Glossary - exWitch Australia (formerly 'Born Again Pagan')

HERMIT, The

In the Tarot and Kabbalistic thought: The ninth Arcanum, and identified with the Hebrew letter yod. As the Yod (or "I") of IHVH it is the singularity of all things. It's evident that there is only one being at the center and no other identity is real. The dark-cloaked figure who, knowing that self outside the center is but illusion, shuns outer reality in order to concentrate on the center of the cosmos within.

The Hermit (Zodiacal sign of the Virgin) was to Aleister Crowley, " the hidden god" that is present in every man, the dormant genius it was his hope eventually to release. The Hermit of the Tarot is not just an ordinary wanderer nor does he represent even a Holy Man, living in the desert, eating locusts and wild honey. A true hermit has no need to set himself apart, even in a crowd there is only himself.

Each of us is a hermit - or rather, each of us is the One Hermit, who is God, utterly without company in the entire reaches of time and space. For our individual differences are but illusion and the being who looks out of the million-windowed room is the One Mind that inhabits all things. Teachers draw our attention to the endless line of identical cowled monks marching single file up the icy mountains of consciousness and then down into the valleys of death.

see also: KABBALAH

PLEASE NOTE:
One of the major problems with 'defining' Paganism and/or its beliefs and practices is that it is an 'organic' movement, in that it is undergoing constant change and re-evaluation from within, and as such any 'one-size-fits-all' approach to understanding Paganism will be found wanting.

Due to the very 'organic' nature of Paganism, and the many differing Paths and Traditions within it, in many cases no one definition may be universally accepted by all Pagans. Therefore, where such cases of possible conflicting and/or contradictory meanings of certain terms occur I have endevoured to give not only the generally accepted meaning, but also any major 'variations' in belief and/or practice.

Christians who believe this difference in meaning of certain key terms, beliefs and practices to be unique to Paganism need to remember that such conflicts also arise within the Body of Christ - the Church. Take for instance the differing practices amongst Christians concerning Baptism and the different attitudes towards women in the clergy.

- Jean-Luc

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