The Hermit

Why is everyone staying home these days?

Covid is over but there seems to be a hangover from the coronavirus that has left everyone feeling a little less sociable. North American culture has become really self-centered in many ways. We seek our comfort zones for security and veg out in front of netflix rather than going out and hanging out with friends. I am as guilty of this as the next person. Yet, when I do go out I seem to connect with people from other cultures who live in Montreal and wonder “where is the life here?” Have we lost our ability to connect and to value connection?

When I teach, I see that many students report being diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. They have difficulty with many aspects of high intensity life, demands, stresses and the guidelines for living in an individualistic capitalist society. The rules seem to have changed and humans have had to ‘wing it’. While we can be quite adaptable, if everyone is doing their own thing, how do we connect and feel like we’re part of a community. What if we lived as if everyone mattered? How do we reassemble our common humanity post-covid (See our Concordia University research project on this topic… reassembling the human!").

So, the Hermit is inviting you to take some quiet time for contemplation. Or, is this card asking you if you are spending too much time alone? The Hermit is a major arcana, carrying a solid message of the wisdom that comes with spending some quiet time alone. However, he didn’t reckon we’d be hanging out with our iphones, our tables, our youtubes, or whatever electronic stimulae we have on hand. His message was about acting as if the power went out and the light comes from one single lantern, from your heart and from spirit.

Tonight I went to the Montreal Arts Centre. I heard some lovely musicians. They were playing to an almost empty room… on a Friday night. Most of the audience were from cultures outside of Canada. They must have thought we are really strange… where are all the people? Are they all watchiing netflix? After a few sets, the performers invited others to join an ‘open stage’ so random people came up to play. There was a trumpet player groovy woman, a guy who just happened to have a couple of guitars, a Cuban drummer. There was some real connection happening, between the 10 people in the room.

So, in taking up the message of the Hermit, do you need to spend more contemplative time alone, to sort a few things out? Or do you need to get out of your cave, back into your body and go find some other humans to debrief with?

We are living in catastrophic times. Almost everyone we know has loved ones being bombed and targeted. It’s a lot to put up with. Almost everyone I know is against war, hegemony. Many people would rather rearrange their lives, and communities, to lessen our dependency on oil. But this isn’t something that individuals can do alone. When these old power structures crumble, will we be ready to reorganize in a pro-social, life-centric way? Should we not be practicing now, as much as we can, to go out, mix, meet new people, and plot ways that lead to peace. Mostly everyone I know is already on that path.

Do we need to spend more time thinking about it or is it time to take action? The Hermit would say “think on these things”. (Wasn’t that the name of a famous book by Krishnamurti?). Maybe this card is telling us to find a quiet spot, to meditate and connect with ourselves, to find some peace, so we can then go out and share it with others.

All my relations!

Cathy