By Sarah Taylor
There is a calling towards Soul in a significant way this week. We have two major arcana cards in the reading, along with a senior member of the Court of Cups: Temperance in the centre, The Hierophant to the left, and the Knight of Cups to the right.
I drew Temperance first, and it is the card on which the other two ‘hinge’ — which makes sense, given that Temperance is an alchemical synthesis and the endeavour to balance and work with two apparent opposites. The first thing I thought of when I saw the two streams of fluid pouring out of the bowls before the figure of Temperance was “blue pill” and “red pill.” Except here, the paradox is that, instead of choosing one over the other, there is the invitation to dance with both and see what comes of their ‘separate union’. The two streams come together — dance together, guided by Temperance herself — but they do not mix. There is interdependence rather than codependence.
Can we align with the paradox, moving it, guiding it, while holding both qualities as separately together in our consciousness? This is the card of ‘growing up’ and understanding that nothing exists in isolation — that, in fact, we need contradiction in order to locate and feel ourselves in the time and space of our own existence, and in the existence of the world at large around us.
The Hierophant is card 5 in the major arcana. It appears as an archetypal concept of ‘marriage’ that is held in place before our descent into matter in the form of The Lovers (card 6). The writing on the card:
“Spiritual master,” “teacher,” “advisor,” “initiate,” “inner leader,” “spiritual father,” “highest transformation.”
While The Hierophant can refer to marriage as the act that we know of binding two or more people together under an oath to a higher authority, what The Hierophant means in a more general — sometimes a more profound — sense is the alignment that we can move into when we ‘marry’ our self to our Self: where our personal authority is in congruence with a higher authority, where there is no division between who we are, and how we choose to be, to act, in our selves as a separate body, and in the body of divine wisdom to which we are inexorably connected.
Yes, we are connected, no matter what evidence we may find to the contrary. Yes, we have an authority that we can draw upon that both guides and feeds us — the paradox being that this in no way deviates from what feeds us personally. Our path is also the path of Soul — they merge, just as we can choose to ‘merge’ with another through a ceremony of intent. This is the path to “highest transformation” that The Hierophant card describes, and the Hierophant himself is both the promise of that embodiment within, as well as the guiding force towards that embodiment.
While The Hierophant reflects to us a ‘transpersonal quality’, in that it both activates something personal and, simultaneously, something collective (hence part of the call to alignment), The Knight of Cups reflects an archetypal quality that is very much personal — or personality based. He appears either as a person, or an aspect of a person, and that person may well be you.
Look at the different gazes of The Hierophant and the Knight (and Temperance for that matter — though we will come to her later). While The Hierophant looks at us directly, intently, the Knight of Cups looks equally intently, but this time not at us, but at the two cards to his left.
The Knight of Cups is person-focussed, both inwardly towards himself and who he considers himself to be, and outwards towards ‘the other’, the object of his gaze. The words on the card describe this state:
“ability to give,” “devotion to a loved person,” “to reach higher emotional levels,” “SPIRITUAL RELATIONS,” “family of one’s choice.”
He embodies relatedness to other through the heart. One particular phrase interests me: “family of one’s choice.” This is not relatedness through blood for its own sake, but through a heart choice. He is wholly devoted to finding his heart home among those who relate on the same level, who reflect his own choices.
I also find it interesting that the Knight of Cups is designed to look like a cameo — a portrait in profile that is carved out of its background. The Knight himself is aware of the metaphor in that: he is part of his own background, and yet he is also not of it — his eyes, his intentions set on Temperance and The Hierophant.
As he does this, the figure of Temperance nudges her hip in the direction of the Knight, the fingers of her left hand seeming simultaneously to point towards him and also to hold command over the bowl beneath them, from which flows a stream of water. Her right hand hovers over another bowl — this time of blood — the two streams meeting in the middle.
She is an adept at the art of a particular kind of magic: the magic of the subtle interplay of two substances that merge and still maintain their integrity. The distant constellation above the Knight’s head coalesces into a diffuse corona above the head of Temperance, finally crystallising into a vertical pillar of starry light that sits above the eyebrows of the Hierophant, who looks directly at us.
We start out with a Knight’s desire, a drive, to form something that is meaningful to our hearts — and we can only do this when we acknowledge the experiences of relatedness that have brought us to this point.
We are invited to understand the stuff we are carved from. If we cannot understand and know ourselves as a product of our family of origin, we return to and re-enact — with varying degrees of awareness, time and again — the adage that “blood is thicker than water.”
