The Wheel of Fortune — X

La Roue De Fortune

Tarot de Marsailles: Destiny, fortune, outcome, felicity, godsend, special gain or unusual loss, result, conclusion, inevitability

Roue = Wheel

Sometimes in depictions of The Wheel, the wheel depicted is a small wheel such as the one above which is giving off the vibe of something like a roasting spit, other times the wheel calls to mind a larger wheel, such as the wheel of zodiac which we are "affixed" to at birth, as alluded to in the picture below. 

The Halloween Tarot, art by Kipling West - Flux, unexpected change in luck, New choices, new circumstances. Rolling with the punches, but not passively. 

In either case, whether it is viewed at the macrocosmic or the microcosmic level, with the wheel there is a certain level of impending, or at least possible peril.

Roulette is from French roulette "gambling game played with a revolving wheel," meaning "small wheel (Old French roelete), formed from Late Latin rotella,  diminutive of Latin rota "wheel," also "a potter's wheel; wheel for torture," from PIE root *ret- "to run, to turn, to roll"[OE]

Sometimes God is referred to as the "divine potter." In the Book of Genesis it is written that God made ha adam / "man" out of the dust or clay of the earth. Elsewhere the same symbolism is used.

"Your hands shaped me and made me. Will you turn and destroy me? Remember that you molded me like clay. Will you now turn me to dust again? Job 10:8-9

In ancient Egypt the creator God, Khnum, was the divine potter. He was said specifically to have fashioned the bodies of humans upon his potter's wheel. We might say, therefore, he fashioned humans upon a roelete "little wheel." Or if we are to think more macrocosmically, the Creator fashions people upon the big "wheel," the rota of the zodiac with earth / you perspective at the hub. 

And whatever anyone's experience is of life, good or ill, it is definitely perilous and torturous (from Late Latin tortura "a twisting") at times. From the moment we leave the luxurious confines of the homogeneously warm womb, we begin to experience the extremes of coldness, loudness, brightness, hunger . . .  bodily functions such as breathing and digestion, which come with unpleasant side effects, such as possible difficult or obstructed breathing (suffication), gas, bloating, pain, bowel movements, diaper rash, etc., we are put in uncomfortable clothing, made to touch grass or get in cold water, etc. It is not easy being human. We are always growing and changing, and our environments are subject to entropy and change. Nothing stays the same and nothing is simple like it was in the womb. 

Living life leads many to ruin from Latin ruina "a collapse, a rushing down, a tumbling(turning/wheeling) down," and everybody in their day will die. It might make one rue "make (someone) sorry," from PIE root *kreue- (2) "to push, strike," the day they were born [forced into the crude, rude, bloody game (roulette) of life]. Hit me with your best shot God! Strike the wheel! Big money, big money! 

And by the way, these are things that could be associated with the Sun, i.e., Ra / Re, who we might say comes to ruin at the conclusion of each day, i.e., swallowed by night, after "rushing down" from his zenith, Re who "strikes" the earth with his harsh rays / Re(s) and made Jonah rue being alive.

When the sun [Ra] rose, God [elohim] provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, "It would be better for me to die than to live." Jonah 4:8

And Ra, who traverses the wheel / le roue of the zodiac yearly.

Oh wheel! It is as is fated, as it is willed by God. The gods wield the power of the wheel [from root *kwel- (1) "revolve, move around; sojourn, dwell"]. Thy kingdom come, thy wheel be done.

Shaddowscapes Tarot, by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law

"Also known as a wheel window, such windows were often placed above doors and on the western side of the structure in order to maximize light filtering into the interior. At the time of their popularity, they were sometimes called 'Catherine Windows' (named for the spokes of the Catherine wheel on which St. Catherine was tortured.)

They were often laid out in twelve parts, which reflected not only hours of the day, but also the months of the year and the zodiac. Like the Eastern mandala, rose windows often symbolized how various smaller parts could form a harmonious whole and attain perfect unity." -study.com - Rose Windows: History, Design, Symbolism 

We emerge from our mother's wombs, constrained and tightly wrapped, into this new reality from a vulva, which word itself comes from *wel- (3) "to turn, revolve," [with derivatives referring to curved, enclosing objects OE.] At the moment of birth our place is fixed. We then begin to evolve as we revolve from that place. The primordial mound . . . 

Tatanen / Tatenen / Tanen / Tenen / tA - Tnn "risen land," who was associated with Khnum (eg. Temple of Esna, column 4:32-39; who created using his potter's wheel), who was the primordial mound.

In a version of the divination of the parts of the body, a common formula in the afterlife literature, the vulva of the deceased is identified with Tatenen (BD sole 181). In "The Songs of Isis and Neptheys,"Osiris is hailed as "Sacred image of thy father Tatenen," ("The Bremmer-Rhind Papyrus—I," p. 123 [1,16]), and is told that "Thy father Tatenen lifts up the sky [*Nwt] that thou mayest tread over its four quarters; thy soul flies in the east; thou art the likeness of Re [*the Sun], and they who dwell in the Netherworld receive thee with joy, Geb [*the Earth] breaks open for thee what is in him, and they come to thee in peace," ibid., p. 132 [16, 24]). Tatenen Henadology.Worldpress.com, ¶3

When we are born our fortune is set. Originally fortune from Old French fortune was about ones lot "share or portion of life" in any way," that which is given by fate, God or destiny", and carried the meaning of either "good fortune" or "misfortune," from Latin fortuna "chance, fate, good luck." When someone has good fortune, i.e., fors "chance, luck", we say they are fortunate, i.e.,  fortunatus "prospered, prosperous; lucky, happy" (past participle of fortunare "to make prosperous"). But it is strange that when we call an event unfortunate "unlucky" it is still occurring according to ones fortune. It's not as if "unfortunate" people don't have a fortune or fate, and they aren't necessarily unlucky either, in the vast scheme of things. Fortunes can change, and sometimes what appears to be unfortunate can turn out to be, on the contrary, very fortunate. For example, getting kicked off the only flight to your destination (unfortunate?), but then you later learn that the plane has crashed. You are suddenly fortunate for the very same reason you thought you thought earlier you were unfortunate for. 

Spolia Tarot, artwork by Jen May

"Jupiter [*Gk. Zeus] bestows his luck from the background, being the ruler of both good and bad luck." -Jessa Crispin

We might also say one's fortune is like a fore + tune, the name [Gk. όνομα onoma] or a tune / tone spoken by God which fashions a person to be who they are. 

