We have an enemy: the Hierophant. Huh? you say? Is that a variety of elephant? Nope. It’s an ancient archetypal visual of a person with great power due to great brilliance, wisdom and information who abuses that power. This archetypal visual comes from the Tarot.
My comment on the use of the Tarot is this: without the Bible as the directive, the Tarot is wisdoms in waves. It can assist in clarifying subtle thoughts and issue but it is not to be trifled with because it can befuddle the seeker. Wisdoms built on waves is not solid enough for the realities of Life. I was not allowed to use it until I was well grounded in Scripture and Life. Now I only use it for specific clarifications. Used with the Bible as the foundation for living one’s life, it can be helpful….or not. It isn’t the most reliable daily newspaper in the mystic’s world.
According to the great literature on the Hierophant, the personage in that place was originally meant to be a great leader. The leadership was a combination of spiritual wisdom and earthly law giving.
What the meaning has become is just the opposite of its original intention. The meaning of the Hierophant nowadays is that of a pompous, self-serving head of state. According to my cousin Blackfoot, the chief in the tribe is the poorest because he serves the people. The Hierophant wants the people to conform to what serves the Hierophant’s strict rules.
According to Wikipedia, words associated with the Hierophant are: education, deception, knowledge, status quo, institution, traditional social convention, duality.
“Motherpeace” by Vicki Noble says the Hierophant is an oppressive leader. Vicki’s painting of the Hierophant is a man mis-wearing a woman’s clothing. This is not about gender transitions. This is about how forceful strict male energy is usurping and then oppressing the woman’s natural desire to care, connect and communicate.
Like the artist in Arthur C. Clarke’s “Childhood’s End”, I am watching the reduction of the humanities in education. I am watching how we, as a global entity, are tensing up for all-out war. I am watching perfectly good leaders turn vicious because of the pressures put on them from their supervisors. I am watching our world fall apart. The Hierophant is our Enemy #1.
The way to counter this enemy comes from Scripture. Jesus says [Matthew 10:16] ” to be as harmless as doves yet as wise as serpents.” Again, Jesus says that the more we grow closer to Him, the more we will be attacked. I take it from Jesus that this is the new ‘norm’. Our world has lost the beauty and connection of the Golden Age of America during the Kennedy years when art, culture, safe travel and communication hit their heights. Our world is devolving into knee jerk reactions in fear and terror.
Another counter to this enemy is being in supportive groups. For myself, I intend to find or create a group of women with spiritual knowledge and who still hold the freedoms sacred: freedom to weep in pain; freedom to nurture education to children; freedom to stand on what’s truly right.