Tarot: The Hierophant and The Empress Cards

The Hierophant and The Empress are two cards that can work well together.

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Indicative of the energies we are interacting with at Beltane Season, the Hierophant and The Empress can teach us a lot about growing, and structuring growth.

However. Nearly everyone is happy to hang out with the Empress.The Hierophant is one of those cards that has a less-than-rosy reputation.

What is the Meaning of the Hierophant and the Empress cards?

A lot of people don’t like seeing the Hierophant card come up in readings, and there are a few reasons. We must remember that all archetypes have neutral, negative, and positive aspects. They simply exist. It is our interactions with these roles and states of being that determines the outcome. But first and foremost with The Hierophant, we must reconcile that while this archetype is neutral at its heart like any other, it currently plays a role in our world that is, at best alienating and at worse, the smiling face of what some might call evil.

For many folks, the Hierophant is just difficult to relate to. They have a reasonably hard time merely understanding the definition of the card.

It seems to speak to abstract roles of power in hierarchical structures, which – let’s be real – not many people experience. Or want to. The role by nature is isolated. For others, the archetype is triggering, as it is often seen by folks as a classic depiction of a leader of patriarchal forms of religion, and so it opens the floodgates to all the issues that come up around fundamentalist, dogmatic institutions, class structure, colonization, and the suppression of many to the benefit of few.

In many ways, this archetype is much crueler
than The Devil card. At least in card 15,
we know who we’re dealing with.
With the Hierophant, we are led to believe
that they speak on behalf of God,
so of course, we should not only
believe them but do what they say.

So, let’s start at the bottom and work our way up with this card. Let’s start with it’s worst traits and seek to find what is redeemable, what is needed in the Hierophant. He is on the Fool’s Journey, and he must be reconciled.

The majority of the real-world examples we have of this archetype – AKA The God-King or King/Priest – from the last 5000-ish years are not positive.

Men (almost exclusively) in positions of power, subverting the Word of God and our individual experiences of spirituality. Why? To command large groups of people into providing them with their own base desires. Or, the desires of the Kings, Emperors, Presidents, Dictators they serve. Riches, sex, monuments, social standing, life-long flex, whatever.

The standard tools we see used by
The Heirophant in its current form are
racism, fascism, paranoia, alienation, and xenophobia.
They are wielded against the populace like a yoke around cattle,
steering us where they want, reaping the political rewards.

Many generations of people have come to see this archetype as something cynical and manipulative, the open hand of the oppressor. In many ways, this archetype is much crueler than The Devil card. At least in card 15, we know who we’re dealing with. With the Hierophant, we are led to believe that they speak on behalf of God. So of course, we should not only believe them but do what they say.

The most crucial element of The Hierophant is…

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