But now thus says the LORD, he who formed you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine." Isaiah 43:1 ESV

Before I formed thee in the belly [beten] I knew thee; and before thou came forth out of the womb [rechem] I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.  Jeremiah 1:4-5 KJV

 . . . before tuning, before being stretched (by the potter) or living out this existence of becoming or being shaped into something, the fortune is what tells us who we are (our name).

Tune is from "tone" and is said to be from PIE root *ten "to stretch." Compare this to ancient Greek teinein (teinō) "to stretch," and tenon "tendon, sinew" and  tenos "sinew" [which is a kind of cord, from Latin chorda "string of a musical instrument, cat-gut" (from Gk. khorde "string, cat-gut, chord, cord") that can make a chord which makes a sound / music that has a certain character and is named, i.e., C major, A minor, etc. An artist or creator, such as God, creates that which is in accord with the cor / cordis "heart, intellect, mind." We might say we pulled at God's heart-strings or his "cords cordis" and thus were "tuned" into being by his will from the stuff of the earth / matter to be, each, our own unique selves. 

Also certain chords can tune a person back into proper shape or back into health, such as the troubled King Saul who was soothed by David's chord playing. 

And so it was, whenever the spirit of God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him. 1 Samuel 16:23 NKJV

In any case, the "ten" vocalization is related to words having to to with stretching and also foundations, such as the first land "stretching" out of the primordial waters, Tatenen, the "risen land."

*ten = stretch

 tA "land" Tnn = which has risen / become distinct [. . . which means that we could say that tatas are mammory "lands" and are our first refuge (the land flowing with milk) as a baby, 

taw taw

X marks the spot, ta da! Or we could say Ta marks the spot, the symbol x originating from the Phoenician taw, which is χ which sounds like tA

taw = χ = tA

χ marks the spot / taw marks a spot on "the risen land" (tatenen)

10 in ancient Egyptian is written with the "animal fetter" / "hoble for cattle" hieroglyph.

The ancient Egyptians had a base ten number system, so 10, ten, X (decem), was literally a foundational building block [tA], or a number which other numbers rise out of [Tnn] such as 100 (10 x10), 1,000 (10 x 10 x 10), . . . 1,000,000 (10⁶).

Ten is a titan "thing of very great importance" of math. And the Titans were the elder or first gods and sometimes described as chthonic gods, 

The hot blast enveloped the chthonic Titans, the indescribable flames reached the divine sky, and sparkling flare of the thunderbolt and lightning dazzled the strongest eyes. - Hesiod, Theogony, p. 24, lines 697- 700, translated by M. L. West

The Fall of the Titans, Cornelis Corneilisz van Haarlem, 1596-1598

Titanomakhía 'Titan battle,' a ten year war

Chthonic is from Gk. χθόνιος khthonios "of the earth, in the earth," from χθών khthōn "the earth, solid surface of the earth,"said to be from PIE root *dhghem- "earth"[OE], which is somewhat similar in vocalization to the PIE root for the word "ten" (and Gk δέκα deka) , i.e., *dekm-. So if PIE root *ten- means "to stretch," and the word in English for the number 10 "ten" comes from PIE root *dekem-, which is similar to PIE root *dhghem- "earth," which is "land," then it seems like there is the possibility that the concept of 10 or  ι  in Greek [iota], could carry the meaning of a number that is a building block / first "land," like [Tatenen] tA "land"  Tnn "risen land" / land stretching out of Nun, and therefore the primordial mound / primordial "earth." 

Or maybe we could say 10 tethers, i.e., fetters, numbers together. Tether being from *deu- "to fasten." The word for 10 in ancient Egyptian is transliterated as mḏw, and said to be pronounced something like medju. It is, interestingly, similar to the ancient Egyptian word for "word, speech," mdw, medu. So ten, medju, is foundational like Tatenen, and "word" or "speech," i.e., medu, is foundational to creation. God created with his word and saw that is was good. He took appropriate measures, i.e., *med- [md] when he created with his mdw "word" and life emerged [*ten-] upon the first land, Tatenen. God meted [from mete (v.) "to allot," which is also from *med-], out a fate, literally "thing spoken (by the gods)" from PIE root *bha- (2) "to speak, tell, say," with his speech, i.e., medu. The divine maker md with mdw and the foundational building block of the mathematical universe, the medju "ten," came into being and it was the central place or the "middle" of creation, middle said to be from Proto-Germanic *medj, from PIE root *medhyo- "middle," also root of Latin medium  "the middle, midst, center; interval" / medius "in the middle, between; from the middle." 

Medulla Oblongata  tethers the spinal chord to the brain stem

"While every part of the brain is important in its own way, the work of the medulla oblongata is essential for sustaining life." -verywellhealth, The Anatomy of the Medulla Oblongata

"It is only about 3cm long, but the medulla is an indispensable nerve tract which contains the control centers for our automatic vital functions. . . The medulla contains four cranial nerves including the hypoglossal nerve which controls tongue movements and muscles involved with speech" [*medu]  -The hindbrain, University of Queensland

Medulla is from Latin medulla literally "marrow" also "pith of plants," both marrow and pith certain types of undifferentiated cells, namely, hematopoietic stem cells and parenchyma cells, and also have the figurative meanings of - marrow "inmost or central part, inner substance, essence," and - pith "essential part, quintessence, condensed substance," so we might say medulla contains the intrinsic and central word (medu) or name / fate of a thing. And the medulla is in the *medj "middle," center, central part, and perhaps the medju "ten," that is, the foundational mater (Latin meaning) "origin, source, mother," or foundational earth / land [Tatenen].

So, we might say at the foundation of the universe, as time wore on, from this place in the middle / center / central part (*medj ) of creation, the primary medu / word of creation, Tatenen, the foundational block, "ten" / medju, or from the first iota (ι), or atom "building block of the universe," more and more was added or built up each "day" (which is "cycle": Day, Night, Day[morning] = One Day) of creation. 

God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. Genesis 1:5

If we equate the beginning of the first day to the Big Bang, on this first day we have a cosmic soup of particles that then cools into atoms of hydrogen, then helium, and eventually stars form and there is light. After the first day, there was a second day, and so on until human beings were created on the sixth day. Then on the seventh day, there was the day of rest, so the the end of a cycle / Gk kyklos "circle, wheel, any circular body": the first week. Days upon days, weeks upon weeks, eons upon eons, cycles upon cycles, spirals upon spirals, wheels upon wheels later, we find ourselves here; revolved from the first little packet of light / information; photons, into subatomic particles, into elements, into molecules, and into beings made of more complex information building blocks; RNA and DNA, and it is all very geometric and mathematical in nature.

