The Feminist Tarot Pt.1

Click Link History of Britannica 

What seems to be missing is that every consciousness that utilizes the Tarot is not a white Male Western consciousness, despite the Tarots appearance in Italy and the knowledge that many symbols within the Tarot have transitioned from culture to culture, it still reflects the symbolism of the collective unconsciousness. It has recently come to light by some authors that the Tarot symbols are not of male or Western male origin, but of female and Eastern origin and possess a history that is older than Western Civilization. It would not be a mistake to consider the Hierophant as the usurpation of the High Priestess position as you view the historical interaction between nature based cultures and pre-industrial based cultures (bronze/iron based cultures) versus hunter gatherer/pastoral cultures that are based upon the worship of the mensis and the moon. Ancient priests and priestesses[edit] Sumerian and Akkadian Entu or EN were top-ranking priestesses who were distinguished with special ceremonial attire and held equal status to high priests. They owned property, transacted business, and initiated the hieros gamos ceremony with priests and kings.[3] Nadītu served as priestesses in the temples of Inanna in the ancient city of Erech.

They were recruited from the highest families in the land and were supposed to remain childless, owned property, and transacted business. It is defiantly plausible that the Hierophant is a card that occupies the place of both priestess/priest and that due to the throwing off of restrictive Western male supremacy that this position as it's stated above was never a position occupied only by men. Thus, the Hierophant exist within transistional space and represents the Solar priestess; while the High Priestess represents the Moon priestess/oracle the one who speaks to the unconscious and not to matters of Earthly existence that causes interaction between conscious existence: war, business, family, etc., and unconscious existence those aspects of the self such as the: shadow, archetypes, anima/animus, the self as it exist within both social history and personal subjective history. In short, the High priestess would be viewed as the Therapist while the Hierophant would be looked at as the socially accepted religious leader that is concerned with how spiritual laws may be integrated into daily life.

It has not been until recently that women have been able to regain the position of empowered social elders. According to United Nations. Third Session Report of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, E/2004/43, paragraph 3. "Traditionally, indigenous women were generally respected by indigenous men and had equal access to and control over collective land and natural resources. However, their elevated status within the family is not reflected in the bigger politico-rural canvas of the society. Certain influences of colonial and dominant cultures and traditions on indigenous peoples have placed indigenous women in a difficult situation in terms of playing effective roles as custodians of their cultures."

The problem with a number of Tarotists is that they usually do not perform in-depth research of the symbols within the Tarot and stick only to interpretations that support a Western world view as whites being the possessors, creators and custodians of knowledge. Something that we are beginning to recognize as being false. For those that know something of the Tarot in terms of Astrology, there is an understanding that the card is ruled by Venus/Goddesses; thus, this may also contribute to wanting to view the Hierophant as a transgender female or male; especially in relation to the Innana Cult where males crushed their genitals in order to develop their feminine traits as they prepare for the preistesshood. In order to understand the Tarot; one should also have a knowledge of ancient history and mythology not just a knowledge of symbolism based upon a Western understanding of symbols that begin in Greco/Roman history, but reaches back to Mesopotamia, Sumeria and of course Egypt, but Egypt not as a black land based upon the color of its soil, but its people. 

Co-Pastor Robert Ash

According to Rev. Robert Ash co-pastor and youth minister of Euphrates Missionary Baptist Church in Oakland, California; Ethiopians, a race of black people, are another people of color mentioned in scripture. Actually, the Bible term "Ethiopia" refers to a number of black-skinned peoples who lived in the southern Nile area, including southern Egypt plus modern-day Sudan, Ethiopia (called Havilah in Gen 2:11), Somalia and other areas. Also called "Cushites" today, all "Ethiopian" peoples descended from Cush, the oldest son of Ham (Noah's youngest son -- Gen 9:18-19, Gen 10:6-7). There are over 50 mentions of "Ethiopia" and "Ethiopian" peoples in the Bible. Rev. Robert Ash has 18 years of preaching, teaching, evangelism and apologetics experience in church, prison, college campus, and street ministry. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a master's degree from Stanford University. Until we are able to accept each other's place in history other than as a means to an end, the Tarot is and always will be misunderstood.

My heartfelt belief is that most of this misunderstanding is brought forth out of the colonizer’s desire to control and usurp the power of others and utilize it as their own to further their own agendas. As we look back over many cultures, we are either heartbroken or infuriated to find that many cultures that possessed the answers to questions that we are now faced with and have no original answer for. However; we have become imbued with our colonizers desire and need for power – a need based upon fear and hatred focused and caused by forced participation within alien cultures as "other".

As a person of color undergoing transgender therapy, I was often criticized about stating that many of the so called great thinkers (European or white Americans) were either wrong or extremely biased in their belief that their consciousness is the world’s consciousness the consciousness of the other; while claiming that the consciousness of the other is in some way inferior to theirs because they are not in the position of other. If you seriously examine the European consciousness closely even without bias you find that the European consciousness is based upon: conflict, power, deception, lack of empathy or respect for the natural or spiritual world. I am not saying that all white people are bad what I’m saying is that when you examine white cultures there is an extremely unhealthy emphasis upon materialism and power over others as oppose to power over one’s self. (see link for philosophical perspective https://aeon.co/essays/how-and-why-exactly-did-consciousness-become-a-problem ).

This emphasis of power over self is the only concept involving the acclamation of power that does not rely upon the destruction of or taking from others; although this is a concept practiced by those that respectfully include the two-spirit individuals within their societies let alone within positions of power or sacredness stress that an individual who seek a position of leadership or  authority over others must first attain power over themselves; while developing insight into their own psyche. This is not something that is stressed in cultures that value competition over cooperation, or connection to others and nature over materialism. I believe that the reason why transgenderism based upon both spirituality, consciousness and interrelatedness to others based upon respect for their way of life and beliefs would undermine the development of crony Capitalism, Europeanized Christianityand a need for “otherness”. The only purpose that “otherness” serves is to prevent a connection with and to others that would prevent colonizers from being colonizers.