“I have to pick my way along a lonely path, no tradition, no ritual to guide me, and nothing to hinder me, either.”
— Georges Bataille
So I have been known to curse when the Hermit turns up in a Tarot spread. He can seem so gloomy, so Saturnine and well, the antithesis of Sex & Shopping. When the Hermit arrives, you’re not getting laid or getting paid soon; the emphasis is on wisdom. It’s the style of sagacity that you seek and score solo. Zero camaraderie let alone applause or status.
The Hermit Card tarot card is not always welcome. In fact, it can seem archaic and dull. But like Saturn in astrology, it has surprising benefits. The Hermit can mean different things depending on where he turns up.
The Hermit shows up in a strong position when you are on – or need to take – your own trip. There is no point looking to others for guidance or for a mentor to take responsibility for your mindset – you’re setting it. That’s the significance of the light that the Hermit carries; you light your own way via whatever knowledge you have gained thus far.
Archetype-wise, the Hermit is not so carefree and instinctual as the Fool, but it’s a similar vibe – do it your way and surrender the need for societal validation for now.
To associate the card with age (gray beard in the Waite Tarot and others) and infirmity (the staff) would be natural but superficial: The staff is a magic wand, the gray cloak and beard disguise a warrior and that light is the Star, source of stellar guidance.
But you don’t get any of these good things by asking around or via standard metrics. The Hermit also brings to mind those many fairy tales where a god or a goddess visits your house disguised as an outcast or a tramp seeking alms. J.R.R. Tolkien seems in part to have based his Gandalf character on the Hermit, with the Hobbit Bilbo cast aptly in the role of the Fool.
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.J.R.R. Tolkien
This was so enlightening for me, Mystic. The Hermit and the Star are my cards and now I see how similar they can be. Thank you.
Wow! Just freakn’ Wow! Could not have been a more direct karmic message for me than this post.
The Fool, the Hermit, the 5th House, Leo – all the characters in play.
Reaffirming everything that is surfacing for me at present.
Still with a degree of ambiguity, only deciphered through going within.
Pure magic Mystic – as always.
The hermit came up for me regularly when I was overcoming a messy (and ended) relationship and friendship. It was a signal to learn to sit with my own pain, to learn to sit in discomfort and not knowing what next, and to go within. Lots of meditation, learning to make decisions that honour myself, learning to create space for myself. It was so needed and so worthwhile… It came up recently, and I thought, “no I’ve done that already!” It seemed like a symbol of loneliness, but then I inadvertently started enjoying and needing time with myself again so was good
Helps to read this. Thank you <3
OMG – haha! One of my dogs ate something glittery & upon cleaning their doggie room a short time ago, I found the shiny land mines.
Shit CAN sparkle! How’s that for shitchronicity? Lol.
Take that, Mariah Carey.
Thanks for sharing x
By the way Mariah is way past shiny things. She has transcended into luminescence. That’s right, shining a light through the dark .. Showing us the way.
Gotta lay off the radium if ones business is glowing in the dark lol.
I know. We were appalled at that. An hour a week is not employment. What a scam to distort the national statistics.
Love reading everyone’s reactions to the Hermit.
I used to fear him as he looks grief struck in that miserable grey garb. Perhaps at that time I feared him it was all about sex and shopping and all things bright and I feared being alone.
But now I see him and rejoice! I don’t have to shop, chatter or interact with people at that daily grind level? Awesome!
I would like to think this morning I was channeling Saturn Wisdom. As a nice teacher wrenched my ASD son by the wrist to force him to class as he struggled to run to me, I felt the full force of this waxing moon in Cap, Saturn direct vibe rise within me. Words flew out of my mouth that were clearly minted by Chronos himself! Formal, cool and cutting, complete with rational assessments and long term outcomes for continuing with or ignoring my concerns. Thank you Sage One! I do love getting older. When my hair goes white I am getting dread locks.
Fab, Mystic. Yeah I always welcome The Hermit in my readings. He’s like the cool, wise elder in the astral neighborhood, imparting answers to esoteric mysteries with every visit. He tells the best stories & always has some mind-blowing point to every one of them. I take his appearance as a cue to go into student mode: listening, receptive & sponge-like.
