ANCIENT EGYPTIAN STUDY GROUP _1X The Hermit

Moongold

Hi Rosanne and SweetIsTheTruth ~

Whilst I noticed the two 9's (9 Swords and 9 Pentacles) I din't connect those with the IX Hermit. And yet 9 Cups and 9 Wands have no connection at all to caves or to Hermit. I wonder whether there are other connections. I know little about Thoth.
 

SweetIsTheTruth

Rosanne said:
Enter Isis in the guise of Thoth.
Now see, this never had occurred to me, yet it makes much sense. The High Preistess easily can translate into the Hermit. As the High Priestess IS the moon, she is the ruler of all that is hidden, or the subconscious. Whereas the Hermit turns away from the world to seek enlightenment through what? The subconscious maybe? Additionally, in the AE deck, as I understand it, the High Priestess and the Empress are closely related, since one of the aspects of Isis (as seen on Trump 2) is Hathor (as seen on trump 3). The Hermit's number is nine, so he is actually the triple trinity - 3x3=9. Ok, now my brain hurts. Perhaps I should retire from the world momentarily to contemplate.
 

Rosanne

Dear All,
I have been chastising my typing fingers for a glaring error in my original post.I said "Enter ISIS in the Guise of Thoth" I should Have said "Enter OSIRIS and his Sister/Consort ISIS in the guise of Thoth" The cape of Green alludes to OSIRIS as Vegetation Deity. The green also gives a nod to Isis as Queen of Malachite; so The High priestess connection is valid to my mind.

If perhaps you are wondering why Isis Would be known as the Queen of Malachite, there is a good reason. Although the benefits of the Nile and Ra the Sun made the Egypt a flourishing place, precautions were taken to guard against the dangers of the Sun. People wore headcoverings and makeup. They protected their eyes by wearing the green copper based Malachite as eye paint and they outlined their eyes with black galena. Malachite was worn as a protruding headband as well- The original Rayban Sunglasses perhaps.

Once again sorry for the mistake ~Rosanne
 

Rosanne

Woops

[Once again sorry for the mistake ~Rosanne[/QUOTE]

Bumped it up for SweetIsTheTruth
 

SweetIsTheTruth

Rosanne said:
Once again sorry for the mistake ~Rosanne

Oh thanks for the bump, but I did already see this. I am still mulling over the Empress=3 & Hermit =3x3 connection, which is the thought process started by the Isis post. How I wish I knew more about numerology.
 

rwcarter

The card represents both the quest (the searching light) and the goal (the passage through the cave into the light of the world); it's also both the path and the destination/attainment.

It took me a long time to figure out what Barrett meant by this line in the companion book, "The Absolute is the source of all things and is the goal of existence." This is what I finally came up with - If the Absolute is the source of all things and the goal of existence is reconnecting with the Absolute, then the Hermit expresses the search for the Absolute.

The Hermit's lantern is the bright light of wisdom in the all-pervading darkness (the cave) of ignorance. It's also reason that stands its ground against fear. The darkness of the cave represents the subconscious, irrational fears and ignorance. The light represents wisdom, knowledge and logic.

The Virgo attribution of the card, the association with the letter Yod and the ear of wheat that the Hermit holds all suggest fertility. The wand he holds is another symbol of procreative power. These symbols of fertility and procreation suggest the world of possibility that is available to those who are able to follow the Hermit's path and reconnect with the Absolute. The Hermit shows what may be achieved.

The ear of wheat may be associated with the staff of life. It also may suggest the need to harvest what one has sown. The wands suggests the untapped and limitless potential of the Hermit's search. The single point of light shows a singleness of purpose.

Yod means hand and can represent either the helping hand that reaches out in the dark or the blindly groping hand of one who is lost. Is the Hermit purposefully traversing the cave? Or is he lost? Is he providing the role of guidepost for those who are lost? Or does he stand there to show the souls of the dead the entrance to the Underworld?

The pomegranate is thought to be the food of the dead. Its presence at the edge of the chasm suggests that the chasm is the entrance to the Underworld, where the dead reside. The chasm has dual roles - it's both the abyss through which gods of the dead guided souls to the Underworld and the passage through which dead souls are lead out of the Underworld and back to life (coming out of the darkness and into the light of the Hermit's candle).


ETA - The bracelet that the Hermit wears is almost identical to the ones that Osiris is seen wearing in the Hierophant. But it's also similar to the one that Isis wears in the High Priestess. So either god could be the cloaked Hermit, as has already been pointed out in other posts.
Rodney