Reflections · Charlotte Himsworth
Reflections
Short essays on the Hermetic principles, knowing yourself, the stars, the tarot, the elements and gentle daily practice, each with a simple practice to carry into your day.
Astrology · 4 October 2026Aries and the Courage to BeginThe first sign of the zodiac opens the year at the spring equinox. Its gift is the courage to start.Tarot · 4 October 2026The Tarot: A Short History and the Fool’s JourneyFrom a Renaissance card game to a mirror for the soul, the tarot’s story is richer and more surprising than its myths.Alchemy & philosophy · 4 October 2026Black, White, Yellow and Red: The Colours of the Great WorkThe alchemists described inner transformation in four colours. They appear in the tarot, and perhaps in our own lives.The elements · 4 October 2026Earth, Air, Water, Fire: The Elemental SelfFor more than two thousand years, people described themselves in four elements. They still make a wise mirror.The Language of Alchemy · Part 8 · 4 October 2026The Green LionA lion devouring the Sun: the raw, untamed energy at the start of the work.Understanding Codependency · Part 9 · 4 October 2026The Path of Recovery, and Where to Find SupportRecovery is possible, gradual and gentle. You do not have to do it alone.Mindset · 3 October 2026Choosing a Worthy IdealA goal that excites you creates energy. A goal you think you ought to want rarely does. Here is how to choose well.Astrology · 3 October 2026Your Natal Chart: A Mirror, Not a FateThe sky at the moment of your birth can be a beautiful prompt for self-reflection, if we hold it lightly.The Language of Alchemy · Part 7 · 3 October 2026The Rebis and the Marriage of Sun and MoonOpposites united: the alchemists’ image of wholeness.Understanding Codependency · Part 8 · 3 October 2026Codependency Through the Hermetic LensThe seven principles offer a gentle map for returning to yourself.Mindset · 2 October 2026Why Results Repeat: Paradigms and the Knowing–Doing GapIf you already know what would help, why is it so hard to do? The answer lies in habits of thought we rarely see.The Language of Alchemy · Part 6 · 2 October 2026The Ouroboros and the Philosopher’s StoneThe serpent that swallows its tail, and the stone that turns lead to gold.Understanding Codependency · Part 7 · 2 October 2026Boundaries: The Kindest LineA boundary is not a wall. It is the shoreline that lets a relationship hold its shape.Balance & practice · 1 October 2026The Feather of Ma’at and the Humble HeartAn ancient Egyptian image and a medieval legend share a single teaching about the lightness of a truthful heart.The Language of Alchemy · Part 5 · 1 October 2026The Alchemical Processes: Solve et CoagulaBurn, dissolve, unite, refine, rise, transform and solidify: the stages of the work, read as stages of inner change.Understanding Codependency · Part 6 · 1 October 2026Caring or Caretaking?Love that supports, and love that rescues: learning the difference changes everything.The Language of Alchemy · Part 4 · 30 September 2026The Seven Planets and Their MetalsGold for the Sun, silver for the Moon, lead for Saturn: the alchemists’ map of heaven and earth.Understanding Codependency · Part 5 · 30 September 2026The Fawn ResponseFight, flight, freeze, and fawn: how people-pleasing can begin as a way to survive.Balance & practice · 29 September 2026The Golden Mean: Balance in Body and MindAristotle placed goodness between two extremes. His idea is still one of the wisest guides to a balanced life.The Language of Alchemy · Part 3 · 29 September 2026The Four Elemental TrianglesFour simple triangles that carry the whole classical theory of the elements.Understanding Codependency · Part 4 · 29 September 2026Recognising the PatternsGentle signs to notice, not boxes to tick. Awareness is the beginning of choice.The Language of Alchemy · Part 2 · 28 September 2026Sulphur, Mercury and Salt: The Three PrinciplesSoul, spirit and body: the alchemists’ three ingredients of everything.Understanding Codependency · Part 3 · 28 September 2026Roots in