The Hierophant is a card that often gets a bad rap. I’ve seen many interpretations that seem to give it negative associations or that seem to suggest it’s better when the card is reversed. I have come to understand it as a symbol of things that are necessary and useful.
I also had to find authors and people whose life experience could give me some guidelines. One that I refer to quite often is C.S. Lewis (seen left). I was always a big fan of the Narnia books and as I read more and more his writing on religion and theology I came to appreciate him more. He is a Christian and he helped me reclaim some very important things from that area of knowledge and my family background. One thing that really hit home to me was from a book of quotations ( I think the original source was his book “Mere Christianity”) where he wrote about spirituality being every one’s right to make their journey as they chose. Well I liked that, it validated some things. But he went on to say something that made me squirm and think and do some digging. He went on to say that to be journeying and to ignore that others have made similar journeys and have left us maps is arrogant. Well that smarted, which is sometimes exactly what a Hierophant experience is SUPPOSED to do! It made me realise that I had been just as prejudice to some areas of belief as I had felt they might be to me. this was a profound turning point and the Hierophant in me began to become a bit less childish and reactionary and (just a wee bit) better behaved.
Here is another thing: As I came to see the Hierophant less as a pulpit pounding persecutor and more as a voice of conscience, I came to have a different appreciation of personal morality. The very word “moral” at one time used to make me cringe. I had reacted to it as part of that old defensiveness. What it means to me now is really what it meant to me as a small and trusting child; the moral of the story. What I trust and believe as a result of experience, my own and other people’s. It has given me back a sense of faith that is both stronger and gentler at the same time.
Maybe if I was to choose a personal iconic image for the Hierophant it would be a picture of Jiminy Cricket, the little voice of conscience I need to listen to. Sometimes when I’m in a challenging situation, I can look at what an elder I respect would do, OR I could look at what I would advocate for someone with less experience than myself. Sometimes having a kid brother or sister along has made me listen more to my conscience than if it was just about my egocentric little idea of ME.
One last thing: I was going to mention another little reference. There is a deck of symbolic cards that I occasionally use on a personal, meditative level, called The Dakini Oracle that is similar to Tarot in structure. It’s version of the Hierophant is the Hindu deity Ganesh, who cuts through illusions and guides us in learning. In that traditional path Ganesha is invokedbefore any study or undertaking. I wont go on about it as I found a blog from someone else that really touched on it quite nicely (and better than I would have), here is the link (and I will do a further post about the overall site):