DNA Tube

Some people do in fact contend, and there is argument to say, that the universe is in actuality made out of mathematics. So in this way, everything that is made would be endowed with this mathematical karma [from Sanskrit karma "action, work, deed; fate"]. Everything is made from and governed by the particular laws of creation and cannot deviate from these fundamental conditions / building blocks of existence, such as the four fundamental forces of nature, namely, gravity, the weak force, electromagnetic force, and the strong nuclear force. What goes up, must come down, if a = b, and b = c, then a = c, whatever you do, creates an action, i.e., karma, as a result.

Dalí Tarot

"The disk in the middle is divided into two parts, indicating human consciousness and the unconscious mind. Both parts of the image complement each other, but differences are also apparent. The lower portion is full of symbols and signs, while the upper areas are empty [* within the inner and outer white rings]. This might suggest that the messages of the unconscious are conveyed through symbols alone." - Dalí Tarot, Wheel of Fortune, Great Resolution, 

In this description of  The Wheel of Fortune from the Dalí Tarot 👆, it says that the upper part indicates human consciousness and the bottom part indicates the unconscious mind. From looking at it, we could say it also calls to mind the Ancient Greek cosmogony of the Universe divided into Sky [Ούρανός Ouranos] and Tartarus [Τάρταρος Tartaros]

The universe was envisioned as a great sphere--or egg-shaped ovoid--with the solid dome of the sky forming the upper half and the inverse dome of the pit of Tartaros the lower. The flat, horizontal disk of the earth divided the interior of the cosmic sphere into two halves-- the homes of men and gods above, and the gloomy, storm-wracked prison of the Titanes below. —theoi.com - Tartaros

. . . the dome above, heaven, and the dome below, the underworld. It is interesting that the treasure, or treasury of symbols is under the plane of the earth, which word in Greek, χθόνιος khthonios, begins with the X-marks-the-spot-like chi [χ]. The gates [732], and threshold to the underworld are also described in the Theogony as being made of bronze khalkion / khalkios, which word also begins with chi, χάλκεον. 

There are the sources of extremities of dark earth and misty Tartarus, of the undraining sea and the starry heaven, all in order, dismal and dank, that even the gods shudder at; and there are the shinning gates and the [χάλκεος] bronze [ούδός] threshold, firmly fixed with long roots, made by no craftsman's hand. And beyond, excluded from the company of the gods, the Titans live, on the far side of the gloomy chasm. —Hesiod, Theogony, p. 27, lines 807-814

And we known from descriptions such as that of Achilles' armor in the Iliad, that χάλκεον khalkion "bronze" can be dazzling. 

He [Achilles] put it [his armor] on, the gifts of the god, which Hephaistos had made for him with much labor. |  First he put around his legs the shin guards, |  beautiful ones, with silver fastenings at the ankles. | Next he put around his chest the breastplate, | and around his shoulders he slung the sword with the nails of silver, | a sword made of bronze [χάλκεον]. Next, the shield, great and mighty, |  he took, and from it there was a gleam from afar, as from the moon, | or as when, at sea, a gleam to sailors appears | from a blazing fire, the kind that blazes high in the mountains | at a solitary station, as the sailors are carried unwilling by gusts of wind | over the fish-swarming sea, far away from their loved ones. | So did the gleam from the Shield of Achilles reach all the way up to the aether. —Iliad 19.368-379

Now that's money! [χάλκος khalkos "copper, brass, money"] 

So, the entrance to the domain of the (chthonic) χθόνιος Titans, is shiny (made of χάλκεον) like treasure (gaza γάζα "treasure" in Gk.), something that would capture the gaze, and perhaps have allure and lure, before it snaps shut and imprisons the body and spirit. 

The eyes are the gateway to the soul.

Inside however, it is a different story, beyond the gates is described with words such as "misty," "loathsome," "dank," "murky," "dark," and a "gloomy chasm" [zoferós Khaos], ζοφερός Χάεος [814], "which even the gods abhor" [809]. 

Then what kind of treasure is this repository of symbols, the unconscious mind, the half of the sphere that supports, or forms the counter balance to heaven and the light of consciousness, that is itself so fearful, monstrous and dark? It certainly suggests that a healthy dose of awe, reverence and respect for its depths and power is in order. Very few mortals are said to have returned from Hades. It takes something more to cross χ the threshold both ways. But perhaps if we employ our inner psychopomps, like Hermes and Hecate to travel between the worlds we can traverse the bronze threshold and mind for treasure there without being sucked into the gloomy chasm and confined for eternity to hell.

And what are the parameters to our portion? Portion from porcioun "allotted part; lot, fate, destiny,"from Latin portionem"share, part," ultimately from PIE root *pere- (2) "to grant, allot. It is the Wheel of Portion, our universe, that is our home. It is what has been allotted to us, it is our part, our share of existence. And this space in which we are living out the drama of our lives didn't just appear out of no where. No, we are literally riding on the backs of giants, that is, the first stars which formed in the cosmic soup of the early universe that first reigned supreme, and created the circumstances necessary in the universe which would eventually form a certain star, that would support a certain little blue planet, that would support life, that would then provide a place for us to be here today, made out of the clay of the earth. 

What science has gathered from peering back in time with powerful telescopes uncannily mirrors the Greek mythology. Scientists say that the first stars were giant stars [so primordial titans] that burned bright and hot for a [relatively] short period of time and were later replaced by their descendant "children" stars (and planets) which then became our "gods," and specifically the gods of our solar system, i.e., the Sun (Helios / Sol / Ra), moon (Selene / Luna), planets and constellations, while they, the progenitor stars, were relegated to "Tartarus," i.e., the black holes at the center of the galaxies.

Another change occurred after the first stars started to form. Theory predicts that the first stars were 30 to 300 times as massive as our Sun and millions of times as bright, burning for only a few million years before exploding as supernovae. . . 

. . . Understanding the first sources [first stars] is critical, since they greatly influenced the formation of later objects such as galaxies. The first sources of light act as seeds for the later formation of larger objects. . . 

