The Druids were men and women who were religious leaders, legal authorities and advisors, keepers of the ancient lore and medical professionals. They passed down their teachings orally and it took many years of dedicated study to become a Druid. They were known not to have relied on scripture or the written word to transmit their teachings. Long story short, they were the learned men and women of their day.

In myths, in history and in folklore, Druids are often depicted as the ones who wield magic and possess the ability to predict and influence the future. These abilities did not come about by happenstance, but rather, through a long period of dedicated study which was either self-guided or undertaken under the discipline of a Master Teacher.

The Wisdom Within

I know that there is a purpose for my being born. Sometimes, I do not know what that purpose is. But if I look within me and the fabric of my being, I have faith that the star within will guide me to the answers that I am seeking.

The deepest sense of truth and wisdom is within and not in the people or distractions around us for they will rise and fall; come and go. What we consider and describe as ‘reality’ is but the rise and fall of various phenomena that occur or fail to occur in the world.

To self-realise the hermit archetype, we are required to embark on a journey that allows us to reflect on our goals, our beliefs and our guiding principles. It is this journey that will lead us to our True Self.

The hermit phase in one’s life may have been triggered by a crisis. Due to an unforeseeable crisis, problems and issues came into your life over which you had no control. Sometimes it is the decisions and the advise of others that leads us down the path of self-doubt. They simply do not have faith in us, in our abilities and in our dreams. When we listen to the naysayers long enough, we begin to wonder if we are ‘good enough’ to live the life of our dreams. Perhaps we have been disappointed by others and decided that enough is enough. We walked away and called it quits.

Whatever precipitated our need to be alone will also come to an end. If you have been betrayed, backstabbed, neglected and even abused by someone, this could lead a person to withdraw and self-isolate. If this has happened to you, in some form or another, the encouragement and guidance is to resume spending time with people, especially those in whom we can place our trust.

A counsellor or a therapist is a good temporary substitute for a trusted friend. The key word here is temporary. They are there to help you transition into the next phase of your life till you can once again find a safe space to confess your worries and issues instead of bottling it up inside. This will help a lot in allowing us to come to terms with what we have gone through as we put it behind us permanently and move into a completely new era in our lives.

The White Stag

The motif of the white stag is a prominent feature in a number of Arthurian myths. The stag is a symbol of a man’s spiritual journey and is considered a messenger from the underworld. The antlers of the stag are a symbol of male fertility. Since they shed and re-grow each year, they symbolise the power of the Divine Masculine to give birth in a way that is unique to men.

The White Stag, in particular, is a magical creature in Celtic legends. They are magical because they are rare. The colouring of the white stag also corresponds to the Sun which is pure white in colour. The antlers of the stag symbolise our receptivity to the light of the heavens. In iconography, it is not uncommon to see a stag holding either the Sun or the Moon in between its antlers.

The stag is an elusive animal. Although it is a prey animal, it is impossible to catch and is excellent at evading capture. Like the white stag, there are many that may dismiss the hermit archetype as a myth. But it is not a myth. Myths reveal the parts of ourselves that cannot be seen but that exist within us and within the unseen tapestry of our being.

On a mundane level, the white stag represents a much-needed break from your regular activities. In tarot, the hermit–as a major arcana card–symbolises that ‘it’ will be a significant phase and period in one’s life. During this phase, we are guided to actualise the myth itself. It comes as a reminder that what is a myth is not necessarily unreal. There are elements of the myth that reveal the aspects of our psyche that are running the show of our lives in a very real way.

At the same time, even that very journey of self-imposed isolation will come to an end. This period of seclusion, isolation and independence, too, eventually comes to an end. It is not meant to last forever. It is a reminder to everyone that periods of self-reflection and self-healing must also reach their natural and timely conclusion. The time comes to begin putting ourselves out there. Reintegration into society is necessary at the end of such a quest.

After all, man and woman were never made to be alone.