The next card that we will dive into is the Hermit. If this is your first time here, I have been slowly creating a blog post + podcast episode that go into the depths of each card in linear order so you can see how the cards build on and support each other.
Having a blog post allows me to show you the symbolism from each of my decks, while the podcast gives a narrative and a scope that is hard to capture in writing. Click here to go to the podcast. Don’t forget to rate, download, and follow while you are listening!
Depending on which deck you are using, either Strength or Justice has opened us into the Destruction Line (second line) of the Major Arcana. Once we have opened into this line, the Hermit says that we have to get comfortable with the darkness. In the Destruction line, we have to start relinquishing ego, perceptions, attachments, and old narratives. There is no better card to do that than perhaps the Hermit.
With the Hermit, there are themes of strength, experience, determination, fortitude, and independence. The Hermit is not simply a recluse. He has intentionally chosen to remove himself to a space that is more sovereign and aligned. He is the way-shower for those who seek a more meaningful, wholesome, and purposeful life. Click here to read the themes with the numerology of 9.
Finding the Way in Darkness
Main invitations with the Hermit:
Gathering treasures from the darkness to enhance the light
Wisdom gained from going into the depths. The self and the communal are elevated by honoring and collaborating with spiritual gifts
Committing to being a bringer of wisdom, a bringer of life- means going into depths and darkness
As mentioned above, the Hermit invites us to get comfortable in the darkness and find a willingness to relinquish our attachments, identities, ego, and old ways of being. As we have moved through the first line (the Creation Line) in the Major Arcana, we have found ways to build and create. Now, in the second line (the Destruction Line), themes of loss, death cycles, and removal come that we must confront and get comfortable with to gain wisdom and understanding.
The Hermit tells us that the darkness is not to be feared. Here is where some of the greatest treasures in life can be found. It only seems hard or horrible because many choose never to venture into their darkness out of heightened fear. The first way that I read the Hermit is that the Hermit tells us that gathering treasures from the darkness so we can bring them into the light is where we gain a sense of unity between the two. The light and the dark are not on a hierarchy. When we connect to our inner darkness and sift through the cave within, we find our inner light, and that is the guiding force with the Hermit.
One of the major symbols with this card is the lantern, or an ability to perceive in the darkness. The Bird King Tarot shows an owl inside a dark, hollow tree. The environment looks like either dusk or dawn, both representing the liminal space between day and night. The owl’s eyes are the most pronounced in the image, speaking of an ability to see and act in the darkness. The Shadowscapes Tarot and the Wild Unknown both show a figure with a lantern aloft, lighting the way for others or creating a beacon for others to come to the Hermit’s side. Perhaps one of my favorite images is the Guardian of the Night Tarot. The Spider as the Hermit is a beautiful connection. The Spider resides in the channeling, channeling, and weaving their gifts with patience, wisdom, and inner power.
The next way that I read the Hermit is that we gain wisdom and spiritual understanding when we go into the depths. This elevates our own personal understandings because we learn how to hold space for discomfort, and we learn how to integrate the shadow back into the light. This brings us into a space of higher connection. We no longer shun the “bad” or the unknown. We instead lean into our spirit and allow the work between the higher and lower energies to unfold.
This not only elevates our own wild spirit; it elevates the wild spirit of the World because we are actively a part of it, and we now can show the way for others (hence the lantern). The Hermit is not merely a recluse or an isolated individual with little to no contact with the outside world. The Hermit is so immersed in the outside world, the beyond, the fringe, that he comes full circle to show the way for others.
With humility, compassion, and wisdom, the Hermit brings us into a more resilient space. When we can witness what is within the shadow and give it language, shape, and substance, we can turn the hardest and darkest things in life into something that is illuminated from within.
The Hermit in Imagery and Symbolism
The Hermit in the imagery is going to show a figure, alone, who stands or resides on a metaphorical edge. This is similar to the Fool, who is on the precipice of all possibility. The difference with the Hermit is that the Hermit is not out there trying to find all the journeys, paths, and people that he is meant to find.
The Hermit waits for those who are ready and have found him. His awareness reveals that those who have found the beacon he carries are ready to go even further than before. When the Hermit comes forward for you in a reading, it is an invitation to go deeper and accept what comes from the circumstances you are in. I don’t use the term acceptance to speak to ignorance or being overpowered.
