I love love love this reading! Both archetypes resonate deeply with me, as I feel I seek to balance them both in my life. So, this all felt very personal to me. But, the idea of them working together, the hermit lighting the way for the explorer and sharing the wisdom from within… that was a whole new way of seeing the relationship between the two, even helping me to see how they meet and are meant to meld into each other, instead of me simply shifting back and forth between the two. I suppose what I am trying to say is that I felt a sense of wholeness in this reading. Oh, thank you as always, Jenna! 🫶🏻
Thank you, Liz! 🤗🤗 I had the same experience with these two! I’d thought they’d be about balancing one another, but to see them as one changed everything for me. 💖
Lots of interesting things here - the thought you sparked in me is that the Hermit can’t see outside the little circle of light cast by his lantern. Yet he keeps steadily moving forward.
Ooooh, I love this! Thank you so much, Gabriel! I hadn't thought of the Hermit's light this way, but it makes so much sense. It reminds me of this exercise/meditation I like to do that's all about seeing beyond that little circle of light. (I made a post about it a while back. Here's the link in case it speaks to you: https://witchcraftandmetaphysics.substack.com/p/an-exercise-for-expanding-perception ) 💖🤗
What a fascinating pair! In some ways they feel like polar opposites. The explorer moving outwardly and the Hermit inwardly. Yet clearly, they come together in the exploration of the inner landscape. There is something about the explorer energy though that I find grating... I believe it has something to do with their motivation. Is it for personal gain? Dominance? Defining life and categorizing it? Colonialism? It has patriarchal tones to me. Whereas the Hermit, she feels more earthy, aligned with life and the divine feminine. When I think of explorers, I see all the scientists that have done such great work in the deeper understanding of our world. But at the same time has classified it, pigeonholed it. Creating further separation. Losing sight of how it all works together. Maybe that is what the Hermit is for, bringing in the bigger picture, shining the light on how everything is woven together.
Yes to all of this! ❤️ I felt the same way initially too. That these were opposing forces. And I also have a similar opinion about the Explorer (at least at first). I see these men of the past leading expeditions into the Amazon, or across North America, in search of things they believe to be unclaimed and to which they are entitled. But when I quiet that voice and turn to the pattern of the Explorer as it lives in me, it does feel more like you say here, that it partners well with the Hermit, nudging me to explore deeper into whatever the Hermit is illuminating. Thank you for these beautiful insights, Julie! 🤗
As I shared yesterday, I read this uncannily timed pair several days ago and have been contemplating it since. There is more that surfaces than a comment-worthy comment. Endeavoring to be succinct the image comes that the two, exploration and inward turning of the hermit, are not only polar complements but, enacted together, become pilgrimage. It's striking, because of this complementarity, that they came together in this card pull, and it's arational that they did after our jesting last week in Notes about the Hermit card. There's Magic in your hands! Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg offers reflections on the nature of pilgrimage in her book, Genesis: The Beginning of Desire. What comes to mind as I read your reflections on asking oneself if the impulse to explore is to move away or toward is the following from Zornberg: “Absence leads a man and a woman to travel far in search of a realization of self.” This seems to echo resoundingly your reflections on this pair, the movement toward for the explorer, the realization of Self (Totality) for the hermit, the two as one, the pilgrim. . . .
As always, you lead me around the spiral to ever greater depths. The Pilgrim. This is so perfect. My husband and I have had a few discussions in recent days about what is perceived to be a loss of desire to travel, at least in the way it used to be present in our lives. The idea of pilgrimage feels like it gets to the core of this for me. If I feel called to a place at the level of a pilgrimage then that desire for exploration arises once again, but otherwise the old reasons for wanting to travel now compel me inward. This is fascinating! Thank you so much for bringing the idea of the Pilgrim to this discussion! ❤️❤️❤️
I love this so much Jenna! Recently, I have been reflecting on my old "explorer or wanderer" days and for me, it felt like I was searching for myself in all the places I was traveling. I was a free spirit, and it was invigorating to be without any ties or responsibilities. This also connected to my love for being alone and in my hermit-like mode.
As I have increased the value of my life: being in a partnership that is nourishing and fulfilling, living my dream job as a woman in service, and am creatively inspired by my current artistic and writing projects, I have no reason to "run away" or become the aimless explorer I once was in my 20's and always thought I would be.
