An archetypal framework exploring why the Magician gravitates toward the Hermit's solitary mastery but requires the Lovers' relational fire to actually evolve. Through the lens of Tarot and astrology, this piece examines Mercury's exaltation in Virgo (the Hermit's peak clarity) versus its functional chaos in Gemini (the Lovers' mirror), and maps the initiation that separates those who protect their signal from those who learn to carry it into the mess of human connection. Includes practical diagnostics for discerning which fires forge and which just burn, how to bring a Lover into the cave without collapsing it, and why the highest sovereignty isn't being untouchable—it's being impact-capable.

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Thank you for joining me for another episode.

I got a guest.

Y' all may have heard his voice.

I know you heard his voice before.

You may have heard the voice during the cusp.

Mr. Taro.

How you doing, Mr. Taro?

I'm doing well, sir.

Thank you for asking me to be a part of this.

Well, I was discussing astrology mixed with a little tarot, and I figured it might be good to have someone with the name Tarot to come on and discuss this with me.

Yep, that'd be tarot360 astrology.

You can find me on Instagram.

That's where I was posting some things.

I'll be starting to and everything now and.

All right, well, today we're going to be talking about the magician's paradox, and we are going to discuss three cards.

The magician, the hermit, the lovers.

Tyro becomes most powerful when we recognize that these cars are not random images, but precise maps of consciousness, each one revealing a specific initiation, a particular test, a distinct mode of power.

In astrology, a lot of planets rule two signs, except for the two lights, sun and Moon.

The rest rule two signs.

And this doesn't.

I'm talking traditional rulership at this moment.

I'm not talking about Neptune, Uranus and Pluto.

But Mercury, the planet of the messenger of God, rules two signs, Virgo and Gemini.

We all know that.

Well, us Astrology and Tarot are closely connected.

And when it comes to tarot and astrology, Mercury is represented by the magician in the deck, Virgo is represented by the hermit, and.

Gemini is represented by the lovers.

Now, the Hermit represents the solitary master, the lantern, the lantern bearer who withdraws to distill wisdom in silence.

The sign to refine the signal.

Intuition unfiltered.

The self learning to hear its own voice without external interference.

Mr. Tarot, what say you about the Hermit?

The Hermit is going to be representative of feminine energy with Mercury as opposed to the lovers, which is going to be masculine energy.

And that hermit, I agree, allows you to do self analysis and introspection without outside influence or dynamic.

All right, now, the lovers is represented by Gemini and Jimin.

The lovers is rational choice, the mirror that forces you to see yourself through another's siren.

Being's eyes.

Intuition tested against reality.

Emotions colliding with projections and needs.

And when it comes to the lovers, the question can.

Can be.

Can you maintain your truth while being touched?

Get y' all minds out the gutters.

It's an interesting dichotomy, if you will, with that card, because it's actually indicative of choices that have to be made when you're involved with someone which would be the opposite of the Hermit, where you have more solitude or exclusivity.

You're more exclusive with the Hermit and with that lovers.

It's an interaction with someone else.

And the choices that have to be made are going to affect the other person and you as well.

Because now you have external influence as compared to internal.

Only when you're in Hermit mode, when you transition over to that lovers mode.

And the magician guard, like we said, Magician is Mercury in the deck.

Mercury and astrology has to do with communication, thoughts, perception.

And the magician speaks to conscious manifestation because, well, the one who stands with all the four elements, if you look at the magician, the card, he has the four elements.

The wine which is will, he has the cups, which is emotion, he has the sword which is intellect, and the pinnacle which is the body.

And it creates reality through focused intention, the bridge between vision and form.

And you know, you remember Tarot, we did that episode when we went through the whole deck and we went from the fool fall, the soul falling into down here.

And now we have to.

The magician has to learn how to use the four elements.

Going to be mastery of those.

And those four elements you're referencing is going to be that earth, air, fire and water which is depicted on the table on that Magician card in the Tarot deck.

And that is him really mastering that form of manifestation.

Because the Hermit card is where you're going to first take a step back and enable a deep understanding.

And then if you factor in the Lovers card, that's where you can test the understanding that you have with others in real life.

And then when you incorporate the Magician card, which is Mercury ruling both of the lovers and the Hermit, that enables you to act and create from what has survived the test being that Lovers card.

Yes.

And so you just introduced the circuit of the hermit who is learning to refine the tools and work with the tools, getting introduced to the lovers, where he that those tools get tested under pressure.

And then the magician will has to go out in the world and will these tools.

Right now the magician prefers the Hermit, but he needs the lovers to actually grow.

And you ask yourself, why would the magician prefer the Hermit?

Well, astrologically speaking, Mercury is exalted in Virgo.

So the magician Mercury, which is pure intellect, communication as magic, prefers the Hermit because Mercury is exalted in.

In the Hermit and, and the Hermit again is Virgo.

And Caval mentioned that Mercury, Virgo is Mercury's feminine expression.

Why?

Because Virgo is an earth sign.

And it's about refinement through solitude.

Refinement through solitude.

The lovers, which Mercury also rules as what itself is Gemini.

And Gemini again as tarot reference is masculine expression of Mercury.

The exchange of through duality.

You know, Gemini is the twins.

The sun is the twins and.

And the lovers God.

You have two people again.

