What Is the context surrounding your current situation?

Image description: A straight-size indigenous person stands on a cliff overlooking a forest. The sky is full of the vibrant yellows, oranges, and pinks of sunset. The person looks to be walking forward but half-turning to face the viewer. They have long, straight, reddish-brown hair and wear a deep red jacket reminiscent of the MMIW movement. They gaze back at the viewer intently out of the edge of their eyes, full red lips parted.

Hierophant holds the sacred tension between stability and moving out of our comfort zones. This card is numbered 5, which is often associated with change, turning points, and challenge in tarot. Fives hold the energy of stability (4) plus the potency of new beginnings (1). Change can be exciting, but it is rarely comfortable. This card is also associated with Taurus, a sign that tends to prefer sticking to what is known. However, Taurus is also interested in building something sustainable in this lifetime- and often, building something truly sustainable means using your own intuition to sort through the traditional tools and materials.

The Hierophant can be a gatekeeper and can refer to inherited beliefs and narratives that are holding us back. However, they are also the keeper of the sacred. They are the elders, the storytellers, the ancestors, the mentors. But this card reminds us that not all ancestors, mentors, and elders have our best interests at heart; it is important to be discerning.

This card can also represent connecting to our land ancestors and the spirits of the natural world around us and humbly requesting to study under their tutelage. In the energy of the Hierophant, we explore the traditions, stories, and sacred practices around us and choose those that resonate *which are part of our own cultural lineage.* The Hierophant can represent people who are appropriating from cultures outside of their lineage, especially those who earn money by sharing these practices with others.

The Hierophant carries the past and provides much-needed context. It is this card that reminds us that the atrocities of the past need to be witnessed and healed, as well as acknowledging the systemic roots of atrocities such as the many missing and murdered indigenous women, Black Wall Street, and the U.S.’s assassination of many world leaders. The person on this card looks back as they move forward, honoring those that have come before.

Inspiration sources:
– Aunty K, #LandBack Tarot & Oracle of Colonization
– Lolu S., Akamara Tarot
– Chris-Anne Donnelly, Light Seer’s tarot deck guidebook