Post by Alena on Dec 26, 2006 19:43:27 GMT -5
The Major Arcana tarot card "the Hermit" is a familiar image. I remember seeing it on an old Led Zeppelin album cover when I was young. At the time I did not know that same image was on a tarot card. The image is an old man with a beard wearing a cloak with a hood and carrying a lantern. The lantern in some decks has a six-pointed star shining in it. Often the figure is seen holding the lamp up and looking out over a precipice, out into the shadowy darkness.
This card is the Fool grown up and matured. He is older and wiser, and rather than run off the cliff without looking where he is going, he is now looking carefully first. The Hermit is a phase between the rashness of youth and the seasoned wisdom of age.
Contemplation, meditation and inward turning is the main theme of this card. Many religions have such a theme. In the Bible, John the Baptist was such a person. Jesus also spent time in the wilderness alone. Moses fits the theme of this card perfectly. As a brash young man, he was a prince of Egypt. Later he had to flee to the wilderness and stay there awhile before returning to his mission to free the Hebrews. It was in the wilderness that he saw the burning bush (the Force). In the religions of India it is a common theme. Oftentimes a person would withdraw from everyday life and retreat into the woods to meditate and seek enlightenment. The focus was on the reality of death and the impermanence of all things. This is the origin of the classic yogi. Buddists and Zen practicioners are known for this. In fact they strongly emphasize it. In one extreme case, a sage named Damo stared at a wall for nine years. While doing this, he discovered certain secrets of the Force. The Tantrists as well as the Yogis practised the art of solitary meditation. These would seek to fire up the kundalini and have divine union with their spirit mates (Shakti). The sci-fi world has such a story similar to the tantrists. Does anyone remember the old Star Trek episode about Zephram Chockran who lived alone on this remote planet with a gaseous entity he called "the Companion?" It turned out that the entity was female and was in love with him. It eventually became human for his sake.
In the Star Wars movies Old Ben comes to mind as the Hermit. He was an old Jedi who lived alone in contemplation out in the waste lands of Tatooine. In fact this is how we first met Old Ben Kenobi back in 1977 (played by Alec Guiness). Then in the next movie, we meet the lone Jedi living in the Degobah swamps, Yoda, whose only company is the Force. Back then, I got the impression that the very nature of Jedis was meditating hermits who only rarely came out to fight a battle once in awhile for some just cause. I had imagined that before the Jedi were wiped out, they lived in little monastic cloisters in out of the way places of the galaxy. I was much surprised in 1999 to see them in the heart of a big city, rubbing shoulders with big politicians, and living in a huge temple the size of the Vatican. The Jedi turned out to be a great deal more worldly than I had thought they ever were. It turned out that the hermitdom of Obi-Wan and Yoda was not voluntary. It was exile, similar to what happened to Moses. It would seem that hermitdom can simply happen to you for some reason or another. It can be voluntary or involuntary.
In the case of the Jedi, it was involuntary, but no doubt the will of the Force. It was a time to turn inward and reassess things. It was time to go deeper into the Force. The Jedi had gotten so busy with war and politics that their communion with the Force had slipped.
For those who are Jedi today in our world, this card would be about ones quiet time with the Force. It could be for a season or a longer time. This is the lone Jedi, who is inward turning. This is not the political or campaign Jedi, the one who is setting up events, structures, projects, councils, etc.
How would this apply to a Sith? Sith embody two extremes. They have one foot in the depths of the Force, the invisible, the formless existence; and they have the other foot in the world where they seek to conquer. Usually those bent on worldly success are not spiritual (not truly). Truly spiritual people lack worldly ambition. The Sith are a combination of both. We are all familiar with the ambitious and plotting Sith. The inward Sith may be a bit of a mystery. When you think about it, there must have been many inward Sith. What about those Sith that existed for a 1000 years or so before Palpatine? There were no big empires yet. A Sith can turn inward and commune with the Force just as much as a Jedi.
A Sith Hermit would be a person who does not see any worthwhile scheme or conquest available. A Sith would not settle for some typical muggle ambition like buying a house or a car, or being voted top employee of the month. (Some of what passes for great ambitions in this world would make Palpatine barf). A Sith would want a goal that he/she would persue with his/her whole heart. Nothing less will do. A Sith does not believe in wasting energy going in circles. He/she will conserve his/her strength for a better goal when it comes along. In the meanwhile, there is always the Force. The Hermit Sith would look Forceward and let the world spin on its own and ignore it.
What if you get the Hermit card in a reading? Whether you be Jedi or Sith, it may be telling you to turn inward, to meditate, and have your quiet time with the Force. It may mean wisdom and knowledge to be gained, or it may mean to share wisdom and knowledge with another seeker. It could be advising you to seek out an old sage. Shut out distractions. Follow your own solitary path. Focus. Be diciplined. Perhaps it is saying to get out of the fast lane, slow down, and live simply. You may be burnt out and you need to rest, hibernate, or let something heal. Perhaps it is time to read Buddist material or the writings of other meditative hermits. Maybe it is a good time to do a chi related practice.
