In the last months I've been walking/diving into the energy of The Hermit a lot. I've been exploring the energy of other cards too but this one is the one I feel more comfortable to be in. The Hermit, with his non judgmental presence, gives you the time to be present with what you want to discover, what you need to know, what you are searching inside you. He is also the one tha can help you to explore the energy of the other cards with more awareness because he brings you focus, introspection and patience. The Hermit is your guide inward, into the woods of your being. With his lantern he shows you what you need to see. The good. The unpleasant. The shadowy things that you really would like to keep ignoring but also the light in you that you couldn't see. When we enter in The Hermit energy we start a journey to understand and love ourselves fully. The Hermit doesn't want to show us what to fix, because there is nothing to really fix in us. Only things to understand and to use wisely. He wants to bring us in a place of acceptance, clarity for who we are and what is.
I have to admit that The Hermit is one of my favorite energies to explore. I like solitude. I avoid crowds of people and I am comfortable being alone or with someone who fits wonderfully with my soul and my heart. And that's the first poem for the Hermit.
HOW I GO INTO THE WOODS
by Mary Oliver
Ordinarily I go to the woods alone,
with not a single friend,
for they are all smilers and talkers
and therefore unsuitable.
I don’t really want to be witnessed talking to the catbirds
or hugging the old black oak tree.
I have my ways of praying,
as you no doubt have yours.
Besides, when I am alone
I can become invisible.
I can sit on the top of a dune
as motionless as an uprise of weeds,
until the foxes run by unconcerned.
I can hear the almost unhearable sound of the roses singing.
If you have ever gone to the woods with me,
I must love you very much.
The Hermit is also the energy you feel when you go underwater and, that, I don't like. I don't like being in the water and especially I don't like going underwater. And for me that's the hardest part of being in the Hermit energy. Diving. Because sometimes The Hermit stops on a lake during the journey and asks you to dive in its water. And as you go in, as you dive in and in, you witness the profound silence you'ver met. And that's the absence. The missing. The opportunities you lost. The regrets. The hug you didn't give. The words you didn't say. The things you didn't do. The courage you didn't find. The truth you didn't see. Everything there, underwater. It's like a battle with all your ghosts. It's sad. Painful. Overwhelming. Exhausting. Scary at times. But enlightening. You get stronger dive after dive. Every lakes shows you more and more and gives you more clarity. And that's the second poem for The Hermit.
