Card of the week: Reversed Hermit

“Old man, you surface seldom.

Then you come in with the tide’s coming

When the seas was cold, foam-” ** Sylvia Plath Full Fathom Five

Last week the energy was focused on joy, balance, and a deep harmony between what we need and what we have. This week the energy needs to move inward, away from distraction and material gains. This energy is a lantern that is hung inside us. This is not an easy thing to do, and many times that light is forgotten, but it needs to find a way to manifest in our roots.

The Hermit is a guide. He or she can be a metaphor, or the embodiment of someone in our lives that is beloved and trusted. In the reversed position, he or she speaks to the ways we cope, distract, or shut down. Right now the energy has been chaotic. Even last week when there was happiness and song, the pendulum was swinging hard.

Now is the time to slow that movement. Now is the time to retreat inwards and listen. this is our call to action. We cannot cope by simply ignoring. We cannot focus if we are constantly filling the void with superfluous distractions. And we cannot shut down. Shutting down, perhaps more than others, is what slowly dims that light. Calculated indifference is worse than opposition. It destroys what makes us human.

Sometimes we are the irrational and angry trouble makers. Sometimes we are the ones who are wrong. We can harness the wrong thought and hurt ourselves or others. But the Hermit is what wills us to turn around, pick ourselves back up, and do the right thing. It is our will that pulls us through these, and countless minor setbacks. In the reversed position this energy can even be obsessing over details, or making ignorant choices with little insight.

Do not let these setbacks become a defense mechanism. Do not become critical of every little thing around you, but do not throw out your trust like a released balloon. Find ways that are your own to come back to your voice. Focus on collectively meditating and releasing the need for constant order and control.

This card draws on both the spirit and the mind to  unearth the hermit in each of us. Alone, neither would be successful. He does not always make it easy to find him. It can be comfortable or painful to excavate him from our interior, but through will and action he can be found. If he is in others, those are the people who will never leave your corner. If he is an event horizon, he will pull you back in. This is our rise through fire and ice; the precious accumulation of treasures from the road we have been walking.

Further tips:

Scents: Cypress, Tea Tree, or Sage

Stones: Azurite

Animal Spirits:

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