With this full moon brewing (in my 12th house) I’ve been so feeling XVII The Star. Fresh water pouring into stagnant pools, to infinity! I won’t be able to see the moon for the next couple of nights due to forecasted rain, but that fits The Star vibe 🙂
Really? I quite like him – he holds his light up for others and is a Wayshower. My name is a 9 in numerology, I am a 33 (Master Teacher) Life Path, and my ASC aligns with a star the Kabbalists associate with The Hermit. I even found out fairly recently that one of my Guides is Merlin. I suppose this constellation of factors is why I’m so comfortable with this wise old wizard energy. Always been a bit of a loner – at times my life experiences have made it difficult for me to relate to others (and vice versa)….even as a child I tended to relate better to adults than to children my own age. It may be because I had some pretty serious stuff going on at home, or it may have just been a part of my nature – who knows which came first? But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve worked to bring more lightness and mirth into my Being to counteract some of the heaviness associated with my youth. I’ll never be a lightweight – my mind will always have a certain degree of gravitas to it with that tight Mercury/Saturn square – but I try to temper this with laughter and playfulness to dispel the clouds of my younger days.
It’s super cool that Tolkien derived inspiration from this archetype – I did not know that! Ever since I started reading cards back in my teens, I have always seen The Hermit as Gandalf The Grey atop the Lonely Mountain, so in retrospect this correlation should have been much more apparent to me, LOL.
Wow, thanks for this Mystic! A reminder to strengthen and question conditioning forces and set down roots in your chosen forest that enhances rather than detracts from Truth. Beautiful!
Not knowing much Tarot, either out of naivety or just assumption, I’ve always felt comfortable seeing the Hermit in the spread. Maybe because Gandalf the card did remind me of Gandalf or a mystic traveling in the forest. Maybe it’s the Pisces Ascendant and NN in the 1st talking…
Well I just had a click on the cards… no Hermit… but did get
1st House Ace of Pentacles,
5th House King of Cups,
7th House 2 of Cups,
Looks promising… hehehe.
think i missed the tuesday e mail?
the Daily Mystic for Monday was sent out at the usual time (the night before) and the Daily Mystic for Tuesday will be sent out at the usual time. It is Monday at the moment.
oh yeah, so it is!
I almost never get the hermit card, but i suspect it is because i am super hermity already. It is people i can’t stand. Thank goodness there isn’t a tarot card called The Socialite or something. Because i would prob not like it.
I needed this post, Mystic. Thank you. A thousand times thank you.
In these crazy times, I rely on the wisdom here more and more.
Thank u hun! And if you’re feeling that, you will love the quote i am putting in the next daily mystic email, x
I found create respite and comfort in the Hermit in my years of exile during my Neptune sq Neptune transit (that coincided with homeschooling). He was a constant in my spreads and have me a sense of hope that my forced time out of the world was not a waste. That there was something to it.
He was my personal magic card this year and I was like: we’re well travelled together, welcome (a bit like what David described above). What strikes me now, eight months on from drawing that card, is the lantern that he carries. Not just of the light cast into the dark, but that he carries the light. I’ve recently realised I’ve lost touch with my light – that although others are able to see it/feel it/experience it/are drawn to it – I am lost to it.
And so the Hermit takes on new meaning again. To go within, as only the Hermit can do, to make contact with that light again. Reunite.
The lantern he carries is the light found in the Star and I’m so grateful for access to Higher Guidance (the sort I didn’t believe in this time last year)
Thus the Hermit is like a favourite old worn pair of slippers for me. He’s always welcome.
Urgh!! And the tippy tappy typo Monkeys have been at it again.
It’s so interesting what cards some people have a reaction to or don’t like seeing. I never minded getting the hermit, maybe because I always liked alone time so anything that I feel encourages solitude and quiet reflecting activities is my cup of tea. I used to be scared of the tower, I don’t think I’m scared of it anymore, but I definitely swear out loud when it pops up, no matter where it falls. I assume that’s quite a common reaction though.
I’ve only had the Tower once and I had no idea what it was really referring to. It was only in hindsight that I went: oh yeah!
I was expecting dramatic change, I was just unprepared for how dramatic and how instantaneous it was.
Cards like The Devil, Death, 10 swords, 3 swords all have their places and their positive sides.
Having said that I had a pretty epic run of pulling the same oracle card for several months until I hated the sight of it. Took a long time to dig under the many layers of its meaning to find my own. Then do something to address the imbalance there.
