78 Weeks: Pope / Hierophant

[Wendywu]

Ironwing - Tradition

This card was tremendously reassuring to me the first time I saw it. In most decks the Hierophant is a slightly forbidding looking man. Occasionally I have seen examples that have put me right off the very idea of the Hierophant. This ran counter to my personal experience and was confusing for me. I came to tarot from a background of GD ceremonial magic. The living, breathing hierophants I met there were without exception warm, well meaning leaders who in addition to their other responsibilities undertook instruction of the lower grades. I admired, looked up to and liked these people (male and female). Then I came across the more or less standard tarot hierophant whose images were so very different to my experience.

Thus I was relieved and delighted to meet Ironwing’s Tradition. As I see the card it starts with the vast Cloud of Unknowing that is the night sky with all its stars. There is a doorway and a figure standing, tentatively peering through. Oddly, if you go through the doorway, the darkness clears and becomes light so that one walks into the Light. Above the doorway is a fascinating figure. This is the Sheela-na-nig of Irish and English medieval churches. But more than that, the Sheela-na-nig actually has a smaller, more precisely formed Sheela set in as her head. I thought about that for quite some time.

The Sheela-na-nig herself has had many interpretations down the centuries. In connection with this card I see her as Tradition pointing out that if you do go through her doorway and thus into the Light, be aware that every single facet of yourself will and must come under scrutiny. After all, if you are being invited to learn, the first thing to establish is not what you know but in which areas you are lacking. Given the journey we are on in life it seems reasonable to suppose that Tradition wishes us to learn about ourselves, how we relate to others and to Spirit and also to realise that when it comes to ourselves, we all wear blinkers, and it is time to take them off and expose ourselves.

The Sheela-na-nig exposes her genitalia – her deepest, most inner self, and she stands above the doorway that leads to the Light. One suggested meaning for the Sheela is that she is the doorway between this world and the next – that is one of my favourite explanations and makes a great deal of sense.

I daresay the rings arching around the doorway are not intended to be seen as I see them but this is my interpretation of the card…… and I see them as elevator indicators. Or something very like that. It’s quite simple – you can learn a subject at many different levels – this set of indicators is for me to choose from. I stand in the doorway and I am scared, very scared. The Sheela-na-gig (who feels like an expression of the Goddess in my heart) opens her arms in loving welcome and explains that there are many levels of knowledge of any subject (including myself) and it is up to me how far/deep I wish to go. I choose. Nothing will be forced on me. This is not school where I must sit tests. Here, I am in charge and whether I progress or not is entirely up to me. Help will be provided if requested, although it may come from unlikely sources.

In the far night sky a single sun burns with intense heat. It is the beacon to which I will try and aim – as deep and far as I can possibly go. But, as I said, I am frightened. Part of me is downright terrified and looks back to the security and safety provided by Anvil and Forge. Anvil gave me shape and form, rules regulations and a code to live by. But – I was a child then and now it’s time to start growing up. Tradition teaches me that the best rules are those I make for myself. The best choices are those where I understand the options, and the best lessons those that I learn with most difficulty. That fearful part of me can be seen quite plainly – staring back down the path, looking backwards to the safety, security and perpetual childhood of life with Forge and Anvil.

Running alongside the path that leads to the doorway are other highways. They look exciting – they are multicoloured and bank smoothly round curves. They are very inviting; they seem to be going in the right direction but they look like a whole lot more fun (and are a darn sight less scary) than the Sheela-na-nig. There is a drawback with them though…… they don’t actually go anywhere at all. At the end of those roads thee are hands held up as if to say “Stop!! No further!!” If you’re very determined you can keep going to the next hand, and the next but eventually you reach the one you simply can’t push past. At that point you’ll either say “Oh shit” and give up, or you have to slog all the way back, climb off the side road (and for heaven’s sakes don’t get onto the other side road) and finally reach the doorway.

One other thought about the side roads is that the hands themselves could be seen as doorways of a kind. But you will see that they diminish in size as you go further along the road. This means that to fit through and “progress” still further, you’d have to get smaller. I tend to think of this as becoming more and more small minded. It fits very well with the negative aspects of Tradition as becoming hidebound, small-minded and gradually losing the open mindedness that is the hallmark of a brilliant teacher.

The wonderful thing about having been on the sideroads and finally reaching the doorway is that there are no penalties for latecomers! Everyone is made welcome and everyone has a right to be there. No-one will be turned away. How far you progress once you are working your way up/down/through the levels is entirely up to you. No-one will kick you out. But you must try and you must do your share or you simply won’t get anywhere, and then you may well walk away of your own accord. And this paragraph of course, applies to most things in life

I find the figures between the “elevator indicators” interesting. Part of me sees them as clothes-pins, and part as rams looking straight at me. Either way they are of interest. As pins I see that each one would have to be loosened at the same time to set the elevator to the desired level. The concept of working together is one I hadn’t thought of before in connection with this card but it is true. A simple example is this study group – it is without doubt easier to work in a group than alone. Seeing the little figures as rams – well, rams can be stubborn, very determined – and are extremely sure footed. Think of goats, mountain goats leaping from crag to crag. Would they make good pathfinders? I could see that a pathfinder would work with you at your chosen level as a guide. Nice idea.

As I say, this whole card is one of welcome, teaching, initiation, learning, leading and all the previously negative thoughts I had about this card have been dispelled, and for that I am immensely grateful to Ironwing.

 

[zan_chan]

Haindl- Hierophant

What is a Hierophant? This is the question I asked myself at the start of this week, and have been pondering ever since. "One who shows" or "One who allows to be seen" are answers I've read here or there. But what does that mean, exactly? Shows what? How?

Traditionally, the Hierophant is The Pope, a connection that brings me little more than an image of a small, Dracula-voiced man riding around in a plastic golf cart.

The Hierophant is often described as Tradition. But why, I wonder, does this aways seem to imply religious tradition?

