I’ve fully embraced my inner hermit, permission provided by the neurological disorder I developed eight years ago. Once isolating, now the quiet spaciousness my nervous system had been longing for my entire life is always near, always nurturing.
You write so beautifully - thank you for this. I confess that the Hermit is one of my favourite cards to see when I draw them for myself. It always feels very grounding and a great reminder to 'follow my own light'
Thank you so much Louise! ❤️❤️❤️ I LOVE that the card is a reminder to follow your own light! That feels so right! It's like being in the hermitage helps us wipe away the gunk on the lantern glass so then we can see our own light clearly. I love this image! Thank you for this!
I have definitely felt the call to withdraw into spiritual sanctuary Jenna, but I am also conscious that even the Hermit needs to find balance with the inner and outer worlds. This is firmly in my awareness this week.
The timing on this one feels perfect for me too, Louise! Going into the hermitage is the easy part for me (and for you too, I'm sure). Retreating within is my natural sanctuary. But I'm finding that it's much harder to not jump back into old patterns when I re-emerge. I just got a nudge from my guides to mention that every night when we sleep and dream, we are entering a hermitage, and when we awaken we have the opportunity to bring forth the light of new insights/wisdom from our dreams. I'm going to pay close attention to my dreams this week and see what comes up. I'd love to hear about yours too!
Timely, as always, Jenna. What comes to me is this: we need not venture outside of the hermitage to leave its sanctity--picking up the phone to check Substack, for instance. As I understand from your beautiful interpretation, Six of Swords has shown up to assist with discernment. I have been a bit MIA on Substack the last few weeks (preparing for, attending conference as you know, galloping across half of Canada), and I have “fallen behind” on reading others and on participating. At the same time, the time away has shown me that even if what we encounter on Substack is uplifting, it is still input. The sanctum of the inner world can become a crowded room. And while the Hermit in each of us has different needs for a quality of silent spaciousness, I do sense that the Six of Swords can show us how to navigate these waters with intention and purpose. I look forward to your posts every Sunday as nourishment to the inner sanctum. Thank you.
Renee, this feels like exactly the clarity I needed this week! Thank you so much! In my own life and practices, I have often looked to the metaphor/cycle of Input, Metabolize, Output for balance. Your words have helped me see that the Hermit is really about the metabolize part; to let go of both input and output for a time. I completely agree that even the most amazing words (from Substack or books or anything else) are input. Not only does that add more to metabolize, but if you're like me, it then tugs towards output (the need to reply and otherwise engage). Just as you said, I'm going to look to the Six of Swords here...let myself sit in the hermitage and metabolize, while trusting in the boatman to guide a smooth return.
The Hermit was one of three theme cards I drew for this month. I used the Dark Goddess Tarot. I loved the part from the book, to “learn through experience over instruction, to follow intuition over authority.” I can be a natural hermit. I appreciated what you said, for I do like being alone, I don't get lonely. What I need to watch for is am I hiding?
This was so intriguing to me, Julie, thank you! I looked up the Dark Goddess tarot and it's beautiful. I love learning about all the goddesses. I saw that the Hermit is represented by Baba Yaga in this deck and it gave me chills. I once had an intense dream about a figure that I think may have been Baba Yaga. If you don't mind me asking, what are the other two theme cards for the month?
No I do not mind you asking. The other two cards were the Hag (King) of Water and Four of Earth. How I do it is each card represents an aspect of the theme. The theme and aspects are decided intuitively after I read the cards. The Hermit was "Looking Deeper", Hag of Water was "Calling of the Soul", and the Four of Earth was "Protect the Sacred". All together the theme became: LIFTING THE VEIL. Then through the month I do three more readings based on the theme and one specific aspect. Going into more depth.
So much resonation with this pairing! Knowing when the time is right to hermitage, and then also knowing when the time is right to bring that newfound wisdom to the outer world. Such a delicate dance I'm still understanding - thank you for these insights Jenna 🤍
Thank YOU, Christine! I love that you used the word 'dance'. That's exactly what it feels like to me. The undulations. Much like breathing, I suppose, or a heartbeat. Going in, then pushing out. I'm WAY more comfortable being in the hermitage, so I'm envisioning that my going out will be on tippy toes with t-rex arms, no big sudden movements. Lol.
I strongly identify with this (and I’m not saying that because The Hermit is my “favorite”) and I hadn’t considered the idea that too much solitude is a form of hiding away. Thanks for this!
Oh my gosh, I thought of you and our conversation the second I pulled The Hermit for this week. There are no coincidences! 😁💖 I've been wondering about the difference between isolating and solitude too. I definitely feel like I'm being called out this week, at least to examine my own motivations for craving solitude like I do. Thank you for being here!
Yes! ❤️ Meditation, centering, prayer, nature, ritual, are all my kinds of hermitages. I love this, thank you, Russell! Incidentally, at the end of the month, I'm going to spend a long weekend in a cave-turned-airbnb not far from where I live. This feels like another kind of hermitage to me. I'm so excited to try it out. I've never slept in a cave before.
I’ve fully embraced my inner hermit, permission provided by the neurological disorder I developed eight years ago. Once isolating, now the quiet spaciousness my nervous system had been longing for my entire life is always near, always nurturing.