Yes I also get tired if I keep getting something repetitively, like a petulant teenager I react like ‘ugh I know OK’ LOL
The irony of that is ‘knowing’ and ‘Knowing’. Sometimes what we are told the cards mean doesn’t necessarily align with our personal understanding and you have to fall all the way down into there to stop getting it.
I still get twitchy when I get All That Glitters in the Oraclr deck. Even though I know it just means be authentic and look behind the mask.
Same here. It’s kind of a reminder to look upward and inward for that wisdom and there’s is something comforting in getting back on the journey. I enjoy that time of soltitude and that deep introspective quest for wisdom, for me it’s necessary. Must be the 8th house pisces.
Upward and inward is perfect.
The quote by Georges Bataille resonates with me! I’m in digital media…so everyone’s asking “what’s the next big thing”, and no one knows. Management keeps changing protocol and refuses to set down guidelines.
“And there is no point looking to others for guidance or to a mentor to take responsibility for your mindset. You’re setting it.” Yes, exactly this. I’m relying heavily on my natal Saturn in Cap in the 3rd house to stay on my path, with Jupiter in Gem and all the other things in my 3rd house for ideas and growth.
Yes, I’ve been involved with the digital and optical industries for over 30 years now. After working in these business’s for 15 years and seeing that most of them kept changing protocols and refusing to design or implement business systems and quality guidelines, I left and started my own software company that provided business system design and implementation to high tech companies. 😉
When people are saying to me what’s the next big thing ? I want the leading edge etc.i know that they are the least tech savvy people to deal with. Their basic strategy is, if I’m using the latest gear I’ll be safe. By not developing guidelines and maintaining protocols etc they will end up damaging customer relationships. Customers need a consistent experience and that retention is what builds business.
If you work for an organization that is always looking for the next big thing while burning customers along the way by sloppy systems the future of the organization is questionable.
One of the truest things I’ve learnt in life is ‘you become what you mix with’. Find an organization that you feel aligns with your personal standards and grow from there.
Hermit appears a lot in my readings. Going it alone is a theme in my life that I am actually actively trying to do less of, given how, well, lonely it is. I figure my Libra north node wants me to play better with others. It’s nice to read the variations on how to read it. Not sure I’ll ever get my head around the intricacies of tarot placements but these things help.
Jupiter in libra coming to shake your up your capricorn house – maybe you’ll be busier and less conscious of those periods of being alone. Jupiter will challenge with hopefully benevolent growth; are you pluto in libra generation?
Hi asr, yes I’ve been wondering about that. I think Jupiter is another planet that will be changing signs and making significant aspects at same time – crossing Pluto as it goes into my 4th house. I’m feeling kind of bruised about this theme, and not sure if I have “done enough” to forestall Jupiter stirring up yet more crap as it makes its transit.
From about Dec 2016 to April 2017 is big personal astro, outer planet aspects to all inner planets , house changes and chart angles. So, more change but what sort I am not sure . With any luck I’ll at least have some savings this time to help work with it.
beautiful. one of my favourite cards. but then ive a packed twelth hse.
also makes me think of led zeppelins inner record sleeve, one of my fav albums
Yes! I thought of that album too.
When I see the hermit I relate him to the book, Pilgrims Progress. The main theme of the book describes how life is a highway, We set out alone, maybe leaving our friends and family to find where we belong. The journey is arduous and along the way we find comfort and friendship in the many guest houses and hostels along the way. The inns also serve those that visit on the way but somehow decided to stay, be waylaid. Some for weeks, some for a lifetime. The temptation of course is to stay in these comfortable places and never really resume the journey. Again and again leaving your friends and comfort wears you down and the original quest seems distant and obscure. Hermit is the energy we access to move on. Hermit energy shows us how to leave all the trappings behind and accept social and physical austerity for a time, to achieve a greater goal. The hermit shows us that there is further to go and what you need to complete the next stage of the journey is a light pack and no concern for what we leave behind. He shows us back to the path we strayed from. His image reflects the sadness we feel when we leave people and places behind and also the wisdom in doing so.
I agree, Davidl, good point. I read Pilgrims Progress in my youth and it left an imprint. It comes to mind during certain life transitions, thank you for the reminder.
“The alien is that which stems from elsewhere and does not belong here … The stranger who does not know the ways of the foreign land wanders about lost; if he learns its ways too well, he forgets that he is a stranger and gets lost in a different sense by succumbing to the lure of the alien world and becoming estranged to his own origin … The recollection of his own alienness, the recognition of his place of exile for what it is, is the first step back; the awakened homesickness is the beginning of the return.”