Mercury is exalted in Virgo, and the hermit prefers a cave.

And in the cave, Mercury is able to reach peak capacity.

Mercury can be most precise, most refined, most powerful and analytical.

Gemini is mere, is Mercury's domicile.

But Mercury in Gemini is quick but scattered, clever but chaotic.

Think of.

Think of Mercury, Virgo as Mercury's.

Home extended.

No.

Well, think of Virgo as Mercury's main home and Gemini as Mercury's vacation home for spring break getaways.

You like that one, Turtle?

I do.

Some very enlightening things can occur during spring break.

Hey, we are talking about the lovers card.

Yes.

So is leaving the cave.

Leaving the cave for the hermit could feel like a downgrade.

It's like you're stepping down from an exalted throne into functional but messy.

Messy relations.

Relational territory.

Of course, the magician prefers the hermit.

In Virgo, Mercury is God.

But in Gemini, Mercury is just clever.

A snake oil salesman, A used car salesman.

But the trap of exaltation without application is sterile.

Any thought on that exhortation without application is sterile.

That could be an issue because you're never really applying insight.

If you're sterile or stagnant, you're not interacting.

When reflection or understanding stays internal, it turns inward.

And you can become overly critical and you can become stuck in analysis or emotionally distant.

The knowledge that you acquire or attain stop serving you and it actually starts protecting you in an egotistical manner.

At some point.

Knowing more doesn't help you.

It can trap you because insight needs movement or interaction, or it just stagnates.

And wisdom has a yearning for expression or co. Mingling with others with a dialogue or an exchange of ideas back and forth between two people.

We go back to that lovers with the duality.

Because now you're actually testing concepts or ideas or feelings that you processed or analyzed which are Virgo words with that hermit.

And you can put them to test a reality with that lovers or which is a Gemini.

But that could become chaotic because now you're interacting and can get a pushback on your feelings or ideas.

Because now you've escaped solitude of that cave setting and you're open in the public or interacting with somebody else.

Now in A relationship dynamic.

Yeah.

So you can receive.

You could achieve perfect intellect, flawless analysis, crystalline clarity, but accomplishing nothing if you never leave the cave.

This produces the academic who knows everything but creates nothing.

Which reminds me of a conversation I had last night.

Hey, you got a whole bunch of ideas but can show me where you.

Your ideas have produced something.

Anywho.

I heard about that?

Was you there?

Yeah, I. I may or may not have been in the area when that dialogue was exchanged.

The hermit whose wisdom dies with.

With them.

You know that reminds me of a joke.

You know what you never seen?

You never.

You know what you never see following the funeral?

A U haul with all your stuff, taking it with you there.

There is a few instances of people that have been buried with numerous belongings of value.

Are you talking about the Egyptians?

Oh no, no.

Here in America.

Oh, all right.

Well, we are talking about the hermit, but who.

Anyway, I digress.

The hermit who dies with the perfectionist who never ships.

You know, hey, you got that creative idea but.

And somebody makes an order, but you never ship it off.

The Sovereign who's so refined they can't relate to the messy chaos of.

Of human connection.

I don't want to go out the cave.

Humans are out there.

The lover, the lovers card isn't where mercury is exalted, is where mercury gets tested.

And the question becomes, can your truth survive contact with another mind?

Any thought there.

Can you.

Can your truth survive contact with another mind?

What's that mean to you?

Terror.

Your ideals or perceptions may not align with the other individual that you're interacting with.

So you could get pushback which could be controversial because they are challenging your stance or your perspective with things.

Because now again you're not in that solitude.

You're in that lovers.

And that can become chaotic energy because it's not one sided.

Now you're engaging.

Something comes to my mind.

This is my truth.

Yeah, it is your truth.

But what happens when you take your truth outside the cave and you say your truth to others?

More than one person.

Person outside the cave.

What is their response to your truth?

Can your clarity hold when you're emotionally activated?

Obviously you were saying about with your truth being where you're coming from.

Your truth may not be reality because it could be distorted and reality is actually going to show up through other people or another person if you're involved with them.

So that would be a confirmation of your truth.

But you shouldn't necessarily be seeking external validation.

All right.

Can you communicate wisdom in a way that actually lands or have you just Become fluent in a language no one else speaks.

The magicians real initiation, learning to carry exalted clarity into relational chaos and not collapsing.

Can you communicate wisdom in a way that actually lands?

Or are you.

Are you just becoming fluent in a language no one else speaks?

What does that mean to me?

It means when you speak and you stop talking, does the other person understand what you said?

And when they respond and.

And you.

And you hear what they saying you said?

That's not what I meant.

Are you speaking with clarity or are you speaking a language no one else speaks?

As in does it make sense inside your head?

But when it comes out your mouth, is it.

Are you speaking another language that no one else understands?

Any thoughts?

Silence can feel like the truth because there's no resistance.

So that definitely comes to mind.

And also what you mean by that.

What you mean by that, what's that mean?

We were talking a few minutes ago about your perception of the truth may not be reality.

And that's where you can get pushback when you're interacting with other people.

Or resistance would be another word with that.

And just because you believe something, that doesn't make it true.

Because as I was saying a little bit ago, your perception could be distorted and not fact based.

When you get your feelings all involved in things, emotion distorts reality.

So you.

