If you have ever had a reading from me, and had The Hierophant turn up, then you know that this is a card that I have had mad beefs struggles with.
For years, The Hierophant represented so much of what I resisted in the world: authority figures, pillars of tradition, organized religion and dogmatic structure. Some of my disdain could be chalked up with the ignorance and arrogance that accompany youthful conviction, but some of it was also born out of personal experience and confirmed biases resulting therein.
I won’t lie, a part of me still flinches a little when this card appears to me, but I have been working with the energy of The Hierophant for years and have come around on this stern-seeming taskmaster. For me, The Hierophant has come to represent a form of surrender and an invitation to engage in a much deeper learning by embracing the generational knowledge that is forged (and forgotten) by time. The point isn’t to futz around trying to re-invent the wheel, but rather to learn the rules, inside and out, so that one can effectively break them when necessary.
The Hierophant appears to us as is an invitation to cultivate our deepest inner knowledge, to accrue the wisdom of the ages and become our own teacher and guide. To embody the Hierophant is to engage with our shadows, integrating our darkness and meeting it fully with grace and compassion; holding the keys to Heaven and Hell and knowing that where we direct our focus and attention directly creates the reality which we experience.
For me and my art practice, the lesson of The Hierophant first meant attending art school and completing an MFA program in painting; pursuing gallery and museum exhibitions, applying for grants, and residencies; and choosing subject matter and art techniques/expressions that I hoped would appeal to art collectors. Through this gateway of tradition and establishment, I was able to uncover a more meaningful (to me) purpose for art - art as a means to communicate lost, esoteric teachings, a magickal expression and our connection to the divine. I can clearly see my patterns now, and understand why it was necessary for me to learn and be active in the traditional art world, so that my decision to turn away from it would be an informed one.
My Shadow aspects came in droves when I first accepted this lesson, all my fears and shame came to the surface like a dam breaking.
My inner voice taunted me at first,
‘Are you afraid to paint mermaids and faeries and dragons because none of your peers will take you seriously (at best) and or think you are batshit crazy (at worst)? Well good, because you are going to paint mermaids and faeries and all the ‘girlie’ magical shit you loved so much as a child and you will like it, best stock up on pink colors because you are going to be using them ALL THE TIME.’
Which is exactly what did. I accepted the challenge of digging into my own six-demon-bag and integrated the ever-living shit out of my shadows.
The keys to Heaven and Hell are in my hands and In this way, art has become a form of deepening my connection to the unknown mysteries. My homework has been to understand, accept, and implement this principle of the power of my mindset - that where I direct my will, creates my reality - so it is imperative that my intentions are clear.
Heaven and Hell, we are meant to experience and learn from both. The art which I channel carries lessons on the wings of faeries, the horns of demons, and the scales of dragons. I don’t have to understand why I am painting them, I only have to bring them forth from the unknown and onto a page.
