Life as a Spiritual Teacher
Our Tarot card for today, The Hierophant, is asking us to consider how our daily lives are really our spiritual teachers. We can, at times, get so caught up in the idea–the belief–that our greatest spiritual teachers are outside of us, in the form of other people (and sometimes that is the case), but our greatest spiritual teacher is Life itself.
Life is always giving us the opportunity to examine–and re-examine–our beliefs, and to learn which of those beliefs are actually our own, and which have been taught to us from others.
In the image on the card, we see a baby being baptized. The image evokes so many things: customs, rituals, ceremonies, and traditions come to mind. A baptism is also a form of initiation, and in that sense, The Hierophant can indicate socialization. Keeping with the idea of beliefs, this card can indicate sharing a belief system with an institution or a group of like-minded individuals.
The Hierophant can also suggest going with convention and maintaining the status quo—but perhaps from a place of conformity and seeking some form of approval. Do you really believe what those around you believe—or are you just following the crowd?
I had to pause for a moment and consider what today is, for those who walk a traditional Christian path. Today is Good Friday; in this sense, The Hierophant is about holidays—or, as I see it—holy days—and observing those days. Each of us—no matter our spiritual and/or religious path—all have holy days we observe—with our own rituals, ceremonies, and traditions as a form of reverence.
So, today, first consider how you might be like The Hierophant. What do you believe? What have you learned from your own life experiences? Who is your “crowd?” Are you socializing with people who resonate with your beliefs, and gaining (or seeking) their approval—or are you meeting with their disapproval?
Whose words and teachings are you following? Whose beliefs and experiences resonate with you—and why? And—are you just merely listening—or, as they say in Christian spiritual circles—are you a “doer of the Word?”
