The Card of the Day: The Hermit
"Follow your own path."
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The Hermit symbolizes that the answers you seek to any problem, can always be found if you begin within. If you make time to center, feel your real feelings, and quiet mental chatter, your inner wisdom will guide you out of any rut. Sometimes the biggest block to hearing your spirit's inner wisdom is the fear of feeling something uncomfortable. Many people distract themselves from the discomfort and avoid resolving the imbalance. The Hermit represents the need to periodically withdraw from the world and reconnect with your deeper awareness.
Do you take time to regularly reconnect with the wisdom residing within your center? Would you rather just distract or numb yourself from what is causing you discomfort, rather than look at it? Are you conscious of the "Wise One" that resides within?
The Hermit takes his lantern into the dark, uncomfortable places, to examine what's there. If you look at the card, he is travelling over snow. This symbolizes feelings that you have "put on ice." The snow can also represent freezing or numbing pain. The gentle Hermit comes with his warm illuminating lantern and his sturdy staff of wisdom. This can melt the cold ice that metaphorically forms around the heart, allowing feelings to be resolved and released. Under his gentle guidance, he can show you the hidden lesson beneath the ice. Does your heart feel like it's keeping something frozen? Can you feel the feelings within your heart, or does it feel numb?
The fear of discomfort is just a mask, preventing you from accessing your wisdom. One error many people make with the lesson of the Hermit, is mistaking "wisdom" with "thinking." "If I just sit here alone and think about this uncomfortable thing for a long time, I will figure it out." Thinking about problems just leaves the anxiety in the background to go unchecked as your mind frantically races from one hollow solution to another. Thinking about the discomfort doesn't really resolve it. Feeling it does. Many times, people are so scared of feeling that they pull out their phone, have a drink, or binge watch the television, thinking "That will get that inner chatter to shut up for a while!"
Avoidance freezes the feeling for a time, but the unfelt feelings remain under the ice and grow in strength until they finally burst through. This process takes longer for some people than others, but it always ends the same......with a twitch, a feeling of being hollow, or a nervous breakdown.
If you are courageous enough to go within, seek your discomfort, pull the mask back, and feel the feeling you are avoiding, you will discover that this discomfort is actually a wise teacher and friend. The deeper awareness residing beneath the fear will calmly tell you what you need. This is your inner Wise One. The inner Wise One will show you how resolve and release what is troubling you.
Today reflect on what is going on within you. Is there something making you anxious? Are you dulled, numb, or frozen? Take time to connect with the sacred Hermit within. He will safely guide you to what lies beneath the ice. There is nothing to fear with the Hermit guiding you. Take the time to light a sacred candle in a quiet place. Be brave and melt any ice that may have formed around your feelings. Pull back surface fears. Look beneath the ice. Examine what the Hermit is guiding you to understand. Another card drawn may illuminate the issue that needs healing. You will know you found the answer when you say, "Aha! That's what I needed to resolve within myself."
The lamp of your inner Hermit will guide you out of darkness every time.
*The Hermit in a Love Reading
New Relationship
Even in the beginning of a relationship, a Hermit partner will habitually withdraw to recenter and process. Although this person cares, he (or she) will be frequently absent due to physical proximity or other obligations. If both partners are independent and self-reliant this connection holds potential. However, mutual affection must be communicated and understood.
Long Term Partnership
Hermit partnerships thrive on independence. There is likely a deep bond between both people, but also a desire to periodically retreat, replenish, or work on independent goals. Both partners might even prefer to sleep in separate places. The Hermit is a natural scholar, artist, or deep thinker who lives more in his inner landscape than he does with others.
Seeking Romance
The appearance of the Hermit does not mean that you are doomed to be alone! Seeking an authentic love takes time. This card often mirrors a feeling that you are walking through the dark. Much like the Hermit, you can’t see your way fully through the passing shadow. Your inner light is illuminating the next step to take. Choose the wise path. Love will follow.
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*This excerpt is a sneak peek at my new book “Tarot in Love: Consulting the Cards in Matters of the Heart” from Llewellyn Books and available now!
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