Tarot is an excellent tool for meditation to enhance spiritual growth. With Tarot, in our readings we each have subtly different meanings for the different cards, meanings which work well for ourselves better than anyone else’s. Spiritual Tarot works the same way. We each have our own path and we each see subtly different things in the Major Arcana cards to help us along that path.

With this series I’m sharing my journey, in hopes that it might help to shine a little light on yours.

The Hierophant sits on his ornate stone throne between two stone pillars, representing the Law of Polarity. He wears a red robe over a white gown. On his head, he wears a three-tiered crown and he holds a staff with three crosses in his left hand. These represent our three levels of awareness: body, mind and spirit. Two supplicants kneel before him; one wears a garment decorated with white lilies and the other’s garment is decorated with red roses. This represents purity and desire. There are two golden keys crossed at his feet –the Keys to Heaven? He holds his right hand up with two fingers raised. It looks, to me, like he is saying, “Shhh! I have something to tell you!”

To me the Hierophant represents our Superconscious Mind, as I have mentioned before, our God-Self, that part of us which is One with the Divine. Being Divine, in Itself, it knows all there is to know, and it will teach us what we need to know in life, if only we will be quiet and listen! This inner teaching is known as intuition, and it is available to us when we need it. However, it is only available when we really listen for it. And, of course, that requires meditation. That is the only way we can be quiet enough to hear that still, small voice within us.

Now, many people confuse intuition with a “hunch.” There is definitely a difference. The hunch is subconscious in nature and, while the subconscious is always accurate in what it remembers, it can only feed back to us what our conscious mind has given it. Whatever reasoning the subconscious does is limited by the way we see things consciously, and we often misinterpret what we see on a conscious level; we see what we have been programmed to see.

Also, in meditation, we sometimes hear thoughts from various discarnate beings, and we certainly can’t always trust these “messages” to be true and useful to us. So –how do we know whether what we see or hear in meditation is true intuition or not? There are some tests that will never lead us astray.

First: true intuition, teachings from our Superconscious Self, never flatter us or tell us that we have some special purpose in life or, perhaps, that we are meant to save humanity in some way. The fact is, very, very few of are chosen for these things, maybe one in every several generations. And, if we should be a Chosen One, it will not be left for us to wonder about it! It will be so strong that we have no choice but to follow this Divine Path! We won’t have to meditate to hear this calling, it will hit us on the head like a lead hammer! So, if your voices or thoughts are flattering you in some way, ignore it, it isn’t really this higher intuition.

Next: true intuition reveals Universal Principles to us, not just the answer to a particular problem we happen to be facing at the time –that’s a hunch. The hunch, as mentioned before, comes from subconscious processes trying to use what it has been given by the conscious mind to figure out a possible answer to a particular problem. Intuition will give us principles which can be of use in any problem or situation anything like the one we are experiencing now.

Finally: intuition never interrupts. We have to really listen for it; we must meditate. And we have to really clear our mind of the background noise that is always going on in our head. That’s why it is so good to develop a regular schedule of meditation, to open ourselves to the Universal Mind. The more we do that, the more we will receive these intuitions that can be so important to us.

When I meditate on the Hierophant it helps me remember that there is really a part of me that is one with the Divine, and that part of me is trying to help me on a regular basis through my intuition. I have to remember to listen!

And that’s what the Hierophant means to me.