Welcome to 2025 ~ the year of The Hermit, a 9 year. Numerologically, nines usher in energies of completions, fulfilling journeys and karmic contracts, endings and the approach of inevitable outcomes. Wrapping things up, tying the last, loose ends and coming to a close. Nines are West energy, sunsets and dissolving light.

In the holy tarot, nine is represented in the major arcana by the Hermit (or Crone); sage, inner teacher, wise one, the One Who Knows. Sometimes called Serenity, Illumination, Solitude, Retreat and more besides, the Hermit calls us to depth through mindful awareness.

For many years, I viewed the Hermit rather shallowly. I felt the teaching was obvious and easily found near the surface of things. Pull the Hermit? Well, time for some quiet meditation.

That’s fine and I stayed there for a long time in my readings.

But over the years, the Hermit had quite a lot to say to me, and much of it was unwelcome. I reviewed my previous personal IX~Hermit years. If you are new to this concept of ‘year’cards, simply add your birthdate to the year in question. For example, I would add my birthdate (March 1) to the year I’m curious about (let’s say 2021) and I would discover that 3+1+2+0+2+1= 9 ~ The Hermit).

I found that the last four Hermit years I’ve lived through contained the same themes, the same struggles, the same invitations (granted at different developmental states, as the earliest year I examined I was 15 years old).

Using this year card scavenger hunt is an effective and powerful way to see yourself and the divine journey of discovery and evolution we all undergo. I highly recommend the practice.

Because of the magical and mathematical way numbers work, every nine years the cards will reemerge. So, while I had a Hermit year in 1994, I also had one in 2003, 2012 and 2021. There’s the nine again, closing the sacred circle, bringing things home for another closer pass, giving us the opportunity to review and reflect on what has come up, what has been integrated, what has been resisted or refused. It’s confronting, to say the least, and awe-inspiring and humbling.

When 2025 loomed, and I sat at my altar to reflect, I considered the sacred transition humanity was moving through, from the year of the lion (8-Strength) to the year of the lantern (9-Hermit).

We were moving from an energy of great leaping activity, loud noises and high fires of the mind and soul. Strength showed us the portal to step through, gave us the push between the shoulder blades and encouraged us to be brave as we stepped into something waiting for us, scary and unknown though it may be.

We were given the opportunity, again and again, to see the gift within the roar, the destiny inside strong jaws and sharp teeth. The promise of divine guidance held within the courage to face what frightens us.

With this new revolution around the sun’s light, Hermit energy comes in so differently. It’s contracting, withdrawing, quieting. For some, a welcome respite and exhale. For others, perhaps a sense of unwelcome slowing, maybe even a feeling of stagnation in murky surroundings.

But I sensed something more, reluctant as I was to dig deeper into the Hermit’s medicine. It’s never been one of my favorite cards, and I confess its wisdom often rubs me the wrong way. Which is interesting, because I’m a solid introvert who pines and yearns for aloneness and quiet every day, all day long. Honestly, the Hermit is one of the most confronting medicine teachers I’ve ever sat under, and I’m famous for having a bad attitude in that class.

This winter, however, I received a revelation of this card’s wisdom at a level that went to my bones and lodged there, deep in the center where marrow is made.

While pulling the cards for my upcoming year, I came to the last card, which is always an oracle card from a deck created by Normandi Ellis called the Oracle of Seshet (THE most incredible and powerful oracle deck I have ever owned, hands down.) This card serves as an overseeing teacher throughout the year, and it is always, always spot on and tangibly felt as I journey across days and months.

I sat at my altar, asking for the oracle deck to speak, and one flew out in the midst of shuffling. *Nebhet*.

Perhaps more commonly known as Nepthys, twin sister to the goddess Isis, called Lady of the House, Lady of the Temple, Lady of the Underworld, The Lady Who Hears. She is linked with Selket, the scorpion goddess, and to the scribe goddess Seshet, she who holds the magic within writing, the goddess of wisdom and the holder of the divine and earthly record.

