When my dear friend and Amulet partner MaryBeth Bonfiglio asked me if I wanted to collaborate with her around a Tarot project she was working on, my answer was an immediate yes.

I love working with the archetypes found in Tarot and I love supporting the work MaryBeth does in the world… She's a brilliant writer and teacher who has created several courses including tarot courses, writing courses and our latest co-creation… Gold.

When she asked which card I thought we should start with, my vote was for the Hermit. As a mama of 4, a creative and highly sensitive woman and a business owner, learning to withdrawal and refuel is essential for me. Essential!

We both love the Hermit card and sentiment and yet in this phase of our lives, neither of us very often get to go off and hunker down in a cabin on the mountain top in total solitude. And so in these images as in our lives we are finding ordinary, real and sometimes very busy spaces and places to go into the quite.

To get the work done.

To restore and revitalize.

To connect with our inner hermit.

The word “hermit” has a negative connotation for many people. But for me, The Hermit does not necessarily represent “loneliness” or “isolation.” If anything, this archetype represents self-discovery, self-reflection, and exquisite self care.

When you honor your inner Hermit, you are saying, “I need to temporarily draw away from the noise and the chaos. It is time to rest and restore myself.” or even "I've got something important to create and I need some space and quiet to do so.

"We don’t always have the luxury of being able to go off and live in the forest — like Thoreau — and we can’t always jet off to a retreat center for six weeks of silent contemplation.

But we can all learn how to access our inner Hermit — with a deep breath, a few moments of meditation, or two minutes in a private room with the door closed and when even two minutes of privacy is an impossibility, we can simply take a stand for our inner quiet by closing our eyes and asking our inner hermit to support us, wherever we are, whatever the circumstances.

These small, everyday moments of hermitude can help us — and heal us. Are you feeling Hermit-like these days? Do you judge yourself when you crave solitude, like it’s something you’re not “allowed” to have or do?

How would it feel to honor your inner Hermit? How would it feel to give yourself exactly what you crave?

xo

~ Danielle

When women partner together with a singular purpose, good things tend to happen. MaryBeth and I have collaborated on another project: an online course called GOLD. This course is all about seeing, understanding and owning your worth. (Because… you? You are worth more than gold.)

Drawing within: the restorative power of The Hermit.