World Spirit Study Group 9 The Hermit

Seed Crystal

A cloaked figure (of somewhat ambiguous gender and age) has paused in her/his steps to look at you. S/he is on a mountain path leading back to the left, and mists hide the valley below. S/he holds a bright lantern whose rays go out to all directions; the other hand is held cupped up to the sky which shows planets and stars. The figure has a halo, aura, or moon top crescent encircling their head. There is a camouflaged rabbit, maybe a snow hare, near her/his feet. The path looks long and rocky but near them are low green plants, maybe herbs.

I think this card relates to wisdom long sought and found within; the guidance of the soul; the self-discipline which leads to expanded understanding; mentors and teachers, who direct you to look into your own self; the still small voice of the Divine heard only when you set away from the every day world and listen for it.

I liked that the card showed the road, the herbs, the sky and a cupped hand rather than a rod. Unlike the R-W version, this Hermit doesn't look down on the world or away from the reader, but at you. I like that this Hermit is obviously mid step, of a walk so purposed and graceful it's like a dance; it reminded me of Zen monks walking meditations.
 

RedMaple

That's a great description of the card. I love the cupped hand also, right under the star, either accepting or releasing inspiration.

I love that she's on the road back down the mountain (yes, it is a she for me), and I feel she is going to share this new knowledge somehow. I love the "halo" around her head.

The raised hand also seems jubilant to me. As if, wow, that's all it was, I should have realized that a long time ago!
 

Seed Crystal

Nice insights, Red Maple; thanks. I also took the cupped hand as "here it is for you, just look up, raise your hand".
 

RedMaple

Seed Crystal said:
Nice insights, Red Maple; thanks. I also took the cupped hand as "here it is for you, just look up, raise your hand".

Yes, exactly. The more I look at this card, the more I like it, which is not to say that I don't like the RWS hermit -- I do, and I think it's a classic that touches deep places. But it is so good to see the return from the moutaintop, don't you think?
 

Sulis

There are 2 things that strike me when I look at this hermit: The first is that she appears to be a woman not a man. The second is that she's coming towards us, down the hill.

I like the fact that she's a she. I can't think of many decks which have the hermit as a woman - The Spiral is one and of couse there are those 'feminist' decks which have almost all of the archetypes as female.
A wise old woman, a crone, an aspect of the Goddess maybe? Goddess or no, I like this very positive representation of older women.

She's coming down the hill - her journey is almost at an end. She's been up the mountain - she's enlightened - the halo which shines around her head tells us this - it mirrors the halo of the star which hangs in the heavens above her - she has her divine connection and her upraised hand draws our attention to this.
The path she's travelled doesn't look like an easy one but she steps lightly upon the path - she doesn't look weary - she looks as though she has something to tell us, something she needs to share.

A rabbit or hare crouches at her feet - I usually think of rabbits and hares representing fertility and the new growth of spring - sacred to springtime goddesses. Maybe the hare is there to signify that although this hermit is nearing the end of her journey, ours is just beginning.......just some thoughs - I don' t know :)

The number of this card is 9 - Nines to me represent completion - the end of a journey - this ties in very well with what I see in this card.

Love

Sulis xx
 

Seed Crystal

I like the journey aspect of this card, now that you bring it up; the point is not to get to and sit on the top of the mountain; not to achieve separation for its own sake, or to be above it all; the point is to achieve some deeper, more over all perspective, maybe. Or to see one's self away from distractions and misleading or irrelevant social cues.

Re: the goddess' hare: yes. And fertility, real fertility, isn't just springtime, it's more than just the birth however profound that is; it's the whole journey, the whole commitment, where your body and life and soul, the meaning of it all, is on the line.

Rabbits are not just cute and fluffy; they flourish in some of the harshest environments the planet offers.
 

Seed Crystal

RedMaple said:
That's a great description of the card.
Just thought I'd say, it's an easy way to start a thread, and it's been VERY helpful for me in connecting with each card; to describe it well for someone else, you look with extra alert eyes... I enjoy the exercise very much.

So who's going to start 10?