The Fool Meets The Hierophant
It’s time to step out into the world and live, learn and grow my little dude!
He steps into a church where a pope sits on a throne. He holds a 3 armed cross and 2 monks are kneeling in front of him.
What is a hierohant anyway, you may be asking, and I’m so glad you did.
Back in the days of ancient Greece, there were secret rites to the goddess Demeter called the Eleusinian Mysteries. For those participating, they had to take a vow of silence, which is why we don’t know much about them. They were silent, unlike today where everything is shouted from the rooftops.
People knew how to keep shit quiet back then.
The priests who led these were called hierophants: hiera (holy) and phainein (show) and they were the ones who showed sacred objects. They showed objects that were sacred back in the day and full of mysteries.
The Hierophant in tarot represents someone who holds secret knowledge and passes it down to an initiate. Kind of like the Masons.
He is depicted in RWS as The Pope, and in older decks, the card was actually The Pope.
Y’all getting all these Christian references yet?
We have a Catholic leader who bears the name of an ancient Greek priest.
Hmmmm…. Seems odd, unless you make the connection between someone who teaches a religion to someone who teaches all religion, right?
Like the universal high priest here. Higher knowledge. He’s got 2 initiates at his feet. He’s like Mr. Miyagi. He learned from his masters and passes his knowledge down to some karate kids.
See those keys below his feet?
Some say they are a symbol of the keys of St. Peter.
He’s got the keys to the kingdom, or in this case, the keys to the higher mind.
He is here to teach, guide and educate. This card represents someone with knowledge to be shared. The Fool will learn much. The Hierophant is going to show him some secret stuff
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