In the Haindl Tarot, the Hierophant card shows us not one, but three people. The first time, in fact the first times, I looked at this card I didn't actually notice that there were three people. I didn't even notice that there was more than one person. The main figure, that of an old man with a long beard, looking very much like the stereotypical expectation one might have of a Jewish Rabbi takes up most of the space of the card. He has a long beard, and the bald head of a man his age. He looks up and away from the other two people, part of what makes the other two so difficult to notice. It seems that if even he himself isn't interested in looking at them, why should I, the reader, be?

The second man, presumably his son, is to his right, and is a thin sliver of a face, also bearded, though the beard is quite a bit shorter, to the far right edge of the card. This man's eyes seem to be nearly closed, though he faces straight to the left of the card, his vision in a different line of sight than his (assumed) father.

At the bottom front of the card, we see the third person, a young boy. We see only the back of his head, curly hair almost blending into the old man's beard. His head seems bowed in a kind of reverence to the old man (much in the same way as the RWS Hierophant's two disciples).

A three-pronged key, each prong containing a hole, seems to float towards the bottom of the old man's beard. Perhaps it is the key to unlock all the acquired knowledge within the older man. Perhaps prong and hole is a representation of the key as the gateway to the creation of life. Whatever it is, a key is most certainly meant as an allowance to a gateway. I get the impression of two mirrors facing one another and creating an endless hall of mirrors. The key opens a door that leads to the same hallway and the same door, forever and ever. You use the Hierophant's key to enter the gateway of knowledge, but this knowledge, like history, is revolving and repeating. The old man allows his son through the door. The son becomes an old man and allows his son through the door. And so on, and so on.

On the upper-left corner of the card we see what looks like the corner of a room, giving the impression that these three people are within a very high ceilinged room. Yet, we can see straight through these walls to the night sky outside, and a bright glowing star. This star seems to also represent knowledge, the mysteries of the cosmos contained in what glowing source of light. It shines so brightly that it comes right through the walls of this room, its rays touching the three people contained within. Perhaps also the star is of similar meaning to the Star card, signifying a sense of hope. The generational nature of this card seems to hope for the continued passing of tradition, and hope that nothing should end this familiar bloodline, or put a stop to the passing down of ancient knowledge and ways of life.

It seems that rather than seeing the old man as the Hierophant passing his information onto his son and grandson that all three of them at once represent the Hierophant. Much in the style of the Christian Holy Trinity, here the father, the son, and the old man, or the spirit, make up what is traditionally the single Hierophant. Where the traditional Hierophant wears a three-tiered hat, here we have three people relating a similar imagery.

This is a difficult card because it seems to bring a lot of baggage with it. When I look at the mournful face of the old man, sharing his tales with his son and grandson, I see the whole history of the Jewish people, not often an easy, or happy, tale to tell, but an important one that needs to always be passed down.

For that reason, the Hierophant strikes me, in a reading, as representing the cyclical. The old man passes what he has learned by living his life to his son, who will grow old and do the same, and so on and so on. This Hierophant seems to express the passing of time, and the instability that is life. As much as you can ever learn, it'll be meaningless in the end unless you share it with others, and allow tradition, your personal tradition, your history, to exist beyond yourself.

 

[Onyx]

The Hierophant, The Pope,

When I think of the Hierophant, I have to reflect on my role in the world. As my Soul Card the Hierophant shows me a lot of where I find my own joy and purpose in life. I see him as the empowering teacher, priest, mentor of the established order.

He is the Magus of the Eternal Gods. He is the one who formally initiates the right connection and blends the spiritual with the practical. He is the one who instructs how to live with the beliefs and act out the beliefs that are used to give the society meaning. As the High Priestess is one who brings the spiritual/emotional break through into the personal psyche. The Hierophant is the one who builds the spiritual community.

Students, Parishioner, followers, all know that there is wisdom and truth that comes from the Hierophant but likewise there can be a hard edge to the force that drives tradition and dogma when it encounters change and innovation. The Hierophant is one who is steeped in the “way things are done.”

Quote of the week:

“One thing is immediately obvious – this is not your Aeon-of-Osiris Pope. The whole card is presented as the shrine of the Hierophant of the Aeon of Horus, this guy has sex appeal.

“Instead of the pale, humorless features of a delicate prelate officiating at some demure worship service, we are thrilled by the bold, confident image of a Babylonian priest-king – an initiator in every sense of the word.” Lon Milo Duquette Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot pg.109.

Initial Impression: Who is the Hierophant? He is the one who initiates us into truth and the greater social structure. He is the one who draws us into secret doctrine and ritual.

Mental: The structure of thoughts that are firmly fixed and enables the education and teaching of those thoughts to others. This indicates an active discipline. Thinking rightly and correctly.

Spirit: The connection with the rituals and worship of the Divine, to be connected within and without. What/Who ushers us into an awareness of the Greater Cause of the Universe. The one who prompts the Great Work.

Emotional: The expression of the emotions through relational/social/religious guidelines. Here the Hierophant illustrates how we find the rites of service that allow us to show or express those emotions. The nervous excitement of the student, initiate or the profound duty and responsibility of the teacher, initiator, and priest.

Physical: Training , repeating, practice. Taking the posture that allows for physical or reflect the mental. The novice and the rookie must strive for perfection and catch up to the level of the established
Soulful: The dual sides of the Great Work – He who teaches and they who learn. This card shows us a great circle. The one who learns becomes the one who teaches. The teacher should ever be the perpetual student – “The more you know.” Finding our place in the process of learning and understanding with teaching and training.

Business: The training, trainer, or advancement from education. Breaking out of an initial phase of learning or a time when a vision must be cast and understanding of the sense of scope must be conveyed and everyone learn their place in the organization.

Relationship: I always want to say marriage because there is a sense that there is a union or bond by a priest’s blessing.

