Symbology Study Group: Hierophant March 13-March 27

[tabi]

It is a start of a new Study that of the Hierophant...out of all of the Majors I absolutely HATE drawing this one. I never know for sure what it is saying? Am I too involved in my beliefs? Or do I need to take a more traditional look? And ever deck I have makes this point even more confusing then the next.

This is the Hierophant out of the Gilded by CiroM. I like the fact that he has the universe showing behind the window. It says to me that the Divine is everywhere even out there and beyond.

The stain glass remembers me a great deal of the traditional church and being in church but while I love churchs and stain glass especially I always felt trapped or caged in while being in one.

The man of course remembers me of a Catholic priest, which for me is very stiff and morally correct and any wrong footing would put you in Hell. Obviously this is just me and my own goofy views so no one take offense.

The colors though offers up a very intense and dramatic view and even possibilities of everything.

The blues and greens emotions come out of the window. The red around it however seems to keeping them trapped or caged (see a comparison there?). Orange is a fall color for me and makes me thing of letting go of things. Or slipping into a habriation. The purple though is royal and psychic.

The Staff?

 

[megx]

The books generally state this card as being either tradition or learning. I have a tendency to think of it as the conventional road in life...which is why it turns up very often in the readings I do for friends, and not very often at all in my own readings.

For me, the Heirophant and the Hermit tend to mirror one another. The Hermit is all about the self-journey, learning through trial and error and appreciating the journey of one's own experiences. Whereas the heirophant is learning and going through life in a very traditional context...marrying, having children, going to college, having what could be considered a very normal family life.

Also, I see the heirophant as being a very external representation of life's journey...having the right things, going the right places, knowing the right people...rather than the internal expressions of the hermit.

 

[circlewalker]

It's really odd - Robin Wood doesn't give this guy any particularly bad press, but I hate and loathe this man and all he stands for...........
http://public.fotki.com/circlewalker/tarot/hierophant.html
.......so much that I cannot even think about this card without feeling ill.

Should make for difficult readings, but I cannot actually cannot remember ever having drawn it so maybe the feeling is mutual.

in light

cw

 

[tabi]

Okay CircleWalker that one has me a tad creeped out. There is something very off putting on that particular card. I'm not a huge fan of cards that depict the Hierophant with children, especially with young boys due to the scandal a few years ago involving the same subject. It is my mind working in it's unusually weird way. Do you hate all of the Hierophant or just this one particularally?

My personally favorite is out of Ciro's Tarot of Dreams, he renames the Hierophant in this deck to Faith (unfortunately my scan is crappy compared to the original maybe someone who has a better scanner can give you the complete richness of the card)

The Monk is older implying wisdown and knowledge, especially being a Monk he will have had the teaching and learning that is required for him to continue on his particular path.

The smokey orange brown of the background, makes me think of a incensed filled room that is small for meditation. The brown in his flock is earthiness or a connection to something outside of himself. Being well-grounded and well-rounded.

The thing I absolutely love is the circle of faiths. The simple brillance of this is stunning for me because of my own personal views of faith and religion. While I practice Paganism, I was by my grandparents as Baptist. I have read and continue to read on other religions in general because well it's become an odd hobby of mine (yes I realize this is strange). For me though all religion contains and trys to reach the same thing only on different Paths. Right, wrong or indifferent each Path is there and all of the go to the same place.

The circle is the never-ending, never-breaking element that has faith continuing and moving from one generation to the next. One person to the next. Linked into this circle are nine different symbols of faith; it obviously is by no means all of them it would take a huge ass circle to do that: Confucianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Neo-Paganism, Humanism, Taoism. (Taken from the ToD CD-Rom) These are some of the major world religions, they each are very unique but strong standing alone, but could you image the possibilies if this chain of faith was to link?

Each faith represents its own thoughts, meanings, values, and morals to it's followers. Each has great merits to give it credit, positives that shows us as humans the good there is and that good is general linked to our beliefs. There is of course negatives as well, because you can't have a positive without the direct oppisite. However it is in that negative that you generall see the most positive of ALL faiths.

 

[afrosaxon]

NOVT -- Master of the Head

In the New Orleans Voodoo Tarot, the Hierophant is called Master of the Head:

http://alpha.mxat.ru/WWPCM/decks05/d02446/d0244605.jpg

The card shows a drummer. The face of the spirit is show in the head of the drum and as the drummer does his thing, the actual spirit comes out of the drum and kisses the drummer on the forehead. The drummer is sitting on green grass, under a clear blue sky.

I get an overall feeling of benevolence when I see this card. The spirit is giving its blessing to the drummer, like saying he's doing a good job. The drummer is at peace, which is how he can drum effectively to call the spirit. The card is peaceful, too. I just feel love from both sides of the veil...the spirit's blessing is encouraging the drummer to continue to communicate effectively with the spirit, which in turn makes the spirit continue to give its blessing to the drummer. A nice cycle.

