The Hermit
The Hermit represents self-insulation, solitary personal growth, and wisdom. While it can suggest negative traits like detachment and disconnection, it also emphasizes the importance of solitude for self-sufficiency and internal guidance. The imagery often aligns with wisdom and knowledge, symbolized by elements like a lit lantern, a book, or a raven.
Keywords
Connection to the Card
The Hermit is one of my two birth cards, and one I feel closely connected to. I value its message of self-insulation and solitary personal growth. I love its imagery and its peace.
Negative Implications
Yes, the Hermit has its negative implications of putting up walls, of cold detachment and of human disconnection. However, humans are social animals, and secluding ourselves entirely from the care and warmth of others is no better than continuous draining social activity. But I find the card comforting in its solitude and self-sufficiency.
Depiction and Gender Influence
Almost every Hermit card I have seen depicts a wise old white man. And while I recognize the cultural significance of that image, and the reasons behind its continued perpetuation, it did not ring true for me. A woman, a witch, a midwife, a creative, a thinker—those archetypes felt more fitting for this card. Whether by choice or by ostracism, a feminine figure spoke more clearly to me of hermitage and otherness—removed from society, yet a self-affirming part of it.
Symbolism and Imagery
The raven on her shoulder, the book and the lit lantern she holds are all symbols of widsom and knowledge, of an inner guiding light. She is not sorry to be without human companionship, but she is also not entirely alone among the stars, with her animal attendant and the company of her self-learning. She’s climbing the barren rocky landscape willingly, and she can find her way back down again if she so wishes.
Fyodor Pavlov tarot
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