TAROTThe Hierophant
Upright
Embracing the conventional, through time tested paths
Sticking to the orthodox and social norms via routes such as career, marriage, majority politics and the establishment. this is done in the belief that they promote order, happiness, prosperity and safety for most people.
Intuition
Notice that the Hierophant carries the same symbol as his counterpart the High Priestess; the symbol of the Torch. This is historically accurate as the symbol of the Eleusinian mysteries was crossed staves. Wooden four-pointed torches identical to the ones held by Hecate were also used in the mysteries.
Reversed
Feeling disconnected from your core beliefs or being pushed into a shape you do not fit into.
A time to check yourself for stubbornness, outdated beliefs and resistance to change.
Possibility of an out of control authority figure affecting you inner balance.
Astrologia
Stability and the status quo. Patience and hard work, loyalty. A natural sensuality and enjoying the finer things in life. Open to being possessive and greedy or become stuck in the rat-race.
The Hierophant
The Hierophant comes from the word Hiero meaning sacred or holy. As Hierophant it means displayer of sacred and holy things. Modern words taken from this root include the word hierarchy which refers to the structure of clergy, usually Christian orders. It is used more recently in specialized disciplines such as computer programming to refer to a data-structure where everything is linked by rank or relationship.
The use of Hierophant in Tarot today is less to do with the clergy but closer to the meaning assigned in computer programming. The Hierophant card refers to the order and cohesion created within society through stable structures and organizations.
The use of ‘displayer’ is an important distinction in the word Hierophant. Most modern congregations are not ‘shown things’ but ‘told things’ in a way that is closer to teaching or oration. You may be told about everlasting life and redemption but you do not actually see nor experience it.
The Eleusinian mysteries that the Hierophant presided over were fundamentally different. You experienced a sense of immortality through experiencing your own death. It culminated in a process of theatrical ‘showing’ that almost certainly involved some kind of psychedelic, causing something similar to earlier shamanistic trance states or out-of-body experiences.
The overall experience was so strong that people who witnessed it were said to be changed for life, and in particular, they no longer feared death because they believed they had already experienced it.
The Hierophant and the Eleusinian mysteries
The Eleusinian mysteries were an ancient and very widespread cult of Demeter and Persephone.
It is known that participants of the most important of the mysteries drank kykeon (a common drink for the time, made with barley) prior to it and there is archaeological evidence that the barley used may have been routinely contaminated with ergot, a fungus. Ergot is the source of the compound Lysergic acid and better known today as a precursor to synthesizing LSD.
Description and Symbology
The purpose of the original Hierophant’s rites was to induce a vision of the death of the self so that the person would no longer fear any physical death. Above the entrance to St Paul’s Monastery in Mount Athos, Greece, is the following inscription;
αν πεθάνεις πριν πεθάνεις, δεν θα πεθάνεις όταν πεθάνεις
If you die before you die, you won’t die when you die.
For Christians, this inscription means turning away from the material world and giving yourself to Christ, resulting in a symbolic death of ego and sin, and moving towards a truer path.
A second meaning is found in the Eleusinian mysteries. Like most ancient religions, it was more about personally experiencing things rather than written scripture and symbols. You actually experienced death via psychoactive drugs and a closely choreographed performance based around Demeter and her daughter Persephone (and possibly including Hecate and Dionysus).
As the Goddess of Spring, Persephone is associated with rebirth of spring after the death of winter, as she spends part of the year below the ground with Hades and emerges from the ground in spring.
This second meaning represents the core spiritual symbology of the Hierophant in this deck; death and resurrection before actual death as a means of experiencing the spark of immortality in this life.
Symbol for the Hierophant
The crossed staves were the symbol for the Eleusinian mysteries
Performance
The Hierophant’s rite was not just an oration but a performance. Things were not what they seemed; he appears to have a halo, but it is actually a window. He stands on a raised stage in a building that places him at the center, suggestive of performance.
The Hierophant as a Pillar
The Hierophant has two pillars behind him symbolizing the orthodox and the unorthodox. However, the expected third pillar is missing. The Hierophant stands in its place as the third pillar; the word and voice of the orthodoxy.
Wise and knowledgeable
The Hierophant was a chosen wise and charismatic person, able to command the attention of literally thousands during the rites. Like the Emperor, he has a greying beard to show his years and experience.
The Torch
The hierophant holds the same Torch symbol seen in the Fool, High Priestess and Empress cards (although this version is a physical artefact rather than one held by a God). The Torch relates to both the Fool’s Call to Action, and also a deeper mission to rebirth to a higher plane. In the case of the Hierophant, this rebirth comes from personally experiencing death through the Hierophant’s rites.
The Initiates
Behind the Hierophant we see his initiates. Each carries a light, signifying Demeter searching for her daughter, Persephone. By finding her via the Hierophant’s guidance during the rites, we gain knowledge of rebirth after death (because we have to symbolically cross Hecate’s liminal space between the living and dead to find Persephone).
The inscription
We see an inscription towards the bottom of the card. In English it reads If you die before you die, you won’t die when you die. The concept of death/nullification/loss of ego as a step to higher consciousness is common to many teachings including Kabbalah, Christianity, ancient mystery cults and shamanistic rites all the way back to the first religions.
Tips for Readings
The following table shows the upright and reverse meanings for general questions. The last row ('Yes/No') is useful when you are picking a single card to decide a yes or no decision.
Upright
Reversed
A concentration on traditional values and conventions will lead to a more dependable and secure outcome.
A shared set of beliefs within the relationship will be the best foundation; without it the relationship may falter. There may need to be some give and take to achieve this, and the death of parts of your old-beliefs/old-self may be necessary.
