The Hermit

Androgynous keeper of esoteric knowledge. In the feminine guise the Hermit completes the three faces of the goddess. The High Priestess is the maiden, the Empress is the matronly mother figure and the hermit is the crone wise woman. The hermit does not need to seek solitude, but neither does the hermit fear being alone. Having moved beyond the ascetic virtues of the hanged man, the hermit can interact with the world but as his title implies has chosen exile in order to deepen his connection to the light, so that he might better lead us through our own terrors into the light of inner wisdom. Complete as a bodhisattva, the hermit gives back to the world by being the keeper of the light at the end of the tunnel. With the beehive on his back, he is keeper of the bees of immortality and creativity as they are the 'birds of the muses'. He leds us to ourselves.