The Hierophant
Though often demonized with good reason, tradition and conformity can have their benefits.
Welcome to Cast Iron! A weekly newsletter that talks fitness, tarot and current events that hits inboxes every Monday. Each issue features a workout based on a tarot card, a tarot pull related to current events and, sometimes, a blog post or journal prompt. You’ll also find a list of my current favs at the end of each email, so be sure to check those out if you’re low on inspiration or energy. If you like my work, connect with me on Instagram and Twitter @byAlissaSmith or visit my website.
If this newsletter was forwarded to you, make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss an issue of Cast Iron!
The Hierophant is about tradition and organizations of higher learning.
This card shows the Hierophant not as the RWS’ traditional religious figure propped on a pedestal above two acolytes but as a pyramid wrapped in stairs. We can presume that the pyramid’s single entrance leads to a dark tomb, a place where the adventurer can glean knowledge from previous generations and peoples. It’s worth noting that the triangle is considered to be the most stable shape, and the pyramid has four of them; The number four represents stability and, sometimes, death (more on that later).
Many tarot readers initially struggle with this card because of its deep connection to organized religion and male religious figures. Though the Hierophant can represent a spiritual leader who wants to pass information on to others, it also can represent professional and personal groups and communities through which we gain access to more information than we would be able to uncover on our own.
The eye at the top of the pyramid — just out of reach no matter how you climb it — likely represents enlightenment or, at the very least, the ability to see things from a more objective and informed point of view.
With the Hierophant’s powerful connection to tradition in mind, I recorded the below workout, which is a classic weight lifting workout that includes the main and most vital compound lifts.
As always, please keep any injuries or health issues in mind when attempting this workout. Sharp pain means stop, dizziness means stop, feeling lightheaded means stop. And, when in doubt, check with your doctor before starting any new workout program.
Fit tip: The best workout routine is whichever one you’ll do consistently. Consistency is the most important variable when it comes to physical fitness.
Reading (the) Room
The witch’s new year is right around the corner, and I am beyond excited to enter this liminal time between Oct. 31 and the winter solstice. I can’t wait to rid myself of some of 2020’s pollution and have some sort of barrier between me and the year of plague, death and so many betrayals of the most basic human values and rights. Of course, many of the issues coming to a head this year have existed for far longer than any of us have been alive. Perhaps 2020 is about finally being able to see those issues for what they are and not the stories we’ve built to preserve and protect them.
To prepare, I pulled four cards about the upcoming new year and liminal time.
What’s headed out of our lives is the King of Cups. Court cards can be interpreted as people, events or emotional states. Unfortunately for us, the KoC represents diplomacy, compassion and the ability to weather any storm with emotional resiliency and balance.
What’s coming in is the Empress, which would be so, so wonderful if she wasn’t inverted. It appears the sudden void left by the King of Cup’s absence leads us to feel disconnected and like we need to overcompensate for that by smothering those around us. At times, reversals can be read as the need for this card to be embodied in your internal life; This would mean the reversed Empress needs you to put yourself, your body and your sense of safety and wellbeing first right now, even if that means other people aren’t getting all your attention or energy. Personally, I feel that both meanings apply. If we suddenly feel detached and disconnected, it would make sense for us to go within and find our tethers before doing anything else. Put your oxygen mask on first and all that.
We need to focus on the reversed Devil, which represents the nascent realization that some of our deeply entrenched behaviors and beliefs hurt ourselves and others. I believe this Devil represents so many of our systemic and systematic issues that have been brought to task this year by protesters, activists, scientists, journalists and other seekers of equity and truth.
In Michelle Tea’s Modern Tarot, she says, “the hardest part of the Devil is how likely it is that you have no idea that what you are believing in so fervently and spending so much of your energy on is a dangerous falsehood.” Once the Devil inverts and the chains in the RWS’ traditional card start loosening their grips on the necks of the ensnared humans, we begin to see the truth through cracks in the falsehood’s veneer. Recognizing the Devil will likely uncover feelings of doubt, shame, embarrassment and similar emotions. However, avoiding these feelings will only tighten the chains around your neck, making these binding beliefs and behaviors even more difficult to escape and overcome.
