One of my favourite Tarot bloggers is Biddy Tarot who just happens to come from the same hometown as moi: Melbourne, in Australia. In one of her recent newsletters she said the following about the Hierophant card:

“Upright, the Hierophant represents belief systems that are handed down from a religious group, institution, or teacher. You are trusting in someone else’s ideas of what is right and wrong, before forming your own moral and ethical boundaries.

Reversed, you break free from those doctrines and you think for yourself. You become an individual with your own thoughts and beliefs, rather than relying on the systems that others subscribe to.”

The funny thing is that I actually believe the opposite. I believe that when The Hierophant card is upright you get a positive expression of this energy i.e. You develop your own moral code under the guidance of your teachers. Reversed this energy is blocked. In which case you follow the advice of others without question. This is the classic signature of a cult member.

The fact that Biddy and I disagree over the meaning of The Hierophant Reversed card is a typical example of why Tarot cards are dismissed by many. On the outside it looks as if us Tarot card readers are just making stuff up. We can’t even agree amongst ourselves about how each card should be interpreted.

But I would argue that it doesn’t matter which way you read the cards, the important thing is to make up your mind about what each card means. Then the universe can send you messages from your subconscious written in Tarot card language. The universe will choose the cards best for each reader to convey its messages. Does that make sense?

Do you think its important for Tarot readers to read the cards in the same way, or not?