Strength and The Hermit, part 1
Here we are, less than a week from the transition between Leo season and Virgo season, and I am tangibly feeling the energetic interplays between these two signs.
Perhaps you are one of the many people reading this thinking, “That’s nice, Lore, but I have no idea what that means!”
Which is totally fair.
In this series of posts, I’m going to share a few thoughts about my current experience of overlapping Leo/Virgo energies through brief explorations of the following topics:
This post (part 1): The tarot cards corresponding to these two signs.
Part 2: The conviction, confidence, and compassion that Strength has invited into my life and garden.
Part 3: The boundaries that I’ve set as I honor the transition into the Hermit.
Part 4: The exciting new project/product line that have resulted from these energies and lessons.
Tarot and the Zodiac
Folks who work with both tarot and astrology probably already know that each zodiac sign has what is considered its guiding card, and that each tarot card likewise corresponds to the different energies of each zodiac sign.
The tarot card most strongly connected to Leo is Strength, while the tarot card most strongly connected to Virgo is The Hermit. This is partly simply due to the numerology of those cards and houses (Strength is often—but not always—card VIII in the major arcana, and Leo starts in the eighth month of the calendar year; The Hermit is card IX in the major arcana, and Virgo starts in the ninth month of the calendar year), and partly due to the ways that the medicine and messages of the respective cards and houses correspond to and amplify each other.
Strength and Leo
In many decks, the Strength card depicts a feminine being or small animal engaged in a tender interaction with a lion. This clearly communicates that the type of strength that the tarot is inviting us to discover within ourselves is not brute strength, but rather a deeper manifestation of strength. This is the type of strength that is grounded in compassionate confidence and the willingness to face situations that may seem frightening or intimidating with a profound sense of faith and equanimity.
Deck: Egyptian Tarot (Falconnier)
This is not the strength of the ego, nor is it the strength of the physical self, but rather the strength of spirituality, connection, and survival. As Rachel Pollack writes in her book Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom, this card depicts “the inner Strength to confront yourself calmly and without fear.” It invites us to look at where fear, shame, and other people’s beliefs about who we are and what we can and cannot accomplish have held us back. It invites us to shed these unnecessary layers and develop an unapologetic, yet still tender, relationship to our innermost selves and the world around us. To further quote Rachel Pollack, “Strength opens up the personality… with a sense of peace, a love of life itself, and a great confidence in the final result.”
Similarly, the house of Leo invites us towards a deeper understanding of the connection between compassion and drive: Leo energy is the embodiment of loving motivation and committed connection. It refuses to be defined by the expectations or beliefs of others, and moves forward into the world with open eyes and a willing heart.
The Hermit and Virgo
The Hermit card depicts a solitary being, oftentimes on or near a mountain. This being holds either a lantern (most common) or an hourglass. The lantern provides them with the light they need to see clearly as they move towards ever-greater elevations, allowing them an increasingly expansive view as they move forward along their path. The hourglass is a symbol of energy flowing in a cyclical way, and thus is sometimes interpreted as analogous to the flow of kundalini energy throughout the body. Interestingly, the card shown below depicts a snake on the ground; the snake is also analogous to kundalini energy and (prior to snakes being coopted as a symbol of evil by Christianity) a symbol of intuitive wisdom, feminine power, and one’s personal connection to sexuality.
Illustration of the Hermit tarot card taken from the 1897 book La Clef de la Magie Noire by Stanislas de Guaita.
The Hermit invites us to free ourselves from dogma and from all influences that would try to pull us away from ourselves and our deepest truth. The Hermit trusts their own direct experience, while simultaneously knowing that spiritual awakening is a path, not a destination. The medicine within this card invites us to trust the rhythm of transitions, to maintain an intimate connection to our center in the midst of a world that can try to pull us in so many directions.
The Hermit invites us to do all of these things not so that we can remain in a cave, isolated from the rest of existence. In fact, I think it is telling that most decks portray the Hermit walking out in the world. The Hermit’s lesson is rather to be:
so free within ourselves,
so trusting of the deep well of wisdom,
so willing to question everything, to be curious, and to be present with the state of not knowing,
so willing remain on our path regardless of the ways the world may be tempting us to go astray,
so willing to take our time with our process, or even to stop completely for a bit,
and so empowered in our own company that we are not tormented by dependence and fear
that we are able to move through the world as a force of compassion and service.
How does that connect to Virgo energy? Quite a lot, actually! For example, this post on The Numinous contains the following quotation: “Virgo Season… invites you to move to the rhythm of a more private dance, and wed yourself to an unshakable code that gives nothing away for free. It’s a subtle, soft-lit season for exploring your most elemental self, for divining your personal emotional weather patterns, and for rising to meet the moment with whatever resources you have on hand.”
Virgo and The Hermit both invite us to pause and be present with our own magic, to reacquaint ourselves with our wisdom, and to step into this world with patience and curiosity.
I invite you all to pause and think about the ways that these cards and signs may be at play in your own lives right now. Are there lessons or opportunities for healing and growth that come to mind? Follow that trail!
And stay tuned for future posts on journal, including the rest of this series!
For further learning regarding these cards, I strongly recommend the following sources, all of which have taught and inspired me:
Lindsey Mack’s courses and podcast (Tarot for the Wild Soul). Of particular note for the themes in this blog post are:
Lindsey’s blog post “Monthly Medicine: July is Enthusiasm.”
Episode 152 of Tarot for the Wild Soul, “The Hermit and the Vertical Lines of the Major Arcana.”
Rachel Pollack’s book Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom.
Michelle Tea’s book Modern Tarot: Connecting with Your Higher Self Through the Wisdom of the Cards.
Cassandra Snow’s book Queering the Tarot.
