The Hierophant

The Hierophant is the fifth card of the Major Arcana in the tarot. The figure in the picture depicts a figure dressed in formal religious garb anointing two initiates into the church. Because of the card's depiction of a ceremony celebrating the perpetuation of the "social order", so to speak, the Hierophant has come to symbolize convention and conformity to tradition and main stream culture.  The Hierophant emphasizes assigned social roles, rules and proper procedures. It accentuates the maintenance of the group over individual expression.  It represents orthodoxy and institutionalized structure.

In a reading with the Hiorophant I would ask the following:

-Are you sacrificing your individuality?

-What is your relationship like with authority?

-Are you thinking about "breaking away" from a group and striking out on your own?

-Do you find conventional religion oppressive?

-Are you searching for another means of spiritual expression?

-Are you becoming authoritarian against your better judgement?

-Do you find yourself straining against conventional social codes?

-Are you trying to find a balance between pleasing a particular group  and your own needs?

-Was school difficult for you?

-Do you have a hard time following the "rules"?

-Do you have  unconventional ideas about marriage?  If so, what are they?

-Is a 9 to 5 job not for you?

-If you have rejected the mainstream what kind of life do you envision for yourself?