 

[kmartin60]

the "High Priest" (Gothic tarot) deck

I really, really dont like this card! I know the meaning is good, he is a good guy...but...this card just curls my toes......it has the same setting as the "Empress" the archway, columns, coffin etc...but "Nosferatu" seems more like a goblin? type of vampire. Has his thin hands folded neatly over his chest but he seems to be glaring out at us looking at him! You do get the feeling of great power, and wisdom....but to me? Its still a freaky card.

The LWB says:Spiritual wisdom, faithfulness and mercy, traditional values, a reluctance to explore new paths....
(He does seem almost stoic, not prone to experiment, or explore.

Off to explore reasoning for archways! Abundance of those in this deck! Wonder why?

 

[Sinduction]

Vargo's High Priest

I love this card. It says so much without being busy and ornate.

Our High Priest is Nosferatu. He is ancient, part of another time. Think of all he has seen, all he has experienced in the hundreds of years he has been both living and undead. Generations have passed before him and he has watched it all.

Time has ravaged his body and he is no longer totally human. His vampire (ascended) self also has the gift of knowledge that mere mortals do not. The proof of his ascension is his ugliness. I take this to mean that trivial things such as beauty, wealth, status, etc. really don't matter to him. He is above such things. Which also means, these trivial things don't come into play for him. As a leader, elder, whatever.... he can see through these things and get to the real truth. For instance, it isn't "why can't I find a man?" it's "What is it that makes me feel unworthy of love?" That type of distinction that the average mortal is blind to.

He is there to lead us to spirit (undead), even as Jesus says those who believe in me will not die, Nosferatu as the High Priest promises the same thing.

I can see the vampiric nature as a spiritual ascension. The undead the same as eternal life. The human part of him gone as what we can become when we shed the limits of our physical body.

Who was it that said something along the lines of, "We are not human beings have a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience." That is what I get from this card.

But also, because of his age, he is tied to the old ways that he knows. He will not have moved forward with the times because he is no longer a part of us. He is too tied to his own traditions, too tied to the undead part of himself to even try to be human. If you see this card as a priest, they are removed from us. They have taken certain vows to have access to spirit. Most of these vows, by their very design, to keep the priests from becoming too involved in human life in order to keep them closer to spirit.

So our Nosferatu also walks between these two worlds of human and undead. Ready to dispense his wisdom to those who seek it.

That's what I see.

 

[jcwirish]

Golden Tarot (Kat Black) -The Hierophant

Hierophant "One who shows"

This card is quite lovely to look at. The colors are very muted shades of gold, peach and cream. The Hierophant is a large figure in this card and takes up much of the image. He wears a monk-like robe which is tied at the waist with a rope. A cloak is wrapped around is shoulders and is connected together on his chest with a large round medallion. Two skeleton keys hang from this medallion. They represent both the keys to the kingdom of Heaven and the keys of wisdom. The Hierophant is the holder of these keys and shares his wisdom with his followers. On his head is a papal crown bearing a charm which seems to me to show the curved horns related to the sign of Taurus. The marble columns at either side of the Hierophant repeat this symbol with their Taurus glyphs. These columns represent the pillars of the church and a big part of the Hierophant's responsibility is to ensure that these pillars always stand. Of course, the Hierophant is connected to the astrological sign of Taurus, so the artist has made a conscious effort to include this association within the image (Those who fall under the sign of Taurus have been described as "traditionalists who value faithfulness..."). As an earth sign, it is easy to understand why it is that the Hierophant is more concerned with faith in the earthly realm. He brings the faith to the community in the secular world.

In his right hand, the Hierophant holds a long golden staff, very similar to the ones carried by shepherds. It curves at one end into the shape of a double cross. Very often, the Hierophant's staff will display a triple cross to symbolize the trinity, but this one does not. The Hierophant is gazing off to the right and seems to be deep in thought, which reminds me that he is a deeply learned man of high intellect.

Two monks stand on either side of him. One is gazing directly at the Hierophant with his hands in a sign of prayer. He is eager to receive the knowledge held by Hierophant. The other monk stands a little to the back and is gazing downwards, seemingly to be deep in thoughts of his own.

The Hierophant is both a spiritual leader and teacher. His wisdom is rooted in the formal precepts of organized religion. His faith is tied to the oldest traditions and rituals of his church. It is his duty to share the vale of these traditions with his followers so that they will continue to be utilized well into the next generation and on into the unforeseen future. It is vitally important to him that his faith remain strong and that the faithful followers of the church both understand and participate in the traditions and rituals that have been a founding base for the church. It is his desire and responsibility to connect his followers to the spiritual realm by bringing it down to earth for them. He is therefore more directly connected to the exoteric teachings of faith, than the more esoteric spirituality we relate to the High Priestess.

He is a teacher, a keeper of knowledge, and he values structure, conformity, obedience, orthodoxy and discipline. He has worked long and hard to master his faith. He has the authority to speak on God's behalf, and has been blessed with the power to perform sacred rites and sacraments. His word is gospel.

"As above, so below" is a phrase which is used in relation to the Hierophant. Our lives are always entwined with the divine. He is the one who can connect us to God through his teachings. He brings together the above with the below.

As a result of this study, I am more able to appreciate the value of the Hierophant. He lives his life here on earth and tries to bridge the gap between the secular and the sacred of divinity. He offers us a path and a direction which we can follow in order to communicate with God through our traditions and religious beliefs. In reverse, the Hierophant can be dangerous. He can represent an abuse of this power he holds. he can be intolerant and judgemental. He can be arrogant and divisive, and can cause much pain and suffering for those who follow his ways. However, when balanced, he can bring great joy and knowledge to those who choose to attain a spiritual stronghold through his teachings, traditions and words of wisdom. He can bring a group of strangers together in a community of faith, binding then together and building a sense of responsibility and care for one another.

 

[emmsma]

Le Pape: Tarot de Marseille - AGM

I'm not sure what has kept me from my studies this past week, or why I feel it so hard to move forward.

This study is still something I want, but for now, my will to act/ move/to do seems to have vanished. I edge forward and wait for my strength to be replenished.

But now. My Pape.

