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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