What a gorgeous reflection, Christine, thank you SO much for sharing it! I LOVE the idea of having "increased the value of my life". That really resonates with me too. I have not felt compelled to explore the world "out there" as I once did, but I had not thought of it in the framework of having an increased value of life. That makes so much sense! 🤗
I am an Explorer and a Hermit. As I explore I carry the intention to hold up light and to light others’ torches. I need the hermitage as my (inner) place from which to move out into the larger world. Loved your inclusion of water and earth — I am a drop of water in the ocean and I am rooted in the earth.
So beautiful, thank you Shana! The hermitage as the place from which we can move out into the world. I love that image! I spent last year (2023) creating what I was calling my "foundation of comfort" and it felt like exactly this sort of thing. It became my foundation from which I can stretch into the world and into life, but if it's not there then I'm just sort of in free fall. The hermitage really does work the same way for me. ❤️❤️❤️
Love this exploration of the Hermit and the archetype of Explorer going deeper into Mystery. I like the Hermit in the Mary-El deck. It makes me think of depths of feeling. For some these depths are easily reached, we feel perhaps too much, others block their feelings...so that lantern asks us to take a closer look at what needs to surface or what threatens to flood the light. I see some of this coming up in this week's astrology for sure.❤️
Ooooh, I love this, Yolanda thank you! The lantern asking us to look at what needs to surface or what threatens to flood the light. That is so perfect and so helpful to me personally!
You and me both! 😆 Since I posted this yesterday, I've been trying to think of even one time when I committed to a single journey. I'm afraid this is totally new territory for me (which is probably a really good thing).
I’ve told myself to pick 2 as a compromise. I made a spot on my pinboard where I can put sticky notes with project names, and I’m only letting myself put up 2 at a time
I held my breath reading this, Jenna, because I thought, oh, no, what am I doing? But having read it through, I know: what I am going through these months is but a superficial reiteration of a quest I had almost two decades ago. I was an Explorer in the shadow back then, I recognise your archetype. But now, I checked my soul again while reading this, I'm in the light, I know what I'm pursuing and why; and I keep hoping that I'm travelling INTO it. Thank you!
The message for me this week (received as I stretched out on the couch, holding myself to rest as my body signals today is not a day for lots of doing)
is that I contain both the Explorer and the Hermit. I want to be in constant Explorer mode, doing all of the exploring, all of the time. I frequently fall into the trap of seeing anything other than being the most Explorer possible as a block to future happiness. I'm an Enneagram Type 7, so the Explorer is a really comfortable place for me to be. I recognize that the Hermit's retreat is what allows them to build and sustain what they will share with the world. But can't that be something for other people, and I'll be over here exploring while they are building and sustaining???? :)
I really struggle with dialectical thinking - yesterday was the beginning of my cycle and I was dealing with lots of cramps. I had the space, so I did *nothing* all day long. Well, I did restorative things like take a bath and lay in the grass and read "A Walk Through the Forest of Souls" by Rachel Pollack. And I did feel really grounded and clear as I was going to bed.
But I spent yesterday thinking that today would be a day when I could be in Explorer energy again and as I type this I'm having a hard time accepting that it might be more Hermit space for me. It feels like time lost, time wasted. I want to be Exploring!
Thank you for sharing this, Jenna! ❤️ It's such a beautiful reflection. It feels so much like the Explorer and Hermit balance one another. Not only does the Hermit deepen the Explorer's exploration, but the Explorer can help deepen the Hermit's time in the hermitage by exploring the hermitage itself. (And, to me, reading Rachel Pollack is definitely a form of exploring! 🤗) And I totally get that feeling of wasting time, like there's something needing to be done or something I'm missing out on when I surrender to the Hermit. Also, the fear of inertia creeps up for me too because I know how easily I could succumb to over-hermiting. When that happens, I TRY to remind myself that no state of being is ever permanent even if it feels like it's going to be. Today I'm still trying to see clearly which journey it is I'm meant to commit to.