He is kind, understanding and forgiving. This man of the Church, he is so wise. It seems he holds all the answers behind his gentle eyes. He is willing to share them with me - IF I play by the rules and keep to tradition.

It doesn't matter how long I take to tow the line. He is a patient man, not easily frustrated by the diversions & detours I feel I must make on my way to him.

He will be there when I arrive - to counsel, to guide, to forgive.

 

[UnlikelyPlaces]

5 Soothsayer - Diary of a Broken Soul

[As always, card images available at http://diary.tarotsmith.net/cards/05soothsayer.html]

First impressions:
Bearded man in historic robes – resembles common representations of Jesus – appears to be teaching. He is seated on a pile of skulls all marked with the Hebrew letters seen in the previous cards. Screaming, ghostly figures appear behind him. His right hand is lifted in a sign of blessing; his left forearm is tattooed. An aura of power surrounds him.

Meanings

Aeclectic: Basic Tarot Meaning
Taurus the Earthly bull may seem an odd sign for a holy man, but it makes sense if you understand that the Hierophant's purpose is to bring the spiritual down to Earth. Where the High Priestess between her two pillars deals with realms beyond this Earth, the Hierophant (or High Priest) deals with worldly problems. He is well suited to do this because, like all Taureans, he strives to create harmony and peace in the midst of a crisis. The Hierophant's only problem is that, like the Bull, he can be stubborn and hidebound. At his best, he is wise and soothing, at his worst, he is an unbending traditionalist.

From the artist’s website - what the CREATOR says!
Sometimes our own voice is not the best voice of reason to follow. When that happens we are prone or tempted to turn to the voice of another, assuming it is more informed. I agree at times, we do need to turn our focus outwards and take on board the sayings of those who are more knowledgeable. After all, we have to understand we ourselves, are not the fonts of all knowledge. Yet how do we discern who we should be listening to? How do we know they are talking from the heart with honest intentions? Sometimes we only learn that with the passing of time. That awareness (sometimes painful) can stand us in good stead if faced again with similar energies. For now all I can suggest is this: The true soothsayer will accept we have to be discerning with what we take on and what we discard. The charlatan will try and instil in us the belief we have to take everything they say as being gospel. We have the right to follow our own path. If we are allowed to do so with wise counsel we flourish, thus enhancing our lives. If we are not allowed to do so, or choose to follow the doctrine we are met with it can only lead to a death – the death of our true selves.

Is our soothsayer trying to help the souls of those who have ‘died’? Or is he the cause of their death……

My notes:
Oh, dear. I got a bit frustrated at the three letters that keep appearing and went researching a little further – I’m not going down that rabbit hole just yet! Hebrew numerology, Kabbalah, Tree of Life… that’s a whole other study. Suffice to say, this deck has symbolism based on the Tree of Life structure, which I am not yet informed enough to comment further upon.

Truth speaker. The key to this card isn’t even printed on it.

Soothsayer, or Truth Speaker. So many discussions of the Hierophant turn to rebellions against ‘organized religion’ ...This Soothsayer isn’t speaking to living people but what appear to be disembodied spirits – souls? If the skulls he is seated upon represent life and mortality, perhaps his teaching is the eternal truths, separate from the ups and downs of living desire.

Clearly the Soothsayer is preaching. But to whom does he speak? The writhing figures above him may need his truths, but they aren’t (yet?) listening. The skulls below him, though, are at rest as well as being now marked with the Emperor’s sign. Again using skulls as a sign of mortality (life, living, and death all part of a pattern), those who listen to the Soothsayer’s truth are more truly human. The wraiths above lack the features of humanity, and strike me as ‘lost souls’. The skulls, disturbing as I find the imagery, are whole and ‘claimed’.

Is that tattoo on his arm showing the Naga fish who wrap around the Empress? The artist explicitly connects Her image to approaching death and the death-giving blessings of the Mother. Here, the Soothsayer’s raised right arm provides a living blessing, while his resting tattooed arm promises eventual peace.

Skulls: symbolic of death but also evocative of the life they once held; suggestive of a life beyond death.

Spirits: apparently disembodied and not at rest, dressed in the same robes worn by the Soothsayer.

Soothsayer: positioned between the spirits above and the skulls below; the Way to life and death integrated and peace fully realized.

Emperor’s mark: present on the skulls but not part of the spirits, unity between the skulls and the prior Arcana. If the Major Arcana represent a soul’s journey, this card is a turning point as the first four powers are unified and made flesh.

The Soothsayer himself may be balanced (or blended) between the raw emotion (negative, when unchecked) of the Empress and the stasis (control unbalanced by emotion) of the Emperor. Although the Empress and Emperor, at their best, balance and complete each other, the Soothsayer may suggest that something is missing, even so. That to combine the best of the Emperor and Empress requires another layer of growth. He symbolizes transformation from partial to entire; the soul is made whole by his blessing. His teachings are a bridge from torment to wholeness.

Six Word Memoirs

Life, death, wholeness, peace, soul’s transition.

My blessing: the curse of knowledge.

Truthtellers, like prophets, dishonored at home.

Empress, Priestess, Magician, Emperor. In you.

Choose well whose mark you bear.

 

[gregory]

THoth - Hierophant

Card name: Hierophant

First impressions
There are four empty faces around him, in the four corners of the card. The Hierophant sits on a bull, with an elephant either side of him. He wears orange-red robes (the colour of Taurus) – not like those of any Christian dignitary I’ve ever seen, though his headdress is rather like a bishop’s mitre. This is certainly no pope. The Rose of the rosy cross is behind his head, flanked by a snake and a dove, and with 9 nails pinning it to the black wall behind. The Hierophant holds a wand with three black rings at its tip, and his left hand is making the traditional sign of blessing – but pointing downwards – it almost looks as though he is making a V-sign ! At his crotch is the head of an Egyptian looking woman who stands between his legs; she holds a sword and a moon. She is enclosed in a pentagram pointing upwards (inverse) – in its centre - over his chest is another, upright pentagram with a child in it, in a post much like Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man ! The whole is in a massive pentagram, the point at the tip of his headdress, and the bottom two points go way off the sides of the image.
He has a lovely curly beard and looks quite benevolent – I am almost reminded of Santa Claus – but his eyes are empty. More seriously, the beard is an indication of paternal power.

