The Tarot of Eli 2: The Archeon Tarot -Key 5-The Hierophant & Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot- Key 5-The Hierophant

#tarottraditionalqabalahelitarot2strikingly.com

Above all things know thyself.

The Rider-Waite-Smith-Key 5, the Hierophant, is illustrated as the Pope, a reflection of the era when metaphysics primarily intertwined with the dominant religious beliefs. As the influence of Religious Theogony waned, Western Hermetic Metaphysics evolved into a more scientific and less dogmatic Patriarchal discipline. In the 15th century, a metaphysician perceived the Pope as the authoritative voice, speaking infallibly from the throne and demanding attentive reverence as he conveyed "The Word." Now, let's delve into the concept of Theogony.

Theogony refers to the origin and genealogy of the gods in a particular religious tradition or system of belief. It explores the creation and hierarchy of divine beings, shedding light on the theological aspects that govern the spiritual realm.

The golden keys at the feet of the RWS Hierophant Key 5 the Hierophant represents the Keys to Heaven (Gold is the Sun) and though both keys are gold, one is traditionally to be the silver key to Hell (Silver is the Moon, this is not a aspersion, as the Moon Goddess, Hel, rules the underworld.) and is the "window to the No-Thing". In the Pope's hand is the "Triple cross of the Western Peoples", often called the Papal Cross.

Waite took his meaning from the Sepher Yetzirah (THE BOOK OF FORMATION by Rabbi Akiba Ben Joseph) and applies the meaning of hearing to the letter Vau (Vav), and to The Hierophant, by illustrating two priests kneeling and listening to their Pontiff. The Animal Totem Tarot - Key 5-shows 2 keys and one of the most attentive creatures of nature as a pairing of intuition, and reason, conscious and subconscious, etc. Both united, being an integral and inseparable process of enlightenment.

The RWS- Hierophant, with hand raised blesses both scholars form position that is enthroned between the two columns or rods of the Mysteries.

The Archeon Tarot -Key 5- Hierophant is also the universal Key of learning and teaching as a mysterious Hierophant image. What is was well explained in the publication of the-Course in Miracles-"as you teach so will you learn.’ If that is true, and it is true indeed, do not forget that what you teach is teaching you."

Both the Archeon Tarot and the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot-The Hierophant emphasizes the phenomenon of faith; of releasing the inner spiritual being. Because of the constant word hypnosis of the social egregore, we tend to link faith with religion, although faith and religion don't need each other to exist. Faith was part of life long before religion existed. Explaining faith is difficult as it is a very personal experience. The faith of the Fool is absolute trust in the Spirit within. However, those who are unable or unwilling to see or hear the Hierophant's truth are often caught up in the trappings of faith. The are unable to see the trappings as tools of the divine, but as the very essence of divinity. Such an understanding can lead to painful inquisitions.

The communion of gender is the Divine Creative's invention created out of the understanding of Love, Faith and communion, whereas, the act of celibacy, a common Theology practice, is an example of a male's fear of death and of giving his power and/or energy to women.

For in the dark corners of fundamental Patriarchal religions, is the proposition that women drove mankind into sin by "eating of the fruit of knowledge" and therefore, are servants of Satan (Satan seems to be knowledge) and that the physical act of sex is an act of a woman as a succubus/vampire. Placing the human form, the sacred temple of Spirit, under the control of the Patriarchy. She is now regulated to the Patriarchal male control of her body where men decide what she wears and what she can or cannot do with her own being.

However, the Divine Creative is Sex, as 0=2 and the act of female and male union (sun and moon keys) creates what are the 2=1, the continuation of Love that is Life and information, and/or the Law of Attraction of which the DNA Molecule coding represents. The act of interfacing through sexual union is under the control of the Spirit within and has no service to the falsehood of outside authority.

Look at your babies, are they actions produced by evil? If you think so, you need therapy. Besides would any sane God create without knowledge and create its "own image" to be ignorant and evil? Not according to the Gnostic Sophia-the Goddess of wisdom, who was the birther of the male principle. She was a true Hierophant.

The famous female philosopher you're thinking of is likely Hypatia. Hypatia of Alexandria was a renowned Greek philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, around the 4th to early 5th century CE.

