The Hanged Man — XII

 

Hanging Copper and Amethyst Star Tetrahedron / Merkaba, by scredgeometryheals

Anything that is hanging could be said to be a type of pendant,

early 14c., pendaunt, "loose, hanging part of anything," whether ornamental or useful, from Anglo-French pendaunt (c. 1300), Old French pendant (13c.), noun uses of the present-participle adjective from pendre "to hang," from Latin pendere "to hang," from PIE *(s)pend-, extended form of root *(s)pen- "to draw, stretch, spin." [OE]

So, ornaments are pendants.

XII The Hanged One—Winter Wonderland Tarot, by Joshua Franklin and Aaron Franklin

Here is a pendulous man on a "pendant," hanging on a tree. Ornaments are like fruit in that they are hung from a tree, but what is the fruitfulness of the Hanged Man?

The Hanged Man is called Le Pendu in the Tarot de Marsellies.

The Hanged Man, Tarot de Marsilles: Life in suspension, transition, apathy and dullness, boredom, abandonment, sacrifice, repentance, readjustment, regeneration, improvement, surrender 

He is not just hanging, he is hanging upside-down. He isn't hanged by the neck dead, but he is stuck. He can't do much physically from this position and it isn't comfortable either.

From Norse mythology the hanged man is Odin. Odin, in his quest for knowledge, sacrificed one of his eyes to Mimir's Well, located beneath the World Tree, for a drink of its water of wisdom, he stabbed himself with a spear, and hung himself on the tree, Yggdrasil, where he remained for nine days until he gained the knowledge of the Runes.

Since the runes' native home is the well of Urd with the Norns, and since the runes do not reveal themselves to any but those who prove themselves worthy of such fearful insights and abilities, Odin hung himself from a branch of Yggdrasil, pierced himself with his spear, and peered downward into the shadowy waters below. He forbade any of the other gods to grant him the slightest aid, not even a sip of water. And he stared downward, and stared downward, and he called to the runes. —Odin's Discovery of the Runes - Norse Mythology for Smart People

137.

I trow hung on that windy Tree

nine whole days and nights,

stabbed with a spear, offered to Odin,

myself to mine own self given,

high on that Tree of which none hath heard

from what roots it rises to heaven.

138.

None refreshed me ever with food or drink,

I peered right down in the deep;

crying aloud I lifted the Runes

then back I fell from thence.  —Hávamál, The Words of Odin the High One from the Elder Edda, translated by Olive Bray

"Yggdrasil, the Mundane tree", Baxter's Patent Oil Painting, from a plate included in the English translation of the Prose Edda by Oluf Oulufsen Bagge (1847)

Because of this, the World Tree is called Yggdrasil, which some translate as meaning "Odin's horse," Ygg(r) meaning "the Terrible One[as in One who evokes Awe]" (a name for Odin) + drasill "horse, steed," metaphorically meaning "gallows," from the idea of the gallows being "the horse of the hanged," so let us say instead here that the "gallows," galgi in Old Norse, is the "drasill ["possibly" from PIE *dʰer- "to hold, support"] of the hanga [Old Norse hengja/hanga "to be suspended"]. And it would make even morse sense to translate drasill as steed, rather than "horse" and say "steed of the hanged," since steed is from the same root as Old English stod [and stud (n.2) is reconstructed to be from PIE root *sta- "to stand, make to be firm," with derivatives meaning "place or thing that is standing" like a stud (n.1) from

Middle English stode "pillar, prop, post, upright timber used as support," from Proto-Germanic *stud- (source also of Old Norse stoð "staff, stick"[OE]

and saying "pillar" of the hanged makes a lot of sense compared to horse, which is, rather, said to possibly be connected to a root meaning "to run." 

Therefore Odin is associated with the gallows, which in English is from Proto-Germanic *galgon- "pole," from PIE *ghalgh "branch, rod," used in plural for the cross of cruxifixction in Old English. Therefore we could say too, he could be associated with the "fork," as in a "forked stake or post (as a gallows)", crux, or stauros, which all have similar meaning, being wooden devices for the purpose of execution, as discussed in the previous trump Strength. The resolution to "carry one's cross" all the way to to crucifixion or to "hanging" is an act of mental strength or fortitude which leads to the ultimate sacrifice, that of one's own life, in exchange for the greater good. However, hanging in this sense is not specifically death, but rather the suffering endured before death. Death, which is the next card on the fool's/hero's journey, card XIII, can result from hanging for a prolonged period of time, but hanging itself (when not done with a noose around the neck), well, . . . it just leaves one hanging, and a lot can go on mentally in that state of suspension. 