As for the traditional meaning of the Hierophant as teacher...I'm not exactly sure how that fits here, unless the spirit's benevolence is a teaching, of sorts...in that, if the drummer weren't performing correctly, then the spirit wouldn't come out? Also, the drummer seems to have mastered his craft (since the spirit has given its blessing)...so has the student now become the teacher? The pupil has become the master?

Keep in mind that the "head" reference can not only refer to knowledge, but also to the voudoun belief that one's head is where the spirits enter and reside. Voudoun initiates, as part of their initiation, go through a process where it is determined which "spirit is on their head" (which spirit has "claimed" them as a disciple, so to speak, and which they must serve during their lifetime). This spirit that is on an initiate's head is like a patron saint of that initiate, and it is to whom the initiate should first pray when seeking protection, and to whom the initiate must first pay homage during prayers and rituals, and make offerings on that spirit's special day. It's similar to the Catholic Confirmation, when the Confirmed have a patron saint, and they pay homage on their Saint Day.

Side note: many practitioners and believers of voudoun are also practicing Catholics; in their minds, one has nothing to do with the other: they can believe in God (le bon Dieu) and the voudoun spirits. Indeed, when slaves were brought from Haiti and Africa to other parts of the world, they were forced to convert to Catholicism and often prayed to their own voudoun gods under the guise of the Catholic Saints...which is why you'll find that voudoun gods often have Catholic counterparts. It's like voudoun and Catholicism have a loose arrangement, so to speak. LOL

T.

 

[tarot4fun]

The Sharman-Caselli Hierophant~

I have always liked what this particular Hierophant represents~
To me he is more concerned with his own personal spiritual search; than the political, social, and ego driven aspect of leadership. This in turn inspires me to search for myself and understand my true spiritual nature.

Symbology mentioned in the book~
His crown represents body, mind, and spirit.
The crossed keys are gold for the masculine, and silver for the feminine: a balanced whole. This message of a balanced force is brought out again by his position between the two pillars representing Masculine and Day as opposed to Feminine and Night.
His hand gesture means "as above, so below".
His simple white robe represents purity of spirit.

Meaning~

...its divinatory meaning is certainly one of spiritual knowledge or at least the desire for it and is not limited to a particular creed or doctrine.

When The Hierophant appears in a reading, it suggests a wish to find a meaning in life that touches a deeper layer of the psyche than the desire for material success or social status. ... A time when you will not be satisfied with the mundane or worldly aspects of life and will feel strongly inclined to search for an inner meaning and greater purpose in life.

The red mountains in the background stand out~
I'll have to came back and post more about them~

 

[tabi]

Nice to see you back Suz, we've (me) have missed you.

 

[tarot4fun]

Nice to see you back Suz, we've (me) have missed you.

Thanks Tabi!

From the Sharman-Caselli Hierophant:
The Mountains, actually rounded and a light shade of red~

Using Pictures from the Heart by Sandra Thomson~
mountains can represent the height of awareness, spiritual retreat or ascension, wisdom or higher truths and /or the willingness to search for them.
rounded hills (as opposed to the sharp mountains they once were) suggests their age, hence, ancient wisdom.
red is the color of fire and blood; associated with the life force; Some things that red symbolizes are: willpower, purpose, passion, courage and power.

In this image, the mountains in the background could symbolize~ The continual search for wisdom and higher truths with courage and passion ~ Seeking a higher state of awareness with all your strength.

The Hierophant is one aspect of the active male principle or father archetype. The Emperor represents the worldly father. The Hierophant represents the spiritual father and the religious process whereby we create a certain type of order so that we may cope with the unfathomable.
Pictures from the Heart p. 190

 

[Mallah]

If you are one of those who believe that your beliefs create your reality, the the Hierophant can be sort of a setup for the next card: the Lover...which is so often about the choices we must make. I see him as assesing your beliefs and determining whether they are right for you or wrong for you anymore. So often our deeply buried beliefs are based on a morality that was imposed by our parents, or even who we saw ourselves as, say 20 years ago. We then must make a choice about whether to stay with that belief, or go perhaps to the taboo side, and break with those beliefs (the Devil, also a parody of the same Hierophant image). In so doing we become able to create the life we so want for ourselves. (This is a Hierophant year for me, so this is what I'm learning about him!)

 

[tarot4fun]

I see him as assesing your beliefs and determining whether they are right for you or wrong for you anymore. So often our deeply buried beliefs are based on a morality that was imposed by our parents, or even who we saw ourselves as, say 20 years ago. We then must make a choice about whether to stay with that belief, or go perhaps to the taboo side, and break with those beliefs ...

You've made a very good point Mallah~
On the other hand, The Hierophant can mean: Taking another look at the traditional beliefs and family religions that were rejected and left behind upon leaving home, or abandoned for what ever other reason.

Either way, this one aspect of The Hierophant could be about~ Making our own choices about religious beliefs based upon a personal spiritual search.