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An Interpretation: The Meaning of The Hierophant Tarot Card

2009 July 7

by aurarcana

This is my initial interpretation of The Hierophant card.

Tarot Deck: Universal Waite Tarot

5-hierophant-universal-waite-tarot

The Heirophant has the presence of a strong religious and spiritual teacher or leader. There are many strong Christian themes present here.

He is sitting on a stone throne in between two stone pillars, symbolizing strength and rigid structure, similar to the pillars in the The High Priestess Tarot card–sans the black and white and symbolism of duality.

The background in between the two pillars is white and there is also white detailing with symbols of the cross on his robe–white symbolizing purity–the cross representing the heavens and spiritual power.

His red robe is representative of strength, passion, power and intuition. He is wearing a blue gown with white sleeves under his robe, reinforcing the symbol of purity and blue representing thought and understanding.

He is wearing a three tier gold crown–gold symbolic of strength–and the three tiers–which can be symbolic of the the power of threes in Tarot. The three virtues found in Tarot are: Strength, Justice and Temperance are based on Plato’s four cardinal virtues. The fourth virtue, Prudence, occurs when one has acquired the wisdom from the three other virtues. Originally, I assumed that these virtues were based on the Christian virtues: faith, hope and charity. But, in actuality, the Christian virtues are based on the Platonic virtues as well. I also assumed that the three tier crown could have represented the Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

In addition, the 21 Major Arcana/Trumps can be divided in three groups of three, excluding The Fool (key 0). Perhaps his crown is a metaphor for the Tarot journey.

He is holding a gold staff, representative of spiritual power and recurring religions themes. He is pointing his left hand towards the heavens, symbolic of the power of divination and higher powers.

The floor upon which he stands, has a black and white checkered tile motif and large blocks of bright red carpet. The black and white checkered tile appears in twos, representing duality, positive and negative, masculine and feminine, good and evil, and that which is known to us versus that which is unknown.

His white shoes are visible under the blue gown, and they also have the symbol of the cross on them. Perhaps this is a metaphor for The Hierophant being well grounded spiritually; he is represents divine power and strength in reality. His lessons are not obscure. He appears to be showing us the way.

Two gold keys lay crisscrossed in front of his feet on the red carpet. These are the keys to the kingdom of heaven. There is no lock. It appears as if we have to gain access to the lock through him–and him only.

Two figures–specifically men–are kneeling at his feet, looking up to him for guidance. The man to the left wears a robe adorned with roses–symbolic of passion and the man to the left wears a blue robe with lilies, symbolic of purity and the soul. We saw these same natural symbols in The Magician Tarot card. Both of their robes have yellow detailing going down their backs, a possible metaphor for belief being the backbone of creativity and positivity.

After interpreting this on my own and reading about it afterwords, the two men are supposed to be priests. In my opinion, they can either represent priests or people who have accepted and have learned the lessons from their teacher, in this case, The Hierophant.

Possible Meanings in a Tarot Reading:

In a Tarot reading, The Heirophant represents belief in the teachings of a leader or instructor. The Heirophant represents higher spiritual learning that can be attained, as well as higher learning in general. He shows us that if we believe in something, we can learn it and can achieve anything. Since we see people in the card actually receiving the message, it is not as mysterious or hidden as it was in The Magician or The High Priestess.

The religious overtones here show us that conformity to a belief system will lead us down the “right” path. If the tools are presented to us, we should take advantage of them. This be applied to anything, from a religious event like marriage, or an institutional venture involving education to further ourselves in the world. We may choose to not take these routes, but they are presented to us in a clear fashion.

Symbolism: