Hierophant

close up from Hierophant

I finished this one about 20 cards ago! but why didnt I post the whole thing? We may never know. Catching up- here ya go!

The Hierophant is the fifth card in the tarot and 5 is also the number that represents struggle and conflict. In my daily-ish readings I keep pulling the 5's! The 5 of wands card: an image of 5 people fighting each other with staffs (or maybe playing or dancing badly). I am also pulling the 5 of cups. In this image a sad figure sits, sulking, focusing on the two spilled cups and not the three full ones.  Rather obvious! So what are the Hierophant card, and all these 5’s trying to teach me? 

The Hierophant is the card of hard work, of teaching, of grabbing the work of the spirit and bringing it into substance. When I pull images from the ether, when I research ancient tarot cards for their meaning, then weave it all together with my personal life and ideas, and lastly, when I then share that image with people, in hopes they can use it to be the person they need to be in their own lives, then I too am the Hierophant. 

I struggle with imposter syndrome. I struggle with the notion of a patriarchal leader in organized religion that gets to dictate what's right, which is how many people view the Hierophant. I struggle with knowing if taking all these years of my life to paint the 78 cards of the Tarot will be worth it. I struggle with knowing if I am worth it.

But the Hierophant says to have Faith. Faith that it is worth the struggle. That I can access my own spirituality, be my own middle man between heaven and earth. Faith that I have the strength  to steady the ladder so that others might climb up. Faith that I will grow from this long hard journey. Faith that I can wail upon those other four guys and win or better yet, persuade them to all work together to a common goal. Faith that I will see and drink from those full cups and not lose myself in the loss of the spilled cups.

I am both Jewish (father) and Catholic (mother) by ancestry. I have painted catholic alterpieces (ok, so they maaay have been Jim Henson as St Francis with all the animal Muppets below but it WAS gilded and Henson was making a benediction, Fozzy as well,  and Animal was eating his vestments hem). I have painted the tree of life and I sing to bless the bread I've made on shabbat. But nature has always been my high priest, my pope, my hierophant. So I have chosen a white stag in white robes, sitting like a yogi, intertwined with the roots of the white aspen. The Aspen forest is all one tree, all interconnected, communicating by root and mycelium. Every year for (interestingly) seven years,  I showed art just outside of Denver, Colorado, in the fall. I miss wandering through the Aspen trees, with their glowing autumn leaves, how they illuminated my mind in my meanderings.

I fell down a rabbit hole with the strange seven eyes and almost had my stag man wearing the mask of Lilith, with its three eyes to the left and four eyes to the right. In revelations 5/6: And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. If only Paul had been able to paint his mad visions! But deer wearing masks are kinda goofy looking, and then, in a lovely synchronicity, Aspens have human-like eye knots already. So I added the 7 eyes of the lamb on the two pillars. These pillars are depicted in multiple traditional tarot cards within each deck and to either side of the Hierophant. Mine are the autumn aspen trees. One side points down; the energies grounding down, the basement of humanity. The other Triangle points up; the flow of spirit upward to enlightenment or understanding. 

My husband the storyteller tells of the dragonfly, who lays its eggs in the water, and lives its life in the land and in the sky. When you whisper your prayer to the dragonfly it may carry it to the ear of the Creator. In my image the Hierophant holds the key; the dragonfly; the ability to tell your wish to the Creator.

Also traditionally depicted on this card are the two students, here the dove and the crow. So many meanings for these two birds,  I leave it to you, Kind Reader, to choose your own. But they are the students learning the wisdom of the Hierophant. Tarot cards one through four deal with the person in the physical realm, but this card,  the fifth, is the bridge between the spirit and the physical. And so our journey continues!