Witchvox Article

Author: PanSpiritus
Posted: June 17th. 2007
Times Viewed: 2,521

So it happens again. For me the Year of the Hierophant was that of learning, conflicts with and decisions regarding hierarchies, a split from high school into college. The Year of the Lovers was discovering my opposite, engaging in romantic relations, and forming a discerning, disposing intelligence.

In the Year of the Chariot, I struggled to separate inside and outside worlds, bring inter-relational spaces to a point of control, and learned to get my feet moving. With Strength, despite the warning in the card, I watched myself and the world engage in power-struggles, ego-exertions, and competitions between the fierce behavior of instigators and the tender behavior of pacifists.

Finally, 2007. For the world�s digit, and for my own personal tarot number of the year, the digits add up to nine. This is the number of the card of The Hermit.

2007 is the Year of the Hermit for the world.

In the Sefer Yetzirah, this card is the symbol of the Hebrew letter Yod that appears on the tree of life connecting Chesed and Tiphareth, or Mercy and Beauty. The zodiacal sign, Virgo, which in turn is ruled by the element of Earth and the planet Mercury, rules it.

The Hermit as the Sign of Virgo:

Virgo is traditionally associated with the time span between August 21 and September 21. Traditionally, it is symbolized by a maiden bearing a sheaf of wheat. This represents the harvest season that has been retrieved through hard work and diligent effort. The letter Yod means 'hand' and the pathway of Yod is considered 'the Intelligence of Will'. The Neopagan Holiday of Mabon or Haerfest is at the end of Virgo and beginning of Libra.

Virgos are not as stereotypes say: boring. However, they are industrious, concerned with maintaining appearances, and often delightfully well-suited in moments of solitude. Emotions are usually disguised under the sly Mercurial influence that shapes their ability to communicate.

The moments Virgos spend with themselves make them usually graceful and non-assuming in social situations. They have mannerisms that make them sometimes dark and compulsive. One could easily compare a Virgo, when isolated, to the opening of a deep and dark cavern. Linguistics suggests the titles of virgin Mother Goddesses - such as Mary, Meri, Maria - relate to the ocean. These goddesses� abodes are in caverns where the shore meets the sea, where the sun is born every Winter Solstice.

In the same sense, Yod, is the first letter in the name of God, considered self-germinating. Virgo relates to the archetypal idea of the self-birthing mother. The concept of virgin birth has been completely lost in modern times, where the literal idea of a virgin becomes tied to the literal idea of sexual abstinence.

In mythology, most virgin Goddesses who gave birth could easily restore their virginity by bathing in a lake or performing some task. In ancient times, virgin probably meant a devotee who did not fall in love with anyone but a God or Goddess. In fact, some virgins were actually temple prostitutes who did not marry but served visitors with sexual pleasure.

Over the years, I have often accused Virgos of 'listening for the golden trumpets in things' or seeking elevated, spiritual ideas so as to acquire what is perfect, i.e. become lovers of only Gods.

Virgins are often in Western Culture associated with piety and somberness. The hermit as represented in the card is one who is accustomed with grand heights and majestic views. A deep pervasive sense of beauty is one, that no doubt, Virgos have become so accustomed to experiencing that to communicate it intentionally seems unnecessary.

In the Near East, virgins are seen as continually anxious to experience new phenomena, ripe for the plucking, in search of new ideas and experiences. Surely, the road to isolation can produce a level of tediousness and piety, but the independence it provides is worth it once the need to have social structures is broken down. The journey into this deep cavern is fruitful - as is the descent of the Goddess into herself to give birth and become whole

The numinous, creativity of the element Earth manifests in the Virgo who has become whole and is capable of many levels of production.

Dealing With The Year of the Hermit:

Being a Libra myself, isolation is something I fear. In my personal experience with the journey of the years, I found that the jump to the Hermit was a bit of a leap. So far, I have been learning to believe in the motto 'what one is, is truly all what one needs.'But work is required to manifest belief in oneself and that, given the options, people naturally work on hobbies and interact with people.

Virgo helps because it makes other people and their expectations of work a little less necessary and more of an exploration into what one really wants and needs.

