One possibility is that she is a nun, perhaps with papal regalia added to reinforce her importance as the third card of the first triad. One does not need to be born into a wealthy family to join a religious order and become a nun. It is thus plausible to see this life as an alternative to that of the Fool and Juggler. What the choice permits is some degree of retreat from purely physical concerns. Nuns, of course, do not lead a life of leisure.
Chores are a large part of the regimen in most orders.
The nun is not beyond the demands of physical world, but she has a way to put it in perspective, to balance the dishonorable passivity of the Fool and the dishonorable manipulation of the Juggler. The result is an honorable type of engagement in the physical world, and one that can ultimately lead to higher things, if one so chooses. If the religious order is dedicated to service, the nun can enter into the social world, where individual material needs take a back seat to relationships and community. In so doing, she points the way to the next triad of cards, which represent the problem of defining one's role within the human social structure. For a more psychological slant on the Papess from within the triadic system, see Pope and Papess .