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The Magician & The Wheel of Fortune The Sun Ones & Nines In The Numerical Tarot:The Hermit is |
THE HERMIT & THE MOONTo me, these two cards each represent endings that are of course not really endings at all. The Hermit is an old wise man at the top of a mountain. When seen within the context of the underlying system being presented on this site, he is the equidistant opposite to the Magician; a young man, just starting out at the bottom of the mountain. Together these two icons symbolically represent the idea of point (young/small) and sphere (old/expansive), as seen in the Geometric progression (seen elsewhere on this site).The symbol of a hermit reinforces the concept of isolation found in the number 9 position of the Apart/Together model (seen elsewhere on this site), as well as the culmination of positive forces to a zenith, and the establishment of a conclusive, fruitful, multiferous totality. The Hermit represents a consummate wealth of knowledge resulting from successive culminations of the endless cycle that is the number line. At his best he knows everything. At his worst he is a "know-it-all" and obsessed with reaching goals - a megalomaniac.The Moon on the other hand, represents an ending of another kind. Whereas the Death card may have implied literal death to many, to The Numerical Tarot, the Moon is now seen as the real card of actual death. The two pillars in the distance represent 'the pillars of Hercules' also known as the straights of Gibraltar, beyond which was believed to be the end of the world, a limit no one could pass... certain death.To The Numerical Tarot, the Moon, and the pathway that leads to it, represent the passing of life, back, into the vacuous nothingness that surrounds us all. The wolves or dogs are baying at the moon to symbolize the loneliness of isolation found in the number 9 position (see Apart/Together model elsewhere on this site). Some say the dogs belong to Diana, a goddess with associations to the moon. Sometimes the dogs are black and white, suggesting both new and full moons. But the full moon is usually considered the more impressive of those two, as it punches a hole into the night sky, creating a portal to the great beyond for souls to pass through. When a full moon is seen low on the horizon, across a body of water, the reflection of light casts a pathway to the moon, not unlike the road often depicted in this card.The crab emerging from the water is an astrological association that can also be seen as a representation of how powerful the moon is at influencing the behavior of life on earth, as changes in the tides affect the life cycles of animals in water as well as humans on land. As this influence is acknowledged we see how 'lunacy' becomes an appropriate symbol for a bad, negative, deteriorate 9.At its worst, The Moon means death, fear of death, or fear of the dark and the unknown. It means an abrupt and arresting conclusion that is futile and abysmal in perpetuity. At its best it means a conclusion that leaves you with nothing, no harm done, a clean slate, acceptance of the changes dictated by the preceding Death card - closure.IN THE ISOMORPHIC TAROT DECK, the image of a hermit remains intact and is illustrated with an elderly man being lead up into heaven by a group of beckoning angels, via a Jacob's Ladder type of device. I title the card Zenith, the Consummate Sage.On the other side, the image of the moon on the horizon, seen as a symbol of death's portal, remains intact. And, because I choose to illustrate my own subjective sense of the bad side of negative deteriorative cards, I illustrate an undignified death, into the depths of hell, with a rotting corpse. I title the card Nadir, the Desolate Corpse.-----NOTE: Go to the DECK section of this site, to learn more about the NAMES and titles of this deck and how they are picked to describe a gridded pattern that utilizes extremes and in-betweens. Each card in this deck is but one possible expression on a spectrum of possibilities. There is a lot more to learn, than what is being shown here. |
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