From the Book of Thoth:

This card is referred to the letter Vau, which means a Nail; of this instrument nine appear at the top of the card; they serve to fix the oriel behind the main figure of the picture.
The card is referred to Taurus; therefore the Throne of the Hierophant is surrounded by elephants, which are of the nature of Taurus; and he is actually seated upon a bull. Around him are the four beasts or Kerubs, one in each corner of the card; for these are the guardians of every shrine. But the main reference is to the particular arcanum which is the principal business, the essential, of all magical work; the uniting of the microcosm with the macrocosm. Accordingly, the oriel is diaphanous; before the Manifestor of the Mystery is a hexagram representing the macrocosm. In its centre is a pentagram, representing a dancing male child. This symbolizes the law of the new Aeon of the Child Horns, which has supplanted that Aeon of the "Dying God" which governed the world for two thousand years. Before him is the woman girt with a sword; she represents the Scarlet Woman in the hierarchy of the new Aeon. This symbolism is further carried out in the oriel where, behind the phallic headdress, the rose of five petals is in blossom.
The symbolism of the snake and dove refers to this verse of the Book of the Law---chap. I, verse 57: "there are love and love. There is the dove, and there is the serpent".
This symbol recurs in the trump numbered XVI.
The background of the whole card is the dark blue of the starry night of Nuit, from whose womb all phenomena are born.
Taurus, the sign of the Zodiac represented by this card, is itself the Bull Kerub; that is, Earth in its strongest and most balanced form.
The ruler of this sign is Venus; she is represented by the woman standing before the hierophant.
Chapter III of the Book of the Law, verse xi, reads:
"Let the woman be girt with a sword before me." This woman represents Venus as she now is in this new aeon; no longer the mere vehicle of her male counterpart, but armed and militant.
In this sign the Moon is "exalted"; her influence is represented not only by the woman, but by the nine nails.
It is impossible at the present time to explain this card thoroughly, for only the course of events can show how the new current of initiation will work out.
It is the aeon of Horus, of the Child. Though the face of the Hierophant appears benignant and smiling, and the child himself seems glad with wanton innocence, it is hard to deny that in the expression of the initiator is something mysterious, even sinister. He seems to be enjoying a very secret joke at somebody's expense. There is a distinctly sadistic aspect to this card; not unnaturally, since it derives from the Legend of Pasiphae, the prototype of all the legends of Bull-gods. These still persist in such religions as Shaivism, and (after multiple degradations) in Christianity itself.
The symbolism of the Wand is peculiar; the three interlaced rings which crown it may be taken as representative of the three Aeons of Isis, Osiris and Horus with their interlocking magical formulae. The upper ring is marked with scarlet for Horus; the two lower rings with green for Isis, and pale yellow for Osiris, respectively.
All these are based upon deep indigo, the colour of Saturn, the Lord of Time. For the rhythm of the Hierophant is such that he moves only at intervals of 2,000 years.

Images and Symbolism
Frieda Harris says in her essays:

V. The Hierophant. The reference in this card is to Taurus the Bull and its Indian equivalent, the Elephant. The pentagram with its dancing male child symbolises the New Aeon of the child Horus, which takes the place of the Old Aeon that has governed us for 2,000 years. The Hierophant moves only at intervals of 2,000 years. The four masks are the guardians of every mystery, culminating in the Grand Mystery of the uniting of microcosm and macrocosm. The woman before the hierophant represents Venus. now armed and militant. The Wand with its interlaced rings shows the three Aeons of Isis, Osiris and Horus..

Duquette points out that the woman represents the “scarlet woman” – the embodiment of Venus. She is armed, and carries the moon, which is exalted in the sign of Taurus (I don’t actually know what that means, really !) He says that the rose behind the Hierophant’s head is an oriel window. held in place by 9 nails – symbolic of the 9th sephira - Yesod – the sign of the Moon.
The four Kerubic Beats around the card are Leo – fire – symbolised by the Lion; Scorpio – water – the eagle; Aquarius – air – man/angel; and Taurus – earth – the bull. The immediate question is why they aren’t in the same order as on most tarot cards, where the four appear around the wheel and the world. The reason – it seems – is that here the angel and eagle have changed places; Aquarius is symbolised in this card by the eagle and Scorpio by the angel.
In Crowley’s vision of the 23rd Enochian Aethyr, he says:

The Beast and the Scarlet Woman are attributed to Leo and Scorpio. they arethe two-in-one Chief Officers of the Temple of the New Aeon of Heru-Ra-Ha. (Note the Eagle Kerub in the 23 Aire is Aquarius. Scorpio is the Woman-Serpent. This is important, for the old attribution is of the Eagle to Scorpio.

The three rings on the wand symbolise the ascendancy of the Aeon of Horus from the preceding Aeons of Isis and Osiris.
Duquette almost matches my Santa idea when he says:

He is the Prince Charming in the cosmic fairytale – our Holy Guardian Angel.

He then refers to the union of the Hexagram and the Pentagram – the former, he says, encompassing the Hierophant’s whole body. This I simply cannot see – there seem to me to be clearly five arms/points to the largest one.

Banzhaf notes that the left hand almost forms devil’s horns – which rather fits my V-sign idea – and that this suggest his place as Devil’s advocate – protecting the unworthy from truths they are not strong enough to deal with.

