The Hermit Tarot Card – Meaning, Reversed, Guide, Love

The world of tarot is an amazing field opening new ways of seeing into our destiny and interpret signs coming along our way.

Just like other divination practices, tarot readings do not offer definite answers.

The same is with astrology, mystical interpretations of omens, numerology and angel numerology and more.

None of these should be taken in a literal sense, when it comes to overall explanation. Tarot reading works the same way.

Our destinies have all been determined eons ago; divination relies on such a foundation.

We could never fathom the miracle of our existence in its entirety nor we could ever learn just every single fact of our fate.

However, tarot opening could be a very valuable guidance. The cards are full of symbolical imagery; they are allegorical.

Tarot cards were not made for occult purposes, but for card games.

They come from medieval ages, but, over the course of time, the wondrously illustrated cards have been more and more used in esoteric circles and for divination.

There are two main suits in tarot decks, the Major Arcana or the trump ones and the Minor Arcana.

The Major Arcana counts twenty two cards numbered from 0 to 21, while the rest of the deck is further divided into four suits, those of wands, cups, swords and pentacles.

Where our Hermit hides? Let us find out more about this mysterious card.

The Hermit Tarot Card Quick Facts

The hermit card is under number 9 of the Major Arcana suit. This card follows The Strength card and precedes The Wheel of Fortune, the Fortune card.

The imagery of each tarot card is loaded with meanings.

The most commonly used deck for tarot opening is Rider-Waite deck, with its well-known illustrations; it is almost a synonym for tarot, as a divination technique.

You have probably came along these stylized, but highly symbolical images, even if you have never been interested into tarot so far. Alright!

Let us go through some basic characteristics of The hermit card, before we describe its imagery and get into the deeper analyzes. Here the quick Hermit facts are.

Key terms for The Hermit tarot card: Searching for meaning and purpose, spiritual journey and enlightenment, guidance, wisdom, seeking higher knowledge. Ascetic, spiritual life, isolation.

Key essential element of the Hermit: Earth

Major Arcana numerical of The Hermit card: 9

Planet and astrological sign of the Hermit: Earth, Virgo

Yes/No question for The Hermit card: Maybe

Related to the card of: The Moon

Visual Description of The Hermit Card

Just as its title says, the card depicts a hermit. This hermit is portrayed as an old, bearded man, dressed in long, loose, hooded pale grey robes. He carries two items.

One is the staff in his left hand and the other is a lantern. The hand holding the lantern is raised forward, as if it should provide the guiding light, to the Hermit himself or for the others.

The Hermit looks calm and relaxed. He is the first figure we have met, starting from the first card of Major Arcana, with eyes closed.

This particular facial expression is highly symbolical; the Hermit keeps his eyes closed, because he is, indeed, on an inner journey, the spiritual one. Nothing should drive his attention away.

The figure of the Hermit is a standing one or a one walking in a gentle, slow pace. His head is a bit bent, as he is in a state of deep thinking or even dreaming.

The Hermit finds himself on a snowy ground or it is a stony one; in any case, it represents a desert, a place where there is no life or any other living creature. The Hermit is alone.

His lantern is an especially interesting motif; it features a brightly shining star. The star provides the light to his lantern. The star shines for eternity, which suggests that it would not fade away.

The star is the symbol of guidance, enlightenment, positivism, spiritual energy, heavenly wisdom and hope. The star guides the Hermit and he uses its light to guide others.

The staff he hold represents his connection with the solid ground, with the earthly.

It represents his support, it provides the hermit with safety, it keeps him grounded.

He goes forward almost as a blind man supporting his steps with a staff.

This card is overall an allegory of a spiritual journey to enlightenment.

The color prevailing in the imagery of the card is blue. Blue is the color of the sky, of heaven, representing mysterious, higher, divine knowledge.

Blue symbolizes calmness, both the sky and the water, which are endless sources of mystical knowledge. This is the color of solitude, isolation and mysticism.

One would commonly say that blue was the color of sadness. It could be, if our primary association with it was loneliness and melancholy.

Melancholy itself is a tricky term and the actual meaning of the blue would be solitude, rather than loneliness.

Solitude is chosen by the Hermit or accepted by the Hermit as the higher ways spread such path before him.

The Hermit Card Meaning Guide

I have found the knowledge and wisdom.

