Hierophant

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The role of the hierophant in religion is to bring the congregants into the presence of that which is deemed holy. The word comes from Ancient Greece, where it was constructed from the combination of ta hiera, "the holy," and phainein, "to show." In Attica it was the title of the chief priest at the Eleusinian Mysteries.

known Hierophants:

[edit] Tarot

In Tarot, The Hierophant is one of the twenty-two trump cards comprising the Major Arcana, and represents the guide towards knowledge, insight and wisdom. In a tarot reading it might for example represent a priest, scholar, therapist or teacher.

[edit] Popular culture

In the first and second editions of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, "hierophant" was the highest ranking a druid could achieve. In the third edition, it is a prestige class available to any divine spellcaster (typically druids and clerics); its abilities revolve around improving the spellcaster's abilities, such as manipulation of energy to heal or harm others and affect undead, aiding others by transferring powers to them, and improving spellcasting ability. "Hierophant" is also included in Dungeons & Dragons version 3.5.

In the fantasy world of Warhammer 40,000, the Hierophant is amongst the largest and most formidable of the Tyranid Bio creatures faced by ground forces.

Guitarist Steve Hackett's album Voyage of the Acolyte is all inspired by Tarot cards - the last song is called Shadow of the Hierophant.

The Cenobites in Clive Barker's novella "The Hellbound Heart" (filmed as Hellraiser) are often referred to as "Hierophants".

A popular fan site dedicated to Marilyn Manson is titled "The Heirophant" [sic], named after the first cycle of his album Antichrist Superstar.[1]

In the White Wolf role-playing game Vampire: The Requiem (New World of Darkness), the Hierophant is the spiritual leader within a given city for the covenant known as the Circle of the Crone.

In the Halo sequel novel Halo: First Strike, the Unyielding Hierophant was a Covenant space station so vastly large its gravity could be manipulated to resemble an Escher painting. It was used as a rendezvous point for Covenant ships in order to amass for the invasion of Earth. It was destroyed by the last remaining Spartans.

In the MUD Achaea, Dreams of Divine Lands, the Hierophant is a type of tarot card which allows the user to issue one mental command to the victim.

In the arcade video game The House of the Dead 2, The Hierophant (Type B 05) is a demon humanoid with gills, and one of the bosses.

In the arcade game Magical Drop III, the "Hierophant" is a playable character.

In the novel Nuklear Age by Brian Clevinger, Alex Halo's true identity is the superhero Hierophant.

In the novel Mumbo-Jumbo by Ishmael Reed, the Hierophant leads the "Wallflower Order," a secret society dedicated to the containment of the "Jes Grew" epidemic.