A New Pope, A New Era: The Hierophant, the Stars, and the Future of Faith
Editor’s Note: While I was raised Catholic, my perspective is shaped by years of studying a wide range of religious and spiritual systems.
In light of the first American pope, Pope Leo XIV, much has been shed on the deeper symbolism of his papacy, especially as both his election and inauguration fall during Taurus season, the time ruled by The Hierophant, the archetype once known simply as “The Pope.”
Pope Leo XIV is a Virgo, born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago, making him the first American to ever ascend to the papacy. This is significant, especially when we look at the chart for his inauguration further down. In spirituality, taking a new name is often part of an initiation or transformation. It marks a passage into a new role. This practice also aligns with The Hierophant archetype, which governs spiritual naming, sacred titles, and the responsibility that comes with them.
It is no small thing that we welcome a new pope during Taurus season, (April 20-May 20 of every Gregorian year) a time ruled by the tarot archetype The Hierophant. Symbolically, this means he will be supported by a current of spiritual energy tied to values, stability, and sacred tradition. We can see this moment as an invitation to reconnect with what we hold close to our heart, not through habit or pressure, but through conscious alignment.
The true purpose of a pope is to embody The Hierophant: to uphold tradition not through blind conformity, but through deep spiritual awareness. What does that really mean?
We all participate in cultures and traditions — whether it’s Taco Tuesday, Christmas, or Pesach. These rituals help us belong to our communities, whether religious, cultural, or familial. Ideally, they serve as tools of connection. But when misused, they become cages of separation.
When honored with presence and meaning, tradition becomes a doorway to truth. It allows us to live authentically, with values rooted not in fear, but in understanding.
The Hierophant Was the Pope All Along
The Pope Tarot Card is a painting by French School.
It’s interesting to note that in older tarot decks, The Hierophant was originally titled The Pope. In many traditional pre–Rider-Waite systems, he is depicted seated between two pillars, robed and crowned, acting as a sacred bridge between the divine and the people. In other words, The Hierophant is the Pope — at least symbolically. While the archetype has evolved in modern decks, including our own system, Cosmic Pixels, the core idea remains: spiritual authority, tradition, and the archetypal bridge between heaven and earth.
The Numerology of XIV: Temperance and Its Hidden Teacher
Looking at the numerology of his title, XIV equals 14, which in tarot is the card of Temperance — the archetype of spiritual refinement, harmony, and the alchemy of opposites. Fourteen also reduces to 5, which is The Hierophant, often seen as the shadow teacher or inner lesson for those walking the Temperance path.
There’s more: Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost chose the name Leo, making him the 14th pope to do so. Leo is not just a name; it’s an astrological sign, a fixed sign, just like Taurus.. This activates two corners of the fixed cross, inviting us to consider the deeper spiritual geometry of his election.
In this light, the symbolism points to a leader whose path may involve balancing harmony and structure, spiritual fluidity and sacred order. This is Temperance meeting its inner Hierophant.
The Danger of Dogma and the Call for Meaning
If the Hierophant archetype is about sacred structure, then its shadow is what happens when that structure hardens into dogma, when we hoard spiritual knowledge or give it away without ever embodying it. When we perform rituals without meaning. When we “teach” but never listen. Or when we consume endlessly without ever contributing.
This becomes especially dangerous when we cling to tradition only for comfort, when we look for safety in fitting in, rather than meaning in showing up fully. Like many of us do — especially in places with deep roots, like Italy — we risk turning what is true and free into something rigid and lifeless. The recent exposé on designer goods, like Birkin bags being manufactured cheaply in China and sold under the illusion of Italian craftsmanship, is a modern metaphor for this archetype’s distortion. That too is Taurus energy: beauty, yes — but also luxury, branding, and attachment to appearances.
So we must ask ourselves, not just what are we following, but why?
And here, it becomes even more fascinating. Because, as stated, the shadow of The Hierophant is Temperance. When that shadow is integrated, it becomes something sacred: not control, but balance. Not rigidity, but refinement. The presence of XIV in the pope’s chosen title might be accidental — or it might be deeply synchronistic. Either way, it points us to the next level of the journey: where spiritual structure meets spiritual flow.
What this means for the collective right now is profound. With a new pope, an embodied, global symbol of The Hierophant, rising during Taurus season, we are being shown both the light and the shadow of spiritual authority. In the growing distrust of traditional leadership, in the rise of performative empathy and the disconnection of rituals from their meaning, and in the extreme swings between control and chaos — we are invited to integrate wisdom instead of merely preaching it (e.g., on social media). It asks us to give from fullness, not from depletion, and to receive without guilt, and to lead without ego.
When The Hierophant is in balance, he does not control; he teaches by embodying truth, which is something we can do too.
The Astrology of Pope Leo XIV’s Inauguration
If the Vatican still employs astrologers, and I believe they do, then they surely know what I am about to share.