. . . Additionally, the first stars that exploded as supernovae might have collapsed further to form black holes. The black holes started to swallow gas and other stars to become objects known as "mini-quasars," which grew and merged to become the huge black holes now found at the centers of nearly all galaxies. nasa.gov-Early Universe

And these black holes even in their extreme terribleness rest so far away, that from our present physical reality that they pose, not only no danger to us here, but provide a stable axis of rotation. Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy is 26,670 light years from Earth. 

And there, all in their order, are the sources of the ends of gloomy earth and misty Tartarus and the unfruitful sea and the starry heaven, loathsome and dank, which even the gods abhor. [740] It is a great gulf, and if once a man were within the gates, he would not reach the floor until a whole year had reached its end, but cruel blast upon blast would carry him this way and that. And this marvel is awful even to the deathless gods. —Hesiod, Theogony, 736-744

In other words, it's so far away that you can't even imagine the distance properly, and is even frightful to the gods, like something being thousands of light years (5.88 trillion miles / year) away, and having  a mass 4.3 million times that of the Sun /(our god) Helios/Sol. It's just far far away, really really far, and really really huge. 🤯 

In ancient Egyptian mythology, the goddess Nut (Nwt) "sky" was the night sky [sometimes depicted with a spherical pot (nu) as her crown and the hieroglyph for her name], she was also depicted as a woman covered with stars arched over the earth as the dome of the heavens, so Nut was our portion of the universe, our dome and domicile. We call the sky "above" heaven (from Old English heofon "our visible sky firmament").

Nut, The Night Sky, The Milky Way

And "below" is hell, which would be the grave, and death. But in actuality it is all just "out there" or "in there" and relative to each of us situated upon this earth in this place in space.

Thoth Tarot, Alister Crowley — Fortune

"This card represents the Universe in its aspect as a continual change of state."

This universe shapes us, she is our cauldron (pot) of transformation, she gives us our universal experience of being alive in the otherwise undifferentiated, cold, dark endless chaos of infinite space, time and consciousness. 

She is our foundation. A definite 10.  So even if this wheel can be tortuous at times, where would we be without it? 

You're lucky to have something to do, and to be somebody.

If we didn't have birthdays, you wouldn't be you. If you'd never been born, well then what would you do? 

If you'd never been born, then well what would you be? 

You might be a fish! Or a toad in a tree! 

You might be a doorknob! Or three baked potatoes! 

You might be a bag full of hard green tomatoes. 

Or worse than all that . . . Why, you might be a WASN'T! 

A Wasn't has no fun at all. No, he doesn't. 

A Wasn't just isn't. He just isn't present.

But you . . . You ARE YOU! And, now isn't that pleasant! —Dr. Seuss, Happy Birthday to You!, p.10

Unfortunately, we don't have any other option but to be in motion, given that we are creatures and in the process of becoming or being created, and are therefore not THE Unmovable, Unsearchable, Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Eternal Creator God, God. Even Jesus, being born fully human and fully God did not escape tuning and torture. But through our immersion on this little watery planet, in the big waters of the womb of universe, we end up getting turned into Christ [Χριστός] upon that wheel. And that is a treasure, by Jove! 

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. Romans 6:4 ESV

So, embrace your cross X and your fate like that "fool" from the Bible. Wheel it and deal it (or deal with it), and who knows, you might just get out of here alive!

 . . . Strange and terrible 

are the HOUNDS of the Barrier.

Follow they consciousness to the limits of space.

Think not to escape by entering your body,

for follow they fast the Soul through angles,

Only the circles will give ye protection,

save from the claws

of the DWELLERS IN ANGLES. . .

. . . Aye, know ye man,

that the Soul who dares the Barrier

may be held in bondage

by the HOUNDS from beyond time,

held till this cycle is completed 

and left behind

when the consciousness leaves.

Entered I my body.

Created the circles that know not angles,

created the form

that from my form was formed.

Made my body into a circle

and lost the pursuers in the circles of time.

But, even yet, when free from my body,

cautious ever must I be

not to move through angles,

else my soul may never be free.

Know ye, the HOUNDS of the barrier

move only through angles

and never through curves of space.

Only by moving through curves

can ye escape them,

for in angles they will pursue thee.

O man, heed ye my warning;

Seek not to break open

the gate to beyond.

Few there are

who have succeeded in passing the Barrier

to the greater LIGHT that shines beyond.

For know ye, ever the dwellers,

seek such Souls to hold in their thrall. . . 

—The Emerald Tablets of Thoth - Tablet VIII: The Key of Mystery, pp. 22; 27-29 

The Hermit — VIIII

In the Tarot de Marsellies The Hermit is l'Hermite. 

Tarot de Marsailles - Represents the guiding spirit. counsel, knowledge, solicitude, prudence, caution, resignation, withdrawn, possessor of secrets

Hermit is:

from Late Latin eremita, from Greek eremites, literally "person of the desert," from eremia "a solitude, an uninhabited region, a waste," from erémos "uninhabited, empty, desolate, bereft," from PIE *erem- "to rest, be quiet."

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness [erēmon έρημον] to be tempted [ peirasthēnai  or "tested"] by the devil.  Mt. 4:1

Jesus is tempted in the Wilderness, The Children's Bible (p.362-363), Western Publishing Company, Inc.

There is something about the erémia "solitude," the being alone, and feelings of being erémos "desolate, deserted, abandoned" that brings about this trial / testing. The erémia "wilderness" is *erem "quiet," but maybe sometimes too quiet. The inner contemplative mind is activated without all the usual distractions and leaves us to ourselves.

In solitude we are sole "alone" (from Latin solus "alone, only, single sole; forsaken; extraordinary"), we are alone, solely with our self, our Sol (from Latin sol "the sun," which is itself a solus object ). The Sun in astrology represents the self, ego, the conscious mind, your identity, individuality, your 'I am'. In this way we might say that time spent in solitude forces us to contemplate or find ourselves (soul searching) and integrate our true identity, that is our Sun / Sol.

Shaddowscapes Tarot, by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law

But the Sun is a hot fiery object. So delving into it can be a testing or heating, sometimes a trial by fire, a peira πειρα "a trial" by pur/pyr πυρ "fire🔥; the heat of the sun ☀️, lightening ⚡️; fig: strife, trials; the eternal fire," as in, when a clay pot is fired, the matter is heated and as a result it becomes stronger and is made to be made impermeable. However, heating can feel kind of hellish. These agitating thoughts which arise in solitude can take on harsh demonic roles. To be really alone is to feel solus "forsaken," and to be all one is solus "extraordinary / unique," but lonely. 

