The House of Hierophant Spread

Glass Owl

(This spread is from an article by Elizabeth Hazel titled "Chiron as Hierophant" found at ATA Quarterly. I have moved a few sentences around and removed a sentence or two. It is basically a version of the 12 houses of the zodiac spreads out there.)

This spread was inspired by the Mythic Tarot, and honors the mathematical and astrological skills of Chiron. Use the Mythic Tarot if you have this deck.

The House of the Hierophant spread is useful when the querent is experiencing struggles in expressing their spiritual nature, or if past wounds are causing problems in the present.

Begin by removing The Hierophant (Chiron) card from the deck. This leaves seventy-seven cards in the deck. Shuffle the deck, and deal seven cards in a row, left to right. Continue to deal the remainder of the deck into these seven piles. When finished, there will be seven piles with eleven cards in each pile.

Take the seventh pile and discard the other piles. In numerology, the numbers
Seven and Eleven are associated with tests of mastery and spiritual growth.

Add the Hierophant card to the seventh pile, and shuffle. When the pile has been thoroughly mixed, spread the cards face-up into a 12-house arrangement.

(Glass Owl's note: There is no diagram of the 12 house arrangement that she is using but I'm guessing that it may be like the one below.

******10******
***11****09***
*12********08*
01**********07
*02********06*
***03****05***
******04******

Note the house position where the Hierophant card appears. This position indicates the area of life where past wounds require healing and spiritual solace:

First House - The ego, persona or physical body
Second House – Self worth, ability to earn sufficiently and retain personal property
Third House – Siblings, ability to communicate and transmit plans and needs
Fourth House – Family relationships, life or death issues, the home
Fifth House – Love affairs, children, creative abilities, and inspiration
Sixth House – The work environment, co-workers, over-all health conditions
Seventh House – Relationships, marriage, business partnerships, legal agreements
Eighth House – Shared wealth, family structure, the cohesive fabric of life
Ninth House – Higher education, religious and spiritual views, long-term plans
Tenth House – Career direction and life path; authority figures
Eleventh House – Results of effort, hopes for future, friends and associates
Twelfth House – Hidden karma, family obligations, ability to find pleasure in life

Compare the Hierophant’s house location to houses in the same axis. The other 3 cards in the Hierophant’s axis show elements of the struggle to heal and transform.

If the Hierophant appears in an angular house (1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th), the challenge will focus on initiating new circumstances for one’s life, and the management of family and personal relationships.

If it falls into a succedent house (2nd, 5th, 8th, and 11th), the lessons will center on learning to establish and maintain various areas of life, while having a realistic notion of when to release the obsolete.

If the Hierophant is placed in a cadent house (3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th), the lesson of Chiron will focus on adjusting to internal and external changes, developing personal beliefs, and applying the wisdom and compassion learned through one’s wounds.

Compare the Hierophant to the other three cards in this axis. The card that sits in the house opposite of the Hierophant indicates what must be faced by examining the wound at the root of the conflict. The two other cards in the axis show the resources of higher awareness that facilitate the type of healing that must take place. These means should be rising within the querent’s consciousness – there might be a longing for the kinds of solutions suggested by these cards.

Continue by analyzing the elemental house relationships. This three-card group will delineate skills the querent already possesses that will aid in the healing process, and these skills may be shared with others.

If the Hierophant appears in one of the Fire houses (1st, 5th and 9th) wounds caused by painful separation may have produced new techniques for relating to others, a deeper perspective of human nature, educational excellence and artistic skills. The ability to learn will take the querent beyond the constraints of their wound.

If the Hierophant appears in an Earth house (2nd, 6th, and 10th) the querent has suffered from wounded sensibilities and a loss of self-worth. The cards in this trio will show if the querent has developed good common sense, and the ability to manage resources, time and energy. The querent will need to feel respected in their area of authority, and should be working hard toward their goals. Their achievements may provide a source of stability and protection for others.

In an Air house (3rd, 7th, and 11th) the querent’s wounds may have restricted their outlets for expression, or their willingness to confide their hopes to others. Their coping skills may include alternate forms of communication, and the capacity to work toward larger goals through successive small steps. They may be able to increase the understanding and awareness of their specialty area, and share this broadened perspective with others.

The Water houses (4th, 8th, and 12th) are in some ways the most difficult of houses, yet should the Hierophant appear in one of these houses, the compensatory gifts may be the most spiritual and easily shared with others. These are the houses that signify wounded emotions, primarily through family sorrows, but the bigger issue may involve karmic debts from prior incarnations. These houses share the universal experiences of birth, death, and wrenching transitions. The skills developed will include intuitive abilities, and a heightened sense of compassion and comforting. The greatest healing for these individuals is to be able to learn to love again, without bitterness or hard-heartedness.
 

The Hanged Man

What an interesting and well thought out spread this is. I'll try this one out tomorrow, and let you know how I felt about it. Thankyou for sharing. :)
 

vernissage

Saved. :)
 

hopena

Thank you for sharing

I received the Mythic, last week. I'll try this later on. :)
 

blackroseivy

I'm not a big spread person; but THIS one looks to be exremely worthwhile, & worth the effort. Gonna copy it... :D
 

Virgo26

Enlightening spread - just tried it and can say it was pretty spot on with the issues that need to be addressed!
 

slsimms

How long will this spread be relevant to the circumstances in your life?

This was a very useful spread made even more useful by the information given of what to look for when the Hierophant falls into a specific house.

I'm not usually a fan of large spreads but as the cards came out (4th Hierophant; 1st The Lovers; 7th 2 of Cups; and 10th The World) it became more evident that things were working to clean out my understanding of romantic love relationships/commitment.

Can anyone say how long this spread will be relevant?

That is, I have a birthday coming up next month and I feel this might extend into my next birth year cycle.