The Hermit and The Devil

Withdrawal and the thing that is being withdrawn from, or withdrawn into. The tradition reads this pair two ways and both are common: stepping back in order to see a compulsion clearly, or isolation that has itself become the compulsion.

Distance in a relationship that has hardened into a pattern. The pair asks whether the space is restorative or whether it has become the arrangement.

Working alone past the point where it is serving you. Associated with people who withdrew for a good reason and then kept withdrawing.

The distinguishing question is whether the solitude is producing anything. The Hermit's lamp is meant to be lighting something.