The Hierophant

MystiqueMoonlight

"Offer thyself Virgin to the knowledge and conversation of thine Holy Guardian Angel. All else is a snare. Be thou athlete with the eight arms of Yoga: for without these thou art not disciplined for any fight" - Aleister Crowley

Correspondence:-

Colour: light blue
Herb: frankincense
Astrology: Taurus

Hebrew: Vav (pin or hook, value is 6) is the archetype of fertilising substances. It is the image of a knot which unites, or the point which seperates nothingness and being. The Son. It is the universal, convertible glyph which makes things pass from one nature to another. The ear; all that is realted to sound and wind.

Rune: Mannaz (mankind) Humaness (pluses and minues), nobility, power of spirit, awareness, social order, intellectual power, Interdependance, results, relationships.

Analysis:-
The Heirophant has united all 4 elements (air, earth, fire and water) within himself as he is the awakened one, enlightened, spiritual master. This is prevelant in the 4 cherubim guarding the altar. The Bull (Taurus) is the element of Earth of matter or physical plain, the Lion (Leo) is Fire the capacity of intuition, willpower and dynamics, the Human is Air (Aquarius) mental/spiritual, the Eagle is Water (Scorpio) that of emotions. This is further attached to the 4 suits of the Minor Arcanum.

Venus ( the ruler of Taurus) stands before him holding the symbols of emotion and wisdom. The Hierophant has united the feminine within himself.

With the unification of the male and female is born Horus. Note he is naked and exposed, full of trust, this represents true wisdom.

The 5 petaled white rose behind his head represents pure, unconditional love. The type of love which recognises what the other needs, even if it is not necessarily what the other wants.

The serpent touched by the 9 nails at the top represent the true pain one can only go through in order to reach this level of transformation. True transformation can only happen in a state of receptiveness and sensitivity. A trust in the Divine.

The darkness of the card displays the purpose of the Hierophant who brings light into the consciousness.
 

Kaz

thoth hierophant

~kaz
 

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jema

hierophant - my man!
i just add a few highly personal things here if that is ok? no need for me to rehash what is already in the books.

one funny thing is that just yesterday i was really upset over how a swedish tarot"expert" wrote that the hierophant was air - and his totem was the eagle and his planet was mars. *gasp*

this card to me is both very beautiful - but then some days i think it is horrible. it all depends on what details i connect to that day. like today i see venus, her staff, the white rose and the star-baby and the 9 nails and think it is one really nice card with a lot to say about love, spiritual guidance, listening to the inner voice, balance and finding your way through darkness, meeting your shadow etc.
but then some days (when i really am meeting my shadow) all i can think about are those masks in the corners with their hollow eyes that reminds me of the bible and the apostles and doom and gloom.
i know that they are not really that negative - but i react to the card emotionally and those days the hierophant is not my buddy anymore.

generally i like the Thoth Hierophant though. i sure like him a lot better then many other deck creators versions.
(robin wood comes to mind...)

the hierophant is my soul card and i do hold him up as a goal, i want to be enlightened like that, to guide others, to counsel and to stand strong in faith and have the key to the mysteries.
 

isthmus nekoi

jema> I love the hierophant too ^_^

just to add to the comments about leo/scorp/aqu/tau, these 4 signs are all fixed signs. This means that they are in the full power of their sign, think right in the middle of a season: the fullnest point of summer, the deepest stasis of winter etc.

Snake in conjunction w/the dove can represent a lot of things. They are both symbols of transcendence. There's something Mercurial about them (snake more than dove) which is why I think of Hiero as a psychopompus figure (guide and messenger b/w the world of humans/gods) although Mercury as a god is more heavily associated here w/the Magi in this deck.

Hm, this card is very numeralogical (is that a word? :p) 1: bull, snake, dove, sword, moon etc. 2: elephants, fingers pointed 3: people, rings. 4: fixed signs 5: petals, pentagrams. 6: points of the large star. 9: nails.

Unlike the High Priestess who remains veiled, Hierophant reveals.
 

Richard1

I'm of two minds about this card...on the one hand, he seems to be one of the friendliest Heirophants I've ever seen (personally, I think the Heirophant gets a rather unfair bad rap, thanks to his association with organized religion)...on the other hand, he's an old Greek statue: there's no real life in the primary form, just an echo. Ditto the cherub masks around him. I think the REAL Heirophant is the child at the center, who is, I imagine, going to break out the outer shell as if it were an egg.
I wonder why the cherubs are here, rather than around the Wheel of Fortune, as in the Waite-Smith...what is the connection between the Heirophant and the Universe? Could the child here actually BE the woman in the Universe card...?
 

coldsuns

Hi! I'm new

My first deck is Thoth Tarot and thats my only deck which i just bought it not long ago. I started playing "Tarot Cards" since 3 years ago using poker cards. My friend taught me about it. Now i'm 14yrs and i have my own money to buy a deck. Can someone tell me more about the deck?
 

coldsuns

Opps..

I guess you guys are great. There are 3 transparent stars on the heirophant. The smaller one with a baby fit inside,the medium one seems to be Satanic and the last star fit hierophant in. There are 2 elephants on the side and a bull run through him. What does it mean? ^_^