Ahierophant (Ancient Greek:ἱεροφάντης,romanized: hierophántēs) is a person who brings religious congregants into the presence of that which is deemedholy.[1] As such, a hierophant is an interpreter ofsacred mysteries andarcane principles.
The word comes fromancient Greece, where it was constructed from the combination ofτὰ ἱερά (ta hiera, 'the holy') andφαίνω (phainō, 'to reveal').
Hierophant was the title of the chiefpriest at theEleusinian Mysteries in ancientAttica. It was an office inherited within thegenos of theEumolpidae, one of the two main clans which managed the Eleusinian cult - the other being the Cerycids. Occasionally from the late fourth century BC and consistently from the first century BC, hierophants practised "hieronymy", which means that they were referred to during their lifetime as "hierophant" instead of their personal name.[2]
The known hierophants at Eleusis are:
Eunapius andVettius Agorius Praetextatus are notable examples.
In theRider–Waite tarot deck and similar decks, "The Hierophant" (known in theTarot de Marseille as "The Pope"[3]) is one of the twenty-two trump cards comprising the "Major Arcana", and represents conformity to social standards, or a deference to the established social moral order. As the guide towards knowledge, insight, and wisdom, in a Tarot reading it might, for example, represent a priest, scholar, therapist, or teacher, possibly similar tothe Hermit or theKing of Cups cards.
A. E. Waite wrote that the Hierophant:
...symbolizes also all things that are righteous and sacred on the manifest side. As such, he is the channel of grace belonging to the world of institution as distinct from that of Nature, and he is the leader of salvation for the human race at large. He is the order and the head of the recognized hierarchy, which is the reflection of another and greater hierarchic order; but it may so happen that the pontiff forgets the significance of his symbolic state and acts as if he contained within his proper measures all that his sign signifies or his symbol seeks to shew [sp] forth. He is not, as it has been thought, philosophy—except on the theological side; he is not inspiration; and his is not religion, although he is a mode of its expression.[3]
The originalUnearthed Arcana supplement to 1st edition AD&D detailed how the 15th-level Grand Druid (the in-game head of all druids) could step down from his position and become a 16th-level Hierophant.[4] In 3rd edition D&D, the hierophantprestige class for high-level divine spellcasters appeared in theForgotten Realms Campaign Setting and in the 3.5eDungeon Master's Guide.
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