You write so beautifully - thank you for this. I confess that the Hermit is one of my favourite cards to see when I draw them for myself. It always feels very grounding and a great reminder to 'follow my own light'
Thank you so much Louise! ❤️❤️❤️ I LOVE that the card is a reminder to follow your own light! That feels so right! It's like being in the hermitage helps us wipe away the gunk on the lantern glass so then we can see our own light clearly. I love this image! Thank you for this!
I have definitely felt the call to withdraw into spiritual sanctuary Jenna, but I am also conscious that even the Hermit needs to find balance with the inner and outer worlds. This is firmly in my awareness this week.
The timing on this one feels perfect for me too, Louise! Going into the hermitage is the easy part for me (and for you too, I'm sure). Retreating within is my natural sanctuary. But I'm finding that it's much harder to not jump back into old patterns when I re-emerge. I just got a nudge from my guides to mention that every night when we sleep and dream, we are entering a hermitage, and when we awaken we have the opportunity to bring forth the light of new insights/wisdom from our dreams. I'm going to pay close attention to my dreams this week and see what comes up. I'd love to hear about yours too!
Timely, as always, Jenna. What comes to me is this: we need not venture outside of the hermitage to leave its sanctity--picking up the phone to check Substack, for instance. As I understand from your beautiful interpretation, Six of Swords has shown up to assist with discernment. I have been a bit MIA on Substack the last few weeks (preparing for, attending conference as you know, galloping across half of Canada), and I have “fallen behind” on reading others and on participating. At the same time, the time away has shown me that even if what we encounter on Substack is uplifting, it is still input. The sanctum of the inner world can become a crowded room. And while the Hermit in each of us has different needs for a quality of silent spaciousness, I do sense that the Six of Swords can show us how to navigate these waters with intention and purpose. I look forward to your posts every Sunday as nourishment to the inner sanctum. Thank you.
Renee, this feels like exactly the clarity I needed this week! Thank you so much! In my own life and practices, I have often looked to the metaphor/cycle of Input, Metabolize, Output for balance. Your words have helped me see that the Hermit is really about the metabolize part; to let go of both input and output for a time. I completely agree that even the most amazing words (from Substack or books or anything else) are input. Not only does that add more to metabolize, but if you're like me, it then tugs towards output (the need to reply and otherwise engage). Just as you said, I'm going to look to the Six of Swords here...let myself sit in the hermitage and metabolize, while trusting in the boatman to guide a smooth return.
The Hermit was one of three theme cards I drew for this month. I used the Dark Goddess Tarot. I loved the part from the book, to “learn through experience over instruction, to follow intuition over authority.” I can be a natural hermit. I appreciated what you said, for I do like being alone, I don't get lonely. What I need to watch for is am I hiding?
This was so intriguing to me, Julie, thank you! I looked up the Dark Goddess tarot and it's beautiful. I love learning about all the goddesses. I saw that the Hermit is represented by Baba Yaga in this deck and it gave me chills. I once had an intense dream about a figure that I think may have been Baba Yaga. If you don't mind me asking, what are the other two theme cards for the month?
No I do not mind you asking. The other two cards were the Hag (King) of Water and Four of Earth. How I do it is each card represents an aspect of the theme. The theme and aspects are decided intuitively after I read the cards. The Hermit was "Looking Deeper", Hag of Water was "Calling of the Soul", and the Four of Earth was "Protect the Sacred". All together the theme became: LIFTING THE VEIL. Then through the month I do three more readings based on the theme and one specific aspect. Going into more depth.
So much resonation with this pairing! Knowing when the time is right to hermitage, and then also knowing when the time is right to bring that newfound wisdom to the outer world. Such a delicate dance I'm still understanding - thank you for these insights Jenna 🤍
Thank YOU, Christine! I love that you used the word 'dance'. That's exactly what it feels like to me. The undulations. Much like breathing, I suppose, or a heartbeat. Going in, then pushing out. I'm WAY more comfortable being in the hermitage, so I'm envisioning that my going out will be on tippy toes with t-rex arms, no big sudden movements. Lol.
I strongly identify with this (and I’m not saying that because The Hermit is my “favorite”) and I hadn’t considered the idea that too much solitude is a form of hiding away. Thanks for this!
Oh my gosh, I thought of you and our conversation the second I pulled The Hermit for this week. There are no coincidences! 😁💖 I've been wondering about the difference between isolating and solitude too. I definitely feel like I'm being called out this week, at least to examine my own motivations for craving solitude like I do. Thank you for being here!
I’ve so been called out, and I’ve a lot if shit to unpack and/or recover. Thanks for helping me to gently land!
Thank you for being in it all with me! 🤗
Meditation as a form of inner hermitage? The call to spend time in nature, and finding a still center?
Yes! ❤️ Meditation, centering, prayer, nature, ritual, are all my kinds of hermitages. I love this, thank you, Russell! Incidentally, at the end of the month, I'm going to spend a long weekend in a cave-turned-airbnb not far from where I live. This feels like another kind of hermitage to me. I'm so excited to try it out. I've never slept in a cave before.