The reversed or negative meaning would be foolishness or rashness or indulgence in crazy vices. It could mean running around like a chicken with its head cut off, not taking out time to think or breathe. Perhaps you are getting too worldly.
This card is the Fool grown up and matured. He is older and wiser, and rather than run off the cliff without looking where he is going, he is now looking carefully first. The Hermit is a phase between the rashness of youth and the seasoned wisdom of age.
Contemplation, meditation and inward turning is the main theme of this card. Many religions have such a theme. In the Bible, John the Baptist was such a person. Jesus also spent time in the wilderness alone. Moses fits the theme of this card perfectly. As a brash young man, he was a prince of Egypt. Later he had to flee to the wilderness and stay there awhile before returning to his mission to free the Hebrews. It was in the wilderness that he saw the burning bush (the Force). In the religions of India it is a common theme. Oftentimes a person would withdraw from everyday life and retreat into the woods to meditate and seek enlightenment. The focus was on the reality of death and the impermanence of all things. This is the origin of the classic yogi. Buddists and Zen practicioners are known for this. In fact they strongly emphasize it. In one extreme case, a sage named Damo stared at a wall for nine years. While doing this, he discovered certain secrets of the Force. The Tantrists as well as the Yogis practised the art of solitary meditation. These would seek to fire up the kundalini and have divine union with their spirit mates (Shakti). The sci-fi world has such a story similar to the tantrists. Does anyone remember the old Star Trek episode about Zephram Chockran who lived alone on this remote planet with a gaseous entity he called "the Companion?" It turned out that the entity was female and was in love with him. It eventually became human for his sake.
In the Star Wars movies Old Ben comes to mind as the Hermit. He was an old Jedi who lived alone in contemplation out in the waste lands of Tatooine. In fact this is how we first met Old Ben Kenobi back in 1977 (played by Alec Guiness). Then in the next movie, we meet the lone Jedi living in the Degobah swamps, Yoda, whose only company is the Force. Back then, I got the impression that the very nature of Jedis was meditating hermits who only rarely came out to fight a battle once in awhile for some just cause. I had imagined that before the Jedi were wiped out, they lived in little monastic cloisters in out of the way places of the galaxy. I was much surprised in 1999 to see them in the heart of a big city, rubbing shoulders with big politicians, and living in a huge temple the size of the Vatican. The Jedi turned out to be a great deal more worldly than I had thought they ever were. It turned out that the hermitdom of Obi-Wan and Yoda was not voluntary. It was exile, similar to what happened to Moses. It would seem that hermitdom can simply happen to you for some reason or another. It can be voluntary or involuntary.
In the case of the Jedi, it was involuntary, but no doubt the will of the Force. It was a time to turn inward and reassess things. It was time to go deeper into the Force. The Jedi had gotten so busy with war and politics that their communion with the Force had slipped.
For those who are Jedi today in our world, this card would be about ones quiet time with the Force. It could be for a season or a longer time. This is the lone Jedi, who is inward turning. This is not the political or campaign Jedi, the one who is setting up events, structures, projects, councils, etc.
How would this apply to a Sith? Sith embody two extremes. They have one foot in the depths of the Force, the invisible, the formless existence; and they have the other foot in the world where they seek to conquer. Usually those bent on worldly success are not spiritual (not truly). Truly spiritual people lack worldly ambition. The Sith are a combination of both. We are all familiar with the ambitious and plotting Sith. The inward Sith may be a bit of a mystery. When you think about it, there must have been many inward Sith. What about those Sith that existed for a 1000 years or so before Palpatine? There were no big empires yet. A Sith can turn inward and commune with the Force just as much as a Jedi.
A Sith Hermit would be a person who does not see any worthwhile scheme or conquest available. A Sith would not settle for some typical muggle ambition like buying a house or a car, or being voted top employee of the month. (Some of what passes for great ambitions in this world would make Palpatine barf). A Sith would want a goal that he/she would persue with his/her whole heart. Nothing less will do. A Sith does not believe in wasting energy going in circles. He/she will conserve his/her strength for a better goal when it comes along. In the meanwhile, there is always the Force. The Hermit Sith would look Forceward and let the world spin on its own and ignore it.
What if you get the Hermit card in a reading? Whether you be Jedi or Sith, it may be telling you to turn inward, to meditate, and have your quiet time with the Force. It may mean wisdom and knowledge to be gained, or it may mean to share wisdom and knowledge with another seeker. It could be advising you to seek out an old sage. Shut out distractions. Follow your own solitary path. Focus. Be diciplined. Perhaps it is saying to get out of the fast lane, slow down, and live simply. You may be burnt out and you need to rest, hibernate, or let something heal. Perhaps it is time to read Buddist material or the writings of other meditative hermits. Maybe it is a good time to do a chi related practice.
The reversed or negative meaning would be foolishness or rashness or indulgence in crazy vices. It could mean running around like a chicken with its head cut off, not taking out time to think or breathe. Perhaps you are getting too worldly.