We could say in a way that we come into this world, as the hanged man.

Artwork by Ailis O'Reilly, 2014

We enter the world pierced by the wound of separation from our god selves, from the moment the chord it cut we drop into discomfort, sickness, pain, and hardship, and begin learning the language of ruin, from late Old English "act of giving way and falling down," from Latin ruina "a collapse, a rushing down, a tumbling down," which is incarnation upon this Earth, trying to find meaning and make sense of it all before we inevitably die. We, like Odin, desire to know the secret of secrets, i.e., to understand the runes, from Proto-Germanic *runo "a secret, magic sign, runic character." If we purposefully commit ourselves to find meaning and are dedicated in our quest for the highest knowledge and wisdom, somehow in our suspended state of suffering, affixed to this place and time upon the gallows of the World Tree, we learn things that would remain otherwise elusive to both gods and angels. 

Some people associate our view from Earth of the band of the Milky Way in the sky with the concept of the World Tree.

In recent history this view is much less prominent in the human psyche due to light pollution and our modern life style of spending more time indoors, however, in the past this view would have been the cause of much wonder, contemplation, and meditation during its periods of visibility.

It can sometimes be seen as a vast arching dome intersecting with the horizon. It is suspending, or spanning (both from the same PIE root as pendulum and pendulous, *(s)pen "to draw, stretch, spin") the sky. Or we might say the dome is drawn out across the sky like a great dragon or a long long (i.e., Chinese Dragon).

Western Han dynasty tomb mural of a warrior on a (long)dragon, found in Luoyang

Draw being from a spelling alteration of Old English dragan "to draw, to drag, to protract,"with a number of related words in different languages having the meaning "to carry," such as, Old Saxon dragan, Old Frisian drega, draga, and Middle Dutch draghen. 

So there is a common similar meaning shared between something that is drawn and something that is suspended or spans; dragan = "to draw" = *(s)pen

So then, perhaps, we might say the Milky Way plane as seen from Earth is also like another thing that can carry(dragan), namely, a horse, but more specifically, a steed or stud, if the Old Norse etymological origin for drasil (horse), is PIE *dʰer- "to hold, support." So a drasil, which is a *dʰer- "hold" or "support" for a rider, is something that is used "to carry", i.e., dragan. In English we call the animal a "horse," which is of "unknown origin",  however by some it is said to be connected to *kers- meaning "to run"(also source of similar sounding course which is a "run"n.) which would make it similar in meaning to equus "horse"(as in equine), Latin, from PIE *ekwo- "horse," said to be "perhaps" related to *ōku- "swift." So in English the horse is called after being a swift running animal, rather than an animal that holds or carries. 

Neptune's Horses, Walter Crane 1910

Etymologically speaking, then, the term "sawhorse" is a bit confusing since sawhorses are called after horses, presumably, due to their ability to hold and support (like a drasill), rather than for being like a horse in that they run or move swiftly.

For the same reason, the name for the World Tree being "Odin's Drasill," makes more sense when we consider the etymological origin of the Norse word, because trees(and gallows, crux and stauros) are like drasills in that they *dʰer- "hold, support and carry." And the word tree itself is from PIE *drew-o-, suffixed variant from root *deru- "be firm, solid, steadfast.

It is interesting, then, that one Old English word for "horse" is hengest, as in henchman (14th c. hengestman, later henshman) said to be probably from man + hengest,

Old English hengest "horse, stallion, gelding," from Proto-Germanic *hangistas (source also of Old Frisian hengst, Dutch hengest, German Hengst "stallion") [OE]

And being something that "holds" or "supports," *dʰer-, could be a way to describe the dome of the heavens, and therefore the great branches of the World Tree, the thing that is firm and solid so it can hold and support, is called "Odin's Horse[Drasill]," so in other words, that would be the "hengest / hengst of the hanged," or perhaps we could say the gallows is "Odin's hengst,"or the "hanger of the hanged."