ChildhoodCodependent patterns often begin as wise adaptations in families where a child had to grow up too soon.Know thyself · 27 September 2026Made in Proportion: Vitruvius, Leonardo and the Measure of a PersonFrom Roman temples to Leonardo’s famous drawing, people have long seen the human body as a measure of harmony.The Language of Alchemy · Part 1 · 27 September 2026The Language of Alchemy: An IntroductionFor centuries, alchemists wrote in symbols. Learning to read them is a gentle way into the art of transformation.Understanding Codependency · Part 2 · 27 September 2026Where the Word Came FromFrom the families of people with addiction to a household word, and the debate that followed.Understanding Codependency · Part 1 · 26 September 2026Understanding Codependency: What It Is, and What It Isn’tA gentle, honest introduction to a word many people recognise themselves in.Know thyself · 25 September 2026“God Dwells in Thee”: Reading Emerson’s Gnothi SeautonIn 1831 a young Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote a poem titled after the Delphic maxim. Its message is as bold now as then.Know thyself · 23 September 2026Know Thyself: The Words Carved at DelphiTwo words at the entrance to Apollo’s temple, older than Socrates, still sit at the heart of every true change.Hermetic principles · 21 September 2026Gender: The Active and the ReceptiveThe seventh principle is not about men and women. It is about two creative energies within every one of us.Hermetic principles · 19 September 2026Cause and Effect: Becoming the CauseNothing happens entirely by chance. The sixth principle invites us to take up our part in shaping what follows.Hermetic principles · 17 September 2026Rhythm: The Pendulum and the TideEvery low passes. The fifth principle teaches steadiness through life’s natural cycles.Hermetic principles · 15 September 2026Polarity: The Two Ends of One ThingFear and courage, worry and trust: the fourth principle shows they lie on the same line, and we can move along it.Hermetic principles · 13 September 2026Vibration: Nothing RestsOur moods and energy are always moving. The third principle reminds us we can choose the direction.Hermetic principles · 11 September 2026Correspondence: As Above, So BelowThe most famous Hermetic phrase is also a practical tool: our outer life often mirrors our inner one.Hermetic principles · 9 September 2026Mentalism: The All Is MindThe first principle invites us to see that our results begin in the quiet place where thoughts are chosen.Hermetic principles · 7 September 2026The Seven Hermetic Principles: An IntroductionSeven short sentences, first gathered in 1908, that still offer one of the clearest maps for understanding ourselves.Astrology · 4 September 2026The Sun: Purpose and VitalityAt the centre of every chart, the Sun speaks of the self we are invited to become.Astrology · 1 September 2026The Moon: Feeling, Home and RhythmThe Moon describes what we need to feel safe, and the gentle tides of our inner life.Astrology · 29 August 2026Mercury: The Mind and the MessageThe messenger planet speaks of how we think, learn and connect through words.Astrology · 26 August 2026Venus: Love, Beauty and What We ValueThe planet of love asks a quiet question: what do you truly treasure?Astrology · 23 August 2026Mars: Courage and ActionMars brings the fire to begin, to protect and to keep going.Astrology · 20 August 2026Jupiter: Growth, Generosity and TrustThe largest planet speaks of expansion, faith and the joy of giving.Astrology · 17 August 2026Saturn: Structure, Patience and MasteryOften feared, Saturn is really a wise teacher of patience and lasting achievement.Astrology · 14 August 2026Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable: Three Ways of MovingEvery season begins, holds and releases. So do we.Astrology · 11 August 2026Living by the Lunar MonthFrom new moon to full and back, the Moon offers a gentle monthly rhythm for intention and release.Astrology · 8 August 2026The Planetary Days of the WeekOur week still carries the names of