Pillars in tarot
Two pillars stood at the entrance of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, named Boaz and Jachin in the Book of Kings, and Freemasonry made them a central emblem of every lodge. The High Priestess sits between them, marked B and J, one black and one white: the threshold between opposites such as light and dark or knowing and not knowing. The Hierophant and Justice are also enthroned between grey pillars, framed as authorities who stand at a gateway. In a reading, pillars mark a boundary to be crossed, and the figure between them is the one who holds the balance.
Cards that show pillars
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The High Priestess
The High Priestess: The black and white pillars
Two pillars flank her, a black one lettered B on the left and a white one lettered J on the right. They are Boaz and Jachin from the porch of Solomon's temple. Their contrast makes the card a threshold between opposites: dark and light, hidden and revealed.
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The Hierophant
The Hierophant: The grey pillars
He sits between two matching grey pillars with carved capitals. Unlike the black and white pillars of the High Priestess, these are alike: his temple is public, ordered and outwardly united. Waite stresses that they are not the pillars of her temple.
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Justice
Justice: The two grey pillars
Justice sits between plain stone columns, as the High Priestess does between her black and white ones. Waite drew attention to the parallel and the difference: these pillars mark the threshold of ordinary moral law, not of hidden mysteries.