In any case this tree is where the god is hanged in order to gain knowledge like the sagacious long "dragon." Dragon being from 

Greek drakon "serpent, giant seafish," apparently from drak-, strong aorist stem of derkesthai "to see clearly," from PIE *derk- "to see"

The whole point of being the hanged man is to become sagacious like the dragon or long, and one might need to hang for a long time, and long for the time of hanging to be over with.

Long is from a Germanic root said to possibly be from PIE *dlonghos-, which is also the source of such words as Old Persian darga-, Persian dirang, Sanskrit dirghah "long." 

Sometimes things that are long can be difficult, they are dur "difficult, hard," and things that are hard can be hard due to their denseness [like a tree(*deru-) is *deru- "be firm, solid, steadfast"]

It is interesting that Odin hangs from, Yggdrasil "Odin's Horse" and an Old English word for "horse, stallion, gelding" is hengest, From a Proto-Germanic root which is also the source of German word for "stallion" Hengst. Therefore, the translation of the tree, Yggdrasil, could be "Odin's Hengst" which is the gallows. And of course another way to describe something that is hanged is to say it is stalled in place (it can't move its place) like a stallion, from Frankish *stal, cognate with Old High German stal "stable." The stallion is placed in a stall to be stable in the stable. So "Odin's Hengst" is where he is stalled for nine days. And learning the runes hinged upon being hung. A hinge, cognate with Middle Dutch henghe "hook, handle," Middle Low German henge "hinge," fixes a thing in place. Which brings us to the Hanged Man in the Spanish decks.

In Spanish the Hangged man is El Colgado, from colgar "to hang," which comes from Latin collocare "to place / put; station; post; position," from prefix com "with" + locare "to place." So El Colgado would be the person who is "with a place (specifically)" which would be similar in idea to Le Pendu in that something hanging is "suspended" in place (in loco) and able to be located.

Dalí Tarot

Being fixed in place can make a person a bit loco after a while. How did Odin fare for those nine days hanging? Did he appear completely sane or did he come off as a bit of a colgado (9.b. "a nutter;" another use of the word)? You know? How does someone with any brains do that? 

The Hanged Man (Scarecrow), Halloween Tarot, art by Kipling West, 

"Be patient with limbo, suspended judgment, and postponed plans. Turn yourself upside down to effect change. Follow your own beliefs." by Karin Lee

[Are those Odin's Ravens, Hugin and Munin there at the top?]

Who purposely injures and hangs himself for love of knowledge or wisdom? Odín estaba colgado para las Runas, that is, Odin must have been enamorado "crazy in love" with learning the secret of the Runes.

Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,

Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend

More than cool reason ever comprehends.

The lunatic, the lover and the poet

Are of imagination all compact:

One sees more devils than vast hell can hold,

That is, madman: the lover, all as frantic,

Sees Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt:

The poet's eye, in fine frenzy rolling,

Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;

And as imagination bodies forth 

The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen

Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing

A local habitation and a name. 

— Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

 The Hangged Man XII, Shadowscapes Tarot, Stephanie Pui-Mun Law

And he would have appeared just plane colgado in his "Eureka" moment, as he said, "crying aloud [æpandi "shrieking"] I lifted the Runes then fell from thence." I don't want to name any names, but lots of people have been called "crazy" for being excited (Nudy-Butt Archimedes, Rebel Yell Howard Dean, Couch Jumping Tom Cruise). The latter of those were figuratively hanged for their antics, and the former was actually killed.

