Tarot Meditation: The Hierophant

The Heirophant

In the crudely shaped world of the Emperor’s dominions, song is heard. Once the winds of thought sent dust clouds flying across a land half formed. Now shapes appear and voices call. The fiery air has burned earth to clay and shaped the clay. The world has added features to its planes and hills. Echoes of the inner mind have fashioned words in the outer places.

Open your eyes and look at the picture on the card. Imagine yourself before a magical teacher. Prepare to receive knowledge of great mysteries. To enter the circle of the Hierophant’s teachings, grow inwardly quiet and listen until the earth speaks your thoughts. At first this speaking is only an echo from the Emperor’s dominion; in time the mind asks questions which the world answers. The inner and the outer join further when the world asks and the mind answers. This dance of recognition and communion sets the mind and world singing a duet of evolving discovery — the teachings of the Hierophant make outer world and inner mind one being and one knowing.

You are tired. Many experiences and visions are behind you. You stand before a group of people. No thought comes to your lips. No idea waits to be spoken. Yet you must speak. You are expected to teach. Open your mouth. Say: “This is …” words form in your mind. Your lips echo them. Thoughts you never had before flow through you to bring light into those before you. You have the best seat at the lecture.

Meditation

And now sitting in your preferred meditation posture, allow your eyes to close gently … place your hands in your lap in line with your lower abdomen. Hold your hands together with the back of your right hand resting in the palm of your left hand, with your thumbs gently touching. Have the hint of a smile on your face.

Now, take in a long deep breath, breathing the breath all the way down into your belly … and as you breathe more, come into your center of calm … Breathing freely and easily, just being aware of the breath as it comes and as it goes … Just allowing the breath to soften and deepen your whole body …

With your eyes gently closed, visualize yourself now following the path. Imagine looking down on the path on which you’re walking … feeling the path underneath your feet. Is the path a rough path or a smooth path on which you are walking towards your peaceful sanctuary?

Now, see before you your peaceful sanctuary, your own haven of tranquility. It could be a warm cozy room … it could be some special place in nature that you love … like the beach, a lake or the forest, or some other place. This is a place that you can always come to where you can relax …. where you can experience peace and calm … a place where you always feel safe and protected.

Enter now into your own special haven and look around you to acquaint yourself with your surroundings. Touch the things that await you here, that you feel attracted to and that you love here. Smell the scents and aromas that can only be experienced in this place. Listen to the sounds that are unique to your wondrous place.

See before you a special place a seat that you can sink into and feel cozy and relaxed. This can be any kind of seat in which you can sit with comfort and safety. Go now to your special seat and make yourself comfortable there.

Counting backwards now into an even deeper state of relaxation … knowing that you are in control at all times …feeling so relaxed, so very very relaxed in your peaceful sanctuary.

With your eyes gently closed allowing yourself to hear these words and allowing them to fade away … being aware of the breath as you breathe in and as you breathe out … being aware of the natural flow of the breath, being aware of the natural rhythm of the breath as it comes and as it goes.

Imagine once again the Hierophant. Just bring an image of the Hierophant to mind. Here in the tarot card sits a benign figure dressed in the robes of religious authority. He wears a triple crown on his head. The keys at his feet symbolize the keys to Heaven. His right hand points to Heaven, a sign he of Initiation to bless others. In his left hand he holds a staff, a symbol of his spiritual ranking. He is seated between two pillars which symbolize the laws of the Church. Before him kneels two supplicants.

When the Hierophant enters your life, you can look upon him as a spiritual advisor. He can also represent your Higher Self, that you can access for your own understanding and clarification about concerns or problems you may have in your life.

And now, taking in a deep breath, breathe in trust for your own inner guidance and knowing. And as you breathe out, deepening and deepening into your centeredness and clear insightfulness. Continue to breathe naturally.

The Hierophant appearing in your life now indicates that this is the time to consciously choose to learn from your experiences that lead to greater wholeness and completion. You are being asked to release yourself from the conditioning that stifles you.

At this time, you may have questions or be seeking some advice about an aspect of your life. In your safe and secure haven, imagine someone whom you would trust as your spiritual advisor or counselor or healer. It could be female or male. It may be the Hierophant himself. It could be a person you know. It could be a spiritual being in a non-human form, perhaps a sphere of light or a higher vibration. It could be your own Higher Self, that part of you that can access Knowledge and Wisdom.

Imagine that being now … and if you so wish, invite that being into your peaceful sanctuary. Visualize yourself looking to your right and watching as your spiritual advisor approaches.

As she or he approaches, sense the presence of his/her lovingness for you. If what appears before you doesn’t feel right for you, send it away and ask for another spiritual counselor. Remember, you are in control at all times.

As your spiritual advisor comes closer to you, you may wish to greet that being and invite this being to sit down before you.

And just being aware of the breath once more … the incoming breath and the outgoing breath … the breath coming in and the breath going out … the breath entering your body and the breath leaving your body.

And as you breathe in, breathe in the love and compassion that this being is pouring out to you … and as you breathe out, go ahead and relax back into your seat, deepening and deepening … and continue to breathe naturally, just being aware of the breath.

Visualize yourself looking at your spiritual counselor. As you do so, you may feel trust and faith in the stillness and lovingness of his or her presence. You may have questions that you want answers to … perhaps about your health, a relationship, a legal issue … your own spiritual direction … your career or vocation … your family or parents, siblings or children. Now is the time to ask the questions that are of utmost importance to you.

Wait patiently as your wise counselor replies … be very still and listen to the responses that may be conveyed to you in words, thoughts or symbols. Just be aware of your wise advisor looking at you with great love as you talk. Feel how you can talk about all the things that have been troubling you for so long. In this deep loving presence, your spiritual counselor listens to you without judgment or criticism. In this atmosphere of acceptance, you are able to talk freely and easily.

If there are any other aspects of your life that you still need counsel, continue to talk to your spiritual advisor a little longer.

Imagine now your spiritual advisor standing, ready to leave. You may want to express your gratitude for being with you as you accompany this being to the exit of your peaceful sanctuary.

Now take in another long, slow deep breath, breathing in the clarity and advise you have received … and as you breathe out, deepen more and more into your greater Understanding and Wisdom … and continue to breathe naturally.

It is time now for you to leave your peaceful sanctuary … knowing that you can come here any time you wish.

And now … becoming aware of yourself sitting on the chair or on the cushion on the floor … gently wiggling your fingers … slowly moving your head from side to side … becoming aware of your feet and wiggling your toes … and very, very slowly, opening your eyes.

Take a deep and clearing breath and stretch your whole body, if that feels good for you.