The Year of Strength that preceded this one was for me a very fiery, impulsive time and it is ruled by Leo, a somewhat opposite to Virgo in a few ways. Leo is ruled by the Sun, and Leos in general like to have people and things revolve around them. Mercury, the fastest moving planet in the galaxy that revolves around the Sun, rules Virgo.

Because the shift was so drastic, I thought it would be helpful to list a few effective meditations for dealing with the energies that are present. But first of all, it is important to realize: A Tarot Year like your Sun Sign isn't the be-all end-all of your life.

In the Craft, the human being is the microcosm, the star radiating the circle of divinity, and can determine its own destiny despite the sway of the planets across the Milky Way.

However being conscious of external influences greatly increases the ability to define one's internal attitudes in relation to the outside world. Tarot Years, I have discovered, are a big influence and something that affected me even before my awareness of them.

The attitude of The Hermit Card for 2007 I believe to take on is: Go with it. Be as stoic as the rock riverbed, receptive to the flow of change yet firmly fixed in one's convictions.

If you find yourself in a situation where people are leaving you for what you have to say, then live without them for a while. Chances are what you have to say is important and there is too much work to be done to be frustrated over the influences of egotists.

Exercises to Relieve Your Karma in the Year of the Hermit:

1) While Ascetics are becoming less and less a formal branch of society, they still are those solitaires who produce seeds of grace and fruits of bounty for the world in private. Visit an elderly person. Tour a monastery. Visit someone who you think may usually be alone.

2) Meditate on the Stella Maris. This is a title that means 'star of the sea' that has become associated with the Virgin Mary. Meditate on Hecate Phosphoros, the image of the Goddess Hecate as the torch-bearing daughter of darkness. Meditate on torch bearing deities like Melek T'aus, virgin fire goddesses like Vesta, ascetic aged deities like Dhumavati. Meditate on those great, but incomprehensible deities who produce the universe from themselves such as Ra and The Great Mother.

3) Visit a natural area by yourself. If you are accustomed to being around others often, try to alleviate your need for social companionship by not thinking about yourself. Don't think about yourself. Don't think. Just enjoy, and realize that your experience is inseparable from your consciousness. You create your own reality, and at some yet unrealized level of your consciousness, you contain the unspoiled, original elements that created and are capable of recreating the universe, the earth, and the language of the human mind.

4) Wear stones to connect yourself to earth energies. Citrine is good for communicating and enhances the Mercurial energies of the Hermit in a friendly way. Wear period to open the heart, feel protected, and align with Virgo's greater energies. Any stone though, is productive.

5) Learn magickal mudras and hand gestures.

6) Wear the color gray to neutralize energies.

7) Ponder the mighty acorn.

8) Buy a magickal lamp and meditate on the rune Kenaz.

Help! Still Stuck in the Year of the Not-So-Socialite:

The ideal is to make the best of your situation, however, some times that is not always possible. Just because time may have domains ruled by one influence or another does not mean you must resign yourself completely to them or let yourself be miserable.

When all else fails and you are sure or want to be sure that the current world Tarot Year is to blame, try neutralizing the energies of this year by presenting its unique opposite. In physics, combining two opposing waves in a sine-wave pattern results in a still, flat line.

Try meditating on the opposing sign, Pisces, and the opposing card, the Moon.

Try scrying a solution as Pisces�tool is the magick mirror. By providing a strong spike of Piscean energy, one can neutralize the isolating influence of The Hermit. Pisces' stone is the pearl. Visualize yourself in a giant pearl as you would for the 'mirrored ball' that is used for shielding. Use this delicate shield to reflect light to pierce through negativity and problematic energies.

I thought I was going crazy as this Year's influences kicked in. If you have stories about this, feel free to share with me, with Witchvox, or with someone you love. Isolation is not something anyone should have to deal with unprepared.

Footnotes:
Figure out your Personal Tarot Card, Personal Yearly Tarot Card, and General Card of the Year: http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/learn/a_tarot_new_year.shtml

http://www.borndigital.com/tree/esa/hermit.htm

http://www.thelemapedia.org/index.php/Path_of_Yod

Copyright: Distribute as necessary.

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PanSpiritus

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