The Hierophant, or Pope, is a depiction of the logos. He represents the masculine principle in its expression of meaning. Regardless of whether we appreciate being told the meaning of something, we recognize that when this card appears, the reading has to be taken seriously.
The condition of the world in the Twenty Firt Century demands that we discoverr meaning in our lives and actions. Wihtout it, we flounder, unable to feel satisfied with money or material things, constantly restless to find more.
The card and its symbols depict relitious meaning, but that is not all this card can tell you. Transcendent meaning is something we seek almost instinctually, and the traditional symbols of the religion you lerned as a child may no longer provide the degree of meaning you seek.
About the Hierophant
The Pope is a logos figure: as such, he also symbolizes the anikus, Jung’s term for the unconscious masculine principle as it appears in the psyche of woman.
- Sallie Nichols
The hierophant, supreme organ of sacred science, represents th egenius of good inspiration of mind, and of conscience.
- C.C. Zain
Unfathomed and unfathomable
Is the Great Deep
Of mine interior nature.
In the unplumbed abyss of the No-Thing
Mine Eternal Will ariseth,
And by the rising of that Will
The No-Thing cometh forth
Into the appearance of Something.
- Book of Tokens
Sources
Zain, C. C., The Sacred Tarot. Los Angeles, The Church of
Light, 1936.
Nichols, Sallie, Jung and Tarot:
An Archetypal Journey. York Beach, Maine, Samuel Weiser, 1980.
Case, Paul Foster, The Book of Tokens: 22 Meditations on the Ageless Wisdom. Los Angeles, Builder of the Adytum, 1968. Quoted with permission from Builders of the Adytum, 5101 North Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA. 90042; http://www.bota.org/. Permission to use Builders of the Adytum images in no way constitutes endorsement of the material on this site.
De Angelis, Roberto, Universal Tarot Deck. Torino, Italy: Lo Scarabeo, 2003. Lo Scarabeo has graciously granted permission for the use of the Tarot images on this site. Copying the images without their permission wuld be a violation of copyright law.
