THE HEIROPHANT

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THE HEIROPHANT--RULED BY TAURUS

KEYWORDS: Marriage, intuition, higher education.

Spiritual Meaning: The union between the male and the female.

This is another card which has been changed from the original version and certain parts of it have been omitted. Perhaps this was done to confuse the "common man" who did not have access to the original symbology of the cards.

In the original, the two monks are holding the keys together, rather than the keys being attached to the base of the throne as shown in the Tarot of today. The crossed keys symbolize the union of the male and female. The Heirophant is "the pope" and the three points on his miter represent the Universe.

The roses and lilies found in many of the Tarot Cards represent the male and the female. You will find this theme of the union of the male and the female, the yin and the yang, repeated throughout the Tarot. The reasoning behind this repetition is the belief that to become truly evolved, we must achieve union between the male and female, positive and negative, counterparts within ourselves.

The number of this card is Five. In Numerology the Five means changes. It is also the number of "marriage".

Astrologically, the rulership of The Heirophant by Taurus does not signify as much to me as does the fact that Taurus is ruled by the planet Venus. Venus rules love and harmony, and in this case the harmony is achieved through the union of the male and the female.

The Heirophant also represents higher knowledge, or intuition, the true meaning of which is "inner hearing". Because it represents higher knowledge, it can be interpreted in a reading as college, or further education for the querent, or the person it refers to in the reading.

(Updated 2006. All rights reserved.)