The Hermit is card IX of the Major Arcana in the Thoth Tarot. In a reading it speaks of wisdom, solitude, inner search and secret light. In the Golden Dawn system it corresponds to the Hebrew letter Yod, path 20 of the Tree of Life between Chesed and Tiphareth, the element Earth and Virgo in astrology.
wisdom · solitude · inner search · secret light · prudence
What does The Hermit mean?
Withdraw to gain clarity: the answer comes from within or from a private guide. Act with prudence and method.
Everyday meaning
Withdrawal, reflection, prudence, the search for truth. It points to a period of introspection or to meeting a wise and discreet counsellor.
Psychological meaning
The need for silence in order to hear your own voice; the maturity that comes from experience worked through in solitude.
Initiatic meaning
Path 20 from Chesed to Tiphareth, the letter Yod (the hand, 10), the seed from which all letters are born, and Virgo, mercurial earth: the secret of fertility hidden in matter. The inner light carried like a lantern into the world.
The shadow side
Ill-dignified, it signals isolation, closing off, emotional miserliness, a refusal of life.
The Hermit reversed
The Thoth Tarot is traditionally read without reversed cards: the reader judges from the cards around it whether a card is well or ill dignified. This is its ill-dignified or blocked reading:
Solitude lived as flight or exile; or a fear of silence that scatters you among other people.
The Hermit in love, work and spirit
In love
A period of reflection; a need for personal space, bonds that ask for depth more than intensity.
At work and career
Study, research, specialisation; working independently and meticulously.
In spiritual practice
The inner hermitage: guarding the seed of light that fertilises the world.
Kabbalah, astrology and the Hebrew letter of The Hermit
Yod י (10) · path 20: Chesed – Tiphareth · Earth · Virgo
Crowley on The Hermit
Crowley's Hermit gazes at a lantern with the Sun at its centre, accompanied by a tamed Cerberus; the Orphic egg wrapped by the serpent, the field of wheat and the form of the spermatozoon allude to life transmitted in secret.
Frequently asked questions
What does The Hermit mean in the Thoth Tarot?
Withdraw to gain clarity: the answer comes from within or from a private guide. Act with prudence and method.
What does The Hermit mean in love?
A period of reflection; a need for personal space, bonds that ask for depth more than intensity.
What does The Hermit mean for work and career?
Study, research, specialisation; working independently and meticulously.
What does The Hermit mean reversed?
The Thoth Tarot is traditionally read without reversed cards: the reader judges from the cards around it whether a card is well or ill dignified. This is its ill-dignified or blocked reading: Solitude lived as flight or exile; or a fear of silence that scatters you among other people.
What are the Kabbalah and astrology correspondences of The Hermit?
In the Golden Dawn system The Hermit corresponds to the Hebrew letter Yod, path 20 of the Tree of Life between Chesed and Tiphareth, the element Earth and Virgo in astrology.
