The Hierophant

from the Housewives Tarot

Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood 

 

The Hierophant is card #5 in the tarot. It is the number of man, struggle, strife, and conflict, the number of the spiritual self seeking expression in its human form. As humans we seek to understand the practicalities, mysteries, the secrets of the universe, and, sometimes, just to understand what the heck is going on!

Traditionally the Hierophant is a figure of religious import such as a pope or a great teacher and is associated with orthodoxy and is traditionally the intermediary between us and god/goddess. The priests/priestesses of the past officiated as oracles, diviners, ritualists. They performed the ordained and guarded the secrets and mysteries. Teachings and traditions were passed on to initiates in mystery schools to those deemed worthy of understanding. The general public was told to be obedient to these authority figures to assure salvation and a better life to come. If things did not work out well, then there must have been a mistake or a sin involved.  Now go repent. Shame, guilt, and control were the rulers rapped on our collective knuckles.

Over the centuries we have expanded our ability to gain information and gradually became better educated. With education came questions, seeking answers, and for as many viewpoints that emerged there was an expert, a guru. The role of the Hierophant has not changed much but its way of communicating and teaching certainly has.

In the above image we see a 1950’s radio. In addition to news reports, the public began to have a huge exposure to recreational information.  Advertisements, weekly or daily programs introduced characters and stories that became cultural lore. We listened endlessly to songs of pain, suffering, love gone wrong. Add movies and television and the average person was totally inundated with the Hierophant in all its guises relating every possible piece of information. 

Today we have the internet and instant communication across the world. It is impossible to know what is true or false. Even images are altered to redefine someone’s desire of how a scene is presented. Spiritual and religious opinions are offered up as gospel with a new prophet or guru riding the highs of exposure only to drop into oblivion or disgrace. The Hierophant has become a hungry, insatiable machine churning out opinions, doctrine, dogma, fear, false hope, lies, truth, and the entire gamut of human opinion. We can learn how to fix our clogged sink drain from YouTube,  access a course and become fluent in a foreign language, or fall into the vast wormholes of conspiracy theories. All in the comfort of our own living rooms.

Sometimes we need to take a time out, take a break from the onslaught of information. As we explore information we see the exposed dualities and can take a breath and process, do our homework. The true nature of the Hierophant is to open our eyes so we can learn to view the universe for ourselves. We need education, training, and exposure to many ideas and viewpoints but with all that information is the ever present possibility of corruption through power, manipulation to gain control, all dosed in the vanity and ego of self importance. 

Ultimately, it is up to us to navigate the sea of information and find our own way. The Hierophant is a teacher but what I decide to follow is up to me.  The Hierophant reveals but I choose through my own intuition, my own connection to divinity, my own ability to discern. I may change my mind and point of view but that is part of learning and growth. We build on experience. We test and accept or reject. We create our own ethos, our own platforms, all based on collective information be it of family, church, or the school system.

As we become increasingly open to receive and learn we are wise to remember to keep our discernment and filters working. Just because you resonate with some information does not mean it is true. It is good to monitor how this information effects you - does it put you into fear and anger or does it bring a sense of calm and peace?

Our time of the Earth is an opportunity to seek union with the divine in however that is possible for us. To find the truth often lies in neutrality rather than plunging from one polarity of opinion to another. The true guru is the one that teaches us to go within, to be still, ask, and then wait and listen for our own guidance to come through.  

Sometimes we just need to turn off and tune in.  I share what came to me once in prayer, 

“In the silence, all are present.

In the silence, all are at peace.

In the silence, all is forgiven.

In the silence, all is love.”

May your studies bring you illumination and may you have the generous heart to share that light with the world.

...Kathryn Ravenwood   8-9-20