The Hierophant is one of the least-beloved cards of the Tarot. This card used to be called The Pope and most Tarot readers, even if they like the Pope (and typically they don't; the feeling is probably mutual), don't much care for the underlying associated meaning of the card, which is all about authority and structure and even, in its worst aspect, bureaucracy. Modern decks change The Pope into a priest of the Mysteries and call him The Hierophant, but the meaning of the card remains the same.
Hierophant is from the Greek for "high priest." "Hier" is the same root from which we get the word "hierarchy," and the meaning of this card has everything to do with hierarchy. Being number 5 in the Tarot series, The Hierophant rules all those that come before him, even the people who would ostensibly be in charge, like the Emperor and Empress. Of the five fingers, the Hierophant is the thumb. He is the apex of the five-pointed star. He is also Spirit, ruling the lower world of matter.
Our innate desire for direction is a part of ourselves that, as a culture, we have a difficult time facing. Human beings crave hierarchy. Get more than one human being in a room together and a pecking order will establish itself before you have time to shut the door. Yet, though we want to be led, we don't want to take the chance of trusting someone to lead.
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