Practitioner · 14 min
Strength and the Hermit
The inner row begins: Strength's gentle courage and The Hermit's lantern, read from their pictures, across their range and against the cards they are confused with.
In this lesson you will
- Recognize Strength and The Hermit from their key symbols.
- Read each card across its range, upright and reversed, in love, work, self and money.
- Tell Strength from the Queen of Wands and The Hermit from the Four of Swords.
After a stressful season you notice two pulls at once: your temper is shorter than usual, and you long to switch off your phone and disappear for a while. Both are signals worth reading rather than obeying.
The second row begins
With Strength (VIII) and The Hermit (IX) the Majors turn inward. The first row was about acting in the world; the second row is about what happens inside you while you do. Strength is courage of the gentle kind: meeting a strong feeling without being ruled by it or crushing it. The Hermit is solitude with a purpose: stepping back to find your own light.
Both cards are quiet, and both are strong. Neither one wins by force, and neither one runs away. Strength stays with the lion; The Hermit climbs the mountain to see more clearly, and holds up his lantern for whoever comes after.
When one of them appears, ask whether this moment needs patient courage with something difficult, or some time apart to listen to yourself.
This lesson is part of Plus
Plus opens every lesson of the Practitioner, Reader and Advanced tiers, with practice that explains every answer.
What the lesson covers
- Strength: gentle courage
- The Hermit: the inner light
- Commonly confused
- Practice
Foundations and the first lesson of every course are free.