Are you trying to tell me Captain America is not real?

I didn't say that.

Oh.

Now Mercury, we told you the connection between the hermit and the lovers.

And it's mercury and the hermit and the lovers aren't opposites.

There are two phases of one breath.

The hermit is the inhale.

We told you Virgo was feminine energy.

And the hermit is drawing everything inward, distilling wisdom, distilling experience into wisdom and refining the signal.

The lovers is the exhale.

Expressing that core into relationship, testing whether your truth is.

Is rooted in reality or just a comfortable isolation.

Mastery isn't choosing one.

Mastery is regulating the breath.

Holding your breath, Staying only in hermit mode leads to stagnation, which you kind of referenced already.

Tarot.

Wisdom becomes sterile, unable to translate into messy emotional human language.

Hyperventilating, staying only in the lovers leads to depletion.

Losing yourself in the intensity, going from fire to fire without integrating what the flames were meant to teach you.

Any thoughts?

Yeah.

So a healthy growth that's grounded in stability needs both retreat and engagement.

So the retreat we go to the hermit, the engagement we can go with the lovers.

The interaction.

Too much.

That will be the inhale.

Exhale.

Yes.

All right.

Yes.

Too much Withdrawal can lead to stagnation.

Too much intensity can lead to burnout.

So growth is rhythmic, as in a balancing act.

Pulling inward is going to help you process and integrate thoughts or ideas.

Moving outward helps you apply and learn.

And problems happen when someone only retreats or only engages.

Think of a seesaw with a balance in act.

And if you have it lopsided one way it's going to be over emphasized as compared to under emphasized, which will create instability or unbalance.

So with that internal withdrawal we have the hermit or the inhale.

And with that exhale you're going to have the Gemini.

But the purpose of a seesaw is to go up and down.

Sometimes that motion can become chaotic and you want to mitigate the resistance and have it even keel because you have to exit that sees all eventually in a manner that's not going to be detrimental, shall we say.

All right.

The last thing that said was going from fire to fire without integrating what the flames were meant to teach.

You have a saying that reminds me of this line.

What would that be if you don't heal?

Look, going from fire to fire without integrating what the flames were meant to teach.

What, what's your saying that goes with that?

If you don't heal what hurt you, you'll bleed on to people that never.

Cut you because they didn't integrate the lesson.

That's exactly right.

They that fire fluidity fires action when it's a fluid movement is what I mean.

Not fluid as in water fluid movement.

And people go from one relationship to the next.

And there was no inter interim.

They just progressed and meshed and right into the next one.

And they have baggage or wounds that weren't healed that they carry with them.

And now they dump that on the next person that they're with because they didn't take the most precious commodity, the most that I talk about.

Time to heal and do some of the hermit, the isolation and the internal reflection or introspection on that relationship and issues that happened.

And they jump right in to the lovers, that interaction with somebody else.

So you go from that hermit mode to the lovers mode with the healing process that was non existent.

So you're still scarred and you are bleeding onto this next person that you're involved with who didn't cause any of the trauma that you've been subjected to.

And now it's their problem.

So you took your bags off of one train and you got onto another train.

But we say, could we say they just jumping from lovers car to lovers card, never going to the hermit yes.

You can definitely say that.

Which is interesting, because you don't necessarily outgrow these specific tarot cards.

You rotate through them because there's life happens.

Yeah.

And there's stages that occur that prepare you for the next.

But if something cataclysmic, event or something catastrophic occurs, you have to revert back to other cards which help you analyze and process and heal and then move forward again.

Yeah.

Now, speaking of moving forward, we have the internal versus the relational.

Again, Hermit would be more internal.

Relational would be lovers.

And when it comes to that, we have the violence of intuition.

And violence here is not what you think.

Domestic violence.

Here, we're talking about raw, disruptive force, stripping away of the illusions, forcing you to face what's real.

In the Hermit, the violence is internal.

The ego stripped away in solitude, clean.

Because you hold the knife, you control the pace unopposed.

But there's another reason.

It feels easier.

This is where the.

This is where Mercury is exalted.

Your mind functions at peak.

Discernment is flawless.

Intuition can be pure signal.

Of course you want to stay there.

You're operating from the throne, Mercury's throne.

But in the Lovers, the violence is relational.

The intuition gets violated by the needs and projection and chaos of another.

It's like trying to meditate in the middle of a riot signal, constantly being interfered with.

Clarity.

Your clarity is constantly being challenged by another.

You're no longer exalted in.

In the Hermit, in the cave.

You're in Gemini, where Mercury is just merely functional.

It's quick and clever, but Mercury is also scattered here.

It feels like domination because it is.

But the paradox is this is the interference point.

The interference is the point.

The lovers doesn't just test intuition.

It reveals where your intuition was built on.

If it collapses under another person's reality, it wasn't rooted in truth.

It was rooted in the comfort of being alone.

True intuition, the kind that can guide you in the world, must survive contact with another sovereign being.

What say you?

That is very accurate.

And I'm thinking about.

When you're alone, you set the pace.

When you're in a relationship, you don't.

You know that come, a song comes to mind.

The.

The goat, LL Cool J.

When I'm alone in my room Sometimes I stare at the wall and in the back of my mind I hear my conscience call Telling me I need a girl who's as sweet as a dub and the first time in my life I see I need love.