You may be allowing the expectations of society leading you, with and over-emphasis on fitting in.
Avoid inflexibility and rules come before emotions.
You will see a supportive management, with opportunities to grow through education and training, or working within a group.
The career will be most successful if you believe in the direction and aims of the organization. Be wary when it is not the case; it may lead to a lack of happiness.
Even though things may be going well, be always aware that change is the only certainty, and we all change. What fits now may not fit in 5 years, so be mindful of how your own inner beliefs alter over time, rather than always striving to ‘fit in’ and never grow!
The possibility of a lack of progression through an inflexible or closed structure.
You may find yourself being cut out because you don’t fit the hierarchy; a square peg in a round hole, a clique that excludes you, or political beliefs that don’t chime well with yours.
In all cases it may be better to bide your time and move when the opportunity presents itself. You cannot change the existing structures and rules you are facing and any attempt to do so will result in the system pushing back at you, and perhaps even ostracising you!
Health will come through a happiness with your direction in life and a well maintained and ordered lifestyle.
A holistic approach where you take care of all facets of your life with a sensibility on health will work well; believing in your family, your career, and maintaining ethical decisions in your dealings with money and others will all promote your health.
You may be sticking with bad habits through resistance to change and ‘it worked before’, especially when ‘before’ relates to a far younger you! Things always change, and you may be hiding from this.
You may also be relying on tradition vs healthy options and educated health decisions. The old ways relate to older times with lower life expectancy for example, and may not translate well to today.
Expect to find faith through mainstream religions or tried and tested methods.
If you are going through a bad spot, you may find solace in things you never previously considered from the mainstream. They are often specifically designed to help you with such life situations.
The beliefs you have inherited from your wider social groups may be overriding your own inner beliefs, resulting in stunted self-growth. You may need to reflect on this by taking time out of the daily routines that promote the beliefs of your social group.
More importantly, some death of the self has to occur before you can be reborn with a new direction or better yourself. The you making the decisions may actually be an old you that is slowing you down.
This makes the reversed Hierophant a powerful card in this deck; it denotes a time to inspect your inner self and its beliefs, and cause a death-rebirth if it is found wanting.
This card suggests investment in well-established institutions or those with a good historical track record.
Careful and prudent over big gains and risky investments!
You may be attracted to traditional ‘names’ rather than actual value, resulting in dependable but low interest rates or returns. Sometimes it be better to invest at least a little on the unorthodox!
Missing new opportunities through inflexibility and staid decision-making.
Yes, through wisdom and guidance.
No, through stubbornness, outdated understanding and relying on the orthodox.
Reading the card
Use of the Hierophant in Tarot for divination centers not on the religions aspect so much as the ‘orthodox vs non-orthodox’ as a way of living and arranging your life-path and plans (although knowing the root religious symbology will help in linking questions to this card).
The upright card
The traditional and well-worn path is the one that will work. This is a good card for all institutional structures: marriage, standard career paths, and most business. If your question is about any of them, expect them all to work in your direction. If you are already within one of these structures, expect a period of stability.
The upright Hierophant card does not suggest stasis and staying still however. It suggests taking routes to wisdom and learning to better yourself. If in doubt, ask someone with experience, or spend time in becoming that experienced person. If you have groups of people (friends, family, and colleagues) around you, it is a time to trust in those groups rather than go it alone.
Finally, the Hierophant suggests flights of fancy will not get you far. Stay grounded in what you know rather than what you would wish for or suspect. Trust the system rather than looking for hidden agendas and secrets.
The reversal
The reversed Hierophant suggests that your inner beliefs are in conflict with the situation you are in. It can suggest feeling like a fish out of water in a new group, being pushed down by bureaucracy rather than being helped by the system, or seeing a lack of creativity or excitement in your role.
The issue may also reside in yourself. You could be making work for yourself by:
- Staying on the road well-travelled even though you know it is not the one for you,
- Being stubborn or holding on to outdated facts or beliefs and resisting change, or
- Simply not wanting to rock the boat and instead stifling your true direction.
Depending on other cards, a reversed Hierophant can also mean your intuition and sense of tradition are out of alignment for some reason. The question to ask yourself is 'What do I really want?'.
Finally, there may be a person in a position of power who is pushing you out of shape or causing you to act in ways that are not normal, and this is affecting your inner energy.
Card Design Process
There were three major aims of the card design:
Firstly, it made sense to include the actual Hierophant and his story rather than later clergy. It is not clear why most Hierophant cards today don’t actually show a real Hierophant, as we know much more about him than we did even a 100 years ago.
Secondly, sketches and photographs taken from cathedrals suggested that a round stained glass window behind a standing character could be made to look like a halo or crown, and potentially both. This would allow an image that resembled medieval depictions of religious halos without there actually being any in the image.
Thirdly, a very low angle could make a standing character look like a pillar, so that they seem to be holding up the church/temple. Also, the whole architectural aim of many large religious buildings is to make you look upwards, and an upward looking point of view was seen as desirable.
All these ideas make it into the final image. The Hierophant looks like he has a saintly halo and crown, but it is actually just a window behind him. He also stands with two pillars behind him holding up a dome. A third expected pillar is missing, but the Hierophant stands where it would be, making him the ‘missing’ pillar. The low-to-high point of view also helps to give the impression you are in a religious building.
Final Words
This card represents accepted wisdom, growth, happiness and protection that comes from groups, institutions and tradition. Most people engage in them: family and marriage, a career that involves a wider organisation, and wider social and political concerns.