The snake and the dove around the oriel suggest the fall of man in the garden of Eden – the snake tempting the virginal symbol of purity, The female Eve and the serpent that led to their exile.
The Venus figure (Isis) in the blue inverted pentagram – castrates the man, and holds open his wounds by being between his legs – she teaches acceptance of suffering. The sword of Isis is also a phallic symbol – held between the things of both Isis and Osiris, the ray of light from it brings forth the child Horus.
The child Horus - in the central pentagram, indicates new power, conceived within the great mother – he is contained within the inverse pentagram around her, which almost emanates from her like a ray of light. The smaller affects the larger; his pentagram affects hers which in turn affects the one surrounding the Hierophant (Osiris).
The whole card expresses the birth of the child Horus – it is a symbol of the beginning creating itself from the end, and the end that germinates from beginnings - a symbol of eternity.
It stands for belief, certainly of faith, examining higher purposes and a search for meaning.
The headdress is the crown of Osiris, who instructs initiates.
The moon in Isis’ hand links to the moon in the Priestess card – the feminine – and it also represents the bow of Artemis.
Snuffin also sees a hexagram around the Hierophant. He and Duquette both refer t the presence of Pentagram and Hexagram as referring to the unification of the macrocosm with the microcosm. I just wish I could actually see this, but I’m with Banzhaf and see a pentagram !
Snuffin sees the blank eyes as suggesting that the Hierophant can instruct, but only experience can bring the initiate to life.

Traditional meanings –
Cribbed shamelessly from Wasserman
V THE HIEROPHANT. Divine wisdom. Inspiration. Stubborn strength. Toil. Endurance. Persistence. Teaching. Help from superiors. Patience. Organization Peace. Goodness of heart. Occult force voluntarily invoked.

My impressions (appearance of the card):
The first thing that struck me was the empty eyes. Which is interesting if they signify so much. Why, though are the eyes of the Hierophant also blank ? The big thing for me is that for once we have a card which is unlike those in other decks – it is very much not a pope; other decks (notably Waite !) say firmly that the card isn’t a pope – but still the images so often look like one. This one there is no question. Strangely the Hierophant himself looks reassuring in the middle of the blackness and vacant faces. Learning can set you free from fear?

My take (what I make of it/what I might see in a reading where I drew it)
I think I would see it as a search for truth – so that’s fair enough ! I also might see it as showing a rather rigid teacher encountered during that process.

 

[jackdaw*]

V The Hierophant (Rider Waite Tarot)

First Impressions
Hadn’t been looking forward to this week, really. This is such a blah card! Boring, unexciting. And controversial. Bit strange, to have both boring and controversial in the one card, but that’s how I see it. Because it isn’t a sexy card, there’s nothing exciting going on. But so many Tarot enthusiasts are so violently outspoken against organized religion and Christianity in general and the Church in particular, that I find myself walking on eggshells or stomping off in a huff. I mean, look at some of the depictions of this card. Either the artists go out of their way to depict him as anything other than what he is, making him as bland as custard or completely unrecognizable, or they make him so bad. Look at the Robin Wood, with that nasty, snobbish, constipated Hierophant, or even the high priest of the World Spirit Tarot, lording it over two prostrate figures and loving their subservience. But to me, these versions are missing the point. This card is not about the Church, or priests, or power over the people; there’s a lot more to this card than the old guy in the Vatican. It is about tradition, society, the status quo. Yes, these may be frowned on by the gleefully nonconformist part of us, but there is still much to be said for it. Tradition is not always a bad thing.

But I digress. Step away from the soapbox!

More to the point, this card is also about structure and teachings. The Hierophant may represent a teacher or spiritual advisor. Some of the more successful versions of this card depict him like this. I like the Marseille version, showing him as a bearded grandfatherly type who seems to be personally instructing his two acolytes, rather than the distant Hierophant absently blessing them as he stares over their heads.

First impression: how he is the only thing that truly stands out in this card. Against the grey stone pillars that blend into the grey background, his scarlet robe pops out. A splash of colour. I wonder if that was intentional.

Flanked by these two pillars, the Hierophant sits on a high-backed throne of the same stone, atop a red-carpeted dais. There is a hint of black and white checkered tiles or border as well. Two crossed keys are on the edge.

Seated majestically, the Hierophant holds a slender gold staff topped with a triple cross in one hand; the other is raised in benediction. He wears a papal tiara with what looks like either a “W” or three plain carpenter’s nails in the very top. His robes are red with white undersleeves and crosses down the front. An underrobe of some sort of pale blue peeps out from under the hem and at the throat, as do white slippers or shoes with crosses embroidered on the toes. All the clothes make me think that the Papal palace must be drafty. His expression is not as ferocious as that of the Emperor; he is stern yet benevolent.

Facing him are two tonsured priests or acolytes. One’s robes are patterned with red roses; the other with white Easter lilies. Echoes of the Magician? From the relative position of their heads to the Hierophant, either the dais is greatly elevated or (more likely) they are kneeling in supplication.

I’ve never been a fan of the title of this card, which to me strips the pomp and tradition of the old Pope card and dresses it up in the guise of Hierophant. Waite must have tried really hard to link it to the secret mysteries and societies he belonged to, but the earliest versions recalled the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. And curiously, so does the pictorial depiction of Waite’s card. He is (at least to my Protestant eyes) a Catholic bishop, cardinal or Pope. Funny, because I was skimming through the online translation of The Cipher Manuscripts last week after our discussion in the General Discussion thread, and they flat-out state: “Avoid Roman Catholics/but with pity” [underlining appears in the online translation]. If that’s the case, if Waite adhered to that, then why is it such a Catholic image? Pamela Colman Smith converted to Catholicism later in life, didn’t she? I wonder if this was her doing?

Creator’s Notes
Waite says of the Hierophant’s predecessors:

The High Priest or Hierophant, called also Spiritual Father, and more commonly and obviously the Pope. It seems even to have been named the Abbot, and then its correspondence, the High Priestess, was the Abbess or Mother of the Convent. Both are arbitrary names. The insignia of the figures are papal, and in such case the High Priestess is and can be only the Church, to whom Pope and priests are married by the spiritual rite of ordination. I think, however, that in its primitive form this card did not represent the Roman Pontiff.

At least Waite does admit that the naming of this card may be arbitrary, and he does acknowledge its connection to the Papacy, even if he does deny the card’s early accepted links to the Pope.

