The Hierophant: Conventional Wisdom
I was surprised by the Roman Catholic symbolism in the Hierophant card, given the Tarot’s association with paganism and the occult (not good things according to the Church). However, it felt oddly comforting to see religious signifiers that I am so familiar with and eased some of the Catholic guilt I’ve been feeling since starting this journey.
I don’t think the Tarot is at odds with Christianity, rather it helps me make connections and find deeper meanings in things that I learnt in Catechism class. To be clear, to me the Tarot is not a religion — it doesn’t offer rules or guidance to living your life or even deities to invoke or pray to. It is simply observations of life and the human condition, with room for the reader to apply their own set of beliefs and religious insights.
5. THE HIEROPHANT
What you see: The card depicts a religious figure sitting between two grey pillars in a temple. He wears three vestments, similar to a pope — blue, white and red, — and three crowns with “W” on top, while holding a triple-cross sceptre in his left hand. His right hand offers a holy blessing, and at his feet lie two intersecting crosses. Before him kneels two priests, one whose robes are covered in red roses, and the other in white lilies.
What it means: The Hierophant was a priest in ancient Greece and who’s portrayal closely resembles the Pope in Roman Catholicism. Similar to the High Priestess, he sits between two pillars depicting duality but with no veil between them, indicating open knowledge. The papal tiara symbolizes his work to sanctify, teach and lead. The sceptre represents the three realms of the spirit that the Church presides over: the Earth (Church Militant), Purgatory (Church Penitent) and Heaven (Church Triumphant). Red robes connect with the material world, the white robe is purity of thought and the blue is purity of spirit. The keys to the Kingdom of Heaven lay at his feet, and the priests garments symbolize the intersection of passion and thought.
The story: As a character, the Hierophant is the revealer of the exoteric: sacred knowledge that is seen, whereas the High Priestess presides over the unseen, esoteric knowledge. He represents traditional, orthodox teaching. As an event, the card signifies formal study and spiritual guidance that is structured and well documented. As a relationship, it may signify providing mentorship and the sharing of knowledge. As a sign, it is a call to honour traditions and to explore religious heritage and external religion.
As part of the Fool’s Journey: The Hierophant is institutional knowledge; structure and discipline that comes from school and other institutions.
Reversed meaning: Reversed, the card signifies openness to unconventional wisdom, and challenging the status quo and societal rules.
In mythology: In some ways, the Hierophant could be likened to Zeus, Greek God of gods, and of law, order and justice.
Potential insights: The card reminds of the role that organized religion has in our lives, and that there are benefits to traditions, and structured rules and guides. There are two sides to everything including spiritual practices that acknowledge passed-on knowledge and wisdom from others, as well as wisdom from within and discovery guided by intuition.
This may already be pretty obvious to others but I find the Tarot keeps coming back to balance and the unity of yin and yang. Where the first five cards seem to be powerful, positive cards, I can’t wait to get to the cards with negative characteristics: imbalance, darkness and chaos.
My research sources:
A Complete Guide to the Tarot, Eden Gray, 1970
Tarot Card Meanings, Biddy Tarot
Labyrinthos.com
Deck: The Rider-Waite Tarot Deck®