The Sun, from photos taken by the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) aboard the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft, March 7, 2022

But what emerges from the fire / the pyr /pur of this testing? A purity? The person emerges purified? Pyrified? Fyr-ified? And maybe even fear-ified? A fired and tested vessel? No longer green, but hardened, durable, tried and true? Like a rock? Ready to rock? 

The hermit shines the light in the darkness. Salvador Dalí Tarot, [completed] 1984

". . . the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned."

From that time on [*after his testing in the wilderness] Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." Mt 4:16-17

Being tested in this way is a type of death (dark night of the soul) and rebirth experience for the ego, the Sun. And what happens when we die? We go back into the earth. We are swallowed (placed in a grave, tomb, mound, mouth [lit. of animals or worms], or consumed [by flame]) back into the womb of the mother. The womb and the tomb are both types of hermitages of transformation. So we have this type of terminology with both wombs and tombs of being openings with mouths. The opening of the cervix is described as having a "mouth" and we are born from this mouth / opening. 

Christ emerges from an opening (vesica pisces), Evangelistar von Speyer, 1220 Codex Bruchal, Germany

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us . . ." John 1:14

mouth is "from Old English muþ "oral opening of an animal or human; opening of anything, door, gate," so a mouth could be an opening to anything, such as a mouth of a cave or a tomb. Mouth is from a Germanic source, also the source of Danish mund, Dutch mond, German Mund, all meaning "mouth."

A tomb, which is ultimately from Greek tymbos "mound, burial mound," is just a mound or tumulus, from Latin tumulus "hillock, heap of earth, mound." And such a mound is a mund / mond, i.e., a "mouth" or opening which could be seen as a door or gate to the afterlife.

In many religious traditions, such as in ancient Egyptian, there was a journey to take (to the Hall of Judgment), and a trial or test to go through (weighing of the heart) directly following ones death. So a burial mound could be seen as a burial "mouth" or a gate or door to a place of testing, the "wilderness" or "desert" between this life and the next. 

There was a journey to go through before one could Rest In Peace. And interestingly this journey began in Restau which was the resta "resting place, burial place"(Old Saxon), rasta in (Old High German). The necropolis in ancient Egypt, sometimes referred to as Igaret [Igrt] the 'silent land' was located in the sandy desert region of the Giza plateau (erémia), the area anciently referred to as Rostau / Restau [transliterated], translating to something like "mouth of the passages." The phonogram for 'r' being a "mouth" hieroglyph, which as a determinative carried the meaning "mouth, spell."

"mouth," phonogram 'r'

Or place of 'openings'; a mouth being an opening. For example we say the "mouth of the cave" to refer to an opening in the rock. 

Ancient Rostau translates as 'mouth of passages' about Giza. In ancient texts, Rostau was intrinsically linked with the Mound of Creation. This signifies that the Ancient Egyptians saw Giza as an "Axis-Munde" of the physical world. ancientegyptianfacts.com - Ancient Egyptian Axis

Seker /Sokar (in the later kingdoms who was conflated with Ptah and Osiris, two other funerary gods, and called Ptah-Sokar-Osiris) was the god associated with the Giza Plateau known as 'Ruler of the Silent Land' (hqa igrt), i.e., the necropolis. Another of his epithets being 'He of Restau.' As a falcon god we can imagine him as one calling[Hebrew qara] / crying (or kawing) out in the wilderness.

A voice of one crying[kaw-ra] in the desert[midbar]: Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the wilderness the paths of our God. Is 40:3, Hebrew

Seker a type of eremite / hermit

During the fourth and fifth hours of the Amduat book, which recounts the solar boat's nocturnal journey through the netherworld, the boat traverses Rostau, the "Land of Sokar who is upon his sand," a desert through which the solar boat travels by transforming itself into a double-headed serpent which lights the way through the otherwise impenetrable darkness by breathing fire. —Sokar / Seker, Henedology - Philosophy and Theology

In Hebrew midbar is "mouth" also meaning "wilderness, uninhabited land, desert, south (direction of the sun's heat), speech." It is interesting that the sun, Ra, was depicted as being swallowed each night by the goddess Nut traveling the perilous journey of the 12 hours of the night to be reborn again each morning. So this midbar "mouth" was literally the entrance to this "wilderness" or "desert," the place of testing.

Nut 

Jonah tried to flee from God telling him to preach against the wickedness of the inhabitants of Nineveh and ended up alone in belly of a "whale" κήτος kétos "a sea-monster, huge fish, whale," said to be probably from base χάσμα chasma "gap, gulf, chasm," from caskó "to yawn." And what yawns but a mouth? 

So Jonah went into a mouth, perhaps we could say it was a "mouth" (R) crossing (χ), i.e., R + taw, or Ro(stau), to be tested for three days in a desolate place, or the "belly of the fish". Interestingly enough the ichthys  symbol has the components of 'r,' the mouth hieroglyph + taw = 👄χ. So in this sense we could equate the belly of the fish to Rostau. 

Three days and nights in utter darkness is a bitter prescription ℞ (and medicine / prescriptions are generally to be taken through the mouth).

Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, saying,

"I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me;

out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.

For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas,

 and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me 

Then I said, 'I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look 

upon your holy temple.'

The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me;

weeds were wrapped around my head ate the roots of the mountains

I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever;

yet you brought me up from the pit, O LORD my God.

When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, 

and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.'

Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love,

But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; 

what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the LORD!"

And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land. Jonah 2:1-10

Pinnochio also went into the mouth of the whale, Monstro, the great sea monster.

These chasms are frightening places of testing, i.e., erémos, which can be related to a mouth / opening, and the "wilderness" erémos of the Bible can be related to "mouth" through the Hebrew word midbar . 

The pyramids of the Giza plateau are called tombs, whether they were meant as burial chambers for Pharaohs or not, they may have been used as places of testing or chamber of solitude, maybe replicating a kind of death or dark night of the soul, or journey inward. 

For what purpose? To be made perfect, pure, refined? 

A pyramid is, two dimensionally, an upright triangle which is the alchemical symbol for "fire" 🜂. Perhaps the pyramids are purifying, "spiritual fire" machines. The word the ancient Egyptians used for the structures of the pyramids was 'mr' mer / meru. Written with the 'm' owl 🦉 hieroglyph + 'r' mouth 👄. 

mr chisel; mr (owl 'm' + mouth 'r'); mr,  monumental building hieroglyph "pyramid"

That does seem like a place to go to gain wisdom, doesn't it? It's not necessarily easy to gain wisdom though.