He goes on further to say:

He wears the triple crown and is seated between two pillars, but they are not those of the Temple which is guarded by the High Priestess.

It seems that he is not of the same Church as the High Priestess; she embodies the mysteries, the secret faith on which she stands guard. She knows the mysteries, but she isn’t talking. The Hierophant, on the other hand, is of the public and widely-known faith that he is willing to share, and to teach to any and all.

In his left hand he holds a sceptre terminating in the triple cross, and with his right hand he gives the well-known ecclesiastical sign which is called that of esotericism, distinguishing between the manifest and concealed part of doctrine. It is noticeable in this connexion that the High Priestess makes no sign. At his feet are the crossed keys, and two priestly ministers in albs kneel before him. He has been usually called the Pope, which is a particular application of the more general office that he symbolizes. He is the ruling power of external religion, as the High Priestess is the prevailing genius of the esoteric, withdrawn power.

As can be seen, for all his esoteric renaming, the Hierophant still embraces the trappings of the Catholic Church. However, Waite is still careful to discuss concealed doctrine and esotericism in this context, to distance himself from it at least a little. As the “ruling power of external religion”, he is the titular head of his faith. God’s man on the ground. And his other side of the coin, the High Priestess, is more secretive, solitary.

The proper meanings of this card have suffered woeful admixture from nearly all hands. Grand Orient says truly that the Hierophant is the power of the keys, exoteric orthodox doctrine, and the outer side of the life which leads to the doctrine; but he is certainly not the prince of occult doctrine, as another commentator has suggested.

For what it’s worth, I agree that this card is not the prince of occult doctrine. To me, the Hierophant is not occult, but rather he is a representative of bog-standard Christian doctrine. Of societal norms and socially acceptable, traditional belief. I agree too with Grand Orient (cute of Waite, quoting himself like that as a separate and all-knowing entity) that he is the outer side of the life which leads to the doctrine. That’s a great way to put it. He’s not religion, he’s the earthly trappings of religion.

He is rather the summa totius theologiæ, when it has passed into the utmost rigidity of expression; but he symbolizes also all things that are righteous and sacred on the manifest side.

I like this. “Righteous and sacred on the manifest side”; in other words, the Church as the physical embodiment of Christianity.

As such, he is the channel of grace belonging to the world of institution as distinct from that of Nature, and he is the leader of salvation for the human race at large.

This is the Hierophant as Pope in a nutshell. Grace institutionalized, the leader of salvation.

He is the order and the head of the recognized hierarchy, which is the reflection of another and greater hierarchic order; but it may so happen that the pontiff forgets the significance of this his symbolic state and acts as if he contained within his proper measures all that his sign signifies or his symbol seeks to shew forth. He is not, as it has been thought, philosophy-except on the theological side; he is not inspiration; and he is not religion, although he is a mode of its expression.

This last is an excellent point. Many people confuse Christianity with the Church, and hence with the Pope. But it is, and he is, just one aspect of its physical manifestation.

Others’ Interpretations
According to Waite:

5. THE HIEROPHANT.--Marriage, alliance, captivity, servitude; by another account, mercy and goodness; inspiration; the man to whom the Querent has recourse. Reversed: Society, good understanding, concord, overkindness, weakness.

“The man to whom the Querent has recourse”. Again, it reminds me of the decks that have male and female significators. Like Lenormand decks. If the querent is a Lady, then the Gentleman card is the man in her life. Makes for quick and dirty fortune-telling.

Symbols and Attributes
The term hierophant is derived from Greek words ta hiera, meaning “holy” and phainein as “to show”. So together they mean roughly “one who shows sacred things”. Note how it doesn’t refer to one who performs miracles or who embodies holy things, but one who shows them. It was, for example, the Athenian title of the chief priest who presided over the Eleusinian Mysteries of the cult of Demeter and Persephone.

Astrologically, the Hierophant correlates to the sign of Taurus the Bull. An earthbound sign ruled by Venus, Taurus ties the Hierophant to the element of Earth and the mundane world. Although a spiritual father, a traditional go-between for God and man, the Hierophant is essentially of this world, the physical representative of God and higher things here on earth. He represents worldly concerns such as religious and academic institutions. It has been suggested that as Taurus represents the second astrological house, that of money and valuables, Taurus is a materialistic sign that accumulates and preserves things. So he gathers and preserves things already established, thus representing the status quo.

There are many relevant symbols in this card (I’ve been Wikipedia-ing the hell out of them, particularly the papal symbolism). Key among them are the three nails atop the Hierophant’s headdress, his overall attire, the sign he makes with his hand, his cross, throne and pillars, the floor beneath them, the crossed keys and the two acolytes before him.

At the top of the Hierophant’s crown protrude three nails that form a W shape. The “W” could be a tip of the hat to Waite, or just a convenient arrangement for them. Whatever the reason, they might refer to the three nails that bound Christ to the Cross (one for each hand, one for the feet), or the Trinity, or the Hierophant’s three roles of lawgiver, teacher and judge. Others more conversant in Qabalah and Hebrew correspondence say it’s a reference to that: the Hierophant relates to Vav, or nail.

The triple crown or triregno, the papal tiara that used to be worn by the Pope. It was discontinued, I think, in 1963, so would have been in use during Waite’s and Colman Smith’s time. The common design (for most Popes had their own tiaras given or created for them) was constructed of three crowns.