Key Facts about Hypatia:

• Background: Hypatia was the daughter of Theon, a mathematician and philosopher who taught at the University of Alexandria. She surpassed her father’s teachings and became one of the most respected scholars of her time.
• Philosophical Influence: Hypatia was a prominent figure in the Neoplatonist school of thought, blending elements of Platonism, mysticism, and metaphysical inquiry. She taught philosophy and astronomy, drawing students from various parts of the ancient world.
• Contributions to Mathematics and Science: She made significant advances in mathematics and was also involved in astronomical and scientific inquiries, developing instruments such as the astrolabe and hydroscope.
• Legacy: Hypatia’s influence as a philosopher, teacher, and intellectual made her a symbol of learning and wisdom, although her life ended tragically due to political and religious conflicts. Her death marked a pivotal point in the history of Alexandria and is often seen as symbolic of the decline of classical knowledge in the ancient world.

Hypatia is remembered as one of the few well-documented female philosophers of antiquity and an icon for women in philosophy, mathematics, and science.

Knowledge is information and, in this universe, in-form-action becomes image/Form. Hence, it is the knowledge gathered by the One- Self, which has formed into the manifestations of energy, all around and as us.

It is also the information in the DNA molecule (Spiral Energy Evolution of Trillions of years) that makes diversity in body forms. However, by keeping people superstitious and/or ignorant of knowledge by dogma and/or indoctrination, one can rule their individual minds and the creation of emotional reactions making them slaves to their false authority. Hence the ruler is one who now controls definition by enforcing fear and the evil of bigotry and/or "divide and conquer". Woman is profaned in our Fundamental religious social egregore of society.

  In truth, woman is the living foundation of all Life! To profane woman is to profane life!

I choose to view Woman as the Womb that all Life comes from and is known as the "invisible Sephiroth" of Knowledge that is Daath, not some male fire. By hiding the female's power, her womb, behind sin, fear and clothing it in superstition, fundamentalism keeps Daath/Knowledge invisible. For Female is the "Will to Form" and or Magnetism of the Electromagnetic universe. Male is electrical, and unless information (Mother Binah is Understanding and as the Priestess she is Knowledge) is understood, it can't be applied to energy that works for life.

Electricity is used as a carrier of information on this computer and other electrical devices as well as the bioelectric animation of your body through electrical impulse (coding)in the brain! The Divine Feminine forms energy as magnetism, whereas he is but a catalyst that is "Will- to-Force" she supplied the process of I AM Me and/or the "Will to Form" that utilizes forceful expression (Emotion) to establish life. Let's just say that energy is everywhere, but for it to become "Transformations", i.e. forms, it must be contained, measured, and understood, before it can become forms. Hence, her Wisdom is an action of the Hierophant.

Interestingly there was an arguable story of a Middle Ages Pope Joan — often called Pope Jane in modern retellings — is a legendary figure who is said to have reigned as pope during the Middle Ages while disguised as a man. According to the legend, she was a highly intelligent woman who, dressed as a man, rose through the ecclesiastical ranks and eventually became pope, only to be revealed as a woman when she gave birth during a papal procession.

The Legend of Pope Joan:

• Most versions place her reign around 855–858 CE, between the reigns of Pope Leo IV and Pope Benedict III.

• The story first appeared in 13th-century chronicles, especially the Chronicon Pontificum et Imperatorum by Martin of Opava, a Dominican friar.

• According to the tale, Joan was born in Mainz (or sometimes England or Greece), learned Latin and theology in Athens, and assumed a male identity (usually “John Anglicus”) to pursue religious education and rise in the Church.

• Her identity was exposed when she gave birth during a papal procession, either dying shortly after or being imprisoned and forgotten.

Did She Exist?

Historians today overwhelmingly consider Pope Joan to be a myth:

1. No Contemporary Evidence:

• No mention of her exists in papal records or chronicles from her alleged time.

• The Liber Pontificalis, the official record of popes from the early Church, shows no gap or anomaly during the time she supposedly reigned.

2. Late Appearance in Sources:

• Her story does not appear until 400 years after the alleged event.

• Most early sources come from anti-papal writers or folklore.

3. Possible Allegory or Satire:

• Some scholars suggest the tale may have begun as a cautionary allegory, or as satire directed at papal corruption or the Church’s rigidity on gender roles.

• Protestants in the Reformation later used the story to criticize the Catholic Church.

4. Modern Scholarly Consensus:

• The consensus among historians, including scholars of medieval Church history, is that Pope Joan did not exist as an actual historical person.

• However, the legend reflects deep cultural anxieties about women in power and the roles of gender and authority in medieval religion.

