Says Who?

Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip: Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee.

Today’s card is the Hierophant. The Marseille and some decks call it the Pope. My personal favorite version of the card is the High Priest in the Witches Tarot by Ellen Dugan and Mark Evans.

There is a lot of nuance and subtle shades of meaning around this card, most of which have to do with some iteration of authority. It might be the literal political power and authority that many people grant the actual Catholic papacy. Or it may be a more purely moral and spiritual authority many people grant to the wisest among us like the Dali Lama or the late Desmond Tutu, for example.

I’ll grant you, my view of the card is profoundly influenced by western liberalism in the sense of democracy and the notion that authority is granted by those who are governed by it.

Here my thoughts turn to an interview I watched last night with Russian dissident Nadya Tolokonnikova.

Even where there is autocratic government there is choice: compliance at lesser risk and protest at great risk.

War and dictatorships aside for a moment, here in the relative safety of the western world and in our own minds, consider for a moment where you grant authority.

On International Women’s Day I want to fall back to one of my favorite Eleanor Roosevelt quotes because it resonates with the self-guidance and personal, spiritual autonomy that is the point and purpose of Tarot work. She said that “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

The High Priest agrees today.

Who do you consent to impact your feelings? Who do you give authority over your self esteem? Who do you give permission to influence you?

Are they worth it?

Another cue to think about who you consent to have influence or authority over you is the word “should.” If you catch yourself thinking that you “should” do something, take a moment and challenge that thought with loud “Says who?”

Hopefully, the who is you.

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See you at the next sip