March’s shadow card is The Hermit.  We are still in the winter months and it is the time of year where we go in and work on our inner selves.  I did not purposely choose this card but I find it fitting that it was a random draw.  This is very much a card of introspection and deep searching.  It is one of seeking guidance and knowledge and looking within oneself to uncover the truth.  The card from the Steampunk deck by Barbara Moore and Aly Fell shows a man standing on a heap of rubble holding a lantern and from it, emitting what appears to be lightening.  In the book, Barbara Moore states that the pile of rubble signifies the information and ideas that he has collected in his journeys.  He appears to be an older gentleman with a long graying beard, further suggesting a wise and sage person who has spent their life accumulating the knowledge that he is standing on.  The lantern suggests that he not only holds the answers in his hands but there are new sparks of ideas that are itching to get out.

The shadow of this card takes solitude to the extreme…spending too much time by your self, being withdrawn from your family and friends, cutting yourself away from everyone.  It can also indicate paranoia, or fear – fear of being by yourself, fear of your thoughts or feelings, fear of your journey or what you might find out.  Fear holds us back from many situations so we keep ourselves in seclusion to keep from getting hurt, but it doesn’t really work.  What we end up doing is hurting ourselves in a different way…we don’t go out and live life, experience it.  If we don’t experience pain, can we truly experience joy?  Ignoring our thoughts and feelings doesn’t make them disappear; we have to face them eventually, as difficult as that may be.

If you are finding yourself spending too much time in seclusion, start journaling to find out why.  Are you afraid of something?  Do you want to be by yourself or do you just not want to be with anyone else (there is a difference)?  Alternatively, do you not spend enough time looking within yourself?  Are you afraid of discovering something that you are not ready to face?  Take the journaling journey to discover why you have the fears that you do.   Journaling is one of the exercises to help you discover your fears that keep you in solitude or keep you from wanting to learn more about yourself.  Another exercise is one that we talked about with the Queen of Pentacles…start going out more.  If you find yourself spending more and more time alone, make yourself go out.  I’m not saying that you have to go out to a party, but call a friend and go out to lunch, or take a walk by a lake…or even just invite them over for tea at your house.  It doesn’t have to be much.  When we take the time to spend with others, those fears tend to disappear and we actually want to spend time with people more and more.  If your shadow is fear of going within yourself because you don’t want to discover something that you are not ready to face (or you already know what it is), start the journey and admit the fear.  Look at yourself in the mirror and say “I am afraid of______”.  Saying it out loud helps that fear to dissipate.  It’s a big step but it is also a great one.  Don’t let fear run your life because you’ll miss out on a lot of greatness.

This month’s affirmation “I am willing to go within and face my fears.” 

The Hermit card from Steampunk Tarot by Barbara Moore and Aly Fell