Is the Hermit reversed ashamed?

aurafields

Silverbells said:
Hi Wow, okay, the question that I asked was loosely connected to something like this...and what I had in mind was the recent occurrence that might have shed some light on the inappropriateness of the behavior/situation. Now, I am thinking that with this Hermit rx, the person is not seeing the reality of the behavior at all. Though, I find that hard to believe. It's one thing to be blind to one's shortcomings but after a certain period of time, and big explosions of contradicting evidence in your face that there is something really wrong...

But it could be that the person sees the situation clearly after all and is embarrassed by the behavior...(but I'd probably want to see the Sun come up for that interpretation, though the baby in the sun is unashamed and basking and for me, that would indicate your interpretation of free indulgence rather than my original idea of shame) Okay, it's wee hours and my brain is starting to hurt with these circles it is going around.

P.S. I like the idea you have of what cards DIDN'T come up. I shall think more.

EST for me, and time for sleep as well. These cards can really work the brain.

PAMUYA

This is my personal take on the Hermit and it´s resersal.
For me the Hermit upright would be more likely to feel shame or quilt, someone who looks within to cleanse oneself of guilt. Reversed can be self indulgence, feeling blame lies elsewhere, this would be blocking of their spiritual path of soul searching. Reversed they have turned their back on their core beliefs, not necessarily societies beliefs as in the Heirophants. They might have gone so far into themselves that they are narcissistic, unable to feel quilt. Not saying this is the case in your reading. The Hernit reversed is not feeling ashamed.

Thirteen

Doesn't want to see the unvarnished truth?

The Hermit as ashamed...that's a really interesting take. You've certainly got me thinking. Well...the Hermit is about retiring from the world so one can examine factual evidence--under a bright light--without any outside input biasing one's conclusions. As you say, "Truth seeker." RX (to me) would be that the lantern isn't shining its light as it ought on things, and the person isn't as retired from the world as he ought to be.

So I would say that the Hermit rx means that the person is going to see the facts in a way that confirms what he (or someone else) wants to be true, rather than what is true. He makes sure the evidence supports his conclusion, rather than reaching a conclusion from the evidence. I would also say that no matter how much evidence is presented to him, he'll continue to read it wrongly or allow himself to be influenced into seeing it as other than what it is.

Which gets us to your "Shame" interpretation. Our Hermit rx could certainly be blinding himself this way because the truth makes him feel ashamed or embarrassed--he doesn't want it to be true. But I don't think the card, itself, says "shame" because there are other reasons he could be doing this. He could fear the truth, or always need to be right, or find more profit in twisting the truth. Heck, maybe he's doing it because he feels ALL those things as well as avoiding shame

I'm not saying you're wrong for seeing him as doing this out of shame (or, in my opinion, avoiding feelings of shame). But I am saying that "why" the person is doing it would not be in my reading of the card. All I'd say is that he doesn't want to admit the truth--a truth he'd have to admit if he was alone and really shining a light on the situation. I'd recommend putting out the Hermit rx and ask "Why is he doing this?" If you get something like the 5/Cups, your belief that he's doing it because of shame is probably spot on.

aurafields

Thirteen said:
The Hermit as ashamed...that's a really interesting take. You've certainly got me thinking. Well...the Hermit is about retiring from the world so one can examine factual evidence--under a bright light--without any outside input biasing one's conclusions. As you say, "Truth seeker." RX (to me) would be that the lantern isn't shining its light as it ought on things, and the person isn't as retired from the world as he ought to be.

So I would say that the Hermit rx means that the person is going to see the facts in a way that confirms what he (or someone else) wants to be true, rather than what is true. He makes sure the evidence supports his conclusion, rather than reaching a conclusion from the evidence. I would also say that no matter how much evidence is presented to him, he'll continue to read it wrongly or allow himself to be influenced into seeing it as other than what it is.

Which gets us to your "Shame" interpretation. Our Hermit rx could certainly be blinding himself this way because the truth makes him feel ashamed or embarrassed--he doesn't want it to be true. But I don't think the card, itself, says "shame" because there are other reasons he could be doing this. He could fear the truth, or always need to be right, or find more profit in twisting the truth. Heck, maybe he's doing it because he feels ALL those things as well as avoiding shame

I'm not saying you're wrong for seeing him as doing this out of shame (or, in my opinion, avoiding feelings of shame). But I am saying that "why" the person is doing it would not be in my reading of the card. All I'd say is that he doesn't want to admit the truth--a truth he'd have to admit if he was alone and really shining a light on the situation. I'd recommend putting out the Hermit rx and ask "Why is he doing this?" If you get something like the 5/Cups, your belief that he's doing it because of shame is probably spot on.

You certainly gave me a lot to think about. You have a very keen insight as to themenaing of this card.

alchemist1248

Does the person's behavior confirm the shame? I read the other posts, but never saw whether you said.

If they are acting weird I would say maybe they need a retreat. I know that when I get frustrated with people or myself I shut myself off and tend to get surly, which can look a little like shame. The Ace of Pentacles rx might be a need for grounding in this context.

Just another slant.

Ace

I don't usually see the Hanged Man Rx as ashamed, but it can be passive aggressive (martyrdom for the sake of getting attention) and that sort of resonates with feelings of shame or guilt, It is still about themselves.

