First Quarter Moon in the Ecosystem of Introspection
Moon in Virgo (Hermit)
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn associates Virgo with The Hermit.
The Hermit (Hesychia eremita) belongs to the archetypal lineage of The People of Stillness who tend the Ecosystem of Introspection in the Climate of Devotion. Their sacred task is empty, as in kenosis— the Greek word for self-emptying.
“Truth attained through synthesis is present at a deeper level of consciousness than that of the consciousness of self. It is found in darkness.”
Valentin Tomberg
The Hermit practices emptying the mind to find deeper presence in the body, through the center of spiritual perception: the heart. Why? Because, while the egoic operating system is important to the overall function of a whole self, we humans have a tendency to let it run the whole show.
When my egoic operating system is the only one going, I see the world as binary and myself as separate from it. My heart’s perception is offline, which means I can’t connect to a deeper sense of Self, to my belonging in this world, to my oneness with all that is. I live in opposition. It’s like the lights are out, and all I can do is react to whatever springs out at me from the darkness.
“If you’re protecting yourself, if you’re securing your own image and identity, then you’re still holding on. Your ego remains full of itself—the opposite of kenosis.”
Richard Rohr
Self-emptying is a gesture of love. It is a loving act— for myself and the world I belong to— to practice releasing who I think I am. It is a loving act to allow the stories I create to drop away. It is a loving act to choose to practice loosening the ego’s grip so I can respond from my heart instead of reacting from my wounds. It is the complete exhale that allows for a deep inhale.
Here, at the First Quarter Moon in the Ecosystem of Introspection, The Hermit is asking you to notice where your ego is in overdrive. How much power is being diverted to uphold an idea of you that is at odds with love? Are you sitting in darkness because you tripped a breaker?
Notice where ego is in overdrive in the collective. Can you tell how much power is being diverted to uphold ideas of who "we” think we are? Do you notice how those ideas always seem to be at odds with love? How many of us are sitting in darkness because we can’t let go of a story?
In the words of Arcade Fire: When the power’s out in the heart of man, The Hermit invites you to take it from take it from your heart and put it in your hands.
Until next time,
sara