5:   The Hierophant

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Universal Waite

BOTA (Builders of the Adytum)

1.   Tradition; conformity; belonging to a group; societal norms.   A "joiner."     A strong relationship with rules and structure. 2.   Marriage (the institution itself, as opposed to the interpersonal relationship). 3.   Enjoyment of the outer trappings and traditions of religion. 4.   Excessive attention to the conventions of society.         In Medieval Tarot decks, this is "The Pope."

COMMENTS:

A reader once told me that this card would pop up if you went to a revival and gave your heart to Jesus.   "Your life is now laid out for you."

The Hierophant can represent our inner sense of obedience.

Think in terms of being initiated into a secret lodge (such as the Masons).

The structure of religion is merely a starting point when you're creating a personal connection with god.

There are seven cards in the Rider deck that show a large, dominant figure "presiding" over two smaller figures standing below it (forming a triangle of sorts):

The Hierophant The Lovers The Chariot The Devil The Moon Two of Cups Six of Pentacles

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Here's what Arthur Edward Waite says about this card (in The Pictorial Key to the Tarot): 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 He is the ruling power of external religion, as the High Priestess is the prevailing genius of the esoteric, withdrawn power.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 theologiae, 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.