They feel bad about what they did, but no sense of what they need to change (or sacrifice) for the future to be better.

barb

Thirteen

Ace said:
I don't usually see the Hanged Man Rx as ashamed, but it can be passive aggressive (martyrdom for the sake of getting attention)

What a great interp of that card. I can totally see that as the opposite of a card that's supposed to be about selfless (or for a greater purpose) sacrifice.

If we're taking Hanged Man, I could see shame in a social context. Upright, the Hanged Man is a "traitor"—not right-side-up; a rebel and willing to stand out. rx could indicate someone who is embarrassed at having everyone stare at him. Someone who doesn't like that he no longer fits in, rather than someone who sees that position as important to gaining his goal.

It's that implication of people looking at the Hanged Man (and he looking back) which makes "shame" viable for me in that card. And maybe that's why the Hermit as "shame" isn't so easy to see. Upright, he's alone and unseen. A solitary person can feel ashamed of themselves for some mistake they made that didn't meet whatever standards they set for themselves. But ashamed of how they're treating others? Or how other perceive them? We'd have to see the Hermit rx as not being so solitary.

Though rx blocks the need to be alone, it doesn't, to me, equal a desire to be social. So, I'm still not making the "ashamed" connection in and of itself.

Silverbells

PAMUYA said:
They might have gone so far into themselves that they are narcissistic, unable to feel quilt. Not saying this is the case in your reading. The Hernit reversed is not feeling ashamed.

Hi Pamuya

This person is a bit narcissistic (not sure how much, though). I've gotten the Moon reversed clarified by the four of cups for narcissism so I want to say this Hermit rx is pointing to something else though I can see where narcissism and the inability to feel guilt could come in.

alchemist No, the person's behavior does not reflect shame but this person plays it pretty close to the chest so you wouldn't be able to tell one way or the other. Do you mean self-introspection/grounding with the two reversals? Maybe so...

Ace It was the Hermit reversed in this case but those are some good thoughts about the Hanged Man rx.
and I like these too

Thirteen said:
If we're taking Hanged Man, I could see shame in a social context. Upright, the Hanged Man is a "traitor"—not right-side-up; a rebel and willing to stand out. rx could indicate someone who is embarrassed at having everyone stare at him. Someone who doesn't like that he no longer fits in, rather than someone who sees that position as important to gaining his goal.

It's that implication of people looking at the Hanged Man (and he looking back) which makes "shame" viable for me in that card.

Some people say impatient but the impatience might be due to not wanting to be up there gaining new perspectives while everyone looks on at what a freak-show he's being. Maybe he just wants to fit in more...like the Hierophant

Thirteen said:
I'd recommend putting out the Hermit rx and ask "Why is he doing this?" If you get something like the 5/Cups, your belief that he's doing it because of shame is probably spot on.

I did just that and got the page of pentacles rx??? I don't even know what that's supposed to mean...the person feels that if they don't blind themselves they will lose their hold on things. Maybe? I'm not good with most of the pages, they don't mean anything to me yet.

Thirteen said:
Though rx blocks the need to be alone, it doesn't, to me, equal a desire to be social. So, I'm still not making the "ashamed" connection in and of itself.

I'm not following. I don't think that if someone is ashamed, they would want to be very social either. I'd think they would want to hide their shame and seek no more horrible truth...

Ace

Thirteen said:
What a great interp of that card. I can totally see that as the opposite of a card that's supposed to be about selfless (or for a greater purpose) sacrifice.

If we're taking Hanged Man, I could see shame in a social context. Upright, the Hanged Man is a "traitor"—not right-side-up; a rebel and willing to stand out. rx could indicate someone who is embarrassed at having everyone stare at him. Someone who doesn't like that he no longer fits in, rather than someone who sees that position as important to gaining his goal.

It's that implication of people looking at the Hanged Man (and he looking back) which makes "shame" viable for me in that card. And maybe that's why the Hermit as "shame" isn't so easy to see. Upright, he's alone and unseen. A solitary person can feel ashamed of themselves for some mistake they made that didn't meet whatever standards they set for themselves. But ashamed of how they're treating others? Or how other perceive them? We'd have to see the Hermit rx as not being so solitary.

Though rx blocks the need to be alone, it doesn't, to me, equal a desire to be social. So, I'm still not making the "ashamed" connection in and of itself.

Boy did I have my head up my A--! I thought it was the Hanged Man!

The Hermet looks back to see where he has been and inward to see what his (or her) gut tells them. Rx means he (or she) refuses to listen to the gut or learn the lessons of the past. So it COULD be ashamed, too afraid to look back.

barb

Grizabella

Maybe this Hermit rv could be trying to tell you that you're the one who is seeing what they want to see with this card. You seem to strongly feel that he's supposed to be feeling shame so that's the reason you keep getting that card. It may not be saying anything about him at all. The Page of Pentacles is a student and you're a student of the Tarot. You're still in the learning mode.

I think I'm seeing a tendency---not with you in particular but new readers in general---for newer readers to be giving meanings to cards that are too far afield from what the traditional meanings are. Every reader develops their own meanings eventually, but it should still remain within the realm of what the card traditionally means.

For instance, to me the Hermit means being apart from the world and spending time with no other company of his own. For me, the reverse of that would be that he's not taking the time to find out what the truth of his actions are. He's not ashamed because he's just not giving it the introspection it needs in order for him to feel ashamed by anything he's done.

Is the Hermit reversed ashamed?

aurafields

PAMUYA

Thirteen

aurafields

alchemist1248

Ace

Thirteen

Silverbells

Ace

Grizabella