СТАРШИЕ АРКАНЫ

ВЕРХОВНЫЙ ЖРЕЦ в Таро

Жрец, Папа, Первосвященник, Иерофант, The Hierophant, The Pope
Карта Таро «Верховный Жрец» (Иерофант) — это символ духовной традиции, моральных принципов, учительства и передачи знаний от поколения к поколению.

В системе Старших Арканов он имеет номер V и логически продолжает развитие после Императора. Если Император устанавливает внешний закон и структуру, то Верховный Жрец формирует внутренний закон — систему ценностей, веру, мировоззрение и духовную основу общества.

Верховный Жрец связан с институтами — религией, бразованием, культурой, моральными нормами. Он представляет не личную власть, а власть традиции и авторитета знаний. Это карта наставничества, инициации и духовного пути через систему.

Однако значение карты шире, чем просто религиозный символ. Это образ человека, который опирается на принципы и передаёт их другим. Верховный Жрец говорит о связи с традицией, принадлежности к сообществу и осознанном выборе моральных ориентиров.
карта Таро ВЕРХОВНЫЙ ЖРЕЦ
He wears the triple crown and is seated between two pillars, but they are not those of the Temple
which is guarded by the High Priestess. In his left hand he holds a sceptre terminating in the triple
cross, and with his right hand he gives the well-known ecclesiastical sign which is called that of
esotericism, distinguishing between the manifest and concealed part of doctrine. It is noticeable in
this connexion that the High Priestess makes no sign. At his feet are the crossed keys, and two
priestly ministers in albs kneel before him. He has been usually called the Pope, which is a
particular application of the more general office that he symbolizes. He is the ruling power of
external religion, as the High Priestess is the prevailing genius of the esoteric, withdrawn power.
The proper meanings of this card have suffered woeful admixture from nearly all hands. Grand
Orient says truly that the Hierophant is the power of the keys, exoteric orthodox doctrine, and the
outer side of the life which leads to the doctrine; but he is certainly not the prince of occult
doctrine, as another commentator has suggested.
He is rather the summa totius theologiæ, when it has passed into the utmost rigidity of expression;
but he 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 this his symbolic state and acts as if he contained within his
proper measures all that his sign signifies or his symbol seeks to shew forth. He is not, as it has
been thought, philosophy-except on the theological side; he is not inspiration; and he is not
religion, although he is a mode of its expression.
Arthur Edward Waite
The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910)