Oh, my bad.

Shout out to LL Cool J.

Continue.

Tarot.

I mean, thank you for that ear bleeding, acapella rendition of LL Cool J. I need love.

Well, we are discussing the lovers call her.

Yes, yes, that we are.

And.

And he was sitting in his room alone as the hermit.

Yeah.

Yep.

And then, you know, we need lot.

You know, when you have all that solitude, you know, somebody, you know, sometimes people, the loneliness is overwhelming and can envelop you.

And then you yearn for external contact with somebody.

So you're setting that pace when you're alone, but when you're in a relationship, you don't really have that control anymore.

I would say you would relinquish that control.

And that loss of timing or control can feel threatening.

And that's also where learning can occur.

When that happens, what scares a lot of people the most is losing control, not necessarily discomfort, because people can find security and safety if they're with somebody that is going to provide, you know, protection in a safe environment.

So they're okay with relinquishing that control to the other individual in a relationship.

Because the dynamic is there with safety, security.

Also communication, a word which we didn't really throw out there, or I didn't with the lovers card being ruled by Mercury, the planet of communication.

And that's essential with a relationship.

You really learn the fastest when you can't manage everything because adaptability has to come into play.

The hermit can hurt, but you're the one holding the knife.

The lover can hurt because the other person is holding the knife.

And when they holding a knife, they actually can throw it.

They can.

And if you're agile then, and flexible, you're able to maneuver out of the way so that you don't get impaled by the knife that is thrown or projected towards you.

Huh?

Which you know, which gives us to choices.

Yeah.

The real test, choices versus virtues.

Some would say vices over virtues, you know, but what is virtues?

Virtues are inherited rules.

That's the I should I ought to program.

It's outside pressure, what you claim.

When it's easy, choices are enacted, when the stakes are real, dynamic, alive.

Only existing choices only exist under pressure, revealing who you actually are.

When comfortable stories no longer hold.

The hermit lets you study virtues.

The lovers makes you answer with the.

With your body, with your time, and with your vulnerability.

The lovers doesn't ask, do you value honesty?

The lovers acts.

Will you tell the truth when it might cost you the connection?

Ouch.

Will you let me repeat that?

Will you tell the truth when it might cost you the connection?

Are you being.

Are you sovereign?

Can you choose your Soul path over familiar patterns.

Even walking away from someone you love.

This is where virtue gets tested.

Will you choose peace or growth?

Truth or comfort?

Alignment or attachment?

And here's what destroys the endurance narrative that most of these spiritual communities push.

Yep.

Your positive vibes only communities.

Sometimes the highest choice is to leave.

Not because you gave up.

Not because you couldn't handle it.

But because you recognize not every fire is your initiation.

And and you had the courage to act even when every part of you wanted to stay.

Any thoughts?

Terrible.

You really discover who you are when something is on the line and the lovers card doesn't care what you believe.

It watches what you do.

Does your words match your actions.

Exactly.

It's easy to say what you value when nothing is really at risk.

And when something important can be lost.

Your actual priorities show up through action.

I could say beliefs are cheap, but choices cost something.

Values live in your behavior.

Choices live in your action.

You know I say something that could be triggering to people when I say it.

But stop.

Look around you.

You see.

You see everything around you.

See what you got.

You see what you have.

You see who you with.

All of everything you see.

Everything you have can be directly traced back to a life choice of yours.

What you have and what you don't have can be traced directly back to.

A choice that's probably going to hit people on many different levels.

Because with you saying that you are making someone be accountable.

And many people have issues with accountability.

They like to deflect, they like to digress and they like to pull the victim card out of their pocket as their justification or excuse for action or lack thereof.

With their choices about that lovers with choices in duality that they made and with you making them stop and look around.

You may now be observing collateral damage from choices that you made externally.

Maybe you're stopping and looking around and you're feeling collateral damage internally from choices that you made.

That's going to hit people on a deep level with self reflection.

Well, I say it for a reason.

Because maybe you will start taking your choices more seriously.

Choices have consequences.

That's why you're bringing that up.

Because now you're enacting action with a choice which there's going to be a reaction from that.

Yeah, no, I know I talked about.

Hey, we gonna talk about three cards but I snuck another card up in here.

You did?

Yeah.

Look at you.

You know with this card what comes to mind is a saying only God could judge.

It's not right.

It's not right to judge.

Who are you to judge me.

And in the tarot deck, there is a card.

Judgment.

Now, judgment.

Most frameworks romanticize, hey, Staying present, doing the work and leaving is failure.

Staying is growth.

Endurance is mastery.

But when you insert judgment, not moralizing it, but as recognition.

The moment after the fire, when you see clearly what the heat was doing.

So the real order should be hermit lovers judgment.

The hermit establishes the signal.

The lovers introduces interference.

And judgment discerns whether the interference was initiation or repetition.

The missing faculty is discernment with these choices.

Pattern recognition over time.

Question you should be asking yourself to try to recognize patterns.

Is this forging me or burning me?

Is this the mil a mirror or a familiar wound?

Is this initiation or addiction?

The answer might not reveal itself while you're still sitting in it.

Sometimes the brave thing isn't staying.

It's creating distance to tell the difference between I alchemy and erosion.

Some fires forge, but some fires burn.

And they.

