I would like,, if no one objects, the Hierophant to be labeled as "The Professor". I can provide a long and intellectually pretentious occulty explanation as to why this is appropriate if anyone wants, but the short version is that the essential function of a hierophant is to profess. I think the word comes from the Greek word "hairesis", which means "school of thought", and is cognate with the English "heresy".
Here's a start of an idea for a heirophant card:
heirphant1.jpg
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Relationship Between Heirophant & Emperor
The heirophant and the emperor, while they are natural rivals, are only so because they
can only survive one with the other. The king's relationship to the high priest is always complicated...there is a natural rivalry/energetic tension/dominance struggle between the two forces which in many instances (here I mean historically, in the literal menacing of the archetypes) leads to the collapse of civilization. However, when the emperor and the heirophant function together, then society thrives. however, this working together function only because the king does not command the heriophant, nor does the heirophant profess at the emperor.
The first example that comes to my mind when I think "emperor" is
Alexander (the great). And, for me, among the quintessential
heirophants is Aristotle. Alexander & Aristotle are an amazing unit
in history....Aristotle was Alexander's tutor in his (Alexander's)
youth, and his blunt and honest friend later in life. There is a
famous letter we have that Alexander wrote while in Asia, to
Aristotle, who had just published a book on ethics & poetics. It goes
something like, "My dearest Aristotle, you should not have written
this book. For now that you have given away the truth to all people,
what will we [Greeks] have that makes us better than the rest?" (or
something like that?). To which Aristotle replies something like
"Don't worry; the barbarians [ie, non-greeks] won't get it anyway."
can only survive one with the other. The king's relationship to the high priest is always complicated...there is a natural rivalry/energetic tension/dominance struggle between the two forces which in many instances (here I mean historically, in the literal menacing of the archetypes) leads to the collapse of civilization. However, when the emperor and the heirophant function together, then society thrives. however, this working together function only because the king does not command the heriophant, nor does the heirophant profess at the emperor.
The first example that comes to my mind when I think "emperor" is
Alexander (the great). And, for me, among the quintessential
heirophants is Aristotle. Alexander & Aristotle are an amazing unit
in history....Aristotle was Alexander's tutor in his (Alexander's)
youth, and his blunt and honest friend later in life. There is a
famous letter we have that Alexander wrote while in Asia, to
Aristotle, who had just published a book on ethics & poetics. It goes
something like, "My dearest Aristotle, you should not have written
this book. For now that you have given away the truth to all people,
what will we [Greeks] have that makes us better than the rest?" (or
something like that?). To which Aristotle replies something like
"Don't worry; the barbarians [ie, non-greeks] won't get it anyway."
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