After the Romas successfully captured the city in 212 B.C., Archimedes was killed by a Roman soldier after he allegedly told the soldier, "Don't disturb my circles"—a reference to a series of figures Archemedes had outlined in the sand. Who was Archemedes, NOVA, pbs.org

So we could say Archimedes was literally killed for being loopy, i.e., drawing "loops." And that which is similar to a circle or loop is a bend. We might describe Odin as being a bit bent. He was bent on learning the secret of the Runes. The Hanged Man is traditionally shown bent or with one leg bent at and angle. And to be hanged is to be bent low or humbled, like another god man who hung on a gallows,

The Roman gallows was the cross, and, in the older translations of the Bible, gallows was used to describe the cross upon which Jesus was crucified (Ulfilas uses the term galga in his Gothic Testament. —gallows, Brittanica.com 

Cruxifixction - A Strasburgian painter possibly Hermann Schadeberg, [Some bent men on gallows]

When you are hanging you certainly have time to reflect "to think deeply or carefully,"or mirer "look at oneself," and one particular instrument of reflection (literally a "bending back") is a mirror. The word for mirror in ancient Egypt was [ˁnḫ ] ankh (a metal mirror), the same as the ankh hieroglyph which can be described as "a tau cross with an oval loop on top."

Egyptian Ankh Mirror Case, From Valley of the Kings, by Kenneth Garret

The top of the cross is bent like an anga "hook," PIE root *ang-/*ank- "to bend."

So we might say that another hung god(dess), Inanna, who was hung on a hook in the underworld, was hung on an "ang/ank" of sorts. [also discussed in Strength XI]

In Aleister Cowley's tarot deck the Hanged Man is literally hanging from (or hooked onto) an ankh and his foot is put in place (collocare ) at a very strict angle.

Alistar Cowley Thoth Tarot

The symbol that we know as an ankh was used both as a symbol and a hieroglyph in ancient Egypt. Ankh has the meaning of "life," but also, life, in a broad sense, such as the concept of eternal life, and the idea of a vivifying agent that causes one to be alive. It was often shown being held or carried in the had of gods/goddesses and pharaohs, sometimes being offered to another individual. 

Goddess Isis holding ankh to the nose of Queen Nefertari, tomb wall painting, Nefertari's tomb, Valley of the Queens

Therefore this concept of ankh it is similar in meaning to the meaning of the name of first woman in the book of Genesis, whom we know in English as, Eve, which is said to mean "life" or "living." Which name was transliterated to Latin as Eva, from the Hebrew name for the woman, חוה, transliterated to English as Havvah (hayyah) [among many other spellings], related to hayah "to live." To life! To life! L'chaim! So isnt it interesting if we spell Eve with an ankh [☥ = "life" = Eve], that the thing that the man is hung upon or affixed to is this "mother of the living"? or "mother of life, the woman♀︎? It is both the reason why we are here, i.e., life giving, generative, and at the same time, the implement of our crucifixion [being fixed to the World Tree in this time and space] and cause of [the experience of] death (because whoever is born is destined to die). But is also the reason why we truly see "weid" like God having "knowlege", דעת daath (from yada "to know").

"The Temptation and Fall [Ruin] of Eve", William Blake (Book IX, line 791, illustration Paradise Lost), 1808

"For God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing[i.e., having the lived experience of] good[what is pleasant] and evil[what is adverse]."Gen. 3:5

When Adam and Eve ate the fruit and gained daath "knowledge," they also gained death. But what if we say instead of "eating the fruit," that they"ingested" the "product/produce" hanging on The World Tree [incarnation] which is gnosis.

Pomegranate, photo by Julie O.

"You have eaten the sacred food of the underworld," said Ceres. Now you must return for half of every year to live with Pluto, your husband."

 

Suffering adversity isn't a punishment for receiving the "knowledge of evil" from the tree, suffering adversity is, rather, the consequence, because it IS the knowledge. Therefore it makes sense that suffering can lead towards wisdom (being like God), and so too, that entirely avoiding suffering can hold a person back (they remain in a state of innocence [not + harm/death] which is a type of ignorance "want of knowledge," like Adam and Eve before the fall). 

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Genesis 3:6

But why is it so important to be like God and to be wise? Is it worth it? 

Or is that entirely the wrong question? 

The fact is, as children of God we are destined to attain adulthood and be gods, that is, to be "like God," and not remain forever immature children. There is a time for being a child and a time for attaining or growing into adulthood. And when the child grows in wisdom and knowledge into their adult self, the child self necessarily has to die, which is a kind of evil, or at the very least it is bittersweet.  

The Hanged Chrysalis: caterpillar self dies, so that butterfly self can emerge, photo by Julie O.

But the combination of the adverse(bitter) with the good(sweet) makes life more rich, like dark chocolate and coffee with cream. It also makes one more rich or wealthy in knowledge.

