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It is important to note that Jung never wrote systematically about tarot. This is worth acknowledging at the outset, because the relationship between Jungian psychology and tarot is sometimes presented as more direct and more authorised than it actually is/was.
I want to begin with the word itself, because the word is doing rather a lot of work that most people who encounter this card never stop to examine. Hierophant. It comes from the Greek hierophantēs, hieros, sacred, and phainein, to show or reveal.
When students ask me why tarot has endured for centuries despite enormous cultural and technological change, I often suggest that they begin by setting aside the idea that tarot exists primarily to predict the future.
When students first encounter both mysticism and the Tarot, they often assume they belong naturally together. Modern books, websites, and films frequently present Tarot cards as mysterious tools capable of revealing hidden truths, while mysticism is portrayed as an equally mysterious search for spiritual knowledge.