TRUMP 5 - THE HIEROPHANT

We have traveled the path from the Fool, through the Magician, the High Priestess, the Empress and the Emperor.  We now come to card #5, the Hierophant, also known as the High Priest and the Pope.

The Pope stands between the two pillars presenting a three-fold cross in his left hand, pronouncing a benediction symbol with his right hand, and wearing the three-fold crown of Heaven upon his head.  At his feet are two keys and two attendants.  What is one to make of such a card? 

The first thing we notice is that although this is card #5 the number 3 appears over and over within it--the 3 tiers of the crown, the 3 arms on the cross, the 3 crosses in the center of the Popes robe, plus the fact that between the Pope and the two attendants there are 3 people.  This is obviously a reference to the Trinity, for we find that with card #5 we are now completing our second trinity.

The oneness that is the Fool, splits into the duality which is the Magician and the High Priestess. The three of them form one tri-unity, the same way the next three cards, the Empress, the Emperor and the Hierophant create their own trinity.  The three are one.  What is the Hierophant? 

Let us begin with the keys.  These keys are the keys to the kingdom.  The Pope holds access to the keys, and makes the keys available to the people.  The keys unlock the door of Heaven.  The keys enable us to properly use the power of reason, which we have in the Emperor, and to properly interpret and love the Empress.

In the Bible, in the book of Matthew chapter 16, Jesus is asking his disciples who different people think he is.  They give him some answers and finally Jesus says, "Who do you say that I am?"  Simon Peter says, "You are the Christ, the Messiah, the son of the living God."  And Jesus answers him and says, "You are blessed Simon Peter, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you but my Father who is in Heaven, and I also say to you that you are Peter the rock, and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it.  I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven.  And whatever you shall find on Earth shall have been found in Heaven, and whatever you shall loose on Earth shall have been loosed in Heaven." 

That is the power of the Hierophant.  Peter is known as the first Pope.  The keys to the Kingdom are a gift, a gift of grace.  Peter's confession that Jesus was the Christ did not come from flesh and bone, nor from biology nor matter.  This was a revelation of God. 

That tells us much about the Hierophant.  The Hierophant is a card of grace; it is a card of revelation.  The Emperor enables us to have reason.  That reason enables us to understand and mate with the Empress, but we must be reminded that the only reality is God. 

It is easy for us to become puffed up and haughty in our own knowledge--knowledge capable of leading us far astray off the path.  For centuries people have argued within the church and the scientific community about the relationship between faith and reason, between revelation and intellect.  And in some respects, we see that the Empress represents the faith and intuition and subconscious.  The Emperor represents intellect, rationality and the conscious.  The ancient debate is embodied in those two cards.  How is it that we are to learn anything?  Is it through the power of our minds, or can we only know things if God tells them to us?

The church has stood staunchly on the side of faith.  The scientific community has stood staunchly on the side of reason.  This is an ancient, classical battle in the scheme of human history, and is still very much true today.  If I read a holy scripture, whether it is Buddhist or Hindu, Christian, Moslem or Jew, and there is something in that writing that does not make sense to me and appears to be wrong, I have two choices.  Choice number one is the pathway of the Empress which says that regardless of what my intellect may tell me, the scripture must be true, cannot be broken.  Therefore, I will adjust my thinking based upon what the scripture says.  In this respect, the scripture teaches and admonishes and instructs us in our ways.  The second choice, the pathway of the Emperor, says, if there is an error in the scripture, it is only there because the scripture is wrong, and we must adjust, amplify and correct the scripture with our reasoning. 

The pathway of the Empress sees all scriptures being God ordained.  The pathway of the Emperor sees all scriptures as being man created.  Faith vs. reason seem to be forever in conflict. The purpose of the Hierophant is to re-marry the two.  We come to understand through the Hierophant that there is no war between reason and revelation.  What do I mean by this?

First we must remember that the Hierophant is a priest, and the priest performs two duties.  He carries the prayers, needs and thoughts of the people to God, and he carries the word of God to the people.  The priest stands uniquely in the center as the fulcrum, as the meeting point between God and humanity.  Jesus has been called our Great High Priest.  This is in the book of Hebrews. You can read it yourself. 

As the priest petitions God on behalf of the people, he represents reason.  Mankind and mankind's thoughts, wants and desires reaching up to our God--reason trying to approach the Empress.  As the priest represents God to the people, he represents the revelation of God to the people--represents the Empress shaping and instructing the Emperor. 

