Contested Values in the Year of the Hierophant – Jan. 12

 Every year has a number that corresponds, in terms of magical numerology, to a tarot card.  For 2012, 2+1+2=5, giving us the Hierophant card.  The Hierophant can denote the transmission of teachings and traditions, which also relates to the preservation of cultural values.  For Americans, this being an election year, we can expect a contest over what these values are, and who has the right to claim and “own” them.  We can also see this contest at large, as many other countries have undergone changes that have resulted in different groups asserting different values.  Bear this in mind if the Hierophant comes up in any of your readings this year.  You might think about how your personal situation, or whatever matter is in question, might relate to this larger cultural debate.

The potentially revolutionary qualities of the Hierophant have not been appreciated, as many writers see it as denoting “the Establishment,” and if they have a troubled relationship with the Establishment, they’ll interpret the Hierophant in a negative light.  However, the Hierophant is the Number Five card of the Major Arcana, and when we look at the Five cards in the Minor Arcana suits, they deal with energetic forces of change, denoting the destabilization of the previously stable conditions portrayed in the Fours.  (In numerology, the number Five has a lot to do with the circulation of elemental energies, which is why the pentagram symbol is used to store and to move energy.)  In the Swords and Wands cards, which deal with contests of ideas and causes, the struggles that are portrayed often involve conflicted relationships with larger groups.

Viewing the Hierophant as a force for change in 2012, we can think about calling upon the many different “wisdom traditions” that we have access to, because they still flow as subcurrents through our society.  (This is a different take on what Clarissa Pinkola Estes calls the “rio abajo rio,” “the river below the river.”)  A challenge for this Hierophant year is to identify and align with the kind of traditions and institutions that nurture and empower people.  Then, our next challenge is to transmit this wisdom in keeping with the teaching style of the Hierophant—which, in the ancient temple of Eleusis, was to convince through “things said, things done, and things shown.”

Upcoming Session—plus more about why spell casting is good for you

I am getting stuff together for the next magical chat, which will be on October 4th. In addition to seeking continued words of wisdom from the spirit mentors by using "collaborative tarot," I will demonstrate a tarot technique called “The Pentacle Quest.” Premised on the idea that we’re always on some kind of a quest, it takes you through the points of the Pentagram to show you some things about the nature of your current quest, including what stage you’re at in that quest. Then we will transform our readings into Pentacle Spells. Also, if time permits, I will demonstrate a tarot technique for identifying “Your Next Luck-Bringer.”

Now, to pick up on the previous idea of asserting the will to disrupt the bodymind’s stasis and establish a new regime: when we look at certain disciplines like Yoga, which have both physical and spiritual components, or when we look at traditional magic and healing practices, we can see that they often involve all sorts of actions which, by putting your through your paces, take you out of your homeostatic routines and force you to assert your will in ways both physical and mental, and large and small.

In the case of magic, different types of spells often require you to assemble special ingredients, and set time and space aside for little rituals; this can also involve repeating such rituals over an extended period of time. Magic rites have a transformative effect because even those spells which are intended to work changes in your outer world are a sort of self-enchantment: by acting on your bodymind they necessarily involve changes in consciousness.

As great sources of spells and rituals for self-enchantment, here let me plug my books “Tarot Spells” and “By Candlelight," which are designed to be nondenominational and provide simple rites and spells with anyone can do; for people who enjoy the ritual experience, there are added suggestions for things you can do to enhance these rites and spells. [I will add links to my books when I’m able to get around to it.] Of course, there are many other excellent ritual and spell books out there.

Furthermore, if you want to devote some time to spell casting, the spells you try your hand at don’t even have to apply to your larger goals in order to serve as acts of will. For example, your larger goal may be to lose weight or to quit smoking, but, as an exercise in will power, you could make a daily practice of doing spells to attract luck, promote prosperity, or send healing energy to a friend, or rituals to release stress or to honor your ancestors or the nature spirits—among the numerous other ritual actions that can serve as the basis for daily practice.