In the image, sunrays reach just one of the grass flower stalks. Now, see the little Mouse on the 8 of Swords here. It is climbing up swords so that it can see its landscape better. It’s like a field mouse climbing up grasses just like the ones you see here. It tells us that, when our vision is clouded by our emotions and thoughts, the way out and up and through. As we lift ourselves off above the inner mists, our heads are illuminated by sunlight, and we can see. 

These days may be very much about our feelings, and our subconscious realm. This can manifest as heavy emotions, or even good emotions that take up our entire being. In any case, there’s the sensation of being neck-deep in the inner realities of our heart. Everything we see gets colored by what’s going on inside. The 8 of Swords reminds us that our emotions and beliefs do not happen TO us, as we may subconsciously believe. No, they arise FROM us. They are reflections of the inner language and outlook that we hold the dearest. Amidst this sea of feeling, going up for air means climbing the very emotions and thoughts that we think imprison us, instead of bypassing them.

The Hermit is the ultimate inward looking. She invites us today to shine the light of awareness upon our heart of hearts and find the source of the seaweeds that grasp onto our feet and keep us bound within this ocean. What is the true source of the discontent? If something casually disturbs us, and we look within, we may find out that there is a deeper wound… is it old fears? Is it aged feelings of unworthiness? The same persistent, deep concerns? Is it wounds from the deep past? Ancient strands of belief that keep surfacing? In any event, the call is to realize how our seemingly mundane irritations, our day-to-day reactions to small things, hide a much deeper connection within.

We don’t have to figure it all out today. In fact, this is work for maybe a lifetime. But as we recognize that our surface-level emotional waves have a source much deeper below, we can immediately start to feel a little lighter. The fog becomes less heavy. Our heart can start to be lifted up. The healing starts with acknowledging the depth of the source. It starts today, and will continue for a time.