 He wears the triple crown and is seated between
two pillars, but they are not those of the Temple which is guarded by the High Priestess.
In his left hand he holds a sceptre terminating in the triple cross, and with his right
hand he gives the well-known ecclesiastical sign which is called that of esotericism,
distinguishing between the manifest and concealed part of doctrine. It is noticeable in
this connection that the High Priestess makes no sign. At his feet are the crossed keys,
and two priestly ministers in albs kneel before him. He has been usually called the Pope,
which is a particular application of the more general office that he symbolizes. He is the
ruling power of external religion, as the High Priestess is the prevailing genius of the
esoteric, withdrawn power. The proper meanings of this card have suffered woeful admixture
from nearly all hands. Grand Orient says truly that the Hierophant is the power of the
keys, exoteric orthodox doctrine, and the outer side of the life which leads to the
doctrine; but he is certainly not the prince of occult doctrine, as another commentator
has suggested.He is rather the summa totius theologić, when it has passed into
the utmost rigidity of expression; but he symbolizes also all things that are righteous
and sacred on the manifest side. As such, he is the channel of grace belonging to the
world of institution as distinct from that of Nature, and he is the leader of salvation
for the human race at large. He is the order and the head of the recognized hierarchy,
which is the reflection of another and greater hierarchic order; but it may so happen that
the pontiff forgets the significance of this his symbolic state and acts as if he
contained within his proper measures all that his sign signifies or his symbol seeks to
shew forth. He is not, as it has been thought, philosophy-except on the theological side;
he is not inspiration; and he is not religion, although he is a mode of its expression.
: Marriage, alliance, captivity,
servitude; by another account, mercy and goodness; inspiration; the man to whom the
Querent has recourse. Reversed: Society, good understanding, concord, overkindness,
weakness.
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