Archives for January 2015

Personal year 5. The Hierophant.

January 22, 2015 by Anna

Personal year 5. The Hierophant.

2015 is a personal year 5 for me. In Tarot that translates into Major Arcana 5, known as the Hierophant or The Pope.

In my previous post ( 2015 is a Universal year 8) I explained the difference between Universal year and Personal year.
I also explained how to calculate both.

In the following post ( The year of Strength) I explained a year 8 through the eyes of Tarot.

Here I am going to do the same to explain a year 5.

Each number has a personality.

5 is about instability, curiosity, change. It is dynamic, versatile, adaptable. It likes to try everything, go everywhere. It also likes to live intensely and it can go overboard and indulge.

In a year 5 we will challenge anything that we think we can improve. In a year 5 we will do well if we promote ourselves and our ideas. It is a time to grab opportunities, be flexible and quick.

The Hierophant in The Robin Wood Tarot deck.

Now let’s look at The Hierophant.

At first glance this austere card is almost the opposite of what I have just described.

The Pope is the person, or the institution that holds the keys to knowledge.

The Hierophant usually stands for religious systems, schools, indoctrination, big corporations and the traditional way of doing things.

The Hierophant is also about management and the importance of listening. A good manager, as well as a good teacher knows how to listen. Doing so helps the Pope understand how to reach his staff or his students.

Facing the Pope help us understand if traditions are important to us, if we agree with the beliefs of the religion we have been raised in. Facing the Hierophant we discover if we fit in or not.

In the Gaian Tarot deck the Major Arcana 5 is The Teacher.

The Teacher in The Gaian Tarot deck.

The card is a radical departure from the traditional depiction of the Pope.

It is like we have already faced the Hierophant and decided that we did not fit in and that we could do things differently and better.

The Teacher is approachable, simple, grounded and down to earth. He teaches surrounded and aided by Nature. He teaches to see things differently, as in finding use and value in plants that are normally perceived as invasive weeds.

With the teacher we learn to view challenges as learning opportunities .

The year of Strength.

January 13, 2015 by Anna

The Strength card from the Robin Wood Tarot deck

2015 is a Universal year 8, which in the world of Tarot translates to the Year of Strength.

Depending on the Tarot deck you use, the 8th Major Arcana will be Strength or Justice.
Most of the decks I use have Strength in this position. Personally I find Strength a better representation of what I associate with the number eight.

I previously wrote that in a year 8 creativity is strong, confidence grows and things can finally get done.

2015 so far has been anything, but this on a world level. Explaining the Strength card, may help people see how actually the eight’s energy is already at work.

Let’s look at the image of Strength in the Robin Wood deck.
A woman wearing a crown made of flowers leans on/ hugs a beautiful lion.
The two of them appear to be friends and equals. She is wearing a white dress.

A crown is a symbol of achievement. White stands for purity.

There is mutual trust between the woman and the lion. In nature both would have a right to fear each other. The lion could easily eat or tear the woman apart. Humans are more likely to shoot a lion than to pet it.

Therefore this card depicts progress that comes through courage and understanding. We are not dealing with physical strength, but rather kindness, self control. The courage to look beyond appearance.

Here we take the time to observe things from someone else’s perspective.

In this card we show courage and compassion, this is how we learn to live using our logical mind and our gut’s instinct together.

When we use the power of strength well we are less likely to attack or retreat in fear. We are better able to assess situations for what they truly are. We have the compassion to let things go when our ego is roaring and the courage to fight when something important is threatened.
In other words we know how to pick our battles.
There is a lot of turmoil going on around the world at this time. It would be very easy to give in to fear, but we would miss the lesson.

To pretend that nothing is going on would be the other extreme. Compassion and courage are required.

Eight represents progress that often comes through a shift of perspective.

Archives for January 2015

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