My guide for 2025 had stepped forward, and I felt prickles along my skin. My personal year card for this year is XIII-Death. Transformative, releasing, shedding Death. Nepthys seemed to slip right in to the theme without so much as a ripple. I recalled a dream I had many years ago.

*Nepthys*

Lady of the House, Lady of the Temple, The hidden One, The Golden Enclosure…

I stood along the banks of a wide, sandy river at night. The water was dark black. Only a waning crescent moon’s light picked up the little waves as the current moved along its course in the silent hours. I was alone. Suddenly but not quickly, a figure began to emerge from the center of the river, rising steadily without stopping or hurry. It was a woman, dark as pitch, eyes focused on me intently, intensely. Nepthys, I all of a sudden knew. Surrounded by shadow, silent, potent. I felt the pull toward her even as I shrank under her gaze.

Here she was again, making her presence known. A not unpleasant tingle traveled down my spine. Nepthys had been coming into my awareness for weeks now, unbidden, and I wasn’t sure why but was curious to see what she would reveal to me about her purpose. And here it was.

I sat with the card, tearing up a bit in awe at the magic of a benevolent universe that always meets us if we are willing to recognize it. Then a new awareness dropped in like a heavy water droplet into a still pool, clunking to the bottom of my knowing and resting there. Nepthys was partnering with the Death card, certainly. But suddenly I knew that she was actually here to reveal herself as the true medicine behind the Hermit.

Nepthys holds the vibration of silent strength that stands behind the vibrant life Isis emanates. She is the relentless support that bolsters and lifts her sister up through the wandering, the struggle, the questioning and doubt.

Isis by GoddessesWallArt

Nepthys by GoddessesWallArt

But she is also the vulnerability of uncertainty in the midst of her own story, tethered to the storm, riding it out- ungracefully- but surviving it nonetheless. She is made love to through a case of mistaken identity and does nothing to enlighten her lover. She bears a child of that union and abandons him to the desert elements and certain death, then watches her sister rescue and raise him without any anger or resentment. Later, she in turn becomes nursemaid to her sister’s son when Isis moves along her own path toward power. She walks with Isis, collecting the dismembered pieces of her brother Osiris without complaint, supporting her sister’s story and destiny without demanding recognition for her own.

She is the shadow, the silent power, the Lady of the Temple who presides over the dying western sun. She is the fallow land given to the gods, the lonely one, quiet and wise. She bears up the holy work from behind the veil, mirroring her sister’s magic and might, but unseen in her night garments.

She is the Lady of the House, domestic and beloved by the ordinary people. Her stories and wisdom are largely found through folktales rather than the official writings and commemorations of dynasties and royal records. She was adores by the regular folks, those whose labors and tasks carried the weight of a nation through the daily tasks that went unpraised and unnoticed. She was their goddess, their patroness who offered them protection as well as acknowledgement.

She steps forward by dim lantern light, gazing down to the ground for the very next step, without hurry. Consistent. Unapplauded. Largely unrecognized, yet twin to greatness herself. Her call to the soul comes in whispers and speaks of small steps, supportive choices, helping behind the scenes, allowing those things that have completed themselves to fade into the western sea.

Nepthys is the revelation of the lantern, that small circle of light that is cast before the feet. The soul light glowing within the small container of our days and nights, all those things we cannot control, the many choices we make for better or worse that carry consequences we may not relish but that serve our highest good in the long term. The small circle of light is light nonetheless, and when one is surrounded with darkness, a candle is most welcome. She reminds us that we are playing the long game won over time with many little movements that accumulate, and that outcomes are not our business; the winding progress of our path is.

And it is all the path. There is no falling away, no detour. We do not stumble over little rocks and find ourselves beyond the grace of god. The shadow is as holy as the light, the contrast reveals the next sacred step before us, and our work is to simply step forward into it. Nepthys is process, acceptance, relinquishment of expectations that keep us from communion with our deep self.

