The Hermit

Keywords: Guidance - Retreat - Caution - Withdrawal - Meditation

A new week is upon us... Once again we look forward to what may lie ahead for us in the coming days. As the card was pulled this morning, I wondered if it would continue to show the path that it has for some time to me... As I suspected, yes it did..... A couple weeks ago, at the beginning of August, many of us celebrated the festival of Lammas. Symbolizing the time of harvest and wisdom. Soon Autumn will be upon us and the leaves will turn from their colors of green to red and yellow. The earth will prepare herself for the coming of another year.

In the card of the Hermit we see him standing on the cliff, his staff in one hand his lantern in the other. He is the wise old man. His flowing beard shows his age as well as gives an air of wisdom. He beckons us to take a journey, to partake on an inner quest. The wolf stands silently by his side, ready to accompany him or us just as he accompanied Merlin during his hermitage in of the forest of Caledon. He stands for power and strength, for wisdom to be found within us, and also for self control.

It is a time to retreat from the distractions that the outside world can give to us. Those things that detour us from taking the necessary paths that we should in order to help us to see and eventually evolve into our potential. It is time to turn inward to focus on ourselves. Such introspect can be done in numerous ways. A retreat, whether as elaborate as a weekend away to the silence of the woods, or as simple as a quiet afternoon of meditation in the solitude of your home. A good book with information and resources that lend themselves to enriching your mind and thoughts further down the way that you are traveling. An afternoon in your garden, amongst the many plants and flowers, tending them and nurturing them to gain strength.

It may be a time where there is need for someone to lend themselves to you in a spiritual guidance manner. A teacher perhaps. The guide may even be that of an inner guide. One that is within us, to offer support , guidance, and/or specific teaching as we go along our journey. It is not a time to make rash decisions, yet a time to withdraw from the things that may take from us the small quiet things that we can only hear in the silence of solitude.

His light is small yet it will shed ample glow to the path. The path at times may be rough, yet his staff will help support and lead you forward. The companionship he gives can be felt in the presence of the lone wolf along your side. It is a time for solitude, for silence. So that the message that is to come forth can be seen as well as heard. Allow its message to bring forth the newness of life and allow yourself to go to those places that can only be reached alone. Refresh your soul in the message it will give you.

Blessings
Raelin

Card from The Druid Craft Tarot/ Carr-Gomm