Pamela Colman Smith · RWS deck
The Major Arcana
The Hierophant
- Hebrew Letter
- VAV
- Element
- TAURUS
- Path
- Chokmah ↔ Chesed
- State
- Hearing / Deafness
Upright · Hearing
What’s offered is actually received. The two kneeling figures aren’t performing receptivity, the sound reaching them lands and they understand the meaning and what to do. The keys have been given, the connection is open.
Reversed · Deafness
Offerings continue to flow, but the querent doesn’t seem to understand. The connection hasn’t broken
The image
A seated figure holds the space between two pillars, one hand raised in a two-fingered gesture, the other resting on a triple staff. Two kneeling figures face him, backs to the viewer, receiving something passed down rather than taking it for themselves. Crossed keys lie at his feet.
The path of Vav runs from Chokmah to Chesed, a spark reaching toward what pours out generously to meet it. The seated figure represents the fixed point the connection is driven through. The raised hand is the resonance travelling outward, the two kneeling figures are what's on the other end of that cord, whether or not the sound is actually landing. The crossed keys are what decide that — the connection this card depends on can be open or shut, and the keys are what turn it.
Learn how to read The Hierophant in a spread
This page shows you what The Hierophant means. Knowing how to read it — how it shifts next to the other cards, what the reversal is really telling you, and how to turn a spread into a clear answer — is what the RWS Decoded course and book teach, card by card.
