Introducing The Hermit IX
A man stands on a snow-capped mountaintop, holding a staff on which he leans with his left hand, while his right hand holds up a lamp with a six-pointed star inside. The Hermit card represents ‘Time out’, Solitude, Seeking, Reflection, Being alone, Going on ‘Walkabout’ or on a ‘Vision Quest’.
Symbols & Systems
body posture
He’s inward direct, deep in thought. He’s more interested in internal energies than external. His stance mimics the shape of the numeral 9, which rules the card.
facial expression
Quiet, serene, inward directed. We imagine this to be a person of few words.
beard
The beard indicates age and wisdom, through experience.
Cloak
Grey traditionally symbolizes wisdom.
Staff
He leans on his staff that he holds in his left hand. The left hand is receptive, and can represent the subconscious. We have a deep need to receive spiritual lessons. The staff supports us, just as spirituality supports us. We are reminded of Psalm 23, ‘Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me’.
lamp
The Hermit holds the lamp with his right hand. The right hand is conscious awareness: He knows that he is consciously creating solitude in order to become more aware. He holds the lamp up high; it illuminates his path. Inner illumination guides him to where he needs to go next.
The star inside the lamp is a six-pointed star, a traditional Jewish symbol and one that is important in Kabbalah. It represents the downward triangle of woman, and the upward triangle of man, thus the balance between male and female. The Star of David also signifies “As above, so below”.
The lamplight is yellow, symbolizing the intellect: The hermit can communicate concepts clearly enough for the rational mind to understand them. When we spend enough time in solitude, we realize two things: We are all the same, and we are all equal. The Hermit lights the path for others by sharing his wisdom and life experience. He goes into the wilderness to find himself, and then he returns to help others find themselves.
Staff
He leans on his staff that he holds in his left hand. The left hand is receptive, and can represent the subconscious. We have a deep need to receive spiritual lessons. The staff supports us, just as spirituality supports us. We are reminded of Psalm 23, ‘Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me’.
landscape
The Hermit is in a quiet place in nature, far from the civilized world. The landscape is wide open, with little distraction: a place for going inward, that is apart from our fast-moving everyday world. The mountains remind us of the journey of life – all of its ups and downs. The snow signifies the cold, external world: The Hermit is not warm and loving; he is inward directed and serious.
gods / goddesses
The Hermit is ruled by all the Gods and Goddesses that are loners, mystics, and wisdom imparters: all those deities that value knowledge as gold.
Female: Hecate, Isis, Cerridwen, Brigid, The Muses, Sarasvati
Male: Mercury, Saturn, Hermes, Ogma, Bramha, Odin, Woden
number
The number of The Hermit is 9, the number of completion and perfection, as it is the last of the single-digit numbers, and therefore is complete unto itself, just like the Hermit. Moreover, it is the number of months of human gestation, but here the “gestation” is spiritual, not physical.
Astrology
The astrological sign Virgo is associated with this card. Virgo is the virgin – complete unto itself, like the Hermit. Virgo rules digestion – the small intestine and the pancreas. What do we digest and assimilate into our lives? Sometimes the only way to know what we like and do not like in our lives is to have time to ourselves to contemplate it.
Mercury rules Virgo. Mercury is the planet of intelligence and wisdom. Both can be achived by ‘time out’.
Kabbalah
The creators of the Rider Waite Tarot deck were members of the Golden Dawn, a group that followed teachings based on the Kabbalah. Kabbalists are mystics who believe that God is neither male nor female, and has many aspects. Kabbalah is all about learning why we’re here, the mystery of the universe, and what the big plan is.
Being the 10th arcana card in the sequence of the Major Arcana cards, the Hermit corresponds to the 10th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Yud י, the first letter in God’s name.
The Hermit on The Tree of Life sits on the path between Chesed and Tifereth. In Kabbalah, the number 9 is highly connected to both the physical reality and the spiritual one. It is not only the highest of the basic numbers, but is also the number of months it takes to create new life.
The name of The Hermit is ‘Intelligence of Will’: The Hermit is intelligent because he chooses to be.
The message from The Hermit IX
The Hermit wants you to know that while you have all the answers inside of you, the answers can only be found after a period of reflecting in solitude. In our everyday lives, it can be hard to access our inner wisdom; thus we occasionally need to switch off the phone and retreat from the world. The Hermit also wants to make a connection with the divine, but in his own way: There is a desire for union with the Creator.
If you draw The Hermit, ask yourself these questions:
• Do I feel I get enough time on my own?
• Am I craving solitude right now? If so, how can I create more space in my life?
• Do I need to go on a retreat / vision quest?
• Is it time to reflect on my life?
• Do I know who I really am?
• Am I searching for my internal light?
• Am I afraid of my wisdom?
• Am I feeling a spiritual yearning? If so, do I want to embark on a spiritual journey?
If these questions resonate with you, allow yourself to focus on that place inside you that is full of wisdom, and allow yourself to access it by creating the space to do so.
The Hermit IX reversed
When I see a reversed card, I simply see the energy blocked or inhibited in some way. How would The Hermit be inhibited?
If you get The Hermit reversed for yourself or someone else, some questions to ask might be…
• Am I feeling lonely / alone / isolated from others?
• Do I have a fear of being alone?
• Do I feel suffocated by all the demands in my life?
• Do I feel I want to run away from everything?
• Am I feeling lost and confused in my life?
• Do I sabotage creating space and ‘time out’ for myself? If so, why is that?
If you get The Hermit reversed, it’s telling you to create time in your life for you. If you don’t, life will create the space FOR YOU, and usually not in a nice way, e.g., you might get sick and be stuck at home for weeks, giving you time out, but not on the schedule that you chose.
To sum it all up
The word “hermit” comes from the Greek word eremites, meaning ‘one of the desert’. When you reside in or visit the desert, there’s no noise and what appears at first to be no life. There is just you: ultimate solitude. That is the essence of The Hermit.
The Hermit is about having time alone in solitude and going inside to seek the answers. This is not a card about seeking a spiritual guru or a religion, as those are external. Rather, The Hermit is about knowing yourself and seeking spiritual truths inside of you. All the great mystics went into the solitude to seek out themselves and God – Jesus, Buddha, Hildegard von Bingen, the Hebrew prophets, Mohammad etc.
Carl Jung said that in order to truly know ourselves we need to journey within, and through this process will achieve ‘self actualization’. Yet how can we ever know ourselves if we make life too busy? As women we can find it hard to create Hermit space for ourselves, as there can be so many demands on us, especially if you’re a full-time working mother: paid work, children, housework, relationships, community commitments…whew!
Where is the time for you?
The Hermit invites you to take a retreat. A retreat might be 10 mins a day, half a day a week, one weekend every few months. Regardless, find the time you can to be alone. If you feel your well is empty, then go and fill it up. No one will do it for you: it’s your responsibility. The Hermit tells you to MAKE THE TIME and stop the excuses. Perhaps you need time in nature, a day at a spa, a weekend away, a yoga retreat, time alone in the bath with a book. Whatever you need, go create it.
