befriending our conscious mind.
talking tarot #36: A card for the collective: The Hermit asking us to embrace presence & conscious thought.
I read an Instagram post this morning by mythsofcreation and they shared that in numerology 2025 corresponds with the number 9 and the 9th card of tarot is The Hermit. Although I’m super interested in numerology today I’d love to write about The Hermit. I feel like I haven’t been wholly interpreting The Hermit and maybe this next year will help me gather a deep and practical understanding of the archetype.
I just finished reading Jivana Heyman’s Yoga Revolution, which was such a fantastic read. I’ve gained wisdom and multiple moments of awakening which made the read all that bit more magical. One thing that I’ve been exploring in my mind and something that I haven’t written about a lot here is ego work. I have been in conversation with my ego for some time now and Jivana shares about his ego work and the importance of it as a yogi and an activist. This text has helped me articulate some of things I’m exploring.
This next year is an invitation for us, as a collective, to do the ego work.
To do the work gently and with compassion while also understanding the great impact that this work will create for our movement toward collective liberation.
What is ego work?
First I’d like to say that I am very much a student of ego work and will forever be, just like I am and always will be a student of yoga. I’m bringing you on my journey of this work knowing that I won’t have everything right and I will most likely change my mind about things.
My ego work started when I began to unlearn the systems of oppression in my day to day ways of being. As you know I believe in small scale = large scale (adrienne marie brown) therefore if I change my ways of being that IS changing the world. This belief is rooted in many ancient religions and philosophies too.
If I stop spiritually, mentally, physically and emotionally aligning with the systems of oppression in my day to day (as much as possible) these systems may cease to exist, even just a tiny bit at a time. Who knows how this will look in practice and so many of the ancient texts are in agreement so I have faith in this approach. We work on ourselves as individuals and this is what helps the collective, this is what creates universal harmony.
I think I’ve always been aware of my ego, maybe you have too? She’s been there all this time and then through spiritual practice and healing I have been able to listen to her as more of an observer and then decide consciously whether I want to act based on her thoughts. I listened to a podcast in the car recently (I’m really not a podcast gal, but maybe I will be he he) that Charmaine recommended. The podcast is called Feel Better Live More and the episode she sent me was with Dr Bruce Lipton. Now I don’t agree with everything that was on this podcast and it was super long so I may have lost focus a few times but there’s one learning that’s very helpful for this discussion on ego.
Bruce shared that 95% of the time humans are operating on our automatic systems. These systems are the ones we learned as a child, Bruce shares that the first 7 years of our lives we are basically recording everything around us and these recordings become our scripts for how we behave as we age.
These systems are comparable to when you’re driving and your mind goes on a wander and somehow you’re still driving the car. I’m sometimes like, wow I can’t remember how I got here, have you had that?
For the other 5% we are operating from our conscious mind. For example we are in an argument with someone and if our automatic systems are playing out we may be resorting to how we’ve always experienced and had arguments in the past. If we are operating in the 5%, the conscious mind, we may interrupt the system, consciously choosing a different way of being.
I found this super helpful to think about when discussing the ego. The ego is like an automatic system that’s played out in our day to day. Yet, the ego seeks personal desires and often does not have collective harmony as its priority. It wants to protect your social status, control what people think of you and is super attached to everything and everyone.
I found my way into ego work through noticing, for example, when my actions were colluding with capitalism or when my thoughts about myself were deeply colonial. Through noticing how these oppressive systems play out in my day to day, I also was seeing my ego at play. I think our egos are very much mirrors of the systems which have been meticulously designed by a small group of egos and is upheld by the majority.
From noticing these things, I began to interrupt them with a question, why am I being so competitive? And my conscious mind would respond, if you choose to continue this competitiveness you’re colluding with the oppressor so you have a choice now whether or not to act on this feeling. The feeling of competitiveness doesn’t just disappear so I ride the feeling out (which takes tremendous patience) without taking any action based on it. It approximately and on average takes 20 minutes to harmonise an activated nervous system. This is how most of the conversations in my head occur.
Yoga has been my teacher in how to have conversations with my ego. Yoga has helped me self-soothe when I consciously want to change my ways of being when I have my ego screaming at me to do the opposite. I sit and I breathe, or I chant or I, which happens the most often, take a second to tell myself, “if you choose this option you’re moving toward collective liberation and if you choose the other you are colluding with the oppressor”.
Yoga has created that space between an external or internal stimulus and my response to it. That space is magic and this is the space we often have agency over. Referring back to what Bruce was saying, in this space I step out of the automatic systems and into the conscious mind.
And I believe The Hermit is our guide for this space.
The Hermit
I have previously understood The Hermit as being the archetype that invites retreat, that invites solitude, and while this is still true I think there could be more to this lovely card. As I’ve been reading and thinking about the ego and attachments I realise that actually The Hermit has got everything to do with the ego.
The Hermit is holding a lantern so that they can only see just in front of them and no further, the same in each direction. This means that The Hermit is acting from a place of presence, the present moment. They cannot transport themselves to the past or far into the future.
When I am in the conscious mind and not operating out of the systems I feel wildly present, I feel embodied, my mind, body and spirit are all connected and this space allows for micro awakenings, moments of healing, the option to choose ways of being that align with collective liberation and precious time to experience the world as the magical place it is. This is where The Hermit greets us with warmth and comfort, shining their lantern that illuminates the present moment, our conscious being.
“The Hermit signifies the idea that only by withdrawing from the outer world can we awaken the inner self.”
This is a quote by Rachel Pollack as shown in the image above and to me this completely relates to ego and attachments. When we begin to release our attachments associated with our ego, like material gains and financial wealth, we create the space for awakenings. When we release the capitalist desire to be competitive, we withdraw from the outer world’s made-up violent rules, and come into the conscious mind. Here we can be curious, make decisions and take action from this space that is in greater alignment with our dreams for the world.
Perhaps when you find yourself in the conscious mind, in that delicate space, knowing that you need to make a decision or take some action you bring to mind The Hermit to act as your guide into the present moment. Your guide to help you withdraw from the outer world’s systems of oppression, attachments and ego-centred desires so that your response, the action you take, is in alignment with your values.
This way of being reminds me of Shannon Pervez-Darby’s self-accountability framework
Was there a situation where I acted out of alignment with my values?
What was going on for me at the time?
What do I need to do about it now?
These questions can be asked in the space we create as guided by The Hermit. Or maybe you come up with your own ritual that you do in this precious space created as you step into your conscious mind.
I imagine that when I step into my conscious mind I step into the scene as depicted on The Hermit card. I’m sat down sharing The Hermit’s magical light and this helps me work through my next steps. While I am guided by The Hermit’s light, I am operating from my conscious mind, and my conscious mind desires collective liberation.
What do you think about The Hermit? What’s coming up for you upon reading this interpretation? Are you doing a tarot reading for the new year if so what are your intuited messages?
In solidarity, with love & care
Amy