Le Pendu, Le tarot dit de Charles VI, 15th c.

This hanged man looks as if he may be rich. But I'll be hanged if I know what he did to deserve this fate!

The Hierophant — V

Spolia Tarot

Hierophant: spiritual wisdom, tradition, ritual, beliefs, conformity, institutions, orthodoxy

Hierophant is from late Latin hierophantes, from Greek hierophantēs, literally "one who shows [phainein "to reveal, bring to the light] sacred things," from hieros ιερος "sacred" or "filled with the divine, holy." So we could also say, "one who reveals what is holy or divine."

The main priest of the Eleusinion Mysteries in Ancient Greece was the Ηierophant Ιεροφάντης. 

His principle job was to chant demonstrations of sacred symbols during the celebration of the mysteries. At the opening of the ceremonies, he proclaimed that all unclean persons must stay away—a rule that he had the right to enforce.

Usually old, celibate man with a forceful voice, he was selected from the Eumolpids, one of the original clans of the Ancient Greek city of Eleusis, to serve for life. Upon taking office he symbolically cast his former name into the sea and was thereafter called only hierophantēs. During the ceremonies he wore a headband and a long, richly embroidered purple robe. Brittanica/hierophant

Hiero is from PIE root *eis- (1), forming various words denoting passion, which is the same root as the word ire.

In the book of Daniel the עיךין Irin (Ir [s.]), from Aramaic, are the "watchers".

I saw in the visions of my head as I lay in bed, and behold, a watcher, a holy one, came down from heaven. Daniel 4:13

Certain translations, such as the New American Standard Bible, read angelic watchers. Angels certainly can be described as being passionate in a fearful holy way. Many times they have a certain glow, look or presence that causes everything from desire, awe and admiration (such as the angel guests in Sodom), to discomfort, destruction and death when they are used to carry out Gods wrath (ire) as the angel of death in Ancient Egypt at the time of Moses. 

And what is another word for "watchers" but the things we watch with, namely eyes. This similar sounding word ir/jr in ancient Egyptian, was written with the "eye" hieroglyph. The eye hieroglyph could be used as a determinative/logogram for concepts/words such as make; eye(irt/jrt); see; watch; be blind, and the plural (iri); create, beget, make, do, act, take action, achieve, prepare, treat. So "eyes" 👁👁 indicate a sense of action, and to take action is to go.

Ir "eye" - hieroglyph, photo and drawing by Julie O.

In Latin the verb "to go" is ire: eo, ire, ii, itus.

Another action verb is sowing (L. satus, serere "to sow") which is said to be the origin of the name of the Latin god Saturnus according to Varo(116-27 BCE). In Roman mythology,

He[Saturn] was described as god of time, generation, dissolution, abundance, wealth, agriculture, periodic renewal and liberation. Saturn's mythological reign was depicted as a Golden Age of abundance and peace. After the Roman conquest of Greece, he was conflated with the Greek Titan Cronus. wikipedia/Saturn 

Saturn is a hierophantic type god in the the astrological sense, in which Saturn carries the meaning of limitation (conformity), structure (institutions, ritual), and consistency (tradition).

And interestingly, the planet named after this god is the one planet that looks most eye-like through a telescope (due to its rings).

photo: James Martin, New Mexico 2017

However, Jupiter is the usual planet associated with the hierophant.

Modern astrologers all agree that Jupiter, ruler of Sagittarius, the sign naturally relating to the house in the birth chart which maps the section of the unconscious mind where one type of religious experiences is registered, is the planet governing religion. The ninth house, however, maps those mental factors not merely relating to religion, but opinions of all kinds which are given public expression; while the position of Jupiter in the chart of birth maps mental factors which relate to faith, devotion, benevolence, good cheer, joviality and veneration; mental factors which more specifically are built into the unconscious mind as Religious thought-elements. Jupiter and the Hierophant, light.org

Jupiter is also eye-like in a way being the biggest planet, and also one of the brightest as seen from Earth with swirling patterns of colors and storms.  

Jupiter from Juno spacecraft on 10th flyby, NASA, the eye in the sky

However, the feast named after the Roman god Saturnus, Saturnalia, is one that we might think of as being more Jupiter-like, in that it was jovial and dionysian. 

