The Hierophant

From SourceryForge

Jump to: navigation, search
Tarot
The Fool, The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Hierophant, The Lovers, The Chariot, Strength, The Hermit, The Wheel of Fortune, Justice, The Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, The Devil, The Tower, The Star, The Moon, The Sun, Judgement, The World.
Wands Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Page, Knight, Queen, King.
Cups Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Page, Knight, Queen, King.
Swords Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Page, Knight, Queen, King.
Pentacles Ace 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Page, Knight, Queen, King.
Aces, Twos, Threes, Fours, Fives, Sixes, Sevens, Eights, Nines, Tens, Pages, Knights, Queens, Kings

A tarot card. Position 5 in the Major Arcana. Called The Pope in some decks.

Contents

Description

Rider Waite Deck

Image:Hierophant.jpg

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. 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 He is the ruling power of external religion, as the High Priestess is the prevailing genius of the esoteric, withdrawn power. 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.

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. 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. 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.

Meanings

  • intuition, hearing
  • Accept the wisdom of the institutions which govern change in the community and establish the superSelf's place within it.
  • traditional: Marriage, clerical affairs, things connected with the church
  • a religious leader
  • the outer way of spirituality: adherence to traditional religious (or magickal) systems and paths, acceptance of religious leaders and authorites and similar things
  • In some decks one of the keys is silver (the outer way), one of the keys is golden (true spirituality): The outer way has great value when it's practice serves the realization of true spirituality


Reversed Meaning

  • One negative meaning can be the outer spiritual way without the inner way: religious lip-service, adherence to empty and meaningless rites and rules, spiritual/religious/moral hypocrisy, taking outward ceremonies for more important than spiritual development, adn other things along that line
  • A cult leader

Correspondences

  • Links Chokmah to Chesed as path number 16 of the Tree of Life
  • Colour red-orange
  • Taurus in the zodiac
  • The direction Southeast (from the Sepher Yetzirah)
  • Yetziratic Intelligence - the Triumphant and Eternal intelligence
  • Musical note C sharp (Paul Case)
  • Hebrew letter HEBREW:Vau meaning Nail and also the number 6
  • Organic Time - Evolution of Living Things The development of the first organic single-celled forms of life. DNA evolves as mutation allows these forms to change as the world changes. <i/>In Time, You/We/The Universe must evolve.</i>


External Links


Resources

  • Waite, A.E. (1911) The Pictoral Key to the Tarot: Being Fragments of a Secret Tradition Under the Veil of Divination. London: Rider.
Retrieved from "http://sourceryforge.org/index.php/The_Hierophant"
Personal tools