Hans Jonas
SATURN
Yes, hence my use of the word “Saturnine” in the blog post.
I was not sure if you were just trying to ignore the saturn relationship. When I read the cards I generally find the time keeper saturn and the hermit go hand in hand. People generally feel more comfortable with the kindly hermit than with Saturn, even though they are the same coin
“Saturnine” means of or pertaining to Saturn
I didn’t get the Hermit in today’s spread, but I did get the Eight of Pentacles in the 11th, which suggests a gentle withdrawal from the fray. Continuing to stay off Facebook, been 2 months now. It was just something else to maintain, like a houseplant you don’t like very much but are too nice to actively kill. Very tired of presenting a public image which does not exist, since the real me is going to be unpalatable. I don’t actually give much thought to what other people think these days. I know I’m ok, in the essentials.
“like a houseplant you don’t like very much but are too nice to actively kill”
LMFAO you just described my entire life right now. Houseplants, social media profiles, relationships, my job. Brilliant.
Oh man tell me about it. 🙂
I left Facebook in June last year for a 100+ day sabbatical and haven’t gone back. I don’t miss it. I have friends who make sure I know about stuff if it’s only on Facebook.
It didn’t leave a void. Is anything it allowed multiple festering wounds to heal. And when my life turned 180 degrees last year, I was so grateful for the privacy to let it play out without public scrutiny.
There is life beyond Facebook!!
Isn’t that just evil shite? I have friends who keep trying to lure me to FB by posting parties and get togethers there …locked….and i just have said no. I dont care if it makes me an old fuddy Duddy. I don’t have desire for a social media that thrives on drama.
Why would you say the real you is unpalatable? :3
Realness is where the treasure is even if it isn’t FB beautiful or approved! 🙂
Hehe, no it really is. Because my interests are just thought to be so….weird to many on there. I’m not weird but honestly if it’s not photos of your dinner, checking into a restaurant or a selfie down with the “beauty” filter, it is weird, and the Mean Girls come out to play. I’m fine with myself, I think I just realised that half of my friends list are people I probably wouldn’t piss on if they were on fire because they are lazy ex colleagues who I have nothing in common with, much less want an update on their weirdly named ugly children that they are helicoptering over. So it is that too. Lol
Did I say that out loud omg
XD LOL! I have a feeling we might get along in real life. But yeah i don’t even bother friending those sorts of boring ass people.
I’m considering deleting FB. I love my American and European friends because they’re so eclectic but all the Australians do is post selfies, group shots and make out they’re “winning” when their lives are a mess.
I’m just gonna delete the Australian people. I am so friggin’ jaded with this place on a social life the incessant insincerity and vapidnesd is driving me batty. I don’t want to be bitter but something has to.leave my orbit and they are it. Bring in the fresh and sincere – and so it is!
I want to do this too but there are businesses near me without websites (Mennonites mostly) that have FB pages announcing herbalism courses and events that I wouldn’t know about otherwise. I guess they get more views that way.
Yeah it is difficult, and I can understand using it if you have a business or whatever. I never really go out that much (to social events anyhow) whether I know about them on Facebook or not so it was pretty pointless to me, I just can’t plan ahead, I never know how I will be feeling that evening, I’d rather keep it spontaneous, if I bump into a friend and we go for a pint because I want to in the here and now.
“Say no to any Hermit shut-in tendencies” – 3 of Wands, 11th house.
THANK YOU. I literally just told off everyone I know here in Australia for being the first to take and the last to give. That I am sick of their narcissism, stinginess and endless verbal fuqery.
NO MORE calling me when you’re depressed, angry, need creative advice, personal referrals – nk more caretaker BS. No more hand maiden enabling. And no more fucking teaching. Put in the work I have of you want to succeed.
I just bought roses and a bottle of my fav deleted Gucci perfume. If you can’t share generosity I don’t wanna know.
30 years of hermitage is done and dusted – time to reign in a blaze of fire, grace, creativity and generous mutuality!!!
Graci to the decades spent at the Hermitage – it’s why I can blaze so ferociously and perfectly. Lesson learned, the wheel turns 🙂
@The Venus Fly, love this! Been secretly longing to make a Hermitage of my life for many of the reasons you state above. But I’ve been feeling guilty for wanting to drop out of the world of everyone and just finally do what I want with my life even if that means leaving everyone to deal with their own shit. Like shouldn’t I want to be a part of people’s lives and/or make a contribution to the world in general?