Saturnalia was by far the jolliest Roman holiday; the Roman poet Catullus famously described it as "the best of times."So riotous were the festivities that the Roman author Pliny reportedly built a soundproof room so that he could work during the raucous celebrations. history.com

So there is some connection and overlap in concept between this father and son mythological pair. Just as there is more than one face given to the Ghosts/Spirits of Christmas; the Spirit of Christmas Present being more jovial, 

Ghost of Christmas Present, illustration by Sol Eytinge

and the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come, being a more Saturnian or Cronus/Grimm Reaper type figure. . . .

It was shrouded in a deep dark garment, which concealed its head, its face, its form, and left nothing visible, save one outstretched hand. But for this it would have been difficult to detach its figure from the night, and separate it from the darkness by which it was surrounded.

He felt that it was tall and stately when it came beside him, and that its mysterious presence filled him with solemn dread. - A Christmas Carol, Stave IV, The Last of the Spirits

Saturnalia was celebrated in December around the winter solstice, which is modern day Christmastime, the jolliest of holidays. 

And in fact St. Nicholas, being the Bishop of Myra is a hierophantic [saturnian/jovial] figure himself, who is one of the inspirations for our modern day Santa Claus.

Vintage Christmas Card

It is interesting that this jolliest holiday comes at the darkest time of year, a time of year where we may have a lot of cold and ice. Santa Claus is the ice man living in the eternal frostiness of the North Pole. 

Hierophantic figures can come off as kind of cold when they are laying down the law (are you on the naughty list? 🎅🏼), but generally they want to be seen as fatherly and loving, like a papa (Father Christmas). In certain tarot decks the fifth card is named The Pope. Pope is from Greek papas "patriarch, bishop," originally "father".

The Pope, Tarot de Marsalles

Notice the similarity of this statue of Ea, an ancient Mesopotamian god, and La Pape card. Two figures to the base at the left and right sides of the enthroned individual wearing a tiered crown.

Ea, seated, holding a cup. From Nasiriyah, southern Iraq 2004-1595 BCE, Iraq Museum

Enki (Sumerian) / Ea (Akadian), was god of water, knowledge, crafts, creation.

In Sumerian myth "Enki and the World Order," Enki is said to have fixed national boundaries and assigned gods their roles. According to another Sumerian myth Enki is the creator, having devised men as slaves to the gods. In his original form, as Enki, he was associated with semen and amniotic fluid, and therefore with fertility. He was commonly represented as a half-goat, half-fish creature, from which modern astrological figure for Capricorn is derived.  Ea, Mesopotamian Deity - Britannica

As a god of creation and semen (from PIE *semen- "seed," suffixed form of *sē- "to sow")

we could compare him to Saturn (god of agriculture). 

Enki created seven Sages called Abgal in Sumerian, or Apkallu ("wise", "sage", "expert"), in Akkadian, who were "described as fish-men sent by the gods to impart knowledge to people."wikipedia/Apkallu  The Apkallu were also depicted as winged, or winged and bird-headed as well as "fish-men", men in fish cloaks.

Depictions of Apkallu

These angelic-like beings served as, what we could say were,  hierophants "ones who show sacred things". They are credited with giving the mes (divine decrees/moral code) of Enki to humanity before the flood in the form of culture, writing, arts, crafts, law and agriculture.

The Sumerian tablets never actually describe what any of the mes look like, but they are clearly represented by physical objects of some sort. Not only are they stored in a prominent location in the E-abzu, but Inanna is able to display them to the people of Uruk after she arrives with them in her boat. Some of them are indeed physical objects such as musical instruments, but many are technologies like "basket weaving" or abstractions like "victory". It is not clarified in the poem how such things can be stored, handled, or displayed. wikipedia/Me

Later the role was passed on to beings who were only part Apkallu, or only semi-divine, but were still advisors to the kings. Later still, these advisors were entirely human, but still endowed with this specific hierophantic type role, although not divine beings themselves. 

This seems similar in concept to how priests and bishops of the Catholic Church today (who are also celibate and serve for life) are said to be able to act in persona Christi "in the place of Christ" in various respects through the grace conferred to them in the sacrament of Holy Orders.