the seven classical planets.Astrology · 5 August 2026The Ascendant: The Doorway Through Which We Meet LifeYour rising sign describes how you greet the world, and how it tends to greet you back.Astrology · 2 August 2026Retrogrades Without FearWhen a planet seems to move backwards, it is an invitation to review, not a reason to worry.The elements · 30 July 2026Earth: The Body and the Ground Beneath UsEarth is patience, form and presence: the element that holds.The elements · 27 July 2026Water: Feeling, Flow and CleansingWater is the element of emotion and intuition: it takes the shape of what holds it.The elements · 24 July 2026Air: Breath, Thought and ConnectionAir carries ideas and words between us, and the breath that keeps us alive.The elements · 21 July 2026Fire: Will, Warmth and InspirationFire is the spark that begins things, and the warmth that keeps us going.The elements · 18 July 2026Aether and the Five Perfect ShapesPlato gave each element a shape, and saved a fifth for the heavens.Tarot · 15 July 2026The Magician: As Above, So BelowOne hand to the heavens, one to the earth: the tarot’s clearest image of the Hermetic teaching.Tarot · 12 July 2026The High Priestess: The Wisdom of StillnessBetween two pillars she sits in silence, keeper of what words cannot hold.Tarot · 9 July 2026The Hermit: The Lantern That Lights One StepSometimes we need to step away from the noise to find our own light.Tarot · 6 July 2026The Wheel of Fortune: Trusting the TurnLife turns in cycles. The Wheel invites us to find the still centre.Tarot · 3 July 2026Strength: The Power of GentlenessA woman calms a lion with her hands, not with force. True strength is soft.Tarot · 30 June 2026The Star: Hope After the StormAfter the Tower’s upheaval comes the quiet healing of the Star.Tarot · 27 June 2026The Four Suits: Everyday Life in Four ElementsWands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles mirror the four ways we live each day.Tarot · 24 June 2026The Court Cards: Pages, Knights, Queens and KingsSixteen characters, four stages of maturity, each a part of ourselves.Alchemy & philosophy · 21 June 2026Who Was Hermes Trismegistus?The legendary “thrice-great” sage behind the Hermetic tradition.Alchemy & philosophy · 18 June 2026The Emerald TabletA short, mysterious text that gave the world “as above, so below”.Alchemy & philosophy · 15 June 2026Pythagoras and the Music of the SpheresHarmony, number and the idea that the cosmos sings.Alchemy & philosophy · 12 June 2026Empedocles: Four Roots, Love and StrifeThe philosopher who named the four elements also named the forces that move them.Know thyself · 9 June 2026Nothing in Excess: The Other Words at Delphi“Know thyself” had companions at Apollo’s temple. One of them is perhaps the wisest rule of all.Hermetic principles · 6 June 2026Mental Transmutation: Turning Lead into GoldThe Kybalion’s name for the art behind all seven principles.Alchemy & philosophy · 3 June 2026Paracelsus: Physician, Alchemist, SeekerA restless Renaissance healer who gave us the elemental spirits.Mindset · 31 May 2026The Gratitude PracticeA few minutes of noticing what is good can change the tone of a whole day.Mindset · 28 May 2026The Art of JournalingA blank page is one of the kindest mirrors we have.Mindset · 25 May 2026Writing Your Goal CardA small card, read twice a day, can carry a big intention into the deeper mind.Mindset · 22 May 2026Attitude: The Quiet Power Behind EverythingAttitude is our thoughts, feelings and actions together. It can be practised.Mindset · 19 May 2026Self-Image and the Mirror of LifeHow we see ourselves quietly shapes what we allow ourselves to have.Mindset · 16 May 2026Fear at the Edge of GrowthFear often appears exactly where our next step begins. That is a sign, not a stop sign.Mindset · 13 May 2026Persistence: The Quiet Partner of Every DreamMost worthwhile things are built not in a burst, but in many ordinary days.Balance & practice · 10 May 2026A Gentle Morning, a Restful EveningHow we begin and end each day shapes everything in between.