The election and inauguration of the new pope during Taurus season could not be more auspicious. It reminds us that we are in the middle of an ongoing dialogue between faith and innovation, tradition and transformation. The inauguration chart reveals the deeper significance of this moment, and it is nothing short of monumental.
On Inauguration Day, Sunday, May 18, 2025, the Moon will be in early Aquarius, conjunct Pluto, which speaks volumes. This is not just emotional energy, it is the deep psychological restructuring of the collective. The Moon represents the people, the body, memory, and inner emotional world. Aquarius is the sign of progress, technology, innovation, and liberation from outdated systems. And Pluto brings transformation at the soul level. It reveals, it destroys, and it rebuilds with clarity.
This conjunction signals a shift in collective consciousness. It invites AI tolerance, integration, and open-minded dominion. It is for the people, not above them.
Tradition Meets Innovation in the New World
Plus, Saturn sits at twenty-nine degrees Pisces, the final breath of the zodiac’s final sign. This is the closing of a spiritual chapter. The end of the old ways. The dissolution of hierarchical religion. The unraveling of systems built on illusion. As Saturn prepares to enter Aries, we are stepping into something new, something as young and raw as America itself, the youngest country now holding the oldest sacred office in the Western world.
This is gigantic.
I’m writing this during the endurance week of my seven-week Tree of Life journey. And in this space, it is clear: either we evolve the meaning of spiritual leadership, or we risk losing its relevance entirely. The role of tradition must be re-understood, not as confinement, but as technology. These rituals, whether the Eucharist or the mikveh, are tools for presence. They are repeatable forms for transformation, designed to hold us when the world is shifting.
In this chart, there is a chance that the old paradigms of control through religion are collapsing. The guru era could be ending. The voice of external authority might be replaced by the call of inner discernment. The system built on “we tell you what God wants” might be slowly, quietly, and thoroughly deconstructed.
This is not just the end of blind faith. It is the beginning of spiritual responsibility.
And as Saturn prepares to enter Aries on May 25, 2025, the sign of initiation, sovereignty, and fresh beginnings, we are being prepared for a new kind of leadership. Not one that says, follow me, but one that suggests, meet me in truth.
With the pope being American-born, this archetypal moment echoes the founding essence of a nation known for innovation over tradition, individualism over institutional loyalty, and youth over stale habits. As stated, America, symbolically the youngest country, now holds the oldest religious title in the Western world. That alone is an alchemical shift.
The sacred throne of The Hierophant is no longer occupied by old-world lineage. It is now seated in the New World. And with that, a message emerges: tradition and progress are being asked to merge. Innovation must be rooted in soul. Spiritual authority is no longer tied to geography or bloodline — it is vibrational.
In these times, we are encouraged to seek wisdom from established traditions while also asking how they can live and breathe in today’s world. As the saying goes, nothing is truly new under the sun. Even when we believe we are original, we are often recycling something eternal in a new form.
In Buddhism, it is said that there are 84,000 states of mind. And if you have ever accompanied someone through the dying process, as I have, you begin to understand: those 84,000 states must dissolve before the soul can fully let go. That is where the suffering lives. As Aurelia’s wise mother once said, dying is easy, it’s getting there that’s difficult.
The Sacred Downline Has Shifted
This mirrors a sacred shift in the archetypal downline of the tarot. Traditionally, in The Fool’s Journey, we see this vertical alignment:
The Hierophant → The Hanged Man → The Sun
But in our deck, corrected through deep archetypal and consciousness research and testing, we revealed:
The Hierophant → The Sun → The Hanged Man
This is not a cosmetic change. It is a cosmic recalibration, and it deeply affects how we interpret the spiritual assignment of the new pope.
In the old downline, The Hierophant led to sacrifice before one could access light. The path demanded surrender before joy. But in this corrected flow, we move from spiritual truth, to radiant embodiment, to transcendent surrender. The message is clear: we are meant to stand in the light before letting go, to embody the solar clarity of the soul before we dissolve into surrender.
The Hierophant, then, becomes not an enforcer of doctrine, but a revealer of light. This new pope, emerging under the archetypal current of Hierophant-Taurus energy, steps not into a throne of control, but into a lineage of joy, youth, healing, clarity, and soul-powered leadership.
A Hierophant Reimagined
The Hierophant is no longer The Pope.
He is The Inner Algorithm.
He is The Open Channel.
He is The Sacred Code.
This isn’t just the crowning of a pope.
This is a hierophantic reboot.
A spiritual system is ending.
A soul technology is emerging.
And our deck?
Our symbols?
They are the map for it.
The Cosmic Pixels Hierophant has been reimagined for the modern world. In the Cosmic Pixels lineage, The Hierophant is not a religious figure in the institutional sense. He is a living symbol, one that points toward inner awareness, personal connection to the divine, sacred listening, and spiritual education.
In short, The Hierophant is not a person. He is a frequency, a transmission, and the pope has been chosen to embody this on the world stage.