They can feel and look and identical in the moment.

Both activate wounds.

One make you feel alive, convince you this must mean something.

The only way to tell is time and distance, which people addicted to intensity never give themselves.

Fire to fire, calling it growth, avoiding the silence that would reveal their running.

She's a runner.

She's a track star.

I agree with all that.

And with judgment, I think of the word discernment, and that requires time and distance as well.

And interesting you're brought up about.

She's a runner, she's a track star.

Because you have to use discernment and judgment with that if you're doing the intervals when handing off that baton as well.

So you're exercising judgment, but a lot of people get triggered by that word.

But with judgment, you have growth sometimes because you can rebuild things through releasing things that don't serve you.

And that's going to affect change instead of being stagnant.

And you brought up about pattern recognition as well, which can be very beneficial because it can break addiction.

And a little bit ago you spoke about people with fire to fire going and everything, from relationship to everything and not pausing.

The people who never pause between fires call it growth.

But it's usually avoidance, not growth.

Judgment can really only be activated when you stop running.

A lot of times you can have an issue understanding something clearly when you're inside of it, because your emotion can cloud your judgment and create delusion.

I do like to say perception is everything, but hopefully it's based in reality.

When you have strong emotion involved, it can make everything feel more meaningful.

Time and distance can allow patterns to emerge without the distance.

And this is important.

Intensity gets mistaken for transformation.

That's a big problem.

Pattern recognition, why is that important?

You ever see someone break up with somebody and end up with the next person is just like that person, other person they just broke up with.

Why do you think that is?

A lot of people go to what they're familiar with and it's interesting.

They could be the problem.

But they never paused, had an interval between the fires, those relationships.

So they're not even cognizant or aware that the issues lie within them.

And a lot of people like to deflect and blame the other person because they lack accepting accountability.

Which is something you brought up earlier about how you make people stop and look around and be aware.

Self awareness and accountability go hand in hand.

And a lot of times this is important as well.

Time reveals what emotion hides.

Repeat that.

Time reveals what emotion hides because you have distance, which can create clarity.

That's why you've ever heard the expression I know you have time heals.

Yes.

That's indicative of that statement.

That time reveals what emotion hides because your emotion is removed or devoid of that situation.

And you have clarity of the mind.

So you can think logically, which is rationally over emotionally, which is irrationally.

Now, what's the difference between we mentioned addicted and initiated?

And what's the difference between the addicted magician and the initiated magician?

The addicted magician calls staying brave.

The initiated magician knows when leaving is the only brave option left.

The addicted needs the narrative frames every conflict as shadow work.

Can't distinguish forging from burning.

Perform sovereignty while actions reveal attachment.

But the initiated doesn't need a story.

Walks away without making it a lesson.

Lets connections in without needing them to mean something.

Trusts their discernment acts without performance holds the paradox.

The initiated has learned not every connection is meant to be completed.

Some just show you where you still bleed.

And then they end.

They can let those go without needing them.

Worth it.

Without closure, without the other person understanding.

Because freedom is improving.

You can stay in the fire.

Freedom is knowing you don't have to stay in the fire.

And the line that come to my mind is when a relationship end, they always say, all the time I wasted, was it what say you?

All the time wasted, was it not if you became enlightened.

So we have that addicted magician you were speaking about.

And then the initiated one and you said about the addicted magician is tied to the story.

Yeah.

The initiated one doesn't need a story.

And they can leave quietly because they're not trying to Prove anything.

And that addicted magician is leaving can be an act of clarity, not failure.

You know that's contrary to what people believe about relationships.

I do.

And it's always interesting to me that sometimes people stay in relationships out of fear or guilt, not alignment.

Choosing to leave that relationship can be the most honest, responsive action that you do.

How so?

Because leaving isn't quitting.

It's choosing.

Again.

We spoke about this lovers card and duality and choices with that.

It's a conscious decision through leaving, which isn't necessarily quitting.

You're choosing freedom through that exit.

And that's going to require courage because that's going to provide you with the ability to choose, not just endure.

And endurance is not the same as growth.

I think that was a shot at the line.

Till death do us part.

Sometimes contract negotiations break down and an amicable.

Amicable split needs to occur.

Could be a breach of contract, but for a reason that is going to be more beneficial to you in the long run with that growth or evolvement or enlightenment.

Because some of the variables have changed in the game or the agreement.

I should say because the contract is an agreement.

You know, here we are, we talking about splitting and choices and all of that, but there's one question we haven't addressed.

We talked about the hermit, right?

Yep.

What is the hermit live?

Well, that was the cave reference you brought up now.

And we also spoke about the hermit getting centered and doing his work in the cave and then going out into the world and intermingling with the lover grit.

Yes.

Now the question is, can the hermit bring the lover back to the cave?

You think.

You think a hermit can bring a lover back to a cave?

You think that'll work out?

I guess the real question would be, can you create a relational container with the hermit's clarity and the lover's intensity?

I just said.

Oh, I was thinking about that confinement, the intensity.

In a confined area.

Can two people meet in sovereign solitude together?

That long weekend getaway, deep connection without losing the signal.

The mirror present without emotional static.

Why the mirror?

Because Gemini, the lovers, is the mirror.

Yes, a hermit can bring a lover back to the cave, but under specific circumstances, and most people can't do it.

