Tarot del Fuego - The Hermit - 9
The snake staff runs to the bottom of the plate, where it is seen to be intertwined, copulating, with a red serpent who is crawling on the ground. These serpents are the vibratory pulsations that spontaneously radiate from pure unconditioned Consciousness (The Fool/Paramashiva/Brahman). These fluttering pulsations go on to become what the Tantrikas call the mutually adapted senses and their objects represented by later cards of the Major Arcana. The coming together of the senses and the phenomena they are designed to apprehend is seen, in metaphysical terms, as an inherently sexual act. Sound penetrates the ear, the auditory nerves and cortex in the same way that male and female generative organs come together. The sound plants a seed which gestates and becomes some form of mental conditioning or another. When Pavlov's Dogs heard a bell, they salivated involuntarily in anticipation of a meal. The senses are constantly being bombarded in this way. It would be an impossible task to even begin to keep track of all the mental conditioning that is unceasingly being born of this onslaught. The Hermit is virginal because he is one of the effects that precedes the senses and sense objects. He is their cause and initiator, but exists upstream of them on the hierarchy of manifestation.
In the background is a tower sitting atop a mountain, reaching for the heavens. It calls to mind the Tower of Babel prior to its being struck down by the wrath of God. The Hermit is far from it, with his back turned to it. He doesn't speak and he doesn't hear the words that are uttered in its halls. His unwavering focus upon the Inner Light of Consciousness keeps him far from the hubris of Man.
In the foreground is the Tapir of Life and Death. He carries us, not only through life, but through successions of lives. He looks like he's part elephant and part pig. He is a mixture of disparate elements, just as Consciousness at this level of manifestation is coming to develop a sense of self that is actually a composite of various elements.
Tapirs have prehensile noses that they use to grab and reach things, as a snorkel, and to forage food both above and below water. Speaking of hands, the Hebrew letter that corresponds to the Hermit is yod, an open hand. Since the tapir's hand is also his nose, the tapir is a symbol that links yod to sense perceptions.
The tapir plays a pivotal role in propagating and perpetuating the forest via seeds that have passed through his digestive tract. Virgo, which we've already mentioned corresponds to the Hermit, is in analogy with the digestive tract of the physical body. Sense perceptions flow through him and pass through the other side as seeds that will bear the fruit that characterizes our lives. The type of fruit that that turns out to be is a function of our desire. Virgo/the Hermit/the Tapir is, in fact, desire itself.
In the Tantrik teaching on the Principles responsible for the manifestation of Consciousness, the ninth Principle is rāga, or desire. This is the third kañchuka, or shell, donned by Consciousness which constitutes a limited version of its ordinarily unlimited powers. Rāga is Consciousness' limited power of Will (iccha/the Empress). Where iccha represents the first stirring of Consciousness toward expressing itself, rāga is the result of a fractional portion of this same power being delegated to the apparently separate individual unit of consciousness. It expresses itself in the individual as a non-specific craving. Different people strive to fill this perceived hole in the soul, this sense of emptiness, incompleteness, or dissatisfaction in different ways. But the root of this condition is the same in everybody. It stems from the perceived state separation from everything else in the whole of existence. What this longing really is is a memory of a phase in our existence when we were united with the totality of Consciousness and the universe. It's an aching for a time before time when we were whole. We try to complete ourselves with food, sex, distractions, entertainment, achievements, relationships, and drugs, but are inevitably disappointed by what are ultimately also ephemeral, partial manifestations of the Divine like we are. The rush we get from them has no staying power, nor do the things themselves. Relationships end, people die, jobs go away, riches dry up, and the people who praise you one day will damn you the next. Even if they didn't, the high would wear off. Like the Tapir who regenerates the forest by digesting fruits and berries, excreting their seeds on the ground, the sense objects we perceive while propelled by desire and craving sow the seeds of subsequent lives characterized by more craving and more suffering. The word rāga literally means "color." Like a dye, it stains our experiences and distorts our perception of reality.
But the outstretched hand (yod) has two meanings. It can be a gesture of begging, of seeking something outside of itself in search of some sort of fulfillment. Conversely, it can also be a benediction. The Buddha, Ganesha, and most other Hindu (and many other Asian) deities are depicted giving the gesture of fearlessness, the abhaya mudra. It confers protection from both evil and ignorance.