As for the rest of his attire, I like Rosanne’s quote from 2007; she’s much more knowledgeable on this than I am!

the RWS image itself is psuedo Pope. Although on the surface it looks like a Bishop of Rome- there is lots wrong with the attire. Waite was what might be called a heretic Priest- he performed Mass and Communion and other rites without ordination.
The red vestment is all wrong and would be called a zuchetto.
The white Lappetts (pluto ears under the tiara) are neither male or female and are too short.
The papal shoes/slippers should be red- never white. [But in a later post she recalls that they would be white during Easter]
The Pallium should have 5 crosses on it front and back and hangs from the shoulder, not down the center. The fancy dressed Monks/Cardinals in front have the pallium as it looks down their backs but they should be white.
There is never a blue chaucible vesment worn underneath either. So when I look at the Pope I do not see the Roman Catholic Pope except in a dress-up sense that has got it wrong. ~Rosanne

The lappetts she refers to above, the gold ribbon-like hangings on either side of the Hierophant’s face, are common adornments on the Papal tiara; I have to take her word for it that they are wrong.

His slippers show crosses for the stigmata of Christ. In the Tarot de Marseille the crosses are found on the Pope’s gloves, but the Hierophant is bare-handed. Papal slippers and shoes are typically supposed to be red, but apparently can be white during the Easter season as shown here. As for the pallium itself, three crosses are shown: perhaps the others are hanging down his back. At the bottom is a small diamond, which is un-Papal. Perhaps it is intended to show the Hierophant’s role on Earth, in the material world. As Rosanne pointed out, it should hang from the shoulder, not down the centre. I wonder if this is intended to represent the central pillar of the Tree of Life, being almost exactly centred between the two stone pillars that flank him.

His robe is red; the papal colour is now white but in Waite’s time it would have been red. According to what Wikipedia has to say about papal regalia, I assume it to be what they call a chausable. Underneath it he wears a blue underrobe or alb. The blue robe is not a papal vestment, but should always be white; whether this is an example of Waite’s (or Colman Smith’s?) sloppiness, or the original printers’ carelessness, or whether it was done deliberately to distance the Hierophant from the Roman Pontiff, I have no idea. If we assume that the blue is a deliberate choice, it may hint at the underlying spirituality of the Hierophant’s role.

He raises one hand in a gesture of blessing or benediction. His thumb and first two fingers point up, with the last two fingers on that hand folded down. This is an ancient Roman gesture, later adopted by the Roman Catholic Church. It represents, from a Church standpoint, the triumph of the Trinity over the Duality. In his other hand he holds a staff in the form of the Papal Cross, an emblem used only by the Pope.

So aside from a few deviations, the overall effect seems to be that Waite and/or Colman Smith saw this card as the Pope. Or they took the Papal image and just tweaked it a little.

The throne on which the Hierophant sits, and the two pillars that flank it, are carved of grey stone. As a blend of black and white, it stands for wisdom, for balance of opposites, and for harmony. Representing the status quo, this card embraces harmony and balance. The pillars echo those found on the High Priestess card, but where hers are black and white, his are a uniform grey. Hers are slender and gracefully tapering – feminine? – and his are thick and solid. Load-bearing pillars, I guess, literally (carrying the structural weight of the Church) or symbolically. They might just represent the structure, the organization of the religious institution that emphasize his role as upholder of the status quo. The stylized patterns at the top of the columns, I might take as the Taurus sign if I squint hard enough.

The floor that can be seen just below the red carpet is black and white tiles, or this might be a checkered border on the red carpet. This is a common Masonic symbol. The carpet itself is red, and scholars claim that it holds the coat of arms of the Holy See, which is directly beneath the Hierophant’s throne. Whether this is true or not, I am not sure. What can be seen, however, are crossed circles in the corners that look like Philips head screwdrivers. These are referred to as Gules, and represent the four cardinal directions of North, South, East and West. On the front of the dais are the Keys of the Kingdom, symbols of St. Peter. The crossed gold and silver keys, tied with a red cord, are also seen on the coat of arms of the Holy See, and represent the keys to Heaven and Hell. Perhaps the implication is that both are here on earth; or it could simply be another parallel between Hierophant and Pope.

Kneeling before the Hierophant, seen back-on, two priests or acolytes face the throne. They have the tonsured heads of priests, traditionally representing the relinquishing of the material world as they enter the Church. Repeated from the Magician, the symbols of red roses and white lilies decorate their robes. This is a common Golden Dawn theme, as are the colours (which are clearly not common to the Church).

My Interpretation
To my viewpoint the Hierophant has always represented more than the pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, but organized religion and similar structures in general. He represents a titular head of a societal organization, a pillar of the community.

As far as religion in particular is concerned, he is more affiliated with the trappings of that religion than with the faith itself. Notice how the spiritual aspects of his faith seem to be little more than an underlying concern, almost buried by the physical manifestations. The churches, the rituals, the ceremonies, the houses of worship. With this in mind, the Hierophant is perhaps a little rigid, inflexible in his outlook and his morality. To me, he is like Justice in this regard. But he is also practical, an Earth-bound Taurean figure. He is concerned with the rules and the moral wellbeing of his flock, a keeper of peace and order, if not a filler of bellies.

To me, the Hierophant has always been first and foremost about tradition. I haven’t been a regular churchgoer for over twenty years now, but every time I go back (probably once every few years now) I am soothed by the ritual, by the tradition of it all. How even after twenty-odd years I can still remember the prayers and creeds and know what comes next, when to stand and when to kneel … the old familiar rituals are soothing to me. And this is what the Hierophant means to me. Yes, he’s old-fashioned and inflexible, but he’s comforting. There is some comfort in things always being the same.

As a figure, he is not only an authority figure, but also a teacher, an instructor. He passes on the knowledge of generations before him, educating generations to come. In this way he continues to shape society and hand down traditions. A figure of moral and temporal authority, he represents teachers, mentors, employers and of course pastors and priests of all faiths.

Recolouring
My initial thought was to colour the Hierophant’s regalia to better match that of the Pope. But I find now that I like the blue alb, with the notion of spirituality. Other than that, the scarlet chausable fits and I will leave it there, although I made the shoes red. I made the pillars more of a grey marbled pattern to better emphasize the mixture of black and white. I chose also to darken the background, to throw the central figures into greater relief. As for the Hierophant himself, I gave him a darker complexion than the usual Eurocentric faces of the Rider Waite Tarot just to mix it up; I hope to continue this throughout the deck.