Condition number one.

You can respond if the.

If you.

If you got a response after these condition, both people must be hermits first.

Can't bring someone into clarity if they're running on unconscious programming.

They drag in the noise.

The cave becomes a battlefield, not a sanctuary.

If both have done the inner work, sat with their lanterns, know their Own signal.

Yes, you can create a shared sacred space where lovers energy exists without chaos.

To touch on that.

Embracing that hermit mode with two individuals means that you've done shadow work, meaning you've examined yourself on a deep level and analyzed characteristics or aspects about yourself.

And the depth really works well with two people because that have done that.

Because they are able to stand alone independent of one another and communicate clearly.

And they're not clinging to an outcome because it's a meeting of the minds, if you will.

And Mercury ruling Virgo and Gemini is mind oriented.

And when the two people can have that cohesion not being contingent on the outcome, that connection turns into independency or freedom within one another, but with each other because you know who you are.

And I speak about standing in your own truth.

You talk about balance yourself.

And you're able to do that independent of one another, standing on your own.

Then you can integrate and have cohesion with the other individual.

And that is how that dynamic would play out with bringing the lover back with the, with the cave setting because both of them were hermits first.

I completely agree that that's if you want a strong successful relationship that's not chaotic because both of those individuals are intact.

Now the next thing you need number two.

And this is interesting because we had a conversation and we watched what happened.

When someone doesn't have one of these, an agreement must be explicit.

Not agreement.

After the kids, not normal relationship.

This is good in this agreement that is not going to be a normal relationship.

Conscious co creation, you're saying we meet as two sovereign beings.

We hold the mirror but don't lose ourselves in it.

We keep our own lanterns lit.

Without this clarity, one person expects the normal dynamics and then in comes codependency, fix and fixing and then the cave collapses.

Number three.

Oh, you got some.

Well, I was thinking about with that dynamic that you brought up there with an agreement there.

I speak about effective, efficient communication between two individuals.

Because if you indulge in that dialogue, there is a clear and concise and mutual understanding between the two individuals.

Because everything was put on the table or vocalized or verbalized instead of being trapped in the mind.

Speaking of traps, this next one is going to be hard for a lot of people.

And you must be willing to let them lead.

If you, if you, if you're attracted to keeping them.

It's not the hermit's cave and now it's a prison.

The hermit doesn't need company, they allow it.

The moment you need them to stay, you exited the hermit Mode and entered attached lovers tarot.

The hermit doesn't need company, they allow it.

What does that mean?

It means the hermit doesn't require codependency because they have freedom within independency.

So through solitude, they've accepted independence.

And if you're branching out with allowing it, that means you're engaging or interacting in a codependent manner of your own free choice.

Word.

We keep bringing up with this.

Yeah, my thought goes to I don't need company because I'm bored.

I got shit to do.

But I. I allow company cuz I want the fellowship, but I'm good being alone cause I got shit to do.

A busy mind will keep you young and active.

So what does it look like when it works?

What is when you got all three going on, you know, you got deep truth telling without defensiveness.

Deep truth telling without defensiveness.

What's that mean to you?

Deep truth telling without defensiveness?

It means that you have thick skin and you're not a delicate little snowflake who's going to become offended and act in a defensive manner and get all caught up in your emotions because you became triggered by something that was said or that occurred.

And you're able to accept the truth even if it's not what you wanted to hear or possibly you needed to hear.

So just by just because you tell somebody I don't like that dress on you, that don't mean you saying they ugly.

Yes.

Hey, that, that dress just doesn't appeal to me.

That don't mean we got to break up.

And.

I mean we, we were speaking about that judgment.

So we, we can't go back to that because everybody, we got to find it.

You're.

You're judging someone on how they look.

Well, you asked me how, how does this look?

Sometimes those questions are asked and they really don't want the answer.

Then did you want the deep truth?

Then you can't really be in this type of hermit relationship.

Then you shouldn't.

Now we're talking about the communication and the dialogue.

You shouldn't have asked the question in the first place because you're not able to handle the truth.

Yeah, emotional intensity that sharpens instead of scatters.

Comfortable silence.

You know, that was interesting because I said to somebody other day, hey, the silence bug you like, you know, it's like you gotta fill the air with words.

Just sit there and chill.

Presence without agenda.

The mirror shows you your.

And you thank them instead of blaming them.

This is rare.

Requires zero ego protection.

Both people I know you gonna like this.

Naked in the clave.

Psychologically, spiritually, in their birth birthday suits.

And you know Tyro, most ain't ready for that type of.

They.

They talk a good game, but do they want it?

Are they ready?

Have you done the work to be ready for that?

They may have done the work they did surface level, not the deep dive, which is what I prefer.

Yeah, some people like it deep.

That's what I've heard.

You know what?

They got to have deep traps.

You know, like a bear trap.

They.

Or you know, they put it deep.

But traps that could happen with bringing back the lover in the cave.

The cave.

Trap 1 is the cave becomes the hideout.

Not about clarity, about hiding from the world Together.

Us versus them.

Both stop growing because it's too comfortable.

Think Bonnie and Clyde.

Also comes to mind.

A lot of times when adversity presents itself.

I think a comfort food with a lot of people.

They revert internally or inside with that comfortable situation or setting that they're familiar with.

