Still water in this card is deep water. The lack of signals is the signal, and it asks for patience.

What the card does not tell you

The card does not confirm the person's intention is romantic, that they will ever act on it, or that waiting will be rewarded. No card lets a reader see another person's plans. What a card can do is describe the kind of intention that fits the person's behaviour, and give you something to check against what they actually do.

The High Priestess reversed as intentions

Reversed, the High Priestess as intentions describes concealment with a cost: a plan to keep something from you that would change things, secrets held for reasons that are not about timing, or a person who has lost touch with their own intentions and cannot tell you what they are because they do not know.

In your own question, ask whether the silence feels like something being concealed, or whether the person seems genuinely out of touch with what they want. A reversed card as intentions is a prompt to compare what is said with what is done, not a diagnosis of bad faith.

The High Priestess as an ex's intentions

Asked about an ex, the High Priestess as intentions can suggest they think about you more than they would admit and have reached private conclusions they are not sharing. Those conclusions can be for or against. The card describes the privacy, not the verdict. My guide to asking a psychic whether an ex will come back explains what a reading can and cannot say about that question.

The High Priestess as a new person's intentions

For someone new, this card describes a quiet, perceptive interest that will not be hurried into a plan. Be genuine and unhurried yourself. Priestesses notice everything, and they notice pressure most.

What their intentions look like in action

Look for attentive stillness: they listen more than they speak, they remember what you said weeks ago, they seem to understand before you have explained. A High Priestess intention is visible in the quality of attention, not in any move.

What to record before drawing again

Keep three short notes: the question you asked, the moments you have felt understood by this person, and how long you can live with an intention that stays behind the veil. The third note is yours.

For comparison, the Magician as intentions and the Queen of Cups as intentions describe different intentions. The the High Priestess card meaning page covers the card in full, and the High Priestess as a person and the High Priestess as a yes or no cover the other questions people most often ask of it. For a personal interpretation, my guide to a love psychic reading online explains how I work, and the three-card tarot listing and customer reviews are worth reading before deciding whether to order.