The Year of the Hierophant and the Need for Temperance

This is a post about numerology and the Major Arcana. Often, we think about the numerology of the Major Arcana to figure out our birth cards, or our personal year cards, or the calendar year cards.

It is the fact that 2021 will be the year of the Hierophant that inspired this post, and my subsequent dive into Major Arcana numerology.

For the uninitiated, the Major Arcana is numbered Zero through Twenty-One.  If you look at the numbered cards One through Twenty-one and reduce the double-digit numbers by adding their digits together, you will see, for example, that there are three “One cards”. The three “One cards” are (Card One) the Magician, (Card Ten) the Wheel of Fortune, and (Card Nineteen) the Sun.

The Magician, the High Priestess, and the Empress each have two Major Arcana cards with which to form a triple. The rest of the single-digit Majors, that is, the Emperor through the Hermit, each have one card with which to form a pair.

There is a school of thought which ascribes the number Twenty-two to the Fool, making card Zero a Four, and thusly having the Fool join the Emperor and Death, turning that pair into a triple.

As in all things tarot, each of us must figure out what works for us and what resonates for us. I personally have no interest in re-numbering the Fool. I believe the Fool is numbered as card Zero for a reason, and, as such, must keep its own place as a singular and unique card with no specific connection nor affinity with any other card.

2021 is the year of the Hierophant because the numerals within that number add up to Five, and the Hierophant, of course, is card Five.

Five, in tarot, is a difficult number. If we think of Four as the comfort zone and Six as victory, Five is the space of expansion where we have left the comfort zone but have not yet come to the place of secure victory. I can think of many ways 2021 could potentially reflect this energy of Five.

2020 was the year of the Emperor. We often discuss Major Arcana cards such as Death, the Devil, and the Tower as sometimes being problematic or unwelcome in a reading. Many of us can sometimes have a similar mistrust of the Emperor and the Hierophant. This is for obvious reasons; they are both symbols of patriarchy and authority. The Emperor is government and state, the Hierophant is church and religion. Both these cards  represent necessary structures and can have positive interpretations. Yet, both can speak of governance and dogma in ways that can be troublesome.

The Emperor can be reliable, respected and responsible, yet can also be unyielding and inflexible. The Hierophant can be wise and learned yet can also be dogmatic and authoritarian.

When we look at the Hierophant as the card of 2021 there is at least one aspect that is extremely hopeful. The Hierophant can be associated with medicine, and good medical advice and practices. This could be a very good indication that, in 2021, we will see some needed solutions and advances in medicine.

There is another aspect of the Hierophant that is already showing itself around the globe. The Hierophant can be an indicator of strict religious adherence. In many countries around the world, we see a rise of fundamentalism.

In turning this aspect of the Hierophant around in my brain, it came to me that the Hierophant needs Temperance to keep him balanced. Then I remembered that Temperance is actually the Hierophant’s numerological pair!

When thinking about how the numerological pairs and triples operate, I have in the past confined my thinking to what it means when they appear together in a reading, or how they work together as birth cards. I have considered how my own birth pair, Strength and the Star, reflect both positive and negative traits in my personality. Never before have I thought about how the cards in pair or triple might impact each other.

In considering this, I realize that Temperance can actually temper the Hierophant. I realize how well these seemingly dissimilar cards go together.

The Hierophant is the doctor who performs the diagnosis and writes the prescription. Temperance is the pharmacist, the nutritionist, the physical therapist, and the naturopath who promotes the healing.

The Hierophant is the book of law. Temperance provides the fair and considerate implementation of the law.

Then I wondered if other pairs and triples might affect each other in similar ways. I can see that Death brings needed change to the rigid Emperor. I can understand that the Wheel teaches the Magician to work with the cycles of nature. The Sun keeps him from hiding his power from himself, and from hiding from others his trickster aspect.

In my own birth pair, I can see how the healing of the Star might allow the lion of Strength to regulate his fierce nature and allow him to safely roam without a leash.

This exercise of considering how numerological pairs and triples impact each other is something I will be playing around with for a long time.