It can be trying, or kind of myrrh-y, a "was bitter," a "harsh, sharp, cutting" kind of learning experience. 

At first, Wisdom will test you

with her commands,

and you will walk in fear

along twisting pathways.

Her discipline

will bring suffering

until you are truly faithful.

But then she will return

straight to you,

bringing happiness

and telling her secrets.

But if you wander away,

she will let you go off

to your doom. — Sirach 4:17-19

The English word pyramid is said to come from the Greek pyramis(plural pyramides) which was also a the word for a type of pyros πυρος "wheat" cake, called pyramis, possibly fashioned to resemble a mr (mer) "pyramid," but more specifically, it would have been to resemble the cap stone (which is a small pyramidal shape itself) of the pyramids, called in Greek a Pyramidion, or in ancient Egyptian, a Benben, which was a type of the primordial mound of creation, so a mountain of sorts, i.e., a "projection," from PIE *men- (2)  "to project." 

Benben stone from the Pyramid of Amenemhat III, Twelfth Dynasty, Egyptian Museum, Cairo

But mountains can be monuments as well. Such as Mount Zion, Mount Moria, and Mount Sinai, which call to mind God's covenant with Israel, and there is Mount Meru of the Hindu, Jain and Buddhist cosmology,"considered to be the center of all the physical, metaphysical and spiritual universes." Monument (n.) is:

From Latin monumentum "a monument, memorial structure, statue; votive offering; tomb; memorial record," literally "something that reminds". . . form of root *men (1) "to think."

And to think is to contemplate . . . something one does near the temple "a building for religious practice." To think (which seems to mainly happen between the temples [of ones head]) is also the cause of knowing or "to know" which is daath in Hebrew (there was the tree of daath, which turned out to be the tree that brought death to Adam and Eve), which is from the word yada, which can sometimes refer to biblical "knowing," i.e., sexual relations, or, making love. Not unlike another ancient Egyptian meanings for mr [as well as the pyramid], mr, the hoe hieroglyph had the meaning "love, loosen the soil, till."

 . . . tilling or plowing, which is a euphemism for sex, or "knowing", or seeding(in-graining). 

My vulva, the horn,

The Boat of Heaven

Is full of eagerness like the young moon.

My untilled land lies fallow.

As for me, Inanna,

Who will plow my vulva?

Who will plow my high field?

Who will station the ox there? —from Inanna Queen of Heaven and Earth; Her stories and Hymns from Sumer

However, you have to be just as careful with the seeds of wisdom and you do with the "seed" of procreation. You don't want to get pregnant (seeded) and have to give birth through the head like Zeus, who being pregnant with Athena (via Metis), developed a splitting headache, and had to have his head split open with an ax or wedge, i.e., chiseled (mr), by Hephaestus (Vulcan) the god of fire [pyr] 🜂, Mr Heat Miser, in order to give birth to Athena  (Wisdom🦉).  Hephaestus axed his [Zeus'] mundi. Because Zeus had swallowed (through his mouth / opening 👄) the goddess whose name means "advice, wisdom, council; cunning, skill, craft," i.e., Metis, in the physical, which then proceeded to create in him a metaphysical crisis. What a mind f*ck! 

But back to bread cakes . . .  the ancient Egyptians apparently did prepare cone shaped bread loaves called benben (so similar to the pyramidis "wheat cakes" of the Greeks) which would have had religious significance as offerings to the gods.

depicted bread offerings, from the tomb of Nefer, Saqqara

And associated withe the Benben (the primordial mound represented at small scale), was the Bennu bird.

• The Bennu Bird represented the rebirth of Osiris and the overcoming of death.
• It also portrayed the daily resurrection of the sun and the power of Ra.
• Its role in the creation and the existence of life was highly important, making it a symbol of creation.
• The Bennu Bird was also a symbol of regeneration, much like the phoenix who was said to die and be reborn from the ashes. —Symbolsage, Bennu Bird - Egyptian Mythology

Benben and Bennu both sound similar to other words we use for certain types of bread, such as bun and beignet.  Bennu is said to be related to Egyptian word wbn "to rise," "rise in brilliance," or "to shine," which is another thing that bread does; it rises and is life giving.

Give us this day our daily bread Mt. 6:11

The [unleavened] bread life rising in brilliance. 

Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread [matszot / matszah], called Passover, was approaching . . . Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John saying, "Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover." . . . He replied, "As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, . . . And he took the bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance [*therefore as a monument to, or in memory] of me." Lk. 22:1; 

According to this etymological entry from wikipedia, pyros "wheat" is:

from PIE *péh wr ("fire"), like πύρ (pûr, "fire"); it meant "spelt" due to the grains having to be dried on a fire, then the word was transferred onto the popular wheat.

So the spelt (pyros) is something that is dried, perhaps by the heat of fire (pyr), and stored in a granary, which could be in a cone or pyramidal shape, or as in the Buddhist tradition, a mound (bun) shape, like stupas, from Sanskrit "heap," which are places of meditation (so are therefore medicinal), so again the building calls to mind the primordial mound. 

The Great Stupa of Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh, India

There is a tradition of these two types of places being associated, or fashioned off of each other, namely, granaries and temples (which are sometimes also tombs). Many early gods and goddesses were themselves agricultural in nature such as Osiris.

Osiris was also a god of agriculture. This may seem rather strange as he was dead, and technically infertile. However, it actually makes a lot of sense when you consider the death and rebirth inherent in the agricultural cycle of planting and harvesting grain. Every harvest, the god was symbolically killed and his body broken on the threshing floor, but after the inundation life would return to the land and the crips would grow again. —Osiris- Ancient Egypt Online

Osiris-Nepra, with wheat growing from his body, from a base relief, Philae. The sprouting wheat implied resurrection. 

In biblical Greek apothéke is "a place for putting away; hence a storehouse, granary, barn," from apo "away" +  thēkē "receptacle." However, in German apotheke is "pharmacy." Pharmacy is from:

late 14c., farmacie, "a medicine that rids the body of an excess of humors (except blood);" also "treatment with medicine; theory of a treatment which medicine," from Old French farmacie "a purgative" (13c.) and directly from Medieval Latin pharmacia, from Greek pharmakeia "a healing or harmful medicine, a healing or poisonous herb; a drug, poisonous potion; magic (potion), dye, raw material for physical or chemical processing." 