Esoteric Insight:

From a Western Hermetic point of view, Pope Joan might be interpreted archetypally as the High Priestess hidden within the Papal structure — a veiled Isis disguised as Peter — perhaps symbolizing the suppression of the Divine Feminine in Church hierarchy. Her sudden revelation (childbirth in public) mirrors the eruption of Sophia or hidden wisdom into the world of form — a theme aligned with Hermetic and Gnostic thought.

The Homo Sapiens DNA is Understood as a Molecular code "from the Stars" (The God molecule), the manifestation of Understood love that forms in the Womb of Earth from the outer panspermia of the Abyssal Womb. Therefore, the Tarot Hierophant and the Sacred Kingdoms Elder images are inferring the flash of truth into the face of ignorance by teaching both the old and new ways of thinking. In Western Hermetic Metaphysics this DNA/God molecule is shown as the Tree of Life.

Panspermia is a hypothesis in the field of astrobiology and cosmology that suggests life, or the necessary organic materials for life, may exist throughout the universe and could be distributed by meteoroids, asteroids, comets, planetoids, or spacecraft in the form of microbial life or organic compounds.

There are several variations of the panspermia hypothesis:

1. Lithopanspermia: This hypothesis suggests that life could have originated on one celestial body (such as a planet or moon) and then spread to others via rocks ejected into space due to meteorite impacts. These rocks, known as meteorites, can potentially carry microorganisms or organic molecules.

2. Radiopanspermia: This variant of panspermia proposes that life may have traveled between celestial bodies on high-speed particles like cosmic rays, which could carry microorganisms or organic molecules.

3. Directed Panspermia: This is a more speculative idea that suggests life could be deliberately transported from one place to another by advanced extraterrestrial civilizations. It's a concept often explored in science fiction.

The panspermia hypothesis doesn't address the question of the origin of life itself but rather how life, or its building blocks, might have spread from one location in the universe to another. While there's some evidence to support the possibility of panspermia, it remains a topic of ongoing scientific research and debate.

. This card represents an authority, -- employer, teacher, mentor, or some other person in control.

As previously stated, in Traditional Tarot- the key 4-The Emperor, represented the father as "Law Maker". The Hierophant is the father as Lawgiver, a distinction that is important. The Hierophant is an administrator. Therefore, the Emperor works for himself as a creative free agent, while the Hierophant works for a large organization and/or institution of man, whose rules he upholds, although he is paradoxically unaware this is the case.

The personality of the Hierophant can be encountered as an earthly person, who may be variously benevolent and just, thoughtful and kind, or it may be high-handed, egocentric, and even sadistic. One must deal with the Hierophant in whatever garb of temperament he or she may appear. By doing so we work out our own relationship with authority we have a choice of inner or outer author.

Here we examine how we feel about control in our lives. Do we resent those who attempt to impose structure on us, feeling that it restricts our creative freedom? Or do we need the psychological support of external regulation? Or does our Spirit march to its own drum?

The idea behind "enlightenment" is self-mastery and/or "Inner Authority", whereby, the Greater Self/inner Hierophant and Lesser Self have become "As above, so below" and thereby, listen to the Greater Authority of Self. In such a one, the Hierophant is not an outside authority as one realizes that "everyone I see is another way to be me" and stands by the Golden rule of do unto another as you would have done unto yourself. In Western Hermetic Qabalah we must accept the total authority of our own Life path.

Let’s expound on the Hermetic and metaphysical principle of Self-Authority — the idea that the Self is the rightful author of one’s destiny, rather than surrendering authorship to external systems, dogmas, or figures of control.

🔱 Self-Authority: The Inner Throne of Sovereignty

In the Western Hermetic Tradition, Self-Authority is not mere egoism or rebellion — it is the gnosis that the Divine Spark resides within the Self, and the true spiritual path is one of awakening and then enacting that inner truth.

1. "I Will Be" — Eheieh and the Inner Logos

Kether, the Crown of the Tree of Life, is associated with the Divine Name Eheieh — I Will Be. This is not a command issued from a throne in the sky. It is the Self recognizing itself as a creative agent of becoming. To live from Self-Authority is to live as the author of your becoming — to realize that you are the quill, the parchment, and the will of your own scripture.

To write your path is to declare, “I Am the Will that becomes.”

When you abandon authorship of your life to religion, tradition, or society, you let external constructs dictate your form. But Hermeticism insists that your form must be born from your inner fire, not from the mold of another’s making.

🜁 Outside Authority as Limitation

Outside authority is often necessary in childhood — but to stay bound by it is to remain spiritually adolescent. Churches, political systems, schools, and even mentors can become false Thrones — constructs that seem to offer truth, but actually imprison the soul in roles, guilt, or inherited shame.

