The Hermit

The Hermit is the 9th card of the Major Arcana. I took this picture last summer right accross from where I live. The door was open, I stepped in and found myself in a magical corridor of green. I looked down and saw my shadow with the branch on top of the grass....green on green. I felt mysterious aloneness, as if looking at myself, outside of myself. At that moment I was definitely the Hermit.

The Hermit is not about socializing. It is about pairing down your life to the essentials so that you can reflect on your journey. The legend says that the Greek philosopher Diogenes was seen walking with a lantern, when asked what are you looking for, he responded "I am looking for an honest man". I think this is where the Hermit symbol came from. The Hermit is about looking within for the truth without the veil of rose colored glasses.

Should a person pull this card it is time to take a break from one's busy life, or ideally, go on a retreat. Isolate yourself for a moment, a night, a period to reflect on whether you are compromising yourself in a situation? A relationship? This is a good time to ask yourself: Are you postponing something? Are you not accepting your own truth? Do you really love the one you are living with?

Take the time to enjoy aloneness. As a zen master would say, "sit down, have a cup of tea".

The Fool

This picture was taken on the shore of the Boulder creek. The young man had just finished creating scultpures with stones in the water. He was the clear picture of the fool for love, creating something beautiful for its own sake and for our pleasure. I found out that it took him two days to create these sculptures, and dispite the wind these stones hadn't moved. The balance was incredible. I felt as though I had come upon a mystical scene, the creation with the creator.

This card is the zero, or first card in the deck, because as I said in the card, he is iconoclastic...he walks the earth to the beat of his own drum. He is represented often as a wanderer by a cliff. He can jump and not be afraid. In other words, he leaps into the unknown fearlessly never losing his sense of humor about life, trials and error, mistakes, and physical impedements.

When I see this card in a reading it is signaling to me that the person has to face his or her fears of change and practice laughter along the way. It is time to be brave. Rehearsing being brave is very useful along the way to leaving the body into the mystery of our being. It is a strong reminder that we are ON A JOURNEY!


This is a picture of our beautiful fools artwork.

The Magician

This is the second card in the deck, called number one, because the zero is the Fool. I took this picture in the gallery of the Boulder public library. I liked how it was a transparency, so there are pictures within pictures within pictures. You can see sculptures, people walking, even a face. It reminded me of how the mind functions, in distractions and layers. The magician, having a clear intellect, never gets lost in the labyrinth of the mind.

It is our work on the planet to find our way through the labyrinth of the mind, and the Magician is a master at finding his way and helping others to find their way as well. He is known as a master of illusions, because he is able to see beyond the illusion of the earthly plane. This is what gives him the power because he can juggle ideas, space and time...never losing a ball!

If you come to see me as your guide, we can explore your particular dilemmas, moral confusion, and explore what is the right and truthful action. It is always very exciting for me to see someone energetically shifting. In other words, I can hear their heart saying 'Got it'!