So we learn through the Hierophant that the two are in fact one.  We do not wish for the Empress to rape the Emperor, nor for the Emperor to rape the Empress.  If the Empress is to rape the Emperor, then she simply gives out all of her secrets, lays them on the table.  There is nothing left to be discovered.  There is no quest, no journey, no wonder, no concealment.  If the Empress forces her revelation into the minds of humanity, then humanity’s value is lessened.  We do not want the Empress to rape the Emperor. 

If, however, the Emperor is to rape the Empress, we are positioning ourselves to be our own gods.  We have our minds, and we have our scientific formulas, and this is all that there is.  There is no higher purpose.  There is no concealed Torah scroll to be known.  What we must do is re-marry these two.

We do this by understanding that our minds, as they look and think and react with Mother Nature, are in fact doing that only by the powerful grace of God.  Reason is a revelation.  Reason is the process by which the Empress reveals herself.  Revelation is very reasonable, because there are always laws, and the Empress always expresses herself through the laws of the Emperor. 

Reason and revelation are one.  Just as science and religion can become recombined, so can reason and revelation.  This is the pathway of true religious enlightenment.  It is not to be taken lightly.  You must use all of your faculties in order to gain access to the inner holy of holies which is protected by the High Priestess.  If you ever want to re-encounter the Fool, you must very carefully listen to the words.

That is the power of the Hierophant.  As we saw, the Magician is the Word.  The Hierophant represents humanity’s ability to listen and absorb the Word.  The Pope is speaking and making his announcements.  In this way, we see the Word becoming active in our lives through our hearing. 

Humanity is represented at the feet of the Pope by the two supplicants.  They are wearing opposite colored gowns.  Who are they?  They are the Empress and Emperor factors within us.  They are our reason and our intuition, our consciousness and our subconscious.  They are the two sides of the human being merged together.  This indicates symbolically that the revelation of God and the reason of mankind are married, both on a conscious and subconscious level, on a creative and analytical process. 

The priest is speaking to the petitioners, and though we do not see it, they are also speaking to him.  This is the entire structure of Christian religious services.  The priest or pastor will turn and speak to God on behalf of all the people, then will turn and speak to the people on behalf of God.  He will sit and listen to the peoples’ prayers and petitions, then transmit them to God.  In this way, we see the flow, the give and take, the ebb and turn.  God moves out, and we receive his word.  We move out, and God hears our prayer.  This is the breath of God.  God exhales, and we are inspired.  We exhale, and send our spirits to God. 

As the Pope speaks on behalf of God, we gain the idea of infallible communication.  According to Catholic doctrine, the Pope is perfect.  He speaks on behalf of God.  When he speaks from his official status as God’s representative, his words become as scriptural and as important as the Bible. 

Setting aside for a moment Catholic doctrine, the same idea is here inside of the Hierophant.  There is no way that the truth of God will ever fail us.  The truth of God is perfect and is here to help, to guide, to touch us.  That is the Hierophant.  As we receive that infallible communication from God, that infallible revelation as it touches our reason and enlightens our souls, eliminating both our subconscious and conscious minds, we must enter into the relationship with an attitude of humility.  That is why the supplicants in the card are kneeling and bowing down, not that the Hierophant is to be worshipped, but that the universe is a glorious and incredible wonder.  As we use our intellect, seek our discoveries, and learn much more about the Empress, we must recognize that the ability to think is grace.  It is a gift.  And all of the tools which we have, whether they are electronic devices, mechanical devices, musical instruments or language itself, are gifts which we must use in true proper humility.  It is only that humility that will enable us to draw closer to God. 

All is good.  As God created everything in the book of Genesis,  He said over and over and over, this is good, this is good, this is good.  The heavens are good.  The stars are good.  The birds are good.  The fish are good.  Humanity is good and everything is very, very good.  That goodness, that grace is communicated through the power of the Hierophant.  There is, within this world, within each of us, the voice of God, that we might be not just hearers of the word but doers.  God's voice does speak, and it speaks always of goodness, because all is good.

So from the Hierophant we have learned grace.  We have learned that revelation is reasonable and reason is a gracious revelation of God.  We have learned that the keys to Heaven are at our feet and have been given to us by God.  We have learned that the Empress and the Emperor are in fact one.