The Hermitage
The Daoist Corner
A quiet place for seekers. Daoist traditions, essential texts, divination, and a space to ask questions that matter. The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao — but we can point toward it together.
Benebell Wen
If you're serious about understanding the I Ching, Daoist craft, or the intersection of Eastern mysticism and Western esoteric traditions, Benebell Wen is someone you need to know.
A Taiwanese-American occultist, Buddhist, and author with deep family ties to Taoist mysticism, Benebell has written some of the most important modern works bridging ancient wisdom and contemporary practice. Her approach is scholarly, deeply respectful of tradition, and genuinely practical.
Her book I Ching, The Oracle: A Practical Guide to the Book of Changes (North Atlantic Books, 2023) is not just another translation — it's a portal. She excavates 3,000 years of history, culture, and mysticism, providing in-depth annotations, cultural and historical references, and magical practices that amplify the wisdom of the Book of Changes. If you own one I Ching book, make it this one.
She's also the author of The Tao of Craft (2016) — on Daoist Fu talismans and sorcery — and Holistic Tarot (2015), a comprehensive 880-page guide to tarot that's become a modern classic.
I Ching, The Oracle
A Practical Guide to the Book of Changes
Benebell Wen · North Atlantic Books · 2023
"This isn't just another book about The Book of Changes; it's a portal. Wen doesn't simply translate; she excavates, weaving history, culture, and mysticism into something alive."
Also by Benebell Wen:
The Tao of Craft (2016)
Holistic Tarot (2015)
道
The Essential Texts
The roots of Daoist thought. These are the texts that have shaped seekers for thousands of years — and they'll shape you too, if you let them.
Tao Te Ching
Laozi (Lao Tzu) · ~6th century BCE
The foundational text of Daoism. Eighty-one short chapters on the nature of the Tao, wu wei (non-action), and living in harmony with the Way. Every journey into Daoism begins here.
Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu)
Zhuang Zhou · ~4th century BCE
The second pillar of Daoist philosophy. Parables, paradoxes, and wild imagination — the butterfly dream, the useless tree, Cook Ding's knife. Philosophy that reads like poetry.
I Ching (Yi Jing) — The Book of Changes
Traditional / Multiple authors · ~1000 BCE
One of the oldest texts in human history. A divination system and philosophical guide built on 64 hexagrams — each a map of change, transformation, and the cycles of nature.
Liezi
Lie Yukou · ~5th century BCE
The third of the 'Three Pillars' of Daoist philosophy. Stories of emptiness, fate, and the limits of human knowledge. Quieter than Zhuangzi, but just as deep.
Neiye (Inner Training)
Anonymous · ~4th century BCE
One of the earliest texts on Daoist meditation and breath cultivation. A guide to aligning body, mind, and spirit — the root of internal alchemy (neidan).
Taipingjing (Scripture of Great Peace)
Traditional · ~2nd century CE
A vision of cosmic harmony and social justice through Daoist principles. Influenced the Yellow Turban movement and the ideal of a world in balance.
"Empty yourself of everything. Let the mind rest at peace. The ten thousand things rise and fall while the Self watches their return."
— Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 16
Divination & Fortune Telling
The ancient arts of reading the patterns of change. Not predicting the future — understanding the present deeply enough to move wisely.
I Ching Divination
Chinese Classical
The ancient art of consulting the Book of Changes. Using yarrow stalks or three coins, you cast a hexagram — a snapshot of the energies at play in your life. Each hexagram carries wisdom on how to move with the current of change, not against it.
Tarot Reading
Western Esoteric
A visual language of archetypes and symbols. The 78 cards of the tarot deck mirror the human journey — from the Fool's first step to the World's completion. Not fortune-telling in the cheap sense, but a mirror held up to the soul.
Oracle Consultation
Universal
Sometimes you just need someone to listen, reflect, and offer a perspective rooted in something older than the noise. Whether through cards, coins, or conversation — the oracle is a doorway to clarity.
Interested in a reading or consultation? Reach out — no question is too small, no path too winding.
Request a Reading德
Seek Guidance
The Hermitage isn't just a reading list — it's a place to ask the questions that keep you up at night. About life, about direction, about the things that don't fit neatly into categories.
Whether you're looking for advice rooted in Daoist philosophy, want to talk through a decision, need a divination reading, or just want someone to listen who sees the world a little differently — I'm here.
No judgment. No sales pitch. Just honest conversation and whatever wisdom I can share from the path I've walked.
Life Questions
Direction, purpose, transitions, crossroads. The big stuff that doesn't have easy answers.
Divination Readings
I Ching consultations, tarot readings, and oracle work. A mirror for your situation.
Daoist Wisdom
Questions about Daoist philosophy, practice, texts, or how to apply ancient wisdom to modern life.
The Tao of Helping Others
A book by Dustin Swartz — in progress
I've lived a very intense life. Most of it was suffering. Addiction, homelessness, wilderness survival, federal prison, loss — the kind of life that either destroys you or forces you to become something else entirely.
The Tao of Helping Others is a book about the people who showed up when nobody else would. The strangers, the misfits, the legends nobody's ever heard of — the ones who pulled me back from the edge, sometimes without even knowing it. It's a book about what it means to help someone, and what it costs, and why it matters more than anything.
It's raw. It's honest. It's the kind of book people told me to write for fifteen years before I finally sat down and did it.
More about the book, the writing, and the art.
"I remember how hot and thick the air was outside and how shockingly crisp and cold the water was when I was submerged. How it was like a jolt of electricity that enveloped my whole body jump starting my heart as if it had never even beat before."
"I choke up with a smile on my face and a tear in my eye for they are the written memories of when everything in my life changed."
— Dustin Swartz, The Tao of Helping Others
"The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name."
— Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 1