Your Chosen Card – The Seer Reversed Salem Deck
When reversed, the High Priest warns that you may be taking a rigidly dogmatic stance dictated by traditional values. There is a tendency to follow the letter rather than the spirit of the law. Such extreme rigidity with its unthinking appeal to traditional authority is often adopted to subjugate others and deny them basic human rights. The inverted Hierophant is reminiscent of the words of Karl Marx that religion is the opium of the people. Marx went on to explain that his view of religion as an opiate ‘disillusions man, so that he will think, act, and fashion his reality like a man who has discarded his illusions and regained his senses, so that he will move around himself as his own true Sun.’ 37 Are you taking advice from the man behind the curtain of the Wizard of Oz?
Keywords Reversed: Intolerance, rigidity, inflexibility, arrogance, dogmatism, conformity, oppressive religious doctrines, rigid orthodoxy, religious fundamentalism, perverse spirituality, misguided advice, following the letter rather than the spirit of the law, foolish generosity.
Key V: The Hierophant (Pope, High Priest)
Myths/Archetypes: The prophet Moses. Pontifex Maximus. Hierophant. High Priest. The deitys spokesperson. The Holy of Holies (which housed the Ark of the Covenant and the Ten Commandments). Emily Post. The Wizard of Oz.
Dates of Taurus: 21 April21 May (tropical); 14 May14 June (sidereal)
Astrology: Taurus, the Bull (an Earth sign ruled by Venus)
Numerology: 5 (Hierophant) = 1 + 4 (Temperance)
Element: Earth
When The Seer is reversed you can pretty much take it that life is going well but that’s when life takes us by surprise. If The Seer is unclear it may help to choose a card from the Major Arcana to provide more insight into what it is The Seer is trying to tell you. If you had a particular issue in mind, or want to seek clarification on something else, you can also choose again to get more guidance.
This chosen card is part of your reversed card reading for The Seer using cards from the Salem Tarot Deck. You will find many more tarot pages that will be of great help if you need tarot card meanings. Use the search at the bottom of the page. We have some amazing tarot books for you to browse. Please see below.
Here are some snippets from a few of my favorite books
Book Details
Complete Book of Tarot: Trump 5: The Pope (Hierophant) outranks the Emperor because the Holy Father (a man, of course) forms the bridge between humanity and the deity. He is the patriarchal Gods spokesman on Earth with divine authority to appoint a secular ruler to serve as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
Tarot for Beginners: When youre just starting out, theres plenty to learn just from using the upright meanings, so you might consider waiting until youre more experienced before deliberately involving reversed meanings. (However, if you are intentionally keeping all the cards upright and one still ends up reversed, which has been known to happen, then you may want to consider that a particular message to keep in mind!)
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Tarot for Beginners: As the 5th character in the Major Arcana, this card carries the energies of change and expansion, which are best balanced with tradition and conformity. If the High Priestess points to the inner mystery of our experience, the Hierophant points to its outward expression, where we have to determine the difference between right and wrong.