The Hierophant Reversed keeps coming up lately. In fact, Feb. 9 was a Hierophant Reversed day, though I pulled the card so late in the day that day that I decided not to bother posting it. And it’s easy to see why this card keeps popping up when you look at world events. Change is in the air–and that change is going to take our ordinary institutions that we have been taking for granted and turn them on their heads. This card is warning us that more changes of this sort are on their way–and that’s a good thing, most of the time. It’s not just that people are fed up and have no further patience with the status quo–though that seems to be the case!–it’s also that it’s time. Nothing stays the way it is forever. Gay marriage is a good example of this — positive change occurring because at this stage, it almost couldn’t not do so. Why? Because it’s time.
Not all the changes that are coming will be entirely positive. We are already seeing revolutions and the overthrow of repressive regimes around the world, which is both exciting and disturbing, because although the changes being brought about are probably going to be positive in the end, in the short term it’s a lot of violence. To families who have lost their loved ones, this violence is not short term–it’s permanent. But again, these changes almost couldn’t not occur. Why? Because it’s time. (Not time for families to lose their loved ones, but time for sweeping change that unfortunately also sweeps individuals up in its unstoppable momentum.)
Expect to see more of this card in the coming months. In the meantime, on an individual level, we may find that this is a day when everything bubbles up inside us and has to come out. Today, we can’t help but speak our minds, even when doing so is an act of defiance or outright rebellion. We are determined to do things our own way, questioning authority and challenging the status quo. It’s not a good day to be an emperor, particularly a naked one, because this is one of those days when we won’t just look the other way–we will do something about it.
Maybe it’s just my sleep deprivation speaking, but this day sounds like something out of a Maurice Sendak poem. Institutions upside-down, alligators all around! (No, I don’t actually see an alligator on the card. Sorry.) 🙂
Quiet Mystic 