The Hierophant card can come up to talk about institutions, such as college, or where you work. It could also come up to talk about a committed relationship and those that are in one.
As advice, the Hierophant can mean a few things.
Sometimes it signals the need to seek out mentors or therapists in order to assist you on your journey. If you have reached a wall in your own thinking, sometimes allowing yourself to ask for help from others that know better is necessary.
There is no shame in asking for help. In fact, what you are doing is having the self-respect and courage to want to make sure you are going on the right path. You are investing in yourself.
And no matter how much you may want to be a stubborn island, sometimes trying to move forward on your own, "it takes a village to raise a child" and you are being raised by that village your whole life. You are always being informed by the people and things around you.
Sometimes what you encounter can be unhealthy. To seek out mentors or psychologists or therapists, or life coaches helps raise you above to your highest self and it is part of moving forward for the better - even if you seek this stuff out in books instead of directly with people. Of course, if you are talking about therapists, you should be discriminate about who you choose.
Either way, if you have been thinking of trying out any of these things, but afraid to, thinking it might signal weakness, take the leap and think of it as you just courageously seeking your best self.
Sometimes this cards signals lessons learned. We've all gone through hard times, and we've all sometimes been swallowed by the grief, the anger, the stress that comes with those times, and it's easy to hold on to those three things for a very long time if we allow it.
Adjust your lens at some point, and ask yourself, "What did I learn from this situation? What did it do to make me move forward?" These questions will help you process and release your past much more quickly.
There is this really great parable about a Chinese farmer that the philosopher Alan Watts talks about in his lectures. The story goes, that one day a Chinese farmer's horse ran away. All the neighbors came by and said “Oh this is terrible." And the farmer says “Maybe."
The next day, the horse that ran away returned with five more wild horses. The neighbors then came around and said “Hey that's wonderful!" and the farmer says “Maybe." The next day, while his son was out trying to ride one of the wild horses, he fell off and broke his leg. That night the neighbors came around and said “This is so terrible" and the farmer said “Maybe." The next day the conscription officers came around to recruit the son for the army, but they rejected him because of his broken leg. The neighbors came around and said “Oh that's wonderful!" And the farmer said “Maybe."
The point is, is that you never know what could be the consequence of good fortune, or misfortune. One bad thing that happens to you could lead you to the most wonderful thing of your life.
So if you didn't get that job you wanted, or your relationship fell apart, or things happen that are worse than that, have faith that in time life will reveal to you what this did to move you forward. More importantly, for yourself though, keep moving forward. You can do it.
