In A. E. Waite's Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910), the Hierophant upright means: Marriage, alliance, captivity, servitude; by another account, mercy and goodness; inspiration; the man to whom the Querent has recourse. Reversed: Society, good understanding, concord, over-kindness, weakness.
The picture
“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 He is the ruling power of external religion, as the High Priestess is the prevailing genius of the esoteric, withdrawn power.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.” A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1910
Upright
Marriage, alliance, captivity, servitude; by another account, mercy and goodness; inspiration; the man to whom the Querent has recourse.
Reversed
Society, good understanding, concord, over-kindness, weakness.
In one line
Mercy, goodness and counsel: the one you turn to. (Esbat's own summary of Waite's meaning and picture.)
Where it sits in the deck
The Hierophant is card V of the 22 Major Arcana, the trumps. Before it comes The Emperor; after it, The Lovers.
In Esbat
Esbat deals a card of the day, face down until you turn it, and holds all 78 cards in the 1910 pictures with Waite's meanings, upright and reversed. The Hierophant can be shared as a picture. All 78 tarot card meanings.
Sources
Meanings and picture descriptions: A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (London: Rider, 1910), public domain, checked against the Wikisource transcription. Picture: Pamela Colman Smith, 1910, public domain. Like the app, this page records what the book says; it does not promise outcomes.
Last updated October 25, 2026.
Esbat: Tarot & Book of Shadows, on Google Play
A card of the day, face down until you turn it, and all 78 cards in the 1910 pictures with Waite's meanings, upright and reversed. For Android.
The Emperor: tarot card meaning: The Emperor tarot card meaning, upright and reversed, in A. E. Waite's own words (1910), with the original 1910 picture.
The Lovers: tarot card meaning: The Lovers tarot card meaning, upright and reversed, in A. E. Waite's own words (1910), with the original 1910 picture.
Tarot card meanings: all 78 cards: All 78 tarot card meanings, upright and reversed, in A. E. Waite's own words (1910), with Pamela Colman Smith's original pictures.