The Halloween Tarot, by Karin Lee, Art by Kipling West, The Hermit (Mad Scientist / *Alchemist): A solitary search for truth, Self- reflection, self-sufficiency. Philosophical understanding and perspective through isolation.

A pharmacist is an apothecary or a chemist, therefore we might say an alchemist of sorts, since the word chemist comes from the word chymist meaning "alchemist," from alchemy: 

 liquid medicine being poured out - pharmakeia

. . . from Medieval Latin alkimia, from Arabic al-kimiya, from Greek khemeioa (found c.300 C.E. in a decree of Diocletian against "the old writings of the Egyptians"), all meaning "alchemy," and of uncertain origin.

Perhaps from an old name for Egypt (Khemia, literally "land of black earth," found in Plutarch), or from Greek khymatos "that which is poured out," from khein "to pour," from PIE root *gheu- "to pour." [OE]

and, 

Alchemy and alchemist are in fact older words than chemistry and chemist in English . . . Their secretive experiments, usually involving heat and the mixing of liquids, led to the development of pharmacology and the rise of the modern chemistry. . .

The long route to English for alchemist began with the Greek word chēmia, which probably came from the word chyma ('fluid'), derived from the verb chein, meaning "to pour." It then passed from Latin to French before coming to English. Some other words derived from Arabic also retain the al- in English, such as algebra, algorithm, and alcohol; in fact, the transformative liquid that was constantly being sought through experimentation by alchemists is another word with the Arabic al- prefix: elixir. Merriam-Webster Dictionary

* when transliterating from Greek to English sometimes people use different spellings for the same word, such as 'khymatos' or 'chymatos' (from the Latin spelling), 'khein' or 'chein,' so we have 'chemist' instead of 'khemist' or 'khymist', from the Greek χυμεία. The chi being χ and not either a 'k' or a 'c'.

This second possible etymological origin given, namely, "that which is poured out," doesn't seem to make a lot of sense unless we relate it back to the fact that the ancient Egyptian word for "black" is km  and their name for the area, Km.t, Kemet (not Egypt), and this name given to their land referred to the quality of its soil being fertile, medicinal / pharmakeia even, life giving, which characteristic was caused by the annual inundation of the Nile.

In ancient Egypt, the water bearer's jar[*i.e., Khnum's] was said to cause the spring overflow[*which was the waters of the Nile "poured out"] of the Nile when it was dipped into the river. space.com, Aquarius

Khnum was the god of the source of the Nile, the giver of life, Khnum was the original alchemist (i.e., a person who transforms or creates something through seemingly magical process), the Magic Man, whose hieroglyph was a jug with handle, khnum / ḫnm),

The God Khnum / Khnemu / ḫnmw: 

ḫnm, jug with handle "to be united, to be associated with, be provided, endowed with" + phonogram w, quail chick (used for plural ending), so perhaps "providing abundantly(plural)," i.e., many waters / many jugs (a word of unknown origin), however 'jug' sounds like yug the archaic spelling for Yuga (as in "an age of time") which is from "a yoke" (joining [uniting] of two things) . . . believed to be from PIE *yeug- literally meaning "to join or unite." 

*yeug- = ḫnm = jug (with handle) = Yuga

Khnum was the water bearer [whom we might be reminded of when Jesus speaks of the "man carrying a jar of water"], 

Knum with the living waters, holding was scepter and ankh 

who created humans on his potter's wheel from clay, or perhaps we could say, who transmuted the dust / clay / adamah [compare to adom "red"and dam "blood"] / fertile ground / black earth, into humans, perhaps from km "khem / kem" clay, or fertile "black" clay? And if black takes its name as a color (km) from the fact that it is the color of fertility, that is, rich, life-giving, full of nutrients, then this all start to make a lot of sense. The black land, Kemet, is the land made "black", i.e., fertile, by the "poring out" of the Nile by this god Khnum, because it was the annual inundation of the Nile which caused the land to be fertile.

But remember, if alchemy comes from Greek khymatos "that which is poured out," the PIE root given for that word is  *gheu- "to pour." And this sounds like "goo,"and mud and clay (or sediment from an inundation) is often kind of gooey or a goo. 

World of Goo, puzzle game

So Kemet "the black land" could mean the land created by the river pouring out (gooey km "black" clay), i.e., goo, or gum (a word from the Egyptian khemai, by way of the Greek kommi to the Latin gummi], therefore, km(ai) = gum = black-y / blackish, or nutritious / fertile / medicinal resin or goo). And this life giving or healthy gum or goo is produced due to the workings of the creator god, a word some people (a possible etymological connection) trace back to:

PIE *ghu-to- "poured," from root *gheu- "to pour, pour a libation" (source of Greek khein "to pour," also in the phrase khute gaia "poured earth,"referring to a burial mound. . . [OE]

Which brings us back to Giza, or shall we say, Gooza, the necropolis (in the land of Km.t [Egypt]), as being the place of burial mounds "poured earth," or alchemised earth, places of transformation (alchemy), and hopefully specifically healing transformation (farmacie[pharmacy]; medicine; apothecary), and why it all makes sense that burial mounds, temples, and pyramids often have connections with words, concepts, and ideas having to do with grain and granaries (apothéke), becuse of the important and life-giving (even medicinal) role which bread plays in the life of humankind and its allegorical connection to the ultimate remedy for ill health, i.e, resurrection from the dead.

Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Jn.12:24 (ESV)

However, the necropolis (Giza) of ancient Egypt (Km.t "the black land"◼️) was actually called the "red land" 🛑 dsrt, desheret, which was the desert, the wilderness, from dsr, desher, meaning "red." The desert was an infertile, dry, and barren landscape (a good place to preserve bodies / mummies). Red was associated with things such as chaos , danger 🚫, fire 🜂, violence, anger 😡, death and blood🩸. Red was considered to be either protective and supportive, or considered unlucky and dangerous, such as being associated with the god of chaos, confusion, storms, wind and foreign lands, Set (who was a trickster god),

Set defends Ra from Apep upon the solar bark

who defended the bark of Ra (the solar bark) on his nightly journey though the Duat (underword), and defeated the serpent Apep / Gk. Apophis, the embodiment of chaos,  . . . so, red is not unlike pharmakeia ⚕︎ "a healing or harmful medicine." Sometimes a medicine is a poison, and sometimes medicine can be used to heal and other times it can be used to harm. But you have to be careful, when you play with fire 🔥  you might get burned.