Can blood (what we have been taught about love) and water (how we choose to love as an authentic expression of our souls) co-exist? Can we hold both in awareness so that we can act from a point of active, conscious choice?
True relatedness is not in the intentions we hold, nor the words we speak. True relatedness comes from knowing where we come from, where we want to go, and who we are where these two streams meet. The Hierophant has his lips gently sealed while he meets us eye to eye. There is a sense of knowingness that I keep reaching for, but which lies beyond the ability of my words to convey. I return to his eyes, again and again. The answer is here, and it is one I feel. It is back to the heart, every time. It is the heart that knows.
Astrology/Elemental correspondences: The Hierophant (Taurus), Temperance (Sagittarius), Knight of Cups (the fiery aspect of water)
If you want to experiment with tarot cards and don’t have any, we provide a free tarot spread generator using the Celtic Wings spread, which is based on the traditional Celtic Cross spread. This article explains how to use the spread.
I haven’t yet worked a lot with tarot, & every column on the subject here brings me new learning. I like how you approach your readings, Sarah – reminds me of a dear, wise reader I used to consult from time to time, many years ago.
I’ve been meaning to ask, does anyone else have an Ancestral Path deck, by Tracey Hoover? They were the cards I intuitively chose when I bought a set back in 1998. I find them very beautiful, & interestingly, The Hierophant is female, portrayed as the Oracle at Delphi. They perhaps lack some of the additional visual symbolism that other sets have, so perhaps it may be useful for me to also acquire a more traditional deck as well.
Thank you for introducing me to the Rohrig Tarot deck Sarah; it is beautiful to me and I especially like the Hierophant. As a Taurus and one who sees this Taurus card often in my readings, I see many layers to its presence and today so much came together (and beautifully) for me as I immersed myself in your reading. There is indeed something about the Rohrig Hierophant’s eyes which touches me deeply also. Your readings have opened doors for me Sarah as I continue to explore and discover with the Tarot. Self and Soul and the ability to bring it all together and sense the shift taking place within is an incredible journey. Thank you from my heart for being so instrumental as a teacher and a guide, for not only myself, but for so many!
Hi Sarah,
Thank you for another incredible reading. We missed your reading last week. so I drew a spread on the tarot generator at the time instead. Synchronously, my question of intention was to illuminate Soul Path.
I also drew The Hierophant in the second position, representing Foundation..as Eric describes is “the ‘how you got here’, or where you came through to get here, card.” In it’s showing up this position for me really adds to the meaning of your reading spread today.
The Hierophant I understand as the spiritual experience of soul expressed in the individual, over life times, civilizations and in society of family records. Of old energy, of judgement, separation of the two paths observed as choice, yet can be giving our spiritual power over represented in the ruling Pope. It’s organized religion, and the more traditional history of our spiritual past. But on the other side, in the Knight of Cups I see the spiritual experience as a new energy of en-lightenment.
I actually get more from the image in the Smith-Waite deck where the Knight of Cups is facing out, advancing forward looking like a messenger he (Mercury) offers forth the single Ace of cups. Ace of Cups (Cancer) are spiritual gifts, of true inner source, (home) intimacy and love that the Knight acts in invitation to. A youthful spirit of romance and/or adventure entering our lives. It is a heart-felt gesture, an awakener. Yet is soul reaching in to receive that perfect piece of Source/God that allows it’s own discovery.
These soul roots (perhaps to Akashic family) of free choice called into recognition are accessing a vaster time and space of creation in the heart. Of connectedness, oneness, wholeness, and as with Temperance has the potential to be multidimensional.
In the center is the blending of that blood and water into a magnificent wine! Where the alignment of foundation and benevolent heart energy coexist and meet. In Christ Consciousness, Source/God is self evident bridging heaven and earth.
I like the image in the Smith-Waite deck (a/k/a Rider Waite) and earlier decks, which has two monks before the Hierophant, one with lilies on his vestment and one with roses. This is an illustration of Right and Left tantra — the path of purity and that of passion, which ultimately lead to the same place. In practical terms the message I usually get from the Hierophant card is a resounding “check in with yourself about this,” or “check with someone who knows more than you.”
Brilliant, Sarah! It IS the heart that knows, and that’s really potent energy right now. This is about Starhawk’s Fifth Sacred Thing: love, the ‘real’ kind that asks nothing but to express its joy. That’s the Divine alchemy that is capable of entwining the red pill and the blue in a dance of mutual becoming without depleting either. Great reading, thank you.