The Hierophant: Interpretations
today
There are at
least two ways of finding meaning in the figure in The Hierophant card of Tarot: (1) An authoritative religious leader
of an organized religion, or (2) An historical High Priest of religious
practice in an early, ancient, pre-Christian civilization.
The Pope
In some Tarot decks, including the Waite and
Marseilles decks, “The Hierophant” resembles a Pope dressed in a papal robe and
a three-tiered papal tiara. His two fingers are raised in the sign of blessing
and he is holding a three-tiered cross. There are also two pillars behind him
and two crossed keys in front of two acolytes at his feet. The keys are
metaphoric symbols of the keys to heaven given to St. Peter by Jesus. They
represent the authority to “bind” (forbid) and “loose” (permit) behavior. The
interpretation is clearly a Christian authoritarian figure such as the leader
of the Catholic Church. Symbolically, this interpretation of The Hierophant
represents the teaching of esoteric religious dogma and signifies one who
instructs followers in the rules and regulations of acceptable behavior
determined by the church, based on the principles and morals of a Christian
life, or in a more inclusive view, the practices of Judaism, Islam, Buddhism,
or other religious traditions. In a
positive sense, The Hierophant represents a wise Father-image, the leader of a community
or congregation, guiding his children by acting as a go-between God and the
people, who says prayers and sends blessings on their behalf.
In a reading, considering the reference to a
Pope, the interpretation here is that you better know who you are in relation
to God, or Goddess, Creator/Creatrix, or not at all. When you receive “The
Hierophant,” this indicates someone in your life who is a teacher, a mentor, or
guide, as one who instructs you in the doctrines of some religious practice or
institution, such as a church, monastery, synagogue, mosque, ashram, or Temple.
This could be someone who provides spiritual direction when you need help rather
than psychological counseling. When the card is reversed, you might question
authority and rebel against anyone trying to tell you what to do, or not to do.
One of the most
well-known Popes, Pope Julius II, (1503-13) was made famous by his interactions
with Michelangelo in the 16th century in their feud over how to
paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. The Pope complained constantly
about how long it was taking and Michelangelo complained that he didn’t pay him
often enough. They argued over what it should look like and what biblical
personages to paint, but meanwhile, the Pope was also engaging in a war with
France. (He was called the “Warrior Pope.”) So, Michelangelo painted the Pope’s
face on the prophet Zechariah. Ever since the church’s founder, St. Peter, was the
first Pope (32-67),
there have been 266 Pope’s to the present Pope Francis (2013). Today, it is
hard to imagine the power the Popes had in earlier European history.
“The Hierophant, even
while giving you his blessing…warns you…here are laws of order and harmony
that must be complied
with, in order to achieve success and happiness.”
“Tarot
and Astrology,” (Muriel Hasbrouck, Destiny Books, 1989)
Original Historical Hierophant
In another
interpretation, the term Hierophant referred
to the High Priest officiating in the cult of the Grecian Goddess Demeter
(Ceres), located in Eleusis, Greece. The Hierophant presided over seasonal
celebrations of the Greek pantheon of gods around 1500 B.C. Those were
pre-Christian times, and secret rituals and sacred ceremonies were carried out
by the Hierophant expressive of the agrarian earth goddess. These were
called the Eleusinian Mysteries and mysterious
rites were enacted in observance of Demeter, goddess of nature, and told the story
about the abduction of her daughter, Persephone, by Hades, who took her to the
underworld. These rituals may have been enacted as a play. Demeter’s symbol was
a sheaf of wheat symbolic of the goddess of agriculture. The Hierophant may
have performed secret rites that would have evoked a vision for the
participants of the goddess herself. We are still reminded of Demeter today in
astronomy and astrology with the asteroid named Ceres. (See my
previous blog on The Hierophant, August 2010)
“The Eleusinian Mysteries
were a celebration of the forces of earth…”
“The Mysteries,” (Colin Wilson, Putnam,
1978).
The Hierophant card of Tarot of Cosmic Consciousness symbolizes
a teacher of nature’s mysterious and complex processes of earthly life:
cell-division, exponential growth (Logarithmical Spiral), and the great mystery
of life of flora and fauna (Chambered Nautilus),
evolving in a vast, interconnected living system. Life is
emerging spontaneously through a process of self-organization,
self-replication, self-operation and self-correction. It’s time to contemplate
the question: What is life? What is consciousness? How can a tiny seed contain
what it takes to grow into a huge tree? What prompts cells to divide and create
more cells? What motivates a living entity? James lovelock has proposed the Gaia theory, a non-mechanistic view, “…about the tightly coupled system whose
constituents are the biota and their material environment, which comprise the
atmosphere, the oceans and rocks. Self-regulation of important properties such
as climate and chemical composition, is seen as a consequence of this evolutionary
process.” Gaia, A New Look at Life on Earth (James Lovelock, Oxford University Press, 1979)
“We urgently need to find
practical ways of re-establishing our conscious
sense of connection with
living nature.”
“The Rebirth of Nature,” (Rupert Sheldrake, Bantam Books, 1994)
In a reading, The Hierophant card can be viewed as someone who interprets and
gives