"Episcopal consecration confers, together with the office of sanctifying, also the offices of teaching and ruling. . . . In fact . . . by the imposition of the hands and through the words of the consecration, the grace of the Holy Spirit is given, and a sacred character is impressed in such a wise that bishops, in an eminent and visible manner, take the place of Christ himself, teacher, shepherd, and priest, and act as his representative (in Eius persona agent)."LG 21 "By virtue, therefore, of the Holy Spirit who has been given to them, bishops have been constituted true and authentic teachers of the faith and have been made pontiffs and pastors."CD2,2 Catechism of the Catholic Church 1558

 

And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Mt. 4:19 ESV

Pope Benedict XVI walks with candle during Easter Vigil Mass in in St. Peter's Basilica, April 3, 2010 (AP Potomacs/PierPaolo Cito)

What is the difference between Le Pape/The Pope, the "Papa", the Hierophant, the fifth trump V, and the Emperor IIII, that protector and defender who creates a safe place to flourish which is indicated by the number four (stability)?

Five can indicate a halt or a pause ✋ when displayed as the fingers of a hand. It can be used to indicate greeting and parting🙋‍♀️, or the number of ayes and nays in a vote 🙋. It is an odd number in the middle between all the other digits 1, 2, 3, 4 - 5 - 6, 7, 8, 9. It is the point of balance between what has come 👈 and what is coming next 👉, so in this respect five is very dynamic, like the eye of the storm which is extraordinary in its ordinariness because of its juxtaposition to the storm, which then transforms it into something almost . . . holy. 

Sometimes a blockage [or adversity] appears to encourage movement in a different direction, rather than to simply prevent movement. A blockage may enlighten a person to the fact that they are on the wrong path and steer them away from danger [such as the story of The Angel and Balaam's Donkey]. The five might be a fist 👊 which is used to punch and knock some sense into a person. Or the five could come as an illness like a "5-er" fever  (Latin febris, related to fovere "to warm, heat"), which can cause hallucinations, fever dreams, or completely knock us out. But in any case after these moments we do tend to see things in a new light. 

Therefore five can be a "viva5ing" vivifying (Latin vivus "alive") force. We "take five" to rest and regroup if we have been doing one thing for too long. Movement in one direction unhindered can cause a type of blindness, especially regarding things sacred, such as our appreciation for the sun over the course of the day. Even something so important for life as the sun can be taken for granted and ignored until it is blocked by the moon during an eclipse. This blockage causes something holy to be revealed. We see the sun's corona "crown," only when this great eye "winks". We watch amazed and even fearful at this fleeting and somewhat fearful revelation. 

Total Solar Eclipse

The job of the Emperor is to maintain a safe space, but the job of the hierophant is to wake people up, or open their eyes to the truth, the orthodox (from Gk. orthos "right, straight, true") and the sacred (from L. sacrare "to make sacred, consecrate, from sacer "sacred, dedicated, holy, accursed"). Sometimes this is done through creating sanctions (from L. sancire to decree, confirm, ratify, make sacred) which can often feel more restrictive or binding than liberating

The Halloween Tarot, art by Kipling West - The Hierophant (Mummy): Being Bound by the outer trappings of religion and societal expectations. A strong need for approval by others. Conformity [by Karen Lee]

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, "If you abide in my word[logos], you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8:31-32 ESV

Yet to truly know the sacred, i.e., sacer (L.) is to be free like Seker/Sokar the ancient Egyptian god who was depicted as a hawk or falcon, the "great god with his two wings open". . . 

Memphis was the primary cult centre of Sokar. On the 26th say of the 4th month of akhet (sowing), the festival of Sokar (Choiak) was held there. Egyptians preformed the rituals of hoeing the earth and driving cattle, implying that Sokar was also an agricultural diety. . . Ancient Egypt Online/Sokar

Seker-Osiris

This idea of what is sacred has strong ties to agriculture (and agricultural gods, like Osiris ) where we see the cycle of life unfold, and an analogy is given for resurrection from the dead with the seed that falls into the earth from a dying plant and is thus reborn.

