V. The Hierophant

Meaning: Leadership, tradition, education.

Depiction: Starbuck, standing on the deck of the Pequod and gazing thoughtfully over the side.

Text: Chapter 26, Knights and Squires

A staid, steadfast man, whose life for the most part was a telling pantomime of action, and not a tame chapter of sounds. Yet, for all his hardy sobriety and fortitude, there were certain qualities in him which at times affected, and in some cases seemed well nigh to overbalance all the rest. Uncommonly conscientious for a seaman, and endued with a deep natural reverence, the wild watery loneliness of his life did therefore strongly incline him to superstition; but to that sort of superstition, which in some organizations seems rather to spring, somehow, from intelligence than from ignorance.

Unsigned painting of 19th century whaling ship/Pinterest

Comments: Liz Dean's Ultimate Guide to Tarot describes the Hierophant as  "the bridge between heaven and earth." Starbuck is the bridge between land and sea: for him, the business of whaling is tied only to the profits it brings on land. He tries (and fails) to anchor Ahab in the practical world of business and responsibility.