The Hermit

  • Arcana Major
  • Number IX
  • Figure on this site Odin on the mountain
Historical evidence

In the earliest decks

The card we call the Hermit was not always a hermit. Italian sources name the figure il Tempo (Time), il Gobbo (the Hunchback) or il Vecchio (the Old Man), and the usual picture is Father Time: a bearded old man, in some decks bent over, carrying an hourglass. The Wikipedia list of examples includes a Visconti-Sforza card (the Pierpont Morgan Bergamo deck) and the Charles VI (Gringonneur) cards, both 15th century. One description of the Charles VI card shows a bearded man in a blue robe before rocks, holding a large hourglass. The figure also matches Time in Petrarch’s Trionfi: a Triumph of Time print of 1499 shows an old man on crutches, with wings and an hourglass at his feet. The Rothschild Sheet (about 1500, Bologna) and the Rosenwald cards (about 1500) show a similar old man on crutches.

The lantern comes later. In the Budapest cards of the late 15th century the hourglass is replaced by a lantern and the man stands upright with a walking stick; it is the earliest tarot figure known to carry one. The earliest known French deck, the Catelin Geofroy tarot of 1557, shows a bearded old man, probably a monk because of his rosary, holding a lantern.

In the Tarot de Marseille family the card is named L’Ermite and numbered with the additive Roman form VIIII. Surviving examples include Jean Dodal’s deck from Lyon (1701 to 1715) and Conver’s (about 1760). Trump order varied by region and period, so the number was not the same in every old deck.

Historical evidence

The Rider-Waite-Smith card

Pamela Colman Smith drew the card in 1909 for Waite’s deck. It shows an old man on a mountain peak with a range behind him. In one hand he holds a staff and in the other a lit lantern with a six-pointed star inside. Compared with the early Time figure, the hourglass and the crutches are gone. Waite’s own text says the one change he made to the conventional models is that the lamp is not partly covered by the figure’s cloak, and that the light in it is a star.

Waite explains the picture as a card of attainment, with the figure holding up his light from a height. Eden Gray, a later author, read the lantern as a guide for those who do not know the way, the staff as an aid on narrow paths and the cloak as discretion.

Myth and literature · Quotation

Waite’s description

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.

Myth and literature · Context

Later meanings

These are later additions, not part of the card’s early history. Antoine Court de Gébelin explained the card as a wise man in search of truth and justice; his 1781 plate is among the Hermit examples listed on Wikipedia. Etteilla’s system named the card “Traitor”. Paul Christian called it “The Veiled Lamp”. Waite, in the passage quoted above, rejects Court de Gébelin’s reading and also what he calls Éliphas Lévi’s reading of the card as occult isolation, which Waite says was taken up by the Order of Martinism.

In astrology the card is linked to Virgo and its ruling planet Mercury. The sources read for this entry do not say who first made that link, and the Hebrew letter given to the card in Golden Dawn-derived systems is not covered here.

Modern interpretation

As read on this site

This is the meaning used for readings here. Using the tarot to divine is a modern practice, and the Norse figure shown for each card is this site’s own association; the tarot began as an Italian card game. A short history is on the Tarot page.

Upright

Keywords: introspection, solitude, inner wisdom, withdrawal for clarity

Some answers only arrive in solitude, away from the noise of other people's opinions about what you should be feeling or doing. Odin's wisdom came from withdrawal as often as it came from action — from sitting alone with a question until it answered itself. This card isn't loneliness; it's a deliberate, temporary retreat in service of clarity. If you've been pulled toward solitude lately, trust it. The crowd doesn't have what you're looking for right now.

In general: Time alone right now serves you more than time with others. The answer is internal, not social.

In love: A need for space that isn't about the relationship failing, just about needing room to hear your own thoughts about it clearly.

In work: Stepping back from group input to think independently. The best solution here might come from quiet, not consensus.

Reversed

Keywords: isolation, avoidance of support, excessive withdrawal, loneliness mistaken for independence

There's a line between gathering yourself and disappearing, and it's easy to cross without noticing. When solitude stops feeling restorative and starts feeling like the only bearable option, the lamp has been carried too far from anyone who might actually help. Odin's isolation always had an end point; he came down from the mountain. If yours doesn't seem to have one, that's worth examining honestly.

In general: Solitude has tipped from useful into isolating. Consider whether you're avoiding people who could actually help.

In love: Pulling away from a partner under the guise of needing space, when what's actually happening is avoidance of a hard conversation.

In work: Working in isolation past the point where input would help, out of pride or fear of being told something you don't want to hear.

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