When they see the hermit, many assume the card is related to certain negative concepts, because a hermit is someone who is very much alone.

However, that would not be the core message of this card. True, if it opens in the reversed position, which is something we will explain later on, it could bear such a connotation, but even if so, it does not have to be completely a negative one.

Just as we have already said above, this is, indeed, the card about solitude.

However, this is not the same as loneliness. The bearded hermit is an archetype of a sage, a wise man searching beyond the realm of the mundane.

This is the card of inner spiritual journey, the least materialistic card so far. It is about reaching wisdom of the spirit.

The lantern he carries represents our guidance; both our inner guidance that come from the divine source and the one other provides for us.

The star shines very brightly, but it illuminates only a small portion of the way. That is how it was meant to be.

All will not be revealed to as at a time; we have to be wise, patient, calm, content, fearless, as well. The Hermit follows the card of The Strength and for a good reason.

If you recall the previous card, it represents our ability to tame the raw force residing inside us.

The Hermit has definitely accomplished that and he is one step ahead towards the enlightenment.

The Hermit will not cast away his staff and lose the support and his connection with the material world; it serves him as a bridge and an unbreakable thread connecting him with the earthly.

The Hermit card is always a sign that the questioner is on a spiritual journey or that the time has come to thread that path.

Step by step at the time, with patience and an open mind, one could accomplish things that are worth more than myriads of golden coins. The true goal of the Hermit is illumination, enlightenment, wisdom.

It appears as if the stands on a mountain top, which could represent the accomplishment of the journey, but it would be more fitting to associate it with a small accomplished goal, rather than the final one.

At last, there are very few people who could really fathom the full wisdom of the universe and they are truly blessed.

The hermit does not look as if he had accomplished it all, but he has reached at least one level of his journey, which is a priceless gain; his eyes are still closed, in deep contemplation, his lantern is still guiding and his staff he holds firmly.

In other words, every single step should be deeply valued, every knowledge accepted.

Now, the part worrying many is that the Hermit is virtually all alone. True, there is no one around him.

However, there are journey one has to take alone. No one could follow another’s spiritual path.

The Hermit is not entirely alone, though. He has his star, which speaks of the divine presence; no one is ever completely alone.

The Hermit  – YES or NO

The Hermit card could be very interesting in ’yes or no’ readings, because it gives one a neutral answer.

These readings are very simple. They require only simple ’yes or no’ questions to be asked and one card pulled.

The trick is that certain cards could provide you with the third answer, a ’maybe’.

The answer of the Hermit is MAYBE, but many would likely interpret it as a NO.

The thing with this card is that it is about the guidance and a process of spiritual enlightenment one takes up alone.

It indicates that for everything else in your life, such a journey must come first.

Hence, the only situation in which The Hermit card would grant a positive answer is if you ask whether you should seek for guidance or start on a hermit’s path, so to say.

The Hermit Card Upright Meaning

If you have pulled The Hermit card facing you in the upright position, it is a clear sign that the spiritual journey is that one you must take.

If you have already started on such a path, the card comes up as an encouragement to continue.

The Hermit card often appears before those who are in some state of isolation from the outer world or feel as if it was something they actually need.

Sometimes we have to disconnect, in order to reconnect.

Nevertheless, we should not break all the threads that bind us with our earthly reality.

Like the Hermit, we should carry our staff and use it as a support, so that we do not get lost.

We exist on both spiritual and physical level, although the accent of this card is our spiritual self.

At the end of the day, one could only feel content in this life, if his soul was enlightened.

The Hermit card suggests the moment has come to dedicate time to an internal journey, a connection with the spiritual, the divine.

It also symbolizes learning, education, knowledge and wisdom that would make you grow personally.

At the end of your journey or, better to say, a level of the journey, you could become the one to help others on such a path.

There is an alternative meaning; it suggests you should seek for guidance or that a person who possesses great wisdom and knowledge is coming your way to guide you by his or hers shining lantern.

This person would be your Hermit, your guide towards the enlightenment and wisdom. Such one could encourage you to follow your own hermit’s path.

The Hermit Card Reversed Meaning

The reversed Hermit card is commonly taken as a negative sign, although it must be said that there are no literally ’good’ and ’bad’ cards; it greatly depends on a situation or particular reading.