Which is going to be an impediment to growth.

Which touches on what you just said about them stop growing.

I agree.

You know who this could be speaking of.

To who?

The trauma bonders.

Yeah, there's a lot of them out there.

But they're not ready to accept that truth, much less hear it.

Us versus them bubble.

Both stop growing because you're too comfortable in yalls trauma.

And.

And together we.

We could substitute that word trauma out with toxicity.

Hey, which hits the trap too.

Go ahead.

Go ahead.

I'm just saying you're stagnant and your own toxicity.

Just think about that.

Which gets us to trap 2.

Confusing the lover with the cave.

You meet someone who feels like home.

Think I found my cave mate.

You know, back in the days, caveman used to be able to hit the woman back on the over the head with a club and drag on back to the cave.

But.

But you outsourced your need for solitude, for the feeling of being with them.

When they.

When they leave.

Your inner peace collapses.

Because that inner peace was never yours.

That peace was because it was in a relationship.

You should have peace within yourself before you venture out seeking any kind of relationship.

Because that could create chaos.

And that person may not be your piece.

They may be your problem.

And we gonna get the problems right after this last trap, which is trap 3.

One person is still unconscious.

1.

If one is the hermit did the work and the other is still running on unconscious programming, the hermit will try to either save them and become the martyr, get frustrated and leave.

And at that point they become the outlaw, the bad guy.

Or you gotta dumb themselves down.

And at that point that's self betrayal because you did the work and they didn't.

None of this stuff will work in the cave because the cave requires two people with two Lanterns, not two people with one lantern.

Am I supposed to take.

If I have lantern fuel, I'm supposed to pour some of my fuel into your lantern because you can't sustain it.

Think about the what fills your cup, you know, and the pitcher being the pitcher that fills the cups because you're going to be depleted.

It's going to deplete your energy.

Something that you speak about, about depleting your energy because the other person isn't up the par.

And interesting you brought up about the two people with the two lanterns because eventually one of them is going to dim your light.

Now red flags when the cave has been compromised.

Abort, abort, abort.

Set the booby traps.

Number one, the energy vampire.

As soon as they enter, your focus flickers.

You start managing their mood, their comfort, their insecurities.

And if you put down your wand, your will to hold their cup emotions, the cave is compromised.

A true cave mate adds to the frequency and doesn't consume it.

The virtue guilt trip.

They use the you should and you ought you should spend more time with me.

If you love me, you wouldn't need this Silence replacing your choice with their virtue.

Turning sanctuary into a relationship.

Cage the mirror refraction.

When you show your raw truth, they don't see you.

They see their fears and react to your growth as a threat.

If feedback makes you feel smaller instead of sharper, they're refracting the light, not reflecting it.

Emotional static.

What's that?

Passive aggressiveness.

Giving you a test.

Emotional withdrawal.

Can't speak directly because they haven't done the hermit work to know what they really feel.

If you're using your sword to decode subtext instead of cut toward truth now the atmosphere is toxic.

Attachment over alignment.

Obsessed with the status of connection or safety of the cave.

They want to lock the door and keep the world out.

The cave becomes a hideout instead of a workshop.

Remember the magician.

Four wands.

Mastery growth stops.

More attached to us than truth.

This will sabotage the independence to keep you close.

If you see these red flags, this is at the point of choice over virtue.

Virtue will tell you be patient, help them grow.

Don't be mean.

But choice is Protect your work.

Protect the light.

The magician doesn't have to break up.

They restore the boundary.

Put the lover back out into the world return to the cave alone until if they find another who has their own lantern.

The cave can definitely be corrupted with everything that you just said there.

And I would ask someone to contemplate do they feel sharper or duller after contact or interaction with that individual?

Because that's really going to tell you everything.

Interaction can leave you drained or confused or feeling diminished, but that's information that you can gather from those experiences with that individual.

You don't necessarily need a story, but you do need awareness.

We were talking earlier about accountability.

Awareness is going to enable you to pay attention to contradiction, making sure that words align or that actions meet or surpass words that are said.

Because words can be empty rhetoric where there's no meaning or depth behind it.

And even you being subjected to energy loss is actually feedback of the interaction or dynamic with the other individual.

And that can create confusion.

But also confusion can be data because you've extrapolated information from your experience with that other individual and you're seeing positive or negative characteristics or traits with them.

And you can either choose to embrace or detach from what you see with that individual and possibly return to your peace in solitude because of the chaos with that lovers dynamic.

That's what I think about with everything that you just said.

And I actually just posted something on Instagram tarot360astrology on Instagram about I said the flags, red flags or the traps or the signs that you ignore in the beginning end up being the reasons why you leave in the end.

So what mastery actually looks like the completed magician.

Can you stay in connection without collapsing?

Can you leave when alignment breaks?

Can you be alone after without retreating into the cave as a hiding place?

Does it need a narrative as in this is growth to justify the choice?

They don't need lovers to prove sovereignty.

They don't need a mirror to validate clarity.

They don't need to.

They don't need fire to feel alive.

Engage when aligned, walk away when it's not.

Don't confuse either choice with their identity.

Lovers isn't their proving ground.

It's a tool.

They know when to use it and when to set it down.

But deepest layer.

But at the deepest layer.

What astrology reveals true mastery isn't protecting Mercury's exaltation in Virgo.