“The kingdom of God is within you.” — Gospel of Luke 17:21

This echoes the core Hermetic law: As Above, So Below. As Within, So Without. Your authority must arise from within or it will be a shadow cast by another's will.

🌞 Self-Authorship and Tiphareth

On the Tree of Life, Tiphareth — the Beauty, the Solar Self — is where the Higher Self becomes radiant in form. It is the seat of inner kingship. To rule from Tiphareth is to live in conscious alignment with your Soul’s purpose — not as dictated by society, but revealed through inner initiation.

In the Thoth Tarot, the Prince cards each represent aspects of this Self-Authoring process. They journey with tools in hand, not orders from a master. Each carries the emblem of Self-mastery.

🜂 Esoteric Responsibility: Not Ego, but Logos

Self-Authority does not mean rejecting all wisdom outside oneself. It means integrating external insights into your own gnosis and becoming a co-creator of truth. You don’t follow Light — you become it.

To follow blindly is to live in shadow.
To discern and then embody is to live in mastery.

✨ Practical Invocation: “Author of My Soul”

“I cast off the yoke of false names and borrowed masks.
I reclaim the Quill of My Becoming.
In the name of Eheieh, I write my path in living flame.
No prophet speaks for me. No priest stands in my place.
I am the living scroll, the will that becomes,
The voice that says: I Am, and I Will Be.”

Final Thought

In this age, where control systems grow increasingly subtle, Self-Authority is the new Initiation. It is the Rite of refusing to be ruled — not in anger, but in inner certainty. To be Self-Authored is to be a Magus of one’s Path, building your House (Beth) with the bricks of Wisdom, Will, and Self-Knowledge.

If you wish a Western Hermetic Pathworking and Ritual for Reclaiming Self-Authority, go to magickeli.mystrikingly.com and click on blog page.

Therefore, all is not "sweetness and light" in the outside authority of a human HIEROPHANT, and most authorities on tarot agree that there are some unpleasant aspects to this Key 5. I would recommend that the serious student read the book by Richard Cavendish: THE TAROT, where the implications of this State of Energy Consciousness are very cleverly related to Gnosticism (Those who know). He points out that the Demiurge, the Lesser Creator (Archon) which rules over manifestation, was also known by the Gnostics as the "Great Deceiver" (Jehovah), and that initiates of the Valentinian Gnostics were taught to ignore the authority of this one who is a type of "Librarian of measurement" and only has authority over its library of rules and as one knows, not all rulebooks and traditions are truth.

The Truth is that there is only one authority over us, and that is our own "Will to be" and/or Freedom to Choose by declaring "I AM"... and we get to experience freely, the consequences thereof; some call this fate.

Besides, only slaves need masters and saviors.

If we listen intently to our "Holy Guardian Angel" (HGA) and/or Greater Self, whose voice resides in our "heart". We will find that we are indeed on the Hero's/Heroine's journey towards truth. It is a falsehood to think one must seek guidance from an outside authority; truth is to walk your path in power you must treat each other as you wish to be treated, which is an inner knowledge of the heart/soul.

If you have Western Hermetic questions about this blog, or about Tarot cards, Layouts and/or Thoth Tarot Master classes. Click on chat with Eli button. You'll get your answers quickly and in depth with no charge to you.

When the HIEROPHANT-Key 5 card is thrown during a reading, the querent is:

• Experiencing the Principle of learning and teaching which is a desire for making things tangible.
• The querent may be seeking guidance from a counselor who has knowledge and authority or wishes to.
• There is a choice here, of aligning oneself to a philosophy, religion and/or set of beliefs to which one feels a sense of loyalty.
• Being free to disentangle oneself from any belief system, the querent still chooses to be involved.
• Life is the teacher here, as the querent experiences growth through a meditative process like philosophy that views every experience as a lesson-learning opportunity.

When reversed-Rider-Waite-Smith or Archeon Tarot card or both are surrounded with negative cards- it implies:

•  There is an espousing of moral, ethical, and spiritual values which may attribute to oppressing others, especially when espousing orthodoxy.
• There can be an inner sense of obedience to authority, imagined or otherwise, contributing to gullibility.

Thank you for your interest, comments, and supportive donations. May you live long and prosper!

Traditional Tarot Card Comparisons blog and tarot reading store.

Home page, Tarot Card Reading Store page, Master Tarot Classes, and nontraditional Tarot Card Comparisons.

Western Hermetic Magick invocation and ritual site with magick blogs.