I love love love this reading! Both archetypes resonate deeply with me, as I feel I seek to balance them both in my life. So, this all felt very personal to me. But, the idea of them working together, the hermit lighting the way for the explorer and sharing the wisdom from within… that was a whole new way of seeing the relationship between the two, even helping me to see how they meet and are meant to meld into each other, instead of me simply shifting back and forth between the two. I suppose what I am trying to say is that I felt a sense of wholeness in this reading. Oh, thank you as always, Jenna! 🫶🏻
Thank you, Liz! 🤗🤗 I had the same experience with these two! I’d thought they’d be about balancing one another, but to see them as one changed everything for me. 💖
Lots of interesting things here - the thought you sparked in me is that the Hermit can’t see outside the little circle of light cast by his lantern. Yet he keeps steadily moving forward.
Ooooh, I love this! Thank you so much, Gabriel! I hadn't thought of the Hermit's light this way, but it makes so much sense. It reminds me of this exercise/meditation I like to do that's all about seeing beyond that little circle of light. (I made a post about it a while back. Here's the link in case it speaks to you: https://witchcraftandmetaphysics.substack.com/p/an-exercise-for-expanding-perception ) 💖🤗
What a fascinating pair! In some ways they feel like polar opposites. The explorer moving outwardly and the Hermit inwardly. Yet clearly, they come together in the exploration of the inner landscape. There is something about the explorer energy though that I find grating... I believe it has something to do with their motivation. Is it for personal gain? Dominance? Defining life and categorizing it? Colonialism? It has patriarchal tones to me. Whereas the Hermit, she feels more earthy, aligned with life and the divine feminine. When I think of explorers, I see all the scientists that have done such great work in the deeper understanding of our world. But at the same time has classified it, pigeonholed it. Creating further separation. Losing sight of how it all works together. Maybe that is what the Hermit is for, bringing in the bigger picture, shining the light on how everything is woven together.
Yes to all of this! ❤️ I felt the same way initially too. That these were opposing forces. And I also have a similar opinion about the Explorer (at least at first). I see these men of the past leading expeditions into the Amazon, or across North America, in search of things they believe to be unclaimed and to which they are entitled. But when I quiet that voice and turn to the pattern of the Explorer as it lives in me, it does feel more like you say here, that it partners well with the Hermit, nudging me to explore deeper into whatever the Hermit is illuminating. Thank you for these beautiful insights, Julie! 🤗
Jenna,
As I shared yesterday, I read this uncannily timed pair several days ago and have been contemplating it since. There is more that surfaces than a comment-worthy comment. Endeavoring to be succinct the image comes that the two, exploration and inward turning of the hermit, are not only polar complements but, enacted together, become pilgrimage. It's striking, because of this complementarity, that they came together in this card pull, and it's arational that they did after our jesting last week in Notes about the Hermit card. There's Magic in your hands! Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg offers reflections on the nature of pilgrimage in her book, Genesis: The Beginning of Desire. What comes to mind as I read your reflections on asking oneself if the impulse to explore is to move away or toward is the following from Zornberg: “Absence leads a man and a woman to travel far in search of a realization of self.” This seems to echo resoundingly your reflections on this pair, the movement toward for the explorer, the realization of Self (Totality) for the hermit, the two as one, the pilgrim. . . .
As always, you lead me around the spiral to ever greater depths. The Pilgrim. This is so perfect. My husband and I have had a few discussions in recent days about what is perceived to be a loss of desire to travel, at least in the way it used to be present in our lives. The idea of pilgrimage feels like it gets to the core of this for me. If I feel called to a place at the level of a pilgrimage then that desire for exploration arises once again, but otherwise the old reasons for wanting to travel now compel me inward. This is fascinating! Thank you so much for bringing the idea of the Pilgrim to this discussion! ❤️❤️❤️
I love this so much Jenna! Recently, I have been reflecting on my old "explorer or wanderer" days and for me, it felt like I was searching for myself in all the places I was traveling. I was a free spirit, and it was invigorating to be without any ties or responsibilities. This also connected to my love for being alone and in my hermit-like mode.
As I have increased the value of my life: being in a partnership that is nourishing and fulfilling, living my dream job as a woman in service, and am creatively inspired by my current artistic and writing projects, I have no reason to "run away" or become the aimless explorer I once was in my 20's and always thought I would be.
