Nebet-Het: The High Priestess

Nebet-Het, known to the Greeks as Nephthys, was the sister of Aset and a goddess of childbirth and funerary rites. Although she is sometimes referred to as the “Lady of the House”, her proper title is “Lady of the Temple Enclosure.” She was often represented as the pylon (grand entrance) to the temple.

Nebet-Het is represented on the High Priestess card wearing her traditional headdress—a house with a basket on top. The basket represents the Kemetic version of the cornucopia (the so-called “horn of plenty”), overflowing with the bounty of the land. On her headdress sits the bennu bird, a sacred form of Amun-Ra which she is bound to protect.

Though her magic is not as strong as her sister Aset’s, Nebet-Het is a powerful magician in her own right. The magical amulets on her card represent her healing and protective powers. On the High Priestess card, Nebet-Het stands in the temple, preparing to perform ceremonial magic over a golden bowl filled with water.

Themes

The themes of the High Priestess card are arcane knowledge and the subconscious mind: intuition, hidden wisdom, subconscious thoughts, dreams, and creativity. The feminine aspects of the card are Nebet-Het’s sensuality, fertility, and her manifestation of the divine feminine. Nebet-Het’s position as the ultimate High Priestess endows the card with additional sacred meanings of spiritual authority, protector of sacred totems, and nourishment of the physical and spiritual forms.