The Pope

Tarot de Marseille · V · Earth

Essence: Teaching, advice, faith, a teacher who guides, values, tradition, a bridge between the human and the spiritual, celebrations

Traditional reading: A wise, discreet and humble person who gives good advice and overflows with kindness; a wedding or christening; reversed: a depressed person with no heart to keep fighting, with some hypocrisy

General meaning

Upright

teachingadvicefaithguidancetraditionmediation

↕ Reversed: Sermon, advice nobody asked for, dogmas, rigid morals, hypocrisy, a teacher who disappoints, bad advice, a commitment put off

By topic

Love: commitmentweddinga relationship based on shared valuesa couple who understand each othera promise made in front of others
Friendship: a friend who gives good adviceexperienced supportconfidantcommon valuesmediator
Family: family celebrationsadvice from elderstraditionweddings and christeningsinherited values
Career: mentortraininginstitutiona teaching or guiding careerprofessional advice
Work: mentortrainingteaching as a pathmediatorinstitution
Studies: teacherprofessorformal educationguided learningtutoring
Money: advice from an adviserhelp from someone experiencedspending on celebrationsstability through valuesprudence
Pets: trainertrusted vetthe pet's christening or introductionruleslearning
Health: medical advicefollowing instructionstrust in the professionalspiritual wellbeinghealthy routine
Choices: ask someone who knowslisten to someone experienceddecide according to valueslook for a guidecommit
Creative projects: mentoringlearning before publishingpassing on a messagesupport from someone experiencedideals
Creativity: learning from a masterartistic traditionpassing on what you've learnedcraftschool

The keywords for each topic describe the card upright; the reversed meaning has its own line.

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Remember cards speak of energies and tendencies, not a fixed destiny 💕

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In this old Marseille-family edition (Lequart, Besançon pattern), the Popess appears as Juno and the Pope as Jupiter: they're the same cards.

Images: Tarot de Marseille, public domain (Wikimedia Commons).