The reversed Hermit card is about disconnecting from other people, inability to understand them or vice versa, loneliness, feeling lost and abandoned.

For a great part, it could represent one’s unwillingness to accept the state of loneliness he or she experiences as a consequence of specific conditions and situations.

This is, indeed, a difficult thing to do, especially for those who are highly sociable, who feel good only when surrounded with people.

Well, just as it is not good to become totally isolated from people, the other extreme is also not a very good option.

In that sense, the reversed Hermit card is not negative, but it does tell about a deeply uncomfortable state of mind and spirit.

One feels empty if disconnected, but the void should be filled through the spiritual growth; as you grow spiritually, you will find it easier to reconnect with others and in a much better way than before.

The Hermit Tarot Card – Career Meaning

The Hermit card in its core has virtually nothing to do with the material gain, so if you have become obsessed with such goals, the time is to reconsider your true desires.

The spiritual journey should come first. This, of course, does not mean you should leave your job or stop thinking about financial resources; our lives are still greatly dependant on those.

However, do not make financial gain your only focus, because it is not the meaning of life. You should think of money as a resource, no more than that.

There are so many valuable things in life that cannot be bought with money.

The spiritual growth is more important than the material gain; at the and of the day, it really does not fill our soul.

The Hermit card indicates money does not satisfy you anymore.

It especially applies in a situation in which the questioner works in the area that is not his or her thing, even if they were successful and earn a lot of money.

The time is to take up another path and find the job you would really enjoy doing.

The card could also appear if you are right now in the state of choosing between different career paths.

The Hermit Tarot Card – Love Meaning

This card cannot be taken as a particularly positive one when it comes to romance, because it is the card of solitude and isolation.

However, there are times we have to spend some time alone. There is no way we could force love upon us, and we need patience and faith.

The Hermit card, however, does not indicate a breakup.

If you are in a relationship, the card simply suggests you need time for yourself and it could be perfectly achieved in a romantic relationship.

It does not mean you will get distant from your partner, if your relationship is otherwise healthy and based on trust and understanding.

If it was the other way around, the card might indicate a need for separation.

The Hermit is a spiritual and individualistic card, but it also tells about the guidance.

The true guidance is actually based on love for the world and the people. Your lover may become your guide or vice versa.

There are many ways we connect with people, the different paths lead two souls towards the unbreakable connection.

The Hermit Tarot Card – Health Meaning

In terms of health, The Hermit card is definitely about the spiritual self-healing, the healing through isolation and disconnection from problems that are perhaps not that worth of our attention.

This cards helps one see the difference between what is really important and what is not worth our energy.

In that sense, the Hermit really helps us keep our sanity and or spirit healthy.

This is not card about the physical, but through the calmness of one’s mind and soul, one also heals physically.

As it is about guidance, just as it is about the solitary road, the card indicates you should seek help, if you feel you need it.

However, it directs you towards spiritual healing, the healing through faith and belief.

The Hermit Combined

Each of the tarot cards get another meaning when combined with other ones.

In the following examples we learn about different meanings of The Hermit card, paired with several others from the Major and the Minor Arcana.

  • The Hermit and The Hierophant: Finding a guide, a mentor
  • The Hermit and The Star: Discovering your purpose
  • The Hermit and The Ten of Wands: Carrying your own cross
  • The Hermit and The King of Cups: Gaining precious life experience
  • The Hermit and The Ace of Swords: Deeply religious person
  • The Hermit and The Two of Pentacles: Passion, trying to control carnal desires

Astrology and The Hermit

The Hermit card is associated with the element of the earth.

The Earth is something that is solid, something that provide us with a stable ground, where our roots are hidden.

Although the Hermit is highly spiritual figure, it is connected or reconnected with the earth. The process goes both directions.

The Hermit  Zodiac Sign

The zodiac sign of Hermit is an Earth sign, the Virgo.

Virgos are about precision, perfection, cleanliness, critical minded, analytical.

These traits characterize philosophically inclined Hermit.

Numerology and The Hermit

The Hermit is the ninth card of the Major Arcana. Number nine is one of the highest spiritual potentials, especially when it comes to spiritual journey and enlightenment.

This is the number of wisdom, self-sacrifice, duty and call, obligation, mysticism, optimistic spirit, a higher perspective and divine wisdom, all of which encompassed by the card of the Hermit.

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