Studying the Cards: Two-- The High Priestess

The interpretation given by my Everything Tarot book states:
When the High Priestess appears, she indicates that something hidden, or interior, is preparing to come forth. Or, that the person needs to pay more attention to his or her inner world of dreams, imagination, and intuition. She calls attention to the need to develop awareness of the totality of the person, the night side, so to speak, as well as the daylight personality and activities.
Usually, the person is ready to accept the importance of developing this part of his or her life, but may have been holding back out of fear or inertia.
Her appearance can indicate that the person is attempting to hide something that needs to be revealed, or it can mean that the person is too much involved in an isolated inner world and needs to reconcile the inner life with the outer one.
Psychologically, the underworld refers to the unconscious, or what is in the process of coming into being. In this twilight realm, of which dreams are a component, we encounter our inner selves through intuition and fantasy. The High Priestess is an image representing our potentials that have yet to be discovered and brought forth--our secret selves longing to be recognized.

For a reading:
You are experiencing a high degree of awareness of what I call "the invisible world," where inner change takes place before it manifests in the outer, material world. Your attunement to these inner, invisible sources is acute now, and you are in a position to take advantage of this fact. You may want to remove yourself, literally, from your day-to-day life in order to go deeper into your inner core and tune into your inner voice and spiritual awareness.

Description:
My book describes this card as representing that which has yet to be revealed, secret knowledge, the duality of life on Earth. It's a woman, serene-faced, usually sitting with a book or scroll representing the "Akashic records," telling of our past, present, and future. If standing, she usually has a staff and is pointing into the distance, another indication of something yet to be revealed. My card shows her standing, with a staff, though she is pointing with the same hand that holds the staff. Her other hand is holding something small, It may perhaps be a book but I can't tell. In most decks she is between two pillars, representing the dual opposites of nature (evil and good, truth and deception, light and dark, positive and negative). My High Priestess doesn't have the pillars, though her sash is of black and white ribbons entwining in the front. "The reconciliation of the opposites to those willing to follow the spiritual path of understanding universal law," as my book put it. The book tells that the Waite deck shows this card with a background of pomegranates, hinting at Persephone, who left the daylight to tend to the underworld... much like paying more attention to your inner "underworld" (intuition, imagination, and dreams) even if that means stepping away from your regular life for a while.

Details I've noticed:
On my card, the High Priestess first of all is set in a beautiful blue silk gown with a dark night sky behind her. Those dark, blue, night colors make me think of nighttime, and sleep, which fit perfectly with dreaming, intuition, and imagination. She has wings, so its message is one of the mind. She has elaborate decorations on her hair and face, and a purple pendant necklace. That reminds me again of the dreamingtt, intuition, and imagination; for where else but inside your mind do you find women accessorized so? She has some gray in her hair though it seems, perhaps alluding to her timeless, age-old wisdom. She holds a staff in one hand, with a magic ball on the end but the vision in the ball is smoky and unclear, as if she holds the key to knowledge not yet revealed. She is pointing downward, but you have to look to see that she is pointing at all, as if she wants to teach you more but you have to WANT to learn in order to pick up on it. She is pointing, which means she sees something or knows something is there, but I can't see it yet because, once more, it has yet to be revealed. Her staff also has an ankh on it, though my book says that a cross symbolizes the four elements and their balance; I agree with that symbolism, though her crystal ball is set into a crescent moon, so the dark side of the moon being more prominent is like, a warning to be cautious in what you choose to reveal at this time.
In her other hand, she is holding something, though I'm not sure what exactly. It might be a book, and if it's the Akashic Records than it's no wonder it's hard to see on the cards; who is every truly ready to see those things, and even if we could see it, how far ahead or behind our own time could we see or even comprehend?
Her sash is black on one side and white on the other, crossing each other directly over her center. It appears to be the meeting of opposites. She is standing on a crescent moon, which I'm sure symbolizes the same as her staff's moon, warning that caution must be taken when revealing something as-yet unknown. There are butterflies all around her on this card, though I'm not sure they represent merely rebirth and renewal this time. I think they also symbolize transformation. Accepting who you are, both past, present, and future, in both your conscious and subconscious states.
She wears a crown with a crescent moon, and a full moon above it.
So, taking what I know, I can say that by looking at my card, the night scene with butterflies means I see something from the inner Self being released or discovered. The sash at her waist tells me that this card is about your inner, "underworld" self meeting and fusing to your outer consciousness. Based on her book, she knows all. She has the knowledge you seek, both inside yourself and out. Because she is pointing, you don't know what she is pointing at, so there is definitely something unknown.
It's all about connecting your subconscious (dreams, intuition, and imagination) with your consciousness. Take control of them, manifest what you want and need in life subconsciously, and stay positive! This is a mental "transformation" stage, with acceptance and inner discovery.

Update:
Today is February 8th, 2014 and I am adding a small update to what I have already studied. I still view this card as representing our inner subconscious, the underworld of dreams, and intuition. This card tells us that something hidden is preparing to come forth, or that it is time for something to be revealed. It reminds us to search inside ourselves, perhaps withdrawing from our physical world to look deeper and listen to our inner voices. It is very much a card of duality between male and female, positive and negative, light and dark, subconscious and conscious, dreaming and waking. In my recent studies I have learned to view the ankh on her staff as a symbol representing eternal life, as well as representing the duality of male and female. This card ensures we remember to take what we learn from our inner selves and apply it to our physical worlds. I have also taken a closer look in her hand and dont believe she is holding anything, though the ribbon that hands off the back of her dress does seem to be hanging from her fingertips. Even if she is not holding anything, she still represents knowledge and understanding. She does indeed hold the key to knowledge and wisdom, and everything I said earlier about her pointing still holds true for me. I believe the crescent moon that is present in three places of this card represents three things: (1) the moon itself represents our inner selves and our subconscious, the underworld, dreams, and intuition as well as the feminine; (2) the waxing crescent represents things coming into being, knowledge being revealed, truths coming to light; (3) the crescent moon represents the dark side of the moon being more prominent, which cautions that you must be careful in what knowledge you choose to illuminate at this time.