We often need stillness to understand what is trying to emerge in our hearts. We need quietude, and a bit of solitude, in order to glean what’s arising through us. The Hermit is that stillness, as it invites us to go within, to withdraw from the input from outside of ourselves, and to take a moment to deeply listen to our hearts. In the illustration of The Hermit from the Cosmic Tarot, a star is rising from behind the mountains surrounding the mystic. As he withdraws into quietude, he gives room for that light to rise, he allows his consciousness to see the star that is emerging now, but that was hidden so far. That dome of light from the rising star is the same one that shines from atop the Ace of Cups in the following card. It’s like the Ace of Cups is rising from behind the mountains in The Hermit card. Ace of Cups is opening of our hearts to receiving something that is emerging anew. Ace of Cups is consenting with our awareness to something that is already appearing anyway. Through the gentle quietude that The Hermit beckons us onto, we can be present to what’s arising in our hearts. Through sacred solitude, if only for a moment, we can wake up to new emotional states, transformed ways of being, and to the blessings of today.