The Hermit
The Hermit withdraws from the crowd to seek inner truth, holding up the lamp of hard-won wisdom so that others may one day follow.
Major Arcana IX
Upright keywords
- introspection
- solitude
- inner guidance
- wisdom
- soul-searching
- prudence
Meaning when upright
The Hermit stands alone on a snowy summit, lifting a lantern in which a star shines. It is a card of stepping back from noise and demands to search for meaning, clarity, or spiritual truth. Solitude here is purposeful: a retreat, a period of study, or time spent with a mentor or teacher, and Waite's divinatory words begin with prudence and circumspection. He also stresses that the beacon says 'where I am, you also may be,' so what you learn in quiet can light the way for others.
On the card
- lantern held high with a star shining inside
- The light of wisdom and truth, a beacon for those who follow; Waite writes that it is a star which shines in the lantern, traditionally read as the six-pointed Seal of Solomon uniting above and below.
- gray hooded cloak
- Withdrawal from the world, humility, and discretion.
- long staff
- Support on the path, experience, and patient authority.
- snowy mountain summit
- Spiritual attainment at the heights, reached through solitude and effort; Waite's eminence on which he holds up his beacon.
- long white beard
- Age and accumulated wisdom; Waite blends the idea of the Ancient of Days with the Light of the World.
- head bowed, gazing downward
- Humility and careful attention to the path directly ahead.
- muted gray-blue sky
- Stillness and the quiet, inward atmosphere of contemplation.
In Waite’s words
The variation from the conventional models in this card is only that the lamp is not enveloped partially in the mantle of its bearer, who blends the idea of the Ancient of Days with the Light of the World. It is a star which shines in the lantern. I have said that this is a card of attainment, and to extend this conception the figure is seen holding up his beacon on an eminence. Therefore the Hermit is not, as Court de Gebelin explained, a wise man in search of truth and justice; nor is he, as a later explanation proposes, an especial example of experience. His beacon intimates that "where I am, you also may be."
It is further a card which is understood quite incorrectly when it is connected with the idea of occult isolation, as the protection of personal magnetism against admixture. This is one of the frivolous renderings which we owe to Éliphas Lévi. It has been adopted by the French Order of Martinism and some of us have heard a great deal of the Silent and Unknown Philosophy enveloped by his mantle from the knowledge of the profane. In true Martinism, the significance of the term Philosophe inconnu was of another order. It did not refer to the intended concealment of the Instituted Mysteries, much less of their substitutes, but—like the card itself—to the truth that the Divine Mysteries secure their own protection from those who are unprepared.
- Divinatory meaning
Prudence, circumspection; also and especially treason, dissimulation, roguery, corruption.
- Reversed
Concealment, disguise, policy, fear, unreasoned caution.
Correspondences
- Element
- Earth
- Astrology
- Virgo
- Hebrew letter
- Yod (י)
- Path on the Tree of Life
- Path 20: Chesed – Tiphareth
- Number
- Nine is culmination and solitude before completion; the Hermit gathers the wisdom of the journey so far in quiet reflection.
To reflect on
- What question do I need silence to answer?
- Am I withdrawing to reflect, or withdrawing to hide?
- What wisdom have I gained that could light the way for someone else?
In your readings
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Ask about this card
Marguerite, the traditionalist, answers from Waite’s text, what is drawn on the card and its correspondences. You can choose another reader in settings.