The Hierophant is a card that’s really layered with meaning and has lots of potential interpretations. And this makes sense, because a hierophant is someone who, in history, was a translator of the sacred, or of the mysteries. In more old school Tarot approaches, the Hierophant often represents institutional religion or a spiritual teacher of some sort, as well as tradition and the morals/values of our culture. This can certainly still be true, but in the more modern approach of looking at each card as a way to deepen our personal development, the Hierophant asks us to trust in our own innate ability to find meaning in what we encounter, to develop our own internal moral compass, and to trust that the difficult experiences of our lives will lead us towards wisdom. I say that because the Hierophant is card 5 of the Major Arcana, and if we look at each Minor Arcana 5 we find hardship and struggle. Suffering is what has given birth to spirituality, in so many ways; suffering is what inspires us to ask Why, and through our own difficult experiences we must develop our own Why. We so often want to outsource this kind of meaning; we want some outside authority to tell us why. We want the Void to answer back. But in the Hierophant we learn that, ultimately, this existential Why can only be answered from within.

On a more practical level, this card can come along when we’re examining what we’ve been taught; this has particular significance if we have children and are questioning if what we’ve learned from our parents is what we want to pass down. Also, the Hierophant can call us into a teaching capacity.