Red was a common pigment in ancient Egypt, "Red was an easy color to obtain in ancient Egypt as naturally red minerals, or clays, were abundant." Red ochre is one such type of clay, an iron oxide pigment. It was associated with the desert, being found in the western desert regions. These ochre clays were also sometimes used medicinally.

However, perhaps the most surprising application of these materials is actually medicinal. The Ebers Papyrus, one of the oldest and most important medical texts from ancient Egypt (dated 1550 BC), prescribes ochre clays as a cure for any intestinal or eye problems. —Colors of Ancient Egypt - Red

Vassily Surikov (1848-1916), Healing of the Man Born Blind by Jesus Christ (1888) in St. Petersburg, Russia Imperial Academy of Arts of the Russian Empire.

Jesus is said to have cured a man blind from birth by making a clay and applying it to the man's eyes:

AND Jesu passing by, saw a man, who was blind from his birth: 

And his disciples asked him: Rabbi, who hath sinned, this man, or his parents, that he should be born blind?

Jesus answered: Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be made manifest [*phaneroó, from phainó "bring to light"] in him.

I must work the works of him that sent me, whilst it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world

When he had said these things, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and spread it on his eyes,

And said to him: Go, wash in the pool of Siloe [Siloam], which is interpreted, Sent. He went therefore, and washed, and he came seeing. John 9:1-7 DRB

The pool of Siloam was a freshwater pool to the south east of present day Jerusalem, "The Lower Pool or 'Old Pool' was historically known as Birket el Hamra, literally 'the red pool'"[wiki]. It isn't clear why this pool has that name, but it makes some sense if we equate "red" with medicine. Medicine which is from Latin medicinia "the healing art, medicine; remedy," ultimately from PIE root *med- "to take appropriate measures." 

And in keeping with the dual nature of medicine, this man whom Jesus healed did not receive this healing without cosequence.

They brought to the Pharisees the man whom had been born blind. Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man's eyes was the Sabbath. Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. "He put mud on my eyes," the man replied, "and I washed, and now I see." Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath." But others asked, "How can a sinner perform such signs? So they were divided. They turned again to the blind man, "What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened." The man replied, "He is a prophet.  . . . To this they replied, "You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us! And they threw him out. John 9:13-17, 34

So too is it with the "medicine" of the desert, of The Hermit, of the ones who seek solitude, soul searching, contemplation. When one person really turns inward to find and heal themselves it can often end up wreaking havoc with their other previously stable (*stable* not necessarily healthy) relationships. 

"I came to cast fire [pyr] on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. . ." Luke 12:49-51ESV

Spolia Tarot, art by Jen May

People are mirrors for one another, and if one "mirror" becomes better / healthier/ more enlightened, then it reflects back to others more clearly each their own true selves. So to a person with a lot of ugly / unattractive stuff / unconscious shadow material, these qualities will be reflected back to them even more acutely, sharply, and harshly 🜂🔥⚡️🌞 through a "healthy" mirror than through a dim, murky, dirty mirror. This is why sometimes good people get so much hate and vitriol heaped upon them for imaging / reflecting the truth. Sometimes the truth hurts, and we have a tendency to blame the messenger. Think of taking a selfie of yourself with a filter on. If your camera always gave a filtered image of yourself back to you, you might be mad if it started giving you the real image, i.e., the truth.

The Hermit is card number IX. Nine is a number of perfection of a certain kind, generally a perfection that is obtained through sustained effort. So nine is a number signifying a completion of a process, or a gestation, the ending of a cycle, transition and transformation. 9 is the last of the singular digits before the cycle starts over at 10. A human pregnancy, which is a kind of hermitage for development, has a typical gestation period of nine months. Odin hung suspended on the world tree for nine days and nights, 

During his sacrificial actions, he saw visions and received secret wisdom. The magical knowledge he gained made him able to cure the sick, calm storms, turn weapons against his attackers, make women fall in love, and render dangerous troll women harmless often just with a look. 

 And Jesus hung on the cross, until he "gave up his spirit" in the ninth hour (from sunrise[i.e., 6am-3pm]),

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, "Eli. Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken [deserted, abandoned] me?" Mt. 27:46 (ESV)

Solitude of the wilderness / desert has to do with testing and testing has to do with perfection. Testing proves an object and makes sure it is pure. All the dross gets burned away.

There are the nine orders of angels or heavenly beings, which are bright / shining /  halo-ed / hallowed 🌞 (sometime too bright, such as Lucifer 🌟,  meaning "light bringing"), and fiery 🔥, such as the seraphim [the ninth order] who purify by applying heat (hot coal to the lips),

Seraphim Angel

and angels can be perceived as either good (saving) or bad (punishing), depending upon the state of the recipient, such as the Angel of Death "the destroyer," who killed the first born of Egypt,

And the seraphim serpents in the desert that were both the cause of death but also, healing such as the seraph "fiery / burning [serpent]" set on a pole [like the Uraeus]. And the serpent / tempter (had to be an angel if he was Satan) in the garden of Eden . . .  well we have him to thank for our "happy fault." 

Eve Tempted by the Serpent, William Blake 1799-1800 

Angels ("messengers" of God) are chaotic medicine ⚚. 

And there are the nine muses "that manifested as whispers in the ears of those who invoked them." To hear whispers you have to be in a quiet place, perhaps alone, without distraction. When you hermit you erem "to rest, be quiet," you earn or merit (an anagram of [h]ermit) inspiration. . . but sometimes the listening to inspiration and thinking can go too far, such as when it spirals into madness or mania:

from Greek mania madness, frenzy; enthusiasm, inspired frenzy; mad passion, fury," related to mainesthai "to rage, go mad," mantis "seer,"menos "passion, spirit," all of uncertain origin, perhaps from PIE *mnyo-, suffixed form of root *men- (1) "to think". . .  

I remember when

I remember, I remember when I lost my mind

There was something so pleasant about that place

Even your emotions have an echo, in so much space

And when you're out there without a care

Yeah, I was out of touch

But it wasn't because I didn't know enough

I just knew too much

Does that make me crazy?

Does that make me crazy?

Does that make me crazy?

Possibly 

—Crazy, Gnarls Barkley

 

But as the Mad Hatter says, "All the best people are." 

And you're gonna die anyway (that is when you are taken into the desert by force / into the mouth of the grave / through the final door), so you might as well be prepared. 

The Hermit is preparing.