The Hermit & February TOC

The other day I was shuffling around Loring Park in Minneapolis. Waning sunlight glinted through the fence surrounding the tennis court, lighting a rainbow array of lost winter accessories strung through the chain link.

In an attempt to shake off sitting-inside-all- day jitters, I threw on a podcast that has guided me throughout quarantine, “Tarot for the End of Times.” Host Sarah Cargill mixes storytelling and analysis of the set of cards called the Major Arcana, which represent life’s big themes and lessons.

The Hermit card pictures a lone hooded figure carrying a lantern, and Cargill explains that it signifies the cultivation of reflective, medicinal solitude. Time away from people has me thinking a lot about both the benefits and harm of being alone. Through Tarot, I have learned how to ask questions of my needs and fears, rather than bottle up emotion.

“If loneliness is the poison extracted from grief that brews in the gaps that separate us from the core of who we are, then solitude is the antidote that is unearthed when we decide to reach our hands deep into the dirt to connect with the root of the matter,” Cargill says.

Rather than shy away from the ramifications of social isolation, this issue offers a look at the spectrum of experiences people of marginalized genders are navigating while sheltering in place. Contributors juggle work and caregiving, experience divorce, abuse, grief, and unexpected bright spots.

Through self-reflection and compassion for others’ experiences, we light a lantern to guide this period of loneliness.