As we approach a new year, I find hope and confidence in the energy of the Hierophant and Temperance.

The Hierophant brings us structure and wisdom. Temperance brings balance, patience and caution to that structure.

Temperance adds creativity to the faith of the Hierophant.

Both the Hierophant and Temperance can work with science. The Hierophant brings the rules of research and the structure of protocol, Temperance asks the questions and finds the solution.

The Hierophant can represent the overall structure of society. Temperance can find power in our differences by blending together the best that each of us has to offer.

If you, like me, enjoy diving into tarot cards, don’t miss StaarCon, our online conference coming up in January. It will be a wonderful way to begin the year of the Hierophant!

Temperance, Tarot and the New Year

I did a one-card reading for my relationship with tarot in 2013 and got my favorite card, Temperance. This told me a lot about my work as a tarot reader, and also my ability to nurture other creative tarot-related ventures like my internet TV show "Christiana's Psychic Café" as well as designing new classes and writing new blogs and new books.

For me, Temperance is about emotional health - finding the right blend to make life work. It's about the patience and caution required to create one's life to one's satisfaction. In a tarot reading I like to help people do exactly that.

Over the past few years I have been slowly adopting a new business model - one that allows me to read for more people but still allows me time to write, teach and be creative with tarot.

For all that Temperance is about emotional health it is also about creativity. Sometimes I think our mental health is dependent on our ability to nurture our creativity.

While many modern tarotists simply see Temperance as a card of balance, it is traditionally the card of alchemy - the ability to create something greater than its ingredients - the ability to transform one thing into another.

Tarot has been so transformative in my own life over the years. It is my goal to help others find the transformative power of tarot whether through having readings, studying tarot, performing readings or simply using tarot as a tool for guidance.

Other traditional keywords for Temperance are Art and Time.  These are two of the ingredients we all need to put into the mix when we are seeking our own perfect blend.

A funny thought occurred to me when I pulled this card today.  I thought about those two keywords, Time and Art, and said "I need to make sure I make time for art!" I have never used that specific interpretation for Temperance before, but it surely makes sense. I'll be thinking about that the next time Temperance comes up in a reading!

Another keyword for Temperance is patience. When we have patience with tarot over a long period of time the cards will begin to reveal new meanings and deeper secrets, just as Temperance did for me today. 

Solutions

The word “solution” has so many meanings! A solution can be the answer to a puzzle or a mathematical equation. It can be the answer to a problem in life. Many businesses are using the word “solution” to describe a helpful product or service. In this context, there are “toenail solutions,” “transportation solutions” and “weight loss solutions.”

In chemistry, a solution is a homogenous mixture of two or more substances.

If we blend (or make a solution of) all of these possible meanings, we find that we can solve our problems by mixing different things together.

That brings us to the “cosmic bartender” of tarot, Major Arcana 14, Temperance.  In the RWS image, we see an angel pouring from cup to cup. The angel is mixing a solution, without spilling a drop.

Traditionally, Temperance is the card of art, time and alchemy. Common keywords for this card include caution, patience and balance.  But there is something deeper here. There is a deeper…solution.

Temperance reminds us that nothing is ever perfect. But if we blend a little of this and a little of that, we will find the right balance and the perfect blend. By artfully and patiently mixing different aspects of our life, our skills, our knowledge and our resources together, we find the perfect blend, the perfect balance, and the right solution.

Here is a poem I wrote for this card.

Temperance

Water poured from cup to cup, and metal turned to gold
Sorrow turned to patience, and ego turned to mould.

One foot on the water, another balancing on land
Not a drop is spilt by the angel's gentle hand.

Caution guards the recipe, stirring grace with balance
Art and time make alchemy with these select ingredients.

Change forged of disappointment, mingling with hope
Built on tragic lessons learned that gave us skill to cope.

Expectation and assumption gone, accepting what will be
Still the angel blends the cups, creating perfectly.

Perfect are the cups' contents, and perfect is the measure
And perfect are the woes and joys, blended into treasure.