Practicing with the Planets: Healing the Hierophant with Thoth’s Tarot
There is a strong feeling of going home in the next few days. This energetic shift is because, on April 29th, Venus will move into Taurus, its home sign, and stay there until May 23rd. Venus in Taurus represents an energy of earthly and sensual luxury, where one can appreciate nature and surroundings that feel like home. Mars will also enter its home sign, Aries, on April 30th.
Every planetary alignment has its themes and a theme song. With Venus and Mars being back home, it reminds me of the relationship between “Love and War” or the Venusian and Martian energies. As someone with a natal Mars in Taurus, I also feel the current conjunction junction in my chart as a call to consider the function of Venus and Mars as more than feminine and masculine energy. Therefore, I often experience tension between balancing the stereotypical or mundane view of Taurus season and the spiritual potential of the sign.
On a mundane level, you can use this initial step into the Taurus transits for napping, nesting, and taking extra time for your self-care practices. Especially as we move into the summer months, Venus in Taurus is a perfect time to take a vacation, buy a new warmer-weather wardrobe, get your nails done, and spend more time relaxing and enjoying the fun and the sun by gardening or taking long walks in nature!
However, if you want to take a more mystical or spiritual approach to Taurus season, this is a great time to revisit and transform any old limiting beliefs about money and finances, material possessions, the appearance of your physical self and home, and relationships. Even more so, I have been drawn to unpacking how Uranus in Taurus transit of the past few years influences the mythologies and symbolism of Taurus as a Venus-ruled sign through the tarot.
Although Taurus Energy has a reputation for being more traditional and commonly associated with the Hierophant card in tarot, the Uranus in Taurus transit is also disrupting our approaches to teaching and learning. Tracing these transits also reminded me of one of my favorite tarot decks, Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot Deck, which includes astrological and qabalistic symbolism.
While this deck also associates Venus and Taurus with The Hierophant card, it represents Mars in Aries as the Two of Wands and Dominion. Therefore, this post will unpack the meaning of these two cards as a reflection of the astrological energy for this period and the many ways that Uranus in Taurus calls each of us to become more in tune with our own internal guidance and spiritual truth.
The Hierophant as Teacher: On Taurus in the Traditional Tarot
But before we get into the Thoth deck, we should first explore what The Hierophant means in the traditional Rider Waite Smith tarot. Unlike the High Priestess, the Hierophant card represents a conventional spiritual teacher, such as a pastor, priest, rabbi, or clergy member. The card also depicts a religious officiate, symbolizing ceremonies like marriages, christenings, or other initiations.
Therefore, the Hierophant may also be calling us to be ordained in some way, whether that means joining a religious order, using our spiritual journey to become a shaman, or guiding others through their spiritual journeys. At the same time, the Hierophant can indicate a more general relationship to education and teaching, with some readers linking this card to the role of a mentor or professor. Some also describe the Hierophant as the Emperor who has experienced spiritual ascension, as this card follows card 4 in the Rider Waite Smith, and Taurus follows Aries in the Zodiac.
As the number 5 card in the deck, the Hierophant resonates with the energy of change and curiosity, calling on the viewer to engage in deep inquiry and questioning what they believe to be true. While many people today are moving away from traditional religions towards more flexible practices, there is still much to learn from our family religion or the one we grew up with. Consequently, taking a more mystical approach to Taurus season calls us to delve deeper into life’s mysteries and deconstruct the role of tradition in our understanding of spiritual truth.
The Hierophant’s Dominion: On Taurus, Aries, and Thoth Tarot
In contrast to the traditional meaning of the Hierophant card, each card in The Thoth deck references Aleister Crowley’s “Book of Thoth” and corresponds to specific mythologies from the Qabalah and Egyptian cosmologies. For those who don’t know, Crowley is an occultist most known for creating rituals and religious movements. Therefore, the description of the Hierophant card in the Thoth deck reflects Crowley’s religious beliefs:
“The reference in this card is to Taurus the Bull, and its Indian equivalent, The Elephant. The pentagram with its dancing male child symbolizes the New Aeon of the child Horus, which takes the place of the Old Aeon that has governed us for 2,000 years. The Hierophant moves only at intervals of 2,000 years. The four masks are the guardians of every mystery, culminating in the Grand Mystery of the uniting of the microcosm and macrocosm. The woman before the hierophant represents Venus, now armed and militant. The Wand, with its interlaced rings, shows the three Aeons of Isis, Osirus, and Horus.”
In explaining Venus in Taurus, Crowley references his own esoteric beliefs in the spiritual philosophy of Thelema. He argues that Taurus is associated with the beginning of a new spiritual era influenced by the mythology of Isis, Osiris, and Horus. This era requires an awakened spiritual energy in which knowledge empowers each individual.
Although Venusian energy and love’s regenerative power are often linked with Isis, this deck calls for feminine empowerment as Venus is armed in the Hierophant. This militant stance reflects the integration of Martian energy and the balance of masculine and feminine energy. Therefore, these myths and cosmologies emphasize the importance of destruction and transformation as the creative impulse within us all.
Similarly, this relationship between destruction and transformation is referenced in the description of Mars in the Aries card, Dominion, aka the Two of Wands. In the Thoth deck, this card is described as “Chokmah in the suit of Fire. Mars in Aries. Here are two dorjes crossed. The dorje is the Tibetan symbol of destruction. But destruction may be regarded as the first step in the creative process”.
In this sense, the move into Venus in Taurus and Mars in Aries raises questions about the Hierophant’s Dominion on Earth or what/who has established control over the people’s knowledge. In Crowley’s philosophies, he wrote extensively about an era or eon in which more people would question the knowledge they are given and who is giving it, and our current moment in time calls for the creation of new ways of knowing through understanding the relationship between the Hierophant and The High Priestess.
Heralding the High Priestess: Preparing for the Taurus New Moon
With the Sun and Venus joining Jupiter and Uranus in Taurus, this is a lucky time to experiment with the Hierophant and the High Priestess. In my work, I often view the High Priestess as an example of a spiritual teacher who works outside conventional religious doctrine. Uranus in Taurus also reflects the turn towards more witchy and esoteric spiritual workers entering the mainstream. Therefore, uniting these two energies means developing more eclectic, interdisciplinary spiritual practices that construct truth through personal study without focusing on the hierarchies and oppressive systems that often control traditional institutions.
However, this new era requires the destruction of the previous era. And while this destruction can be literal, from a spiritual perspective, this means deconstructing the beliefs we know to create something new. Therefore, the questions for this season are as follows:
- Where are you being called to move from the role of student to the position of spiritual teacher?
- Is it time to seek a mentor or teacher, and who would you want to learn from?
- Do you find religious institutions or ceremonies helpful, or want to incorporate them into your life?
- How can you recognize false prophets and practice more discernment on your spiritual journey?
Below, I have included some of my essays that delve into this theme of the Hierophant’s Dominion. These essays explore the spaces within spiritual and religious doctrine that prioritize dominating the masses and extracting resources over working toward spiritual growth and development.
As we enter Taurus season, I also encourage you to focus on self-care and enjoying the fruits of your labor, as well as nurturing your mind and intellect by tapping into the Hierophant’s energy and teaching yourself how to incorporate more grounded and embodied spiritual practice into your life in preparation for making new commitments with the Taurus New Moon.
