Sign: Virgo
Element: Earth
Numerology: IX
Numerologically speaking the number IX can bee seen to represent completion, humanitarianism, universal love, the end of a cycle or way of being. Spiritually speaking the number IX can ben seen to represent the coming of a new dawn, end of an era, returning to oneness through the realisation of what has been. The number IX can be divided into 3/3/3. The number 3 represents the trinity of human, mind, spirit / emotional, logic, soul / maiden mother, crone / past, present, future. The number IX is also a key expression of evolutionary standpoints and the storm before the calm. The culmination of transformational traits with deep insight and illumination.
Message from Dilara:
The Hermit is a card of personal illumination, introspection, the career within the cared for by virtue of the deliverance of the light. The Hermit comes right before the Wheel of Fortune, a card of time, renewal, and ‘phase’. The Hermit has the power to spiritually discover what has been sought, to harvest knowledge through embodied experience and to gain wisdom through revelation. There can be a sense of exhaustion to the Hermit when one does not follow the instincts of how one is being guided. Where are you ignoring the call the listen to the inner pilgrim?
The value of taking oneself into ‘Hermit mode’ is a thousand old. Who we seek when we are there we will always find. This is the light offered by this card. Right before a breakthrough we are often required to go deeper within than ever before, this is the Hermit card’s energy. The snake which sheds its old self at exactly the right time, in the right way, for primitively aligned reasons.
We are all animals on the inside (and outside), our nervous system is keyed into the potential of introspective honouring. The Hermit allows us the space, as much as we need, to cultivate awareness through solitude until we are absolutely ready to reveal ourselves to the world again. Often, this re-revealing is down to the fact that we have witnessed our own evolution in the ways we needed to in order to then share that evolution outwardly for the benefit of others. The figure in the Hermit can be seen to represent either your literal physical body, the metaphorical instinct of the soul to use the body as a beacon of discovery, the presence of time, or an external figure who can aid you in your contemplation and evolution.
Reversed:
When there is a deep calling to enter a state of inner reflection and contemplation the Hermit can appear in its reversed position. Aligning ourselves with our true timing when it comes to the end of a cycle can sometimes feel like walking uphill with a strong wind pushing us back to where we began. This resistance, at its core, is the power of your potential and of the potential of what is to come when you do look within.
In its reversed position the Hermit can suggest there has been a time of darkness only you have the light to and that light is being dimmed by distraction, rushing, inhibited grace, fuel on a fire of destruction, or the choice to stagnate rather than move forward. You are either taking too much time inward and staying there as a hiding place, or you have not had the inward journey you need to make a decision which requires your full spirit and focus.
Message from the Herd:
Accumulation and substance can be bystanders of evolution and graceful growth. The accumulated accents of life’s journey which have threads pulling at you and reminding of you of your potential. The Hermit’s energy in the journey of the Major Arcana is a beacon of substance. The substance of you, the soul of a situation, the deliverance of information in a way which perfectly aligns you back into the mystery.
The exact way to work with this card is through fluid engagement. What we mean by this is that the flow of energy in the Major Arcana is three-fold. Mind, body, and soul.
Mental fluidity is a rapid and time orientated threshold of creativity.
Fluidity of the body looks like surrendering to the accumulated energy of the universe at the number IX.
Soul fluidity is experienced through a release of apprehension and doubt. AKA, certainty.
The Hermit consults with the Earth, the Hermit consolidates the realm of what is rooted, grounded, affirmed, and aligned. The Hermit listens to and follows the advice of active agents of the planet rather than imaginary forces created through habit.
The Hermit is you, unfolding. The pieces of the puzzle re-calibrating back into place. The adventure of your soul urging you to create the space of its revealing and arrival. The Hermit is the pulse of mystery, its energy does not fracture, it is contained and elevated through the experience of choosing to ground into your humanity. We understand this can be a difficult experience for many humans which is why the Hermit card is so important in the journey of the Tarot.
There is a pause and right before the pause there is a sanctuary of returning and realisation. In this sanctuary you are the light, the walls, the ground, the air, the presence, the songs, the body, the energy. This is the medicine of the Hermit. To elevate your awareness into the foundational principle of the SELF right before the SELF is re-evaluated and recognised in a whole new way. The irony of course is that you will never ‘know’ when that recognition and re-evaluation is coming. All you can do is be in the light of the moment, with your inner solitude, and inner determination to flow into life.
Reversed:
Reversed, the Hermit highlights a restriction of freedom. A deep impartial view of the world and a sense of resistance to change. The underlying cause of the friction between self and other is also present in this card’s reversed state.
Serving divine source is fundamental. When this card is reversed there can be a sense of serving self yet also creating an illusion of what the service in question looks like.
Returning to the value of the lantern and the presence of the source within is the remembrance of what this card offers.
Reversed is simply an inverse of the reality of what is possible. What is possible through engagement is possible through dis-engagement as long as the self is recognised. In its reversed position this recognition may be faltered or under attack of some sort until the wings of humanity are able to spread again, in courage, and in love.