Wednesday, April 15, 2015

4/15/15 Five of Cups and The Hermit reversed

The Hermetic Tarot is what called to me today.  The cards I threw are the Five of Cups and The Hermit reversed. 

The Five of Cups (Mars, action, aggression, drive, in Scorpio, “I desire,” intense, controlling, mysterious, obsessive) tells of an emotional setback or disappointment, or perhaps the belief that a wrong choice has been made; this card also warns us that we are focusing too much on difficult emotions. Feelings and emotions can be powerful tools, and what I feel can end up manifesting into the physical world.  “Suffering over one’s suffering” is a way to describe the effects of this card, and perhaps it will be the emotional pains that seem to captivate me today.  Emotional pain is not all bad, though; after all, an inheritance brings unexpected bounty through the death of someone we love. 

The Hermetic Tarot Five of Cups shows plant growth, yet no flowers.  The five Cups in this image are empty, and the plant stems look a bit leggy to me, as if they had water but no sunlight.  In the Hermetic Tarot, the Five of Cups represents partial loss, and the death of pleasure (indeed the card is named “Lord of Loss of Pleasure”).  The key here is that while we are losing something, we can go on and perhaps have a happy ending.  The reversed pentagram in the middle of this image hints at what needs to be corrected: we are focusing too much on strong feelings and physical pleasures, without allowing the mind and the feelings and the Higher Self to have a voice. 

The Hermit corresponds with Earth (cold/binds and dry/shapes, and material, practical and stable energy that is slow to change), as well as Virgo (“I serve,” practical, analytical, work and service oriented, orderly), Yod (open hand, touch), and the Path between Tiphareth (the hub of the creation process where energies harmonize and focus to illuminate and clarify) and Chesed (the place where forms and structure are stabilized and nurtured), and is about searching within for a deeper meaning, often through solitude bordering on discomfort.  The Hermit avoids the society of men in order to hear his own inner voice.  The image on this card often contains a serpent, and our Hermit is able to hypnotize that serpent so that selfish desires do not dictate his choices. 

The Hermit is wrapped in a cloak and hood, his face in shadow and the only light the lamp above his head.  The image on this card positively shouts “inner focus” and “hidden knowledge understood through solitary pursuit” to me.  The knowledge being protected by The Hermit is similar to the knowledge being guarded by The High Priestess and being practiced and taught to other s by The Hierophant (another card that has appeared in my spreads lately), however The Hermit is still trying to understand and absorb what The High Priestess and The Hierophant already know.  Only by shutting out distractions and by focusing inward can this Hermit accomplish his task.

It looks like I had best take my own feelings with a grain of salt today.  If something happens that causes me emotional discomfort, I should probably attempt to find some silver lining within the dark cloud.  Since my Hermit is reversed, I need to make sure that I don’t shut myself off from my surroundings, even (and maybe especially) not isolating myself from the possible instigators of those emotional discomforts.  I may want to focus on the bad stuff, sticking my mental finger into the wound again and again, but that will only end up causing an infection.  Not a good idea.

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