The Hierophant
When The Fool reached The Emperor card, he becomes part of a group and accepts the rules which define that group.
He begins to apply those rules and begins his inner work following a set goal.
Now he meets the guide/instructor himself, who teaches him the most important principles which we previously discussed, but so far The Fool knew them only in a very superficial or theoretical fashion. Now when The Fool descends towards the cave, he begins experiencing and verifying everything that he learned.
The Hierophant teaches The Fool about the three forces:
The active, the denying and the neutralizing.
At the same time, The Fool gets a lesson about three lines of work.
We discussed the three forces when we discussed The Magician, The High Priestess, and The Empress cards. And we mentioned the three lines of work in the prison parable.
Now I will expand some more on the three lines of work.
The Hierophant’s words:
“First line of work: Man’s real work begins with studying and observing the self!
That requires knowledge and method!
When people try to study without knowledge or method, they quickly form wrong ideas about themselves. Therefore, we need to get rid of those false ideas and at the same time find a proper method to study and see ourselves!
After we found the knowledge and the method we must make an effort to see ourselves;
that’s our private and personal work. It can be done anywhere and anytime, or rather, it must be done everywhere and all the time.
Only thus we can see and learn all of our aspects.
In order to work in the first line, we do not need a group because it’s an inner work, but as we will learn from the “law of seven”, we will reach a gap that will prevent our progress in the first line of work.
In other words, we cannot continue working on the first line of work without a proper bridge, and here comes into play the second line of work.”
“Second line of work: work with another person or a group of people, as we discussed in the parable of the prison, and the escape from it, we need the help of our teammates.
That help can come in various and interesting forms: even a conversation between two students can clarify many things that are unclear.
Taking common goals and self-observations can provide a broader and more understood spectrum about ourselves, a vision of ourselves by seeing and understanding the conduct of another student; some things are so deep and ingrained within us, that there is no chance that we will ever see them within ourselves.
By seeing those traits in others, we get the mirror effect which allows us to see ourselves.
When another student sees something about me and thinks I am incapable of seeing myself, he can come to my aid and give me directions.
And there are many other ways to work with another person or group.
What’s interesting and important is that the second line of work can contain within itself the first line of work, provided that the work is being done correctly.
Without the second line, the first line is stuck and cannot keep advancing anywhere.
The second line of work is a bridge to the first line!”
“Third line of work: work towards a greater goal, where we give up our will for the goal of the instructor or the school.
In this line of work we find ourselves in different situations which we ourselves could not create and wouldn’t want to create.
These situations help us see different sides within us, which we would have never been exposed to in normal life.
Those situations create bridges which allow the work to carry on.
The third line of work can contain within it the second and the first lines, as it bridges to the second line which in turn bridges to the first.
In other words, whoever works properly in the third line of work, simultaneously works on the first two lines.”