The Hierophant meaning in a reading of Tarot.

"Ancient Wisdom. The Great Teacher. Showing Mercy. Kindness and Goodness."

As far as a reading of the Tarot the issues are of the ultimate importance depending on the questions that have been asked or brought up.

Once again that which may seem so obvious is not so obvious. Ancient wisdom can of course be seen as wisdom of the ancients. 

However when you dig down into your personal possibilities there are issues that should be addressed from several varied viewpoints to see where you actually stand.

If you hold the concept that you have lived a multitude of lifetimes (such as the Scientologist, Buddhist, etc) then ancient wisdom would be applicable directly to your memory and

memories, considering you (spiritually) have already gone through thousands of lives there would be a vast amount of information that could be accessed from all of that time.

If you come from the viewpoint of new age religion where the universal consciousness is available for access then you believe that you can hook up to the knowledge from an

exterior source; like plugging in a cord for the power and actually gaining viable, useable information through the primal wisdom of all things (universe).

If you believe in angels then you believe that these ancient entities can relay the information or ancient knowledge to you through direct personal communication with them.

Another belief is that the Creator will let you know what you need to know when the time is right.

If you don't believe in anything this book makes a good paperweight or you could even level a table or press flowers in it. 

But seriously I see no wrong in a scientific approach to spirituality, as it is our basic approach to everything anyway.

As with the great teacher (Hierophant) this can also come in a variety of forms depending on how a person sees their life and the spiritual world around or within themselves.

I will not say (because I can't) whether the great teacher is inside of you, as a part of you or outside of you as an exterior source, I guess that's the whole point if IT because I have

seen either way work just as effectively for different people. When you address mercy there has to be one side with an advantage.

Mercy itself is an indication that there is a form of power involved in the first place.

It is an assumption of an existence of power. What is mercy?

How is it used and what does it mean here? In the overall aspect of things it indicates a balanced decision that leads to a positive end.

Sometimes in life this is not so easy to accomplish.

People think that when you talk about mercy that it's mercy for another person or thing; but that isn't always the case. 

There are times that you need to show yourself mercy and give yourself a break, lighten up and quit kicking your own ass for a bit.

So this is a consideration of importance when you are looking at the meaning of this card in a reading of the Tarot.

Then addressing kindness the idea of more than one person seems to be implied but really it isn't and that often to take care of yourself you need to do things that are not so

comfortable or easy to do.

How often do people get jobs that are hard on the body or just plain seemingly useless just to take home an income? 

Jobs they actually do not like in the least and they will work there year after year in a miserable condition and in this way are unkind to themselves.

Then in the final analysis the goodness comes through as possibly something you may need to do for someone else but also something for your self.

Now I know I'm sounding like I'm advocating selfishness and I suppose in a way I am because of the fact that the fruit needs to be on the tree

before anyone can be fed from that tree and if you beat your own tree down so far there will surely be no fruit to feed others.

This statement may seem obscure to some but see it as having money in your pocket. You either have some there or you don't and this is the exact same analogy.

By denigrating yourself and postulating despair and trouble you are allowing self torture and this will keep fruits of greatness from growing on your branches and surely without the

cash in your pocket you're not buying lunch for anyone else or even yourself so be good to yourself and be kind to yourself and if you need forgiveness from anyone it is yourself

first and after you have done that you can ask others if you feel that is needed.