The Hermit
a.k.a. The Prophet of the Eternal
a.k.a. The Magus of the Voice of Power
Card Number: Nine
Rulership: Virgo
Hebrew Letter: Yod
Translation: the human hand (closed to grasp or hold)
The Hermit is the 20th path, which lies between Chesed (mercy) and Tiphareth (beauty). He is the One in the centre, the master. I would tend to think that the loneliness of being a singular entity supplies the mercy to create the beauty of a multitude of illusion. Each one of us is the Hermit trapped amidst our own illusions. Stuck within an emic reality, our awareness the lantern that shines a path through the etic slew of information--light that defines the dualistic wave-particle paradigm.
The number nine: Number of the Moon; Container of all numbers; number of known astronomical planets (although some scientists debate Pluto's status); Eternity; Yesod; Endings; moons of Saturn; number of Muses; In the I-Ching, nine is the number of Yang. Arabic Ta (secret knowledge). number of absolute completion, perfection and wisdom. Since the ennad is the final limitation, it is the acceptance of solitude and the beginning of the inward journey to the infinite.
Virgo: The sign of the Earth's mutation and permutation. Virgo is both hermaphroditism and chastity. As Taurus is the procreative force of Aphrodite and Capricorn is the descent into flesh, Virgo is the Earth in the throes of metamorphosis-the seed becoming the tree, the clay becoming the pot, the wool becoming the garment.
Yod: Signifies all manifested power. It represents the hand of Humans, hir finger pointing. As a grammatical sign it denotes potential manifestation in a contra-distinction to actual, and also intellectual duration and eternity. As a consonant it is of inferior value and only denotes material duration. Plato thought it designated everything tender or delicate.
Numerically: Yod is Y + D, and this is 10 + 4 = 14 = 5.
We will see 14 in Temperance, and we have seen 5 in the Hierophant (and this, I think, is an interesting and important connection).
In readings:
Dignified: Prudence. Planning. Forethought. Foresight. Counsel sought and taken. A warning against precipitous action or thought. An indication that there is a need or desire to disassociate oneself from activity in order to think and evaluate circumstances.
Reversed: Counsel or assistance refused. Reliance on one's own inadequate resources. Groundless suspicion of the motives of others. Obstinate continuance of bad habits or unproductive lifestyles.
Mythological Links: Isis and Nephthys as virgin goddesses. Narcissus who was inaccessible to the emotion of Love. Adonis. Balder as virgin god.
Metaphysical Musings: The Hermit represents the homogenous One that exists at the beginning and end of time (of course, since time is not real, the one is all that exists). S/he is the centre, unchanging, complete, eternal. Without the illusion of time, this symmetry would never have been broken. Woe the lonely but yet is blessed, for without such there would be no need to stare into our own reflection. We reach out our hand and its grasp one hand claps. The Hermit hears hir own voice only and always.
Note the connection to arcanum five. The Hermit is the space that is behind the locked doors of heaven and hell. Yet, this space is nospace as eternity implies undifferentiation; that is, that which is eternal does not partake of space--the particle moving at c has no time, and thus, no extension. But it is exactly that there is an eternal which allows for there to be manifestation in spacetime: an eternity can not exist without contrast to some (finite or infinite) time.
It is also interesting to note that Nietzche's Madman bears many similarities to the archetype of the Hermit.
[ 21-09-2001: Message edited by: the godog ] |