This Principle is a blessing and a curse. Its depiction as the Hermit is a clue regarding how to receive the benediction it offers. The Hermit has cloistered himself away from society. He doesn't seek fame, fortune, or sense-gratification. He remains virginal, his mind uncolored by the stain of desire. Blindfolded, he doesn't seek fulfillment from sensory input. Guided by his own inner Light, the Light of Consciousness, he remains in contact with his own identity with Consciousness; with Anuttara, the Absolute. Desire expands into its full expression as the Divine power of Will. The only desire that remains intact, unburned by this flowering of Consciousness, is the desire of Consciousness to express and to know itself. It is already whole and complete in itself, thus there is nothing which can be added to the contentment and satisfaction already inherent within. No sense pleasure can ever give it anything which it doesn't already possess.
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Tapirs have prehensile noses that they use to grab and reach things, as a snorkel, and to forage food both above and below water. Speaking of hands, the Hebrew letter that corresponds to the Hermit is yod, an open hand. Since the tapir's hand is also his nose, the tapir is a symbol that links yod to sense perceptions.
The tapir plays a pivotal role in propagating and perpetuating the forest via seeds that have passed through his digestive tract. Virgo, which we've already mentioned corresponds to the Hermit, is in analogy with the digestive tract of the physical body. Sense perceptions flow through him and pass through the other side as seeds that will bear the fruit that characterizes our lives. The type of fruit that that turns out to be is a function of our desire. Virgo/the Hermit/the Tapir is, in fact, desire itself.
In the Tantrik teaching on the Principles responsible for the manifestation of Consciousness, the ninth Principle is rāga, or desire. This is the third kañchuka, or shell, donned by Consciousness which constitutes a limited version of its ordinarily unlimited powers. Rāga is Consciousness' limited power of Will (iccha/the Empress). Where iccha represents the first stirring of Consciousness toward expressing itself, rāga is the result of a fractional portion of this same power being delegated to the apparently separate individual unit of consciousness. It expresses itself in the individual as a non-specific craving. Different people strive to fill this perceived hole in the soul, this sense of emptiness, incompleteness, or dissatisfaction in different ways. But the root of this condition is the same in everybody. It stems from the perceived state separation from everything else in the whole of existence. What this longing really is is a memory of a phase in our existence when we were united with the totality of Consciousness and the universe. It's an aching for a time before time when we were whole. We try to complete ourselves with food, sex, distractions, entertainment, achievements, relationships, and drugs, but are inevitably disappointed by what are ultimately also ephemeral, partial manifestations of the Divine like we are. The rush we get from them has no staying power, nor do the things themselves. Relationships end, people die, jobs go away, riches dry up, and the people who praise you one day will damn you the next. Even if they didn't, the high would wear off. Like the Tapir who regenerates the forest by digesting fruits and berries, excreting their seeds on the ground, the sense objects we perceive while propelled by desire and craving sow the seeds of subsequent lives characterized by more craving and more suffering. The word rāga literally means "color." Like a dye, it stains our experiences and distorts our perception of reality.
But the outstretched hand (yod) has two meanings. It can be a gesture of begging, of seeking something outside of itself in search of some sort of fulfillment. Conversely, it can also be a benediction. The Buddha, Ganesha, and most other Hindu (and many other Asian) deities are depicted giving the gesture of fearlessness, the abhaya mudra. It confers protection from both evil and ignorance.
This Principle is a blessing and a curse. Its depiction as the Hermit is a clue regarding how to receive the benediction it offers. The Hermit has cloistered himself away from society. He doesn't seek fame, fortune, or sense-gratification. He remains virginal, his mind uncolored by the stain of desire. Blindfolded, he doesn't seek fulfillment from sensory input. Guided by his own inner Light, the Light of Consciousness, he remains in contact with his own identity with Consciousness; with Anuttara, the Absolute. Desire expands into its full expression as the Divine power of Will. The only desire that remains intact, unburned by this flowering of Consciousness, is the desire of Consciousness to express and to know itself. It is already whole and complete in itself, thus there is nothing which can be added to the contentment and satisfaction already inherent within. No sense pleasure can ever give it anything which it doesn't already possess.
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