2025: The Year of the Hermit

Life is asking you to master something

Willem van Mieris

Welcome to 2025, and while seasonally the change from December 31st to January 1st has no significance, culturally it does and we can ride the collective wave if we move intelligently during this period. The flip side to this is we can also burn out if we do not!

The theme of the year is the Hermit, we reach this numerologically by adding the digits of 2025 2+0+2+5=9 which in Tarot is the number of the Hermit card. If you had asked me 2 months ago if it felt like we were moving into a Hermit year I would have said no, but here we are at what seems like a threshold crossing asking us to examine our inner worlds both individually and collectively. This needs silence!

Before I get into the significance of the Hermit I would like to share a few things about this time of year. In the UK we are deep into the winter. January and February are generally the coldest of the year.

This is when families get cosy around the fire, car windshields are covered in ice and the big winter bag of jumpers come out to keep us warm. The weatherman is now even starting to speak of snow! Alchemically speaking this is the Death season, when all the leaves have fallen and nature starts to slow to what often looks like a complete standstill. However, this is when the roots deepen, the letting go completes and things move beneath the surface. If you spend these moments creating high output new years resolutions, you will find yourself swimming upstream.

What is the deathly stage good for? Planning, creating art in its many forms and practices of stillness - including sleep! Remember we only get around 8 hours of daylight this time of year! If you can live with the natural flow, your life will be more of a flow, so unless you are in a different hemisphere where the sun is shining, now is a time to slow the pace.

Sometimes the invisible work is the most powerful, and to let this happen without interfering is an art worth mastering!

The Hermit also calls for a slower pace. In the number 9 we see that we are coming towards the end of a cycle but a vital component is missing. This is when Buddha finally realises he needs to sit under the Bodhi tree, or Jesus decides it's time to head off to the desert. This is when we need to find the final puzzle piece and zoom in with a single minded intention on this piece. No time for multitasking and taking on many projects, it is actually time to drop all the projects, ideas, to-do lists and books that are not the ones that need your attention. The Hermit is about mastery.

A fun way to see what your priorities are is to list everything out that you have been considering. Work projects, diet regimes, hobbies, social engagements etc. if it is something that takes up your time and energy, put it on the paper - then order it into a list of importance, and number it 0-10 for levels of enthusiasm. This can lead us to creative ways of tackling must-do items that are not inspiring - for example if the garden shed must go up, but you would rather spend that time writing, you can hire a local handyman to help. More importantly, it shows us what really matters. Unless there is an emergency, number 1 on the list always supersedes everything else in importance.

On the global stage we are seeing big changes. The environment is at the front and centre of the lips of many, but we are moving beyond the times of trickery. In the past ignorance has outweighed wisdom, but the scales are tipping and many are now seeing through the deceptive channels such as mainstream media, the pharmaceutical industry, the legal system and unethical businesses. The pressure is on with the environmental issues we face, not just because people have had enough, but because the planet has had enough. We are getting to a point where no return is on the horizon, and this year is an important one for turning the ship around and sailing in a new direction. Farmers are struggling with crops, the weather is spewing out storm after storm and the Earth is giving us a firm warning. “Stop the MADNESS”

The Earth loves us unconditionally, but when we do not listen to her eventually she has to take action. This is the kind of thing that happens quickly, one minute we are okay, then we are underwater or the Earth is on fire or the winds blow so strong the houses start to fall down. Can we turn things around? Yes! But we have to vote with our money, attention and decisions, and shift these from the distractions to what is important. If you are yet to know what is important for you this year, find enough quiet to listen.

Even though many are rising above the trickery, it is getting a lot more sophisticated, so we have to be tuned in to not be sucked into the trap. AI can now create images that look real, and they can even take a person and create fake films showing them doing all kinds of things. The difference between real and fake is that real things contain souls, so when you are tuned into your essence trickery is not possible. This is why we should be taking care of our spiritual hygiene this year, and to do this we also need to take care of our bodies. With this in mind, a reminder to not pathologize yourself, and make any and every flaw a disease that needs to be fixed. Find some comfort in your own skin, keep coming back to the central point and accept yourself as you are. Then from this space we can choose what we want to create, not from necessity, but from a desire to do so.

There is a paradox I like to remind everyone of, and this is we cannot change the world, but in finding health and wholeness within ourselves the world does change. In Christianity it is said there will be a second coming of Christ, and he will come and redeem us. I think this is a distortion that creates disempowerment, and a waiting for someone to come and save us. I think the second coming comes from within, and if a critical mass of people can realise themselves as whole, individuated, soul inspired, Christed or whichever label you need for living the life you came here to live, then this is the saviour. We are the saviours we have been awaiting, but we cannot do it alone. Many ancient practices and teachers are coming and sharing knowledge and wisdom, and the veil to the mysteries is getting thinner. I think now is the time to choose something we want to put our attention towards and devout ourselves frequently and consistently. If you need a teacher who has mastered what you want to master, put out the intention to meet them.

The Hermit goes to the top of the mountain searching inside for the truth, once he finds it he descends to his community and shares the wisdom gained, this is what we all have to look forward to in 2026, but for now look within.

In a few days I will be making some major announcements regarding how I will be sharing content and how I will be deepening the community aspect of this platform, please stay tuned for this on January 10th. For now please consider supporting this platform with a paid subscription it really does help! A free way you can help is to like, share or comment - bonus points if you do all 3.