I mean acceptance as in each situation has something within the darkness to be used as a teacher or a guide. Your spirit is constantly evolving. The Hermit invites you to look into the depths and find the answers, lessons, and understandings you need. In the Grimalkin’s Curious Cat Tarot, we see the cat in the tree with the fireflies lighting the surroundings. The flowers radiate their beauty. These are things that can only be truly appreciated in the dark. The Hermit from the Hush Tarot shows an owl (a common symbol for the Hermit), which is a blend of organic flesh and machinery. This shows how the Hermit is an invitation to constantly adapt your inner workings and search for answers no matter where they lie.
The last way I read the Hermit is that the Hermit commits and collaborates between both the light and the shadow. He is aware that to be in touch with one means we must be in touch with the other. Just like the cycles of life and death, internal/external, or light/shadow, the cycles only exist because of the other.
The synchronicity is only applicable when it is applied to both. One cannot be present without the other. The Hermit knows and understands this fact. That is why the Hermit helps us embrace the Destruction line as a whole, because he understands that after creation comes destruction. After creation and destruction comes evolution, so the Hermit is truly helping us to meet the Destruction line, and then move into the Evolution line.
With the Spirit Animal Tarot, we see similar themes, but the name Keeper of Light is important. We cannot bring something forward that we don’t have within us. We cannot give something away that we don’t have. We have to find our inner light and then bring that forward to shine on others. Usnea grows on trees in the mountains when the air is clean. Used for overall immunity and as a fire starter when fire, light, and warmth are needed, Usnea teaches the need for stillness so that we may listen to the higher voices of our deepest guides.
The images above again show the desolation and withdrawal needed with the Hermit. Here, we again have the lanterns, but we also have the snow and the cold cave, marking the Hermit’s ability to endure in conditions that others shun. We need to find a way to be comfortable in the uncomfortable. We must be able to step outside of our comfort zones. That means there is a natural edge with the Hermit.
We can retreat to a space of warm blankets, snacks, and our favorite shows when this card comes forward, and that is a form of higher guidance- of knowing when to rest. However, after a while, that becomes complacency and a cage. Yes, the cage has our books and movies and food and fridge and bed, but even a nice cage is still a cage. The minute you start to find yourself too comfortable, the Hermit comes in and asks you how is this in your highest space.
In a more negative light, the Hermit could speak to this complacency. We need to shake loose the binds that hold us back from experience, wisdom, and integration. The Hermit in a more negative space could also represent themes of superiority, gatekeeping, and an inability to connect with others who may be quite different than the Hermit. These are things we want to keep in mind when working with this card.
A few other key points about this card. The Hermit is connected to Virgo and the Virgin, but in a space of sexuality. Here, the term Virgin means sovereign. One who is independent and autonomous over themselves is the way to think of this correlation. Virgo rules over the intestines in the body, and chyle (Virgin’s Milk) is a substance of lymph and emulsified fats that aids the lymphatic system in fluid balance and immunity.
All of this helps keep us at our higher potential physically, so the Hermit speaks to elevating the body in a metaphysical, energetic way. Also, the Hebrew word for the Hermit is Yod, which translates to the hand of man. This means that the touch of man, enacted by will, is reaching towards the heavens. Receiving the blessings of Divinity and using it for others speaks heavily to the Hermit’s themes.
Representation of the Hermit
Now that we have discussed the meanings of the Hermit and some things to consider if our Hermit energy is out of balance, I now want to share a list of examples of the Hermit I have found. Make your list and comment on who you think makes a beautiful depiction of the Hermit.
- Rafiki from The Lion King (my favorite example)
- Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars
- Cloister Nuns
- Siddhartha
- Master Oogway in Kung Fu Panda
Ashlie McDiarmid
Hello there! I hope you liked this blog post. As a tarot and oracle reader, my goal with my blogs is to offer you content, resources, and access to the tools that have transformed my life.
I believe that your own intuition is the deepest form of knowing, but here in my little corner of the internet, I share insights based in intuition and instinct. I share my love for nature, witchcraft, and the wild spirit.
- If your spirit is at home in wild places
- If you feel the need to claim your autonomy as ritual
- If you want to more deeply trust your own intuition
- If you want resources or connections to tarot, oracle, witchcraft, and wild sovereignty, then welcome!
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