Introducing the Hermit & Hierophant Blog
You enter a sterile, white hallway. On each side, red and blue doors wait patiently for your decision. They watch you, longing to be chosen, to turn purple. Some pay great deals of coin to capture your attention first, but often are the easiest to ignore. One door in particular captures your attention. Few have stepped through it before, but you sense it is the right place to go. You step into the room.
And find yourself faced with yet another peddler, attempting to pass off their unusual ideas as some sort of legitimate advice.
“But wait!” The peddler cries. They stink of a day spent under the sun. With chapped lips and cloth-wrapped feet, they beg, “A fine tale I have for you, my dear! A fine tale indeed, for I have lived it just so that I may share it, and it must be shared indeed!”
The peddler dances for your attention. They perform a jig, an embarrassing, jerky rattling of their arms and legs. You cringe at the sight, no less at the sound of them grunting under their musty breath. But the dance was a success, for you have been held in place just long enough to pluck from their rolodex of stories a tale that will truly ensnare you.
At first, you pity the crooked peddler, for how desperate they must be for your attention to perform such a ridiculous dance. But then, as they begin to weave a tale that at first seems entirely nonsensical and unrelatable, you find yourself listening. Really listening, perhaps for the first time in a long time.
What they tell you is neither based in science nor an objective truth, for it is from the peddler’s perspective, and they deny anything that would suggest otherwise. They have no interest in leading you astray, nor in leading you anywhere at all. Their goal is a simple one: to share their lived experience. It is for the listener to transmute that experience and apply it to themselves. It is for the observer to put meaning into the art. The peddler insists upon this.
The story is finished. The dance is complete. You marvel at how long you have spent in this dusty box of a room, listening to such a strange character. Hadn’t you come here for something? Of course, a tutorial, a lesson, a quick flicker of instruction. That is what you’d set out to find in the first place. Perhaps you got that information from the peddler; perhaps they were unable to answer your question after all. The point is the time spent in this strange little room, on this corner of the internet, where you were able to stop for just a moment and fall into someone else’s story, to come back to your own with a fresh set of eyes. The peddler smiles at you.
“Please like and share!” They sing.
You recoil in disgust and leave the room.
If you haven’t got the slightest clue what on earth this blog post is even about, allow me to explain myself. I am the peddler in the story. I wanted to write a rendition of what I believe the experience of coming into the blog must be like for someone who has never read or seen my work before. Please allow this post to serve as an introduction to the stories, tutorials, and ramblings that follow under the title Hermit & Hierophant.
Hermit Creates is the title under which I publish all my work, including my first novel The Death Witch. If you’ve read my About section on this website, you probably already know the meaning behind the Hermit name. If not, well, it’s based on the tarot card The Hermit. This card depicts a cloaked figure wielding a staff and a lantern, who is set upon a solitary road and must cut a path through the dark by themselves. I connected this card to my creative ventures due to the independent nature of my work and the light that art has provided me with throughout the years. Hermit Creates is all about sharing this light with others so that we may all be brave enough to take on the unknown road ahead (also known as life).
My proudest accomplishment as Hermit Creates so far has been my independently published novel, The Death Witch. The book is about a young teenage girl who is cursed to become a Necromancer and must attend Wicktoria Academy of Dark Magic and Divination. A coming-of-age story wrapped up in gore and mystery, The Death Witch is a powerful tale about perseverance in the face of the very worst odds. It is a project that is at the very center of my heart, especially as I am currently writing the second book in the Wicktoria Academy series.
Hermit & Hierophant brings another tarot card into the picture: The Hierophant. Traditionally, this card tells of a sage mentor who shares sacred knowledge with others in an effort to help them grow. Now, I wouldn’t consider anything I am learning through my creative process to be sacred, but I am learning a lot that could benefit other creatives who are trying to find their place in the world. Thus, this card belongs in the title of this blog.
What is this blog exactly?
Excellent question. Hermit & Hierophant is where I will share my insights and knowledge about growing and developing a creative small business and presence. There will be mini tutorials about simple craft projects anyone can do from home, as well as behind-the-scenes discussions on the world of Wicktoria Academy for any interested readers or writers. There will be bias, personal anecdotes, and a real human being behind every answer given here, for better or for worse.
Hermit Creates is constantly changing and evolving, and so is Hermit & Hierophant. I look forward to seeing what the future holds for this blog, and I hope to see you there along the way.
