The Hierophant Tarot Card: A person is sitting on a throne wearing a red robe holding a triple cross and adorned with a three-tiered crown. On the robe is a white strip with three crosses. Underneath the red robe, the hierophant is also wearing blue and white. To the sides are two pillars decorated at the top. The Dias the throne is on is red and there are strips of black and white as well as four circles with equal-armed crosses inside located near the hierophant’s feet. There are two people kneeling before the throne, one adorned with lilies and the other with roses. There are two keys crossed over each other at the bottom. The hierophant's right hand is raised with three fingers pointed up and two pointed down.
The word Hierophant comes from the ancient Greek: Hiero meaning sacred and phainein meaning 'to reveal'. So the Hierophant is a person who reveals the sacred to others. The red, blue, and white layers the hierophant is wearing represent passionate action (red) guided by intuition and spiritual awareness (blue), and purity of heart (white).
The first known use of the title hierophant was for the high priest of the Eleusinian Mysteries. The Eleusinian sect of Ancient Greece celebrated the eternal cycle of life, death, and rebirth, and primarily worshiped Demeter the Earth Goddess, and Persephone, who embodies 2 polar archetypes. The first is the archetype of the playful and innocent girl as the Goddess of Springtime, flowering, and renewal (similar to Ostara or Eve). The second is that of the fierce wife of Hades, Lord of the Underworld (similar to Kali or Lilith). Together, the three archetypes of the two goddesses represent the three types of love discussed by the ancient Greek philosophers.
The three types of love are Eros, Agape, and Philia. Eros is Passionate, powerful, and erotic love (Persephone the Wife of Hades). Agape is devotion, adoration, innocent, and exalting love (Persephone the Goddess of Spring). Philia is paternal/maternal unconditional love (Demeter the healing, nurturing, Mother Goddess). They are represented in The Hierophant card by the Lily (Agape), The Rose (Eros), and The Hierophant as the bridge between higher and lower, representing the purity of unconditional parental love (Philia).
The two crossed keys in the image are typically looked at as the Keys of heaven given to Saint Peter by Jesus. However, here they hint at something greater and more aligned with the mystical meanings of the Western traditions and the Tarot. The keys lay at the center of the triangle formed by the three people who represent the different forms of love. This placement of the keys shows us that the pathway to living heaven on earth is in the mastery and synergy of the three types of love. The keys are also placed in between the four circles with crosses on the floor. The circle with a cross represents the masculine and feminine united in harmony. It is also used in astrology to represent the planet Earth. There are four of them, as typically the physical plane is represented by the number four and its four elements. The black and white strips on the Dias floor also represent polarity and the confinement of physical reality.
Interestingly, if you look at the assumed placement of the hierophant’s knees (aligned with his shoulders), you’ll notice that the placement and angle of his/her feet makes no sense. This draws our attention to the empty space between the crossed keys and the hierophant’s shoes and how it forms a diamond (representing invisible and silent illumination). To reflect this invisible diamond there is another small black diamond at the end of the hierophant’s white strip.
These two diamonds and their inconspicuous locations remind us that the hierophant’s revealing of the sacred is an act originating and performed from silent illumination. The hierophant dwells in silence and from that silence pours Philia love into the Eros and Agape love below. From the synergy created, our own internal heaven on earth is unlocked - whatever that may be for us.
Ultimately, The hierophant card is about purpose and how it is revealed by being fully aligned, fully integrated, and a fully open channel to your own soul. The Hierophant card helps each of us reveal the sacred within us from the illuminated diamond of stillness within. It helps us uncover our purpose and true Divine reason for being. The purpose that only we can know in our internal stillness and can never fully be communicated through words to others. It reminds us of the As above, so below principle and invites us to make our physical reality a reflection of our divinity.
Association with Taurus: The Hierophant tarot card is associated with Taurus and represents the manifesting of spirit into earthly form. It represents the bridging of heavenly spiritual knowledge with daily physical life. It reminds us to make our bodies and our homes (and indeed this world) into immaculate temples so that no matter which direction we turn, our highest aspects are reflected back.
When to use The Hierophant card: Use the Hierophant card when you want to make your body your temple. When you want to invite your soul to fully embody into this world. When you are ready to merge all the types of love you have into one single point of laser-like, diamond consciousness, and be a true bridge between the higher and lower.
If your house is a mess, your creative life filled with the mundane, and your love life a disaster zone, it’s time to use The Hierophant card to bring Divine purpose back into your life. But remembering that purpose isn’t about what you do, it’s about knowing who you are. And from the place of knowing who you are, it will help you find out the unique ways in which you reveal the sacred in the world, allowing you to let that energy filter into any areas in need of more Divine order.
When you unite the 3 archetypes of love into something new within yourself, your very purpose descends into your body and changes absolutely everything. Maybe you're a computer programmer channeling the song of silence into AI. Maybe you are a knitter of sweaters. Whatever your authentic movement - however the mystical silence moves you - that is how you embody The Hierophant in your life.
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