But increasingly I’ve begun to realize that the only way I’m going to be able to contribute and be a good friend to others is if I do retreat for however long it takes and make my life all about me and my needs.
I realize the selfishness I feel guilty about is due to the fact that I’ve spent the majority of my life following/listening to what everyone else thinks is best and then being distant and self absorbed as a backlash against this. I truly feel like I could spend decades by myself and never have enough me time. But I’m sure that once I truly begin this Hermitage and get the things that I want for myself by myself I will return sooner than I think and ready for the fiery generous bad-assery you have emerged with.
Thanks for the inspiration!
“I truly feel like I could spend decades by myself and never have enough me time”.
^^ this.
I was poking around in a rock pool yesterday thinking about that Tom Hanks film where he was stranded on an island. I thought I probably wouldn’t have built a raft, I’d be fine with the island.
Hermit on, honey. Sensual, deliciousness is some great stuff. Time for me to bust loose and find my tribe – sick of settling for peeps who take but don’t share. Who exclude me because I “outshine” ’em – fuck em. No more having my brilliance diminished.
The word “shine” keeps coming to me. In fact, JUST as I typed this a song with that very title started playing on my phone, lol. “Look at you shine, baby” – I did my time, my darkside is my diamond but my Lilith in Leo in the third is roaring PAST all of these phools 🙂
Amazing!
Also you just inspired me to make a new playlist. Shine on you crazy diamond and shine bright like a diamond come to mind.
omg right after I typed that my friend texted me about something I sent him earlier about diamonds and then he said he was downloading the Shining as we were speaking. Your Shine vibe is spreading instantaneously cross two provinces here in Canada!
Lol.
The Oracle said my scent was Heliotrope – the main ingredient in my signature perfume. And archetype was flowers – it’s ALL connected :p
The synchronicity is very high now, I think
I haven’t quite got to ‘shine’ yet, but the theme of ‘light’ has been really strong in the last couple of weeks. Realising that I have lost touch with my light – but others still see it/feel it/experience it. So I’m on a quest (and I see the Hermit with his staff as much a quester as he is a cave dweller!) to reunite with my light. And then, oh then, may the shine begin.
I’m exactly in the same process that you Venus Fly and enjoying it! I’m saying NO TO ALL THE TAKERS AND ENERGETIC LEECHES in my life. It has taken me a while for my ethical and moral values to agree that reciprocity is also my natural right.
The only thing I know about my chart is that I’m an Aries born in a year of a Fire Dragon (and I suspect with Leo ascendant), so I’ll just do whatever I feel like doing:)
Really love ? this so where I am at and getting older don’t feel the need to have validation or explain x was talking to a friend about the archetypes of holy spirit and Madonna yesterday, but this just puts it so well…i love the imagery of lighting the secret door , and of wise visitors in disguise.thank you so very apt and timely
Introspection / time for wisdom to be more attended too, preceding “sex and shopping”?
HERMIT + DEVIL…
Hermit = higher knowledge, truth?
Devil = Lust, materialism, gratification at what cost?
Guessing…
So Taoiat! Deep roots that the frosts don’t get AF are my goal! I am a multi conj Virgo and have found it a bit irritating this is our card – so old so lonely looking but since the MM tarot has changed my view to a Fool with Nous I’m ok with it
Interesting Phoenix. I’ve only been aware that I have Virgo rising for a few years after starting to study astrology. Prior to that I only knew my sun sign Pisces and identified heavily with it (multiple conjunct Pisces).
But now that I’m learning about my Virgo-ness I feel like I’ve found a missing piece of me I couldn’t name for so long. And one of the things that I identify most strongly with in relation to Virgo is the Hermit card.
Gandalf, Merlin, the loner on the fringe who is the keeper of occult wisdom and divine guidance? Yes please.
P.S. I’ve also always had the notion of the Hermit as the one who sits in the cave revelling in the knowledge that they know the secrets and gleefully judging everyone who doesn’t. A very Virgo trait I believe.
Yes! You are right about the revealing knowledge but ha!
My NN is in Pisces 7/8 House and am consciously being more creatively collaborative and soul mating with the world!
Love this Mystic. Gorgeous insights ALLways??