What we need to do is represented by reversed Death, which usually represents us struggling to let go of how things and people used to be. Death is about painful and unavoidable change, which is almost always paired with feelings of loss and grief. It’s normal to avoid change, and it’s even more normal to avoid a change that costs us something. Unfortunately, all change costs something. Charon must be paid.
This inverted card could be signaling an internal focus, meaning the card is about making a necessary but difficult change in who we are, what we want, what we believe in, what drives us.
I believe this reversed Death is about the fear and hesitancy to change and the need for that change to come from deep within the well of our psyche. These are the two sides of the same coin that need to be placed on your eyes so you can see the way forward and cross the river Styx. But tarot is about choice, and you always have the choice to stay who and where you are and rot in your coffin.
It’s up to you. Either way, change is coming and it’s going to hurt.
What I’m loving this week:
I’ve never played a rogue-like before, or, if I have, then it never stayed in my mind. I picked this game up because the art is outstanding. I’ve never been much for grabbing a game solely because of its aesthetics but this week’s list actually has two instances of this! I guess you could say I’m looking to games for escapism right now. This game is lovely dive into Greek myths, strategy and problem solving. I highly recommend it. Every time I think I’ve beaten the game, I find a whole new feature or aspect that suddenly expands the horizon.
IYKYK. Once you see the descriptor, you’ll see why I initially wanted to check this game out. Other than it involving tarot cards, the game also has a great neon aesthetic, which really makes me feel like I’m in the passenger side of the car on a rainy night and we’re driving down a highway and there’s a warm drink and fresh food that I’m snacking on as the city lights fly by — as you can see, I absolutely love this aesthetic. If you do, too, then you also might want to check out InFAMOUS First Light.
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
I first saw someone recommend this book months and months ago. It has popped up on my list of recommended Kindle reads, reviews of it have cropped up on my recommended YouTube videos and I’ve walked past rows of it at Barnes and Noble. So, I finally had to try it out. I’m still in the middle of it — there has been a lot of video game playing this week, as you can see — but I love it so far.
COVENTRY’s collab with a certified herbalist
COVENTRY partnered with Kursten Hedgis, a certified herbalist and founder of Folk Care, to create a spellcrafting bundle meant to help witches and would-be casters take their practices out of their journals and to their altars. The bundle would normally retail for about $80 but this partnership allowed us to cut the price nearly in half. It includes a nearly 40-page hand-illustrated zine, high-quality audio edition, sustainably sourced and crafted beeswax candle and vial of motherwort and more. Check this out if you need guidance on how to craft a spell and make your own type of magick.
This week’s deck is Mystic Mondays Tarot
I love this deck, again, because of the colors, which remind me of ‘80s Miami and art festivals and hanging out with great friends on open patios in humid weather. I suppose I pick things because of color and vibe way more often than I’d like to admit. The cardstock is thick — almost too thick, so look out if you have dainty hands or are a weak shuffler — and its edges wear with rough handling, which is to be expected when you’re shuffling the deck hundreds of times a week. Still worth it.
How can you support Cast Iron?
Share this newsletter and leave a comment below! Tell me what you liked, didn’t like, want to see, etc. I want to know how to make this newsletter the best thing about Mondays. If you have a story or topic idea, drop me a line at Hello@AlissaSmith.red.
How can you support me?
Hire me for freelance writing gigs. You can find some of my clips here.
Schedule remote tarot readings and/or personal training sessions with me.
Buy a copy of COVENTRY, a secular witchcraft zine run by me and my friend, Megan Castro, an Atlanta-based artist. Our newest issue covers spellcrafting and casting. It’s available now as part of a collab with Folk Care, an Atlanta-based herbal company.
Note: Some of the links I’ve included are affiliate links, which means I may get a cent or two if you decide to purchase whatever was linked.