Hierophant: Understanding the Divine Child

Last night I was sitting on my couch after the little ones had gone to bed. For some days I'd been feeling pulled to have a "conversation" of sorts with Elegua, but with my hectic schedule I had been putting it off. So finally, with his red candle burning behind the door nearby, I settled into the evening and drew a few cards from my Chrysalis Tarot. I simply held in my mind and heart the intention to hear from him, to receive any messages he might want me to have. The center card of the draw was the Divine Child, which is in the Hierophant position of the Chrysalis deck. I smiled at the beautiful confirmation, for Elegua is a divine child, a gatekeeper and key-holder. I sat for some time with the card, with Elegua in my heart, and I pondered the artistic rendering, letting its message unfold slowly.

V-Divine Child, H. Sierra
Chrysalis Tarot

I think of the Hierophant as a bridge between the mundane and divine, whether that occurs through a teacher, a religion, formal study, etcetera. What I love is that this card (in the Chrysalis) shows the divinity in innocence. This has occurred via stories of divine children like Mithra or Jesus who helped connect their communities to God/the Source (whatever one happens to call it). It manifests in the powerful, child-like divinity of Elegua who guards all roads. And that fits with the deck booklet's mention of the shell showing many paths to the same destination.

The shell also reminds me of how we often refer to our bodies as shells of our souls, and in that sense we all carry the Divine within us. The Hierophant is about looking to others for divine connection, while the Divine Child shows that we are already connected, and simply have to tap into it. But often when we're on a path of self discovery, we seek out others who are on the same path who we can learn from and with, and then integrate that into our journey. In this way there is a connection between the inner and outer journeys.

Finally, this card reminds me of how children can be such amazing teachers of compassion, truth and love, divine qualities all.