She does not stand up and demand to be seen and heard, worshipped and adored. She simply goes about her work, making her mistakes, moving on, bearing up the powers of life surrounding her, and in the being of herself, an entire nation of devotees saw themselves loved and understood and accepted in her welcoming embrace.

She midwifed babies along with her divine sisters, protected the pharaoh and his people, guarded the door of death, and made of herself a help and quiet nurturer to all who sought her aid.

As we move into the year of The Hermit, a nine year, a Nepthys year, let’s listen deeply to the voice of our soul.

Where are we being asked to be more consistent with the little steps? Where can we let go of our need to know the outcome to justify the work? Where can we recognize the invitation to offer support, nurturance and help from a balanced and healthy place? Where are we trying to force an outcome? What shadow is revealing itself to be better understood and integrated? What next step is revealing itself to be taken, large or small?

Return to the altar. Sit still, close your eyes, open your hands. Where has communion been sacrificed for progress and hustle? What behind-the-scenes movements have been abandoned because they didn’t seem worthy? What is being held onto that needs to be let go of? What is ready to descend? What is complete? What feels undone, unfinished?

Nepthys as IX-The Hermit offers an experience of deepening insight- into the reasons we choose what we do, react the way we do, the steps we refuse to take, the impatience we wrestle with along the path, the eye strain we give ourselves while desperately seeking the finish line that remains stubbornly hidden.

Hidden is the keyword of this teaching. Do we move ahead, one small step at a time, because are assured of a certain result? Do we choose honesty, integrity, kindness because we believe there will be reward? Do we select certain roads, certain actions, certain people to interact with because it promises acknowledgment and public praise?

Or, can we settle in lower, deeper to a position of true service- to our soul call, to our circle of family and friends, to our community, to our work, in silence? Can we offer up the lantern light and step forward onto the next bit of earth without any guarantee that it’s almost over, without any loud encouragement that we’re so smart, so strong, so resilient? Can we find that voice within ourselves, the voice of our own inner teacher, the wise one who knows our origin and capacity and lean in to right action because it is right?

What if nothing happens this year for you that is huge? What if it is merely a year’s worth of steps taken with deliberation, grace for yourself in the moments you stumble or lose focus? What if the recognition is largely silent and hardly anybody sees how hard you’re working, how much you’ve sacrificed? What if, at the end of 2025 your checking account looks basically the same as it does in this moment?

What roots and anchors you? The Hermit, Nepthys steps up to your side and guides you with lantern light and shifting shadow. The hidden process of your consistent, sacred steps is the holy work. Meeting yourself in those steps, again and again, day in and day out, you come into a deeper communion with the divine voice.

We ask ourselves in that place, over and over again, does my voice matter if nobody hears it? Does my writing matter if nobody wants to publish it? Does my creation matter if nobody sees it? Does my life matter if I am not raised up above crowds and applauded?

Come home to Nepthys. Come back to dark water and western skies. Come home to lantern light. Come back to small, sacred steps. It all matters. The process is all that matters. It’s all the path. It’s the meal making, the dish washing, the carpooling. It’s the electric bill and the sweeping. It’s the sleepless hours rocking or walking with the infant. It’s the endless, repetitive teaching of young ones and offering forgiveness to companions, spouses, loved ones. Nepthys supports the birthing mother again and again, offering her praise and encouragement when new life emerges, then falls back into the shadows, unseen.

Come back to your altar. Come back to candle and incense. Practice silence. Listen for the next step and allow it to show itself in its own time, not your urgency around it. Keep showing up, don’t quit. Let your feelings of littleness, of being invisible in your daily realities become your magic, your superpower this year. Let the fog and uncertain outcome be the portal that shows you how beautiful the breath of the divine way can truly be. It’s the medicine of presence.

Hidden One ~ The Year of Nepthys

October Enchantments