“Till then, think of the world.” (Julius Caesar 2.2 line 319) As we turn to the closing of the year, it seems like that state of the world is the last thing we want to...

My first favorite hermit was Obi-Wan Kenobi, who came to the big screen in the early summer of ’77. I suppose I was drawn to the whole package, the whole iconography of this unusual figure...

As with many archetypal motifs the Hermit (tarot card IX) can present as both a higher and lower modality of itself. In its lower representation, the Hermit may seek withdrawal from society because they feel...

In 1862, John Henry “Professor” Pepper summoned a ghost in front of a live audience. Though the illusion he used dated back at least as far as 16th century Italy, this particular visitation was just...

When I began structuring this essay in my mind, trying to make a rational attempt to contemplate the meaning of the hermit’s card (number 9), a song spontaneously took over and started resonating in my...

As nights lengthen in the Northern Hemisphere and envelop us in darkness, my introverted nature celebrates the invitation to turn inward. The absence of light reduces the frenetic movement of everyday life, a welcomed respite...

I pulled the card, turned it over, and there it was…Death. My stomach turned at the sight of it. It was a sunny day in New Orleans and I was captured by the atmosphere of...

I silently laugh at my own cenotaph, And out of the caverns of rain, Like a child from the womb, like a ghost from the tomb, I arise and unbuild it again. – Percy Shelley,...