Transparent Tarot - 9 - Hermit

The Hermit shows the top of a mountain high above the clouds with a beacon of light shining from the highest peak.

Mountain

• that which rises above one’s day-to-day existence
• that which brings one closer to the heavens
• suggests a pilgrimage toward spiritual elevation, step by step, above the level of everyday life; symbol of aspiration, renunciation of worldly desires, attainment of the highest states and ascent from the partial and limited to the whole and unlimited
• represents a higher state of mental development
• suggests spiritual heights, understanding or awareness
• represents a place where the physical/mental world can be viewed more clearly and understood
• indicates a great challenge or obstacle that is to be overcome or an ambition that one has chosen
• may suggest the need for being imperturbable
• climbing a mountain suggests a new journey, life direction or the beginning of an experience
• descending from a mountain may indicate the end of an experience, an obstacle that has been successfully overcome or the end of something.
• mountain tops represent the state of full consciousness
• “to make a mountain out of a molehill” is to make something sound worse, more difficult or bigger than it really is

Beacon

• warning or communication
• announcing the place where great lessons, truths or higher knowledge can be found
• represents the flash of a spiritual insight, important idea or experience
• suggests that which provides illumination for others

Rodney

I know its not really fair to compara artists decks.. but when I think of this Hermit to the Hermit of the Tarot of the Sidhe... WOW such a contrast.

This Hermit card speaks of height and transcendence. Even in our everyday lives there comes a day, a choice or just a moment when our minds peek over the everyday level and look around.

The clouds are the everyday level that we are at, or sort of look up to.. the clock watching till lunch or hometime.. or it could be the getting through the drive home to sit and scan TT cards all evening hehe.
But the Mountain is above that.. when our minds look for that moment of clarity above and within the 'mundane'
Ive had the Hermit shed his light a few times for me. The first time was with a daily draw from the TT and it hit me like a ton of bricks as I was walking up to a clients house. Now, it wasnt life changing/shattering thoughts, but it was that moment of 'WOW thats what it meant'
and today I had it in my daily draw when my KC was walking above the clouds, where i'd taken the step from job to career.

So for me theres just those little bits that mark our moments of clarity. Not massive. This Hermit is so different to the Sidhe Hermit who retreats into the darkness to be alone and on his own for the good of himself and his community. It speaks of madness and insanity, of seculsion and wilderness. This Hermit is so clear, helps us see the wood from the trees of our every day life. Its a card that intergrates rather than isolates, its a card that takes us beyond but anchors us deep into where we are, like a mountain.

I think of when I walk up hills and mountains. Theres the trudge up for a while, then you can stop and look at the view. You see hills and colours, the clouds and the landscape in one way.. you trudge more, feeling out of puff, thristy, take a moment for a little snack before trudging some more. Then you stop and admire a totally new scene that lifts your soul and inspires you. When you get to the top its the best feeling in the world.. and hopefully you take a scene, a feeling, a smell, a taste, or just a loving hug with someone against the winds into your being.. before trudging down.

I will never think of hill walking the same now! Its a very spiritual process, the procession up a hill

I could waffle more lol

Thanks for this, Sezo, I found it a really interesting observation and comparison!