The High Priest (Hierophant) is a connection between the manifest world of man (Emperor) and the pure world of Divine fire (Lovers). This could also be seen as the connection between Assiyah (Earth) and Aztilut (fire). The Kohen Gadol (High Priest) cannot be lost in the firey love connection with the Divine. His role is to connect Heaven and Earth. Sometimes he must be as much an administrator as a mystic. To be effective the offering of his soul cannot be all consuming fire. He must, as Iyyar does, provide a space for a healing, growing connection between the worlds.
Iyyar is the month to find your own balance. It is the month to heal your manifest world by connecting it to the Divine and and heal your spiritual world by acknowledging the necessary connections to the manifest world.
The High Priest in the Transparent Tarot can be seen as the Etz Chayyim — the living tree of Judaism. At Lag B’Omer we sacrifice some of that tree, the dried and broken parts, to relight the fires of Divine connection before Sivan where we connect in the all-consuming connection of Shavuot. The High Priest here clearly also represents Aharon, whose almond wood staff continues to bloom showing the Divine fire of his office.
If the High Priest represents Aharon, then maybe we can see the Emperor as Moses and the Lovers as Miriam. Maybe both the Emperor and the Lovers represent Moses at different phases of his life with Aharon the High Priest acting as the intermediary who helps him to transition from one phase to the next.
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This also connects strongly to the letter associated with the month of Iyyar, the vav (ו). It is a connector in imagery and in actually grammar usage. Just the shape is that of a staff or other connecting tool. In Hebrew it is the word “and.” Nothing symbolic needed there for explanation.
In Iyyar, who or what is your tree and for whom or what will you act as transformational force?
In Nisan we burned away our “chametz” and escaped from bondage, which can leave us feeling raw and exposed. Now is the time to heal and transform through a grounded Divine connection.
Who or what is the teacher, healer, or midwife that you need to guide you through this transition? And even as we heal, we heal others. This way when we arrive at the foot of the mountain in Sivan, we are all ready to experience the union of Shavuot.