Holy Juniper Berries!

And now for something competely different! This is the first outing for this blog on the Tarot Blog Hop and for this edition, our wrangler, Alison, has allowed us to just choose a card and write about it, rather than setting a specific topic. Before I launch into my post, here are the links for my neighbours and the master list.

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If you are of a certain age and culture, there are a great many things you can’t think of without the overlay of Monty Python humour. If you fall into this category and someone mentions, for example, parrots, the Messiah, lumberjacks, rabbits, Antioch, The Last Supper, getting stoned (in the Biblical…umm…judicial sense) or, indeed, hermits, your brain immediately converts it via the Python Filter. What you hear in your head (in summary) are phrases like: he’s pining for the fjords…pushing up daisies…, he’s not the Messiah he’s a naughty boy, I’m OK – I sleep all night…suspendies and a bra, that rabbit’s dynamite, holy hand-grenade, I may not know much about art…, Jehovah and juniper berries, respectively. Plus a whole host of other associated quotes. It can make it very difficult to take a great many things seriously 😀

So, Hermits…(You may have already guessed from the title that The Hermit is the card I chose for this post.) Juniper berries, vows of silence and long beards aside, what do they represent? Certainly instrospection, lots and lots of introspection, some more introspection, probably a fairly hefty dose of intraversion (let’s face it, party animals don’t tend to become hermits, at least not by choice) and solitude. Oh, and contemplation… and introspection. Did I mention introspection?

All that soul searching and contemplation must be good for something else though and I’d like to think that, some day, our lone hermit emerged from his cave like a butterfly from its pupa, and goes forth into the world to shine the light of his wisdom on others. Or perhaps, they come to sit at his feet and learn from the Master. Learn about…umm, well…introspection and contemplation…and perhaps the value of a good juniper berry. Let’s face it, other life experience has to be slightly lacking.

Apologies if I’m being rather frivolous with The Hermit, but I’m not sure what else to do with him. He’s one of those difficult cards that don’t have a vast array of meanings beyond introspection (sorry!) and guidance. Oh yes, he does represent mentoring and guidance. He can’t give you the answers you seek, you have to find those for yourself through…umm…introspection, but he can shine his lantern on the path to show you the way.

He’s not a bad old stick really and those juniper berries come in jolly handy for making gin, which I understand has certain enlightening properties of its own and goes some way to making him more sociable 😉

So without further ado, I give you my Hermit, shining his light to point you in the right direction (though possibly not towards the gin) :

I can confirm that this Hermit is not very sociable and is fond of the occasional drop bottle of gin, though he doesn’t live in a cave and isn’t entirely solitary.

As always, I’d be glad to hear your thoughts on this card.

To continue your quest along the Fool’s Journey to the next card, or to step back to the previous click on the links below. There’s also a map in the form of the Master List if the Hermit’s light is insufficient to guide you and you’re totally lost .

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