TAROTSCOPES | MARCH 13 - MARCH 19

IX | THE HERMIT

The process of becoming bears fruitful rewards. Rewards that require effort. When we think about effort we often anticipate arduous action. Lugging a suitcase up the subway stairs. Scrubbing elbow grease into an unruly pan. Heavy concentration on an essay, a set of data, or a conversation that hasn’t even happened. In my experience, my most strenuous action is inaction. I’m like a passionate puppy. Sit. Stay. Heal.

Becoming runs parallel with time – both are ceaseless and demanding. Becoming demands that we be in the moment. That we let our minds get messy without trying to clean them up. That we allow our eyes to glaze over, tears to release, and wait as they dry in the wells of our cheeks. Becoming asks us to hold space with our hearts as they open, to peel our fingers off that thing one by one until our grip begins to soften. Becoming happens when we press pinkies, toes, balls, heels of our feet into the earth so we can school ourselves in stability. Becoming insists that we take awareness and acceptance as prerequisites to action.

She’s back. The Hermit. Hag. Often ugly and uncomfortably provoking. Always an invitation to heal. Whenever a card appears twice in a row it commands my attention. It might assert that I didn’t give it the space it deserved. More likely, it hasn’t had enough time to work its magic. I don’t control time, but I can choose to hold space.

The Hermit summons us again to sit with her as she spins her spell. This week take more than a moment with the wise woman you are becoming. Years from now, who are you? Be a witness to her. Where is she? What does she wear? Are her eyes soft? Glinting? Glowing? Knowing? What does she do with her hands? Make her an offer. Sacrifice your struggles. Show her what you’re wrestling with. Then rest. Tend her with your time and mindfulness. Receive her response – verbose or wordless or something in between. Practice acceptance, refrain from fixing, and be with your becoming.