In the New Kingdom Book of the Underworld, the Amduat, he[Seker] is shown standing on the back of a serpent between two spread wings; as an expression of freedom this suggests a connection with resurrection or perhaps a satisfactory transit of the underworld. Despite this, the region of the underworld associated with Seker was seen as difficult, sandy terrain called Imhet . . . wikipedia/Seker

So, here again we see that there is something fearful to the nature of the sacred even though it is at the same time liberating. The region of Seker is the desert (sandy terrain, necropolis, the "wilderness," the place of testing [i.e., heating, as of an earthen pot "testa"]). We might call this place overseen by Seker an accursed [sacer "sacred'] course (from Latin cursus "a running; journey; direction, track navigated by a ship), being one of the areas (hours 4 and 5) traveled by Ra (the Sun) in his solar barque(ship) each night, therefore most sacred, and might even make one a little scared during these darkest hours of the night.

Ra travels the hours of darkness in the sky on his solar barque

The dead who are here referred to are those who have succeeded in entering the dread realm of Seker, but who, for want of influence over the gods there, which could only be obtained by sacrifices and offerings made upon earth, and by the knowledge of mighty words of power, were unable to proceed to the abode of Seker. When they arrived in the AMMAHET, some of them were cast into a lake of liquid fire, or of boiling water, and others were first cut in pieces, and then consumed by fire. Thus there is no doubt that there was a hell of fire in the kingdom of Seker, and the tortures of mutilation and destruction by fire were believed to be reserved for the wicked. The Kingdom of Seker According to the Book AM-TUAT

In this way we might also say that this "sacred course" is a hieros "sacred" course, therefore a hieros cursus "journey", or a . . . hero's journey, the journeys of which are both scary(may feel like a curse) but also enlightening or hierophantic (revealing the sacred).

It is apparent from ancient Egyptian mythology that even certain gods, and not just hērōes "demi-gods", must make these perilous journeys. Such as Ra/Re (the sun) who is consumed by the night and reborn each morning, after navigating the twelve hours or "stages" of darkness in the underworld. Or, Osiris, "god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation"wikipedia/Osiris, who suffered death and was then resurrected,

Osiris seated wearing Atef crown, holding crook and flail accompanied by Nephthys and Isis(his protectors)

Interestingly, the name of the god Osiris, in Ancient Egyptian Wsìr [as shown below],

was written with a "watcher", that is, an eye. Wsìr - watcher. . . Rather ir-y.

 

The name Wsìr in hieroglyphics, aka, Osiris (Ancient Gk. Οσιρις), consisting of the "throne" ws" + "eye" ir + seated god[determinative]. 

The Osirian festivals were not as jolly as those of Saturn, however they did involve satus "sowing" and seeding. 

Plutarch and others have noted that the sacrifices to Osiris were "gloomy, solemn, and mournful. . . "and that the great mystery festival, celebrated in two phases, began at Abydos commemorating the death of the god, on the same day that grain was planted in the ground. The annual festival involved the construction of "Osiris Beds" formed in the shape of Osiris, filled with soil and sown with seed symbolized Osiris rising from the dead. wikipedia/Osiris/Worship

Seeds grown for harvest show this cycle of death and rebirth in a more expedited fashion than seeds that grow into trees. The cycle of a tree can be very opposite, ancient even, such as the Metheuselah Tree (named after the hierophantic biblical patriarch, son of Enoch, grandfather of Noah, who lived for 969 years!), a Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva), which is nearly 4,900 years old.

Ancient Bristlecone Pine, Inyo National Forest, Big Pine, CA [the exact location of Methuselah Tree is kept as a scared mystery(so it won't be disturbed by the profane, i.e., those on the naughty list)].

Old trees seem to be keepers of sacred wisdom. They hold a record of their age and growing conditions upon the earth in their rings. Therefore a tree seems to be a somewhat fitting creature to be personified as The Hierophant, as in this image from Shaddowscapes.

Shaddowscapes Tarot, art by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law

Some of my kin look just like trees now, and need something great to rouse them; and they speak only in whispers. But some of the trees are limb-lithe, and many can talk to me. Treebeard, Fangorn, "oldest living thing that still walks beneath the Sun upon this Middle-earth"-Gandolf, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers