The Hierophant - History

History

The papacy was not just a religious force, but was a political and military force as well. When the tarot was invented, the Pope controlled a large portion of central Italy. Renaissance culture did not question the abstract ideal of the Pope as God's human representative on Earth. In Tarot of Marseilles, he wears a red cape and a blue robe, in contrast to The Papess, who wears a blue cape and blue robe.

The more commonly encountered modern name "Hierophant" is due to Antoine Court de Gébelin. According to de Gebelin, "hierophant" was the title of the chief priest in the Eleusinian mysteries (an ancient Greek ritual).

Read more about this topic:  The Hierophant

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    The awareness that health is dependent upon habits that we control makes us the first generation in history that to a large extent determines its own destiny.
    Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)

    History takes time.... History makes memory.
    Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)

    Indeed, the Englishman’s history of New England commences only when it ceases to be New France.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)