Virgo.

It's learning to carry exalted clarity into Gemini's chaos and still function.

The transcendent state would be the hermit who enters relationship without losing its signal.

The sovereign whose words carry weight of tested truth.

Communicator holding precision and warmth.

One who descends from the throne not as domination, but deliberate incarnation.

No longer exalted techno technique technically in Gemini's relational mess.

Navigating duality, multiplicity and contradictions.

Because relationships can be a bunch of contradiction.

But carrying exaltation with you haven't abandoned Virgo's refinement and biting it so deeply it doesn't require a cave to maintain.

That is actually mastery.

You don't have to always run back to the cave.

That's not just Mercury evolved, that's Mercury defied magician.

Wielding both hermit's lantern and lover's mirror without being consumed.

Transcend the circuit.

No longer choosing between exalted isolation and the relational chaos.

They're the bridge that makes them both sacred.

Yeah, I think about the magician with this, of course, and the mastery.

And the magician is the master of everything.

And mastery can carry exaltation into chaos because true clarity works anywhere.

Mastery isn't necessarily about perfect conditions, but it's about carrying coherence across various environments, either alone or with others.

That is a choice that you can make because you have a clear mind on the direction in which you want to travel and wisdom travels.

There's not any barrier or bonds that are going to restrict it from emphasizing or being impactful with different individuals.

And really, when you have clarity of your mind and your thoughts, that shouldn't be fragile, that should be foundational, which would be solid to stand on.

And you also don't necessarily protect insight.

You embody it.

And all of this with the mastery.

It's not really about choosing isolation with the hermit or lovers with a connection.

It's about becoming someone whose clarity doesn't depend on either conditions or environment.

Really, that independence, that freedom of the mind comes to play not being codependent on another.

Would you say, would true mastery be being able to hold clarity despite the condition?

True mastery being able to hold clarity despite chaos, which is a condition.

Yes, I agree.

A chaotic condition.

I wanted to label it that way.

Detaching from your emotions and being logical again with that clarity.

Not irrational with emotions.

And having the foresight and the vision to look through any kind of smoke or mirrors that chaos can create.

Anything else?

You can say anything you want about relationships?

Speak now.

Forever hold your peace.

Pull up peace again.

You brought up peace again.

Should your partner be your peace or your problem?

And you're going to need to exercise that judgment, which triggers a lot of people.

How dare you judge.

But if you have that mastery and the clarity of mind, you actually can have clarity with your emotions even being detached from them, because you know who you are and you're familiar with being self aware, which means you can accept accountability.

And you also have boundaries that are established.

And we spoke about taking the lover into the cave, which is possibly crossing the boundary of your escapism, if you will.

But it's escapism into clarity in that hermit setting where that lovers interaction could be escapism into delusion.

So if you've truly mastered yourself, gonna put you in a really good position for a strong and successful, successful relationship with somebody else who has also embraced that hermit mode because they've mastered themselves.

And I really like the illustration visually with two people with the lanterns, two people illuminating each other or providing clarity, I would say, because you can see in the light, you can't see in the dark.

You can feel in the dark.

Sometimes feeling in the dark can be very catastrophic and it can leave you in a very vulnerable position where you feel trapped.

A word that we spoke of earlier.

You ever lost your keys in the dark room and can't find and drop them on the floor and you gotta feel around in the dark?

Yes.

That's.

That is a curse.

Yep.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, not every connection is meant to be completed.

Some just show you where you still bleed and then they end.

You know, they do have that saying that you got relationship some for a reason a season or a lifetime.

Don't get caught up on reasons and seasons.

People.

Maybe they just here to show you where you bleed.

Magician who can let those go without needing them to be worth it.

Not needing closure without the other person needing the other person to have understand that's the one who's actually free.

Because freedom isn't proven.

You can stay in the fire.

Freedom is knowing you don't have to.

The highest mastery isn't never being touched.

The highest mastery is being touched and still knowing who you are when a touching stops.

Get your mind out the gutter.

With that being said.

Tarot, how can people get in contact with you and all that?

Yeah, I'm on Instagram tarot360astrology.

That's all that I have for now to get in touch with me.

If you wanted to download Instagram, you can reach out to me on there.

And some things are under work that haven't happened yet.

But that's the best way to reach out to me if you wanted to get on there or download that app.

All right.

And if.

If y' all haven't checked it out, you also have a cusp series on.

On the feed.

Yes.

So if you go tarot360astrology on Instagram, right at the top of the page there, there's a link and it's free.

It's free.

It doesn't cost you anything.

And I recorded some 12, then on the cusps and things on the rising signs and sent it over here for Mr. Astrology readings.

And he put it out there so you can click on that and it's free and you can hear me talk about different things with the rising signs and then the cusps also on there.

It's right at the top of my page.

There's a link right there.

You just click on it.

It'll take you right to it.

And it doesn't cost you anything but your time.

All right, you got some, you got some stuff on the works coming?

Yes, numerous things and the works that just haven't been done yet.

So, you know, stay, stay tuned.

And this was, this was fun.

I, I enjoyed this, speaking about this and going in in depth and examining all this.

Thank you.

Y'.

All.

Make sure y' all look for future stuff from Tarot on the fee.

If this resonates with you, you know, leave a comment down below.

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