❤️
What a gorgeous reflection, Christine, thank you SO much for sharing it! I LOVE the idea of having "increased the value of my life". That really resonates with me too. I have not felt compelled to explore the world "out there" as I once did, but I had not thought of it in the framework of having an increased value of life. That makes so much sense! 🤗
I am an Explorer and a Hermit. As I explore I carry the intention to hold up light and to light others’ torches. I need the hermitage as my (inner) place from which to move out into the larger world. Loved your inclusion of water and earth — I am a drop of water in the ocean and I am rooted in the earth.
So beautiful, thank you Shana! The hermitage as the place from which we can move out into the world. I love that image! I spent last year (2023) creating what I was calling my "foundation of comfort" and it felt like exactly this sort of thing. It became my foundation from which I can stretch into the world and into life, but if it's not there then I'm just sort of in free fall. The hermitage really does work the same way for me. ❤️❤️❤️
Love this exploration of the Hermit and the archetype of Explorer going deeper into Mystery. I like the Hermit in the Mary-El deck. It makes me think of depths of feeling. For some these depths are easily reached, we feel perhaps too much, others block their feelings...so that lantern asks us to take a closer look at what needs to surface or what threatens to flood the light. I see some of this coming up in this week's astrology for sure.❤️
Ooooh, I love this, Yolanda thank you! The lantern asking us to look at what needs to surface or what threatens to flood the light. That is so perfect and so helpful to me personally!
Glad you found this helpful :) I hope to catch up on more of your posts soon. I have been busy!❤️
Oh I feel so called out by this 😂
You and me both! 😆 Since I posted this yesterday, I've been trying to think of even one time when I committed to a single journey. I'm afraid this is totally new territory for me (which is probably a really good thing).
I’ve told myself to pick 2 as a compromise. I made a spot on my pinboard where I can put sticky notes with project names, and I’m only letting myself put up 2 at a time
I love this compromise! What a great idea!
I held my breath reading this, Jenna, because I thought, oh, no, what am I doing? But having read it through, I know: what I am going through these months is but a superficial reiteration of a quest I had almost two decades ago. I was an Explorer in the shadow back then, I recognise your archetype. But now, I checked my soul again while reading this, I'm in the light, I know what I'm pursuing and why; and I keep hoping that I'm travelling INTO it. Thank you!
❤️❤️❤️ Oh, Zoe, I love this SO much! Thank you for sharing it with me!
The message for me this week (received as I stretched out on the couch, holding myself to rest as my body signals today is not a day for lots of doing)
is that I contain both the Explorer and the Hermit. I want to be in constant Explorer mode, doing all of the exploring, all of the time. I frequently fall into the trap of seeing anything other than being the most Explorer possible as a block to future happiness. I'm an Enneagram Type 7, so the Explorer is a really comfortable place for me to be. I recognize that the Hermit's retreat is what allows them to build and sustain what they will share with the world. But can't that be something for other people, and I'll be over here exploring while they are building and sustaining???? :)
I really struggle with dialectical thinking - yesterday was the beginning of my cycle and I was dealing with lots of cramps. I had the space, so I did *nothing* all day long. Well, I did restorative things like take a bath and lay in the grass and read "A Walk Through the Forest of Souls" by Rachel Pollack. And I did feel really grounded and clear as I was going to bed.
But I spent yesterday thinking that today would be a day when I could be in Explorer energy again and as I type this I'm having a hard time accepting that it might be more Hermit space for me. It feels like time lost, time wasted. I want to be Exploring!
Thank you for sharing this, Jenna! ❤️ It's such a beautiful reflection. It feels so much like the Explorer and Hermit balance one another. Not only does the Hermit deepen the Explorer's exploration, but the Explorer can help deepen the Hermit's time in the hermitage by exploring the hermitage itself. (And, to me, reading Rachel Pollack is definitely a form of exploring! 🤗) And I totally get that feeling of wasting time, like there's something needing to be done or something I'm missing out on when I surrender to the Hermit. Also, the fear of inertia creeps up for me too because I know how easily I could succumb to over-hermiting. When that happens, I TRY to remind myself that no state of being is ever permanent even if it feels like it's going to be. Today I'm still trying to see clearly which journey it is I'm meant to commit to.