The number IX is the resolve to go on with the journey.
The color of the Hermit collage is gray to represent internal balance.

The Hermit is the courage to go it alone.
Alone in the vast desert, not certain where the journey leads,
with just enough light to take the next step.
The true seeker.

Only you can do your work.

This is the awareness that no one will rescue you;
no one else can light the path ahead, or live your life for you;
no one will do your work for you;

This is the awareness that you can never go back.
You must continue to take one more step forward as long as you are alive.
The vast gray sky, the endless dunes of sand,
the fog and the mist represent aloneness.
Loneliness, ambiguity, and uncertainty.

The candle is the teachings and works that have given you a bit of the light.
The lone pine on the rock, bending to the storms, is the Hermit.
The eagle flying high to search for the path is the Hermit.
The yogi, deep in meditation, is the Hermit.
The flame is the light of pure intelligence.

The Hermit symbolizes the loneliness of your inner work.
It is not meant to be a retreat from the world,
nor a denial of the need for human relationships.

If you should try to speak the truth to others, they will not hear you.
You are not the perfected human being.
You have not, yet, embodied the wisdom.

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Are you finding it difficult to be the Hermit in a noisy, chaotic outer world?

Can you press on, regardless?

How do you deal with your spiritual loneliness?

~ Cameo Victor, ©2005