Major Arcana · 9
The Hermit
L'Ermite · Il Eremita · The Wise Old Man
The The Hermit tarot card meaning runs through both orientations: upright, solitude, introspection, guidance; reversed, isolation, loneliness, withdrawal that has become hiding. Below, its imagery across the Rider–Waite–Smith, Thoth, and Marseille decks, and what the tradition’s writers said about it.
- Element
- Earth
- Planet
- Mercury
- Zodiac
- Virgo
- Hebrew
- Yod
- Numerology
- 9
- Timing
- Virgo season (August–September); the longer arc — months; the dark phase of the moon; winter retreat.
Upright
- solitude
- introspection
- guidance
- inner light
- wisdom through withdrawal
- the lantern
Reversed
- isolation
- loneliness
- withdrawal that has become hiding
- rejection of guidance
The Hermit Tarot Card Meaning
Upright
Withdraw to find. The Hermit is the necessary retreat — the contemplative pause that makes wisdom possible. Whatever question is alive in you cannot be answered in the noise of others' opinions. Light your own lantern. Walk your own path. The wisdom you find here will eventually be needed by those still in the valley.
- Love
- A period of solitude before partnership. Or, within partnership, the need for personal space and introspection. For singles, a deliberate pause — dating less to know yourself more. For couples, individual practices that strengthen the union.
- Career
- Solo work, research, study, mentorship (giving or receiving). A retreat or sabbatical may be indicated. Roles in academia, philosophy, teaching, monastic vocation, advisory positions.
- Finances
- Conservative, wise financial choices. Long-term planning. Seeking advice from a trusted older mentor. Step back from speculation.
- Health
- Rest. Solo healing practices — meditation, walking in nature, journaling. Digestive system attention (Virgo). Health as discipline rather than performance.
- Spiritual
- Solitary spiritual practice. Retreat, silent meditation, vision quest. The dark night where you become the lantern. Inner authority over outer teaching.
Reversed
Isolation has crossed from solitude into hiding. Or, the inverse — refusing the necessary inward turn, drowning yourself in noise to avoid the questions waiting in the silence. Loneliness when company won't help; or, social busyness when you need to be alone.
- Love
- Emotional withdrawal that has become avoidance. Or, refusing solitude and codependently seeking partnership. Examine: do you fear being alone, or do you fear being known?
- Career
- Burnout from refusing rest. Or, isolated for so long that your skills have atrophied. Reach out — to a mentor, a peer, a community.
- Finances
- Hoarding from fear. Or, refusing to budget because facing the numbers is uncomfortable. Sit with the truth.
- Health
- Insomnia, anxiety, isolation-induced depression. Digestive issues from chronic stress. Reach out for help.
- Spiritual
- Spiritual narcissism — convinced your isolation is wisdom when it might be avoidance. Or, the dark night with no exit — find a teacher or a peer who has walked this.
The image, three ways
Rider–Waite–Smith
A robed elder stands alone on a snowy mountain peak, holding a lantern containing a six-pointed star. He leans on a staff, head bowed in contemplation.
Thoth
An ancient cloaked figure holding the lamp of the Hermit, a serpent at his feet, surrounded by stylized seeds — the Hermit as the Yod, the cosmic spermatozoon and the seed of new being.
Marseille
L'Ermite — a stooped old man holds a lantern in front of him with one hand, a staff in the other. The lantern is sometimes shielded, sometimes shining.
Four ways a reversal speaks
After Mary K. Greer, Tarot Reversals (2002)
01 · excessive
Solitude that has crossed into hiding; the cave become a coffin.
02 · shadow
The recluse who calls avoidance wisdom; spiritual snobbery.
03 · blocked
The lantern unlit; refusing the inward turn the soul is asking for.
04 · denied
Wisdom refused; the older voice ignored because attending to it would require change.
What the tradition says
The tradition broadly agrees that the Hermit marks a necessary withdrawal from ordinary life in favor of an inward, self-directed search. Most readers understand the lantern as the symbol of hard-won inner light — illumination that cannot be borrowed from others but must be carried alone, and that this solitude is purposeful rather than merely escapist.
Where the readings differ: Waite reads the Hermit with wariness, emphasizing prudence shading into dissimulation and roguery, where Pollack and Greer emphasize a wholesome inward turning, and Crowley reframes solitude as a generative cosmic principle rather than a personal or moral condition.
A.E. Waite · 1910
The Pictorial Key to the Tarot
Prudence, also and especially treason, dissimulation, corruption, roguery; circumspection. Waite's reading is more cautious than romantic.
Aleister Crowley · 1944
The Book of Thoth
The Hermit as Yod — the seed of all manifestation, the spermatozoon of the cosmos. Solitude as cosmic generative principle.
Rachel Pollack · 1980
Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom
The Hermit is the moment when the journey turns inward — having achieved the worldly mastery of the first eight cards, the seeker now seeks the source.
Mary K. Greer · 1984
Tarot for Your Self
Greer instructs the Hermit's querent to cancel something on their calendar — to literally make the room for the inward turn the card is asking for. The Hermit cannot be merely thought about; he requires actual solitude to be honored.
Robert M. Place · 2005
The Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination
Place traces the Hermit to the medieval Father Time figure — the old man with the hourglass — and notes how the Renaissance occult tradition replaced timekeeping with truth-keeping. The lantern is the image of inner illumination not as escape from time but as the gift time gives the patient.
Shadow
The recluse who has confused avoidance with wisdom; the spiritual snob who can't tolerate ordinary company; the lonely person calling loneliness depth.
Archetypal role
The Sage / The Mystic / The Wise Old Man / The Lantern-Bearer
Historical notes
The Hermit was originally Il Tempo (Time) in some early decks, depicted as an old man with an hourglass — Father Time. The lantern replaced the hourglass during the Renaissance esoteric reinterpretation. Crowley emphasized the Yod — the Hebrew letter that is the seed of all letters and the secret name of God's spark in matter.
The Hermit: common questions
- Is The Hermit a yes or no card?
- In a yes-or-no reading, The Hermit leans maybe.
- What do tarot writers agree The Hermit means?
- The tradition broadly agrees that the Hermit marks a necessary withdrawal from ordinary life in favor of an inward, self-directed search. Most readers understand the lantern as the symbol of hard-won inner light — illumination that cannot be borrowed from others but must be carried alone, and that this solitude is purposeful rather than merely…
- What does The Hermit tarot card mean?
- Withdraw to find. The Hermit is the necessary retreat — the contemplative pause that makes wisdom possible. Whatever question is alive in you cannot be answered in the noise of others' opinions. Light your own lantern. Walk your own path. The wisdom you find here will eventually be needed by those still in the valley.
- What does The Hermit mean in love?
- A period of solitude before partnership. Or, within partnership, the need for personal space and introspection. For singles, a deliberate pause — dating less to know yourself more. For couples, individual practices that strengthen the union.
- What does The Hermit mean for career and money?
- Solo work, research, study, mentorship (giving or receiving). A retreat or sabbatical may be indicated. Roles in academia, philosophy, teaching, monastic vocation, advisory positions.
- What does The Hermit reversed mean?
- Isolation has crossed from solitude into hiding. Or, the inverse — refusing the necessary inward turn, drowning yourself in noise to avoid the questions waiting in the silence. Loneliness when company won't help; or, social busyness when you need to be alone.
Neighbouring arcana
The Hermit combinations
The Hermit in a relationship
When this card turns up around someone you are dating, the question is usually about their behavior, not the symbol. These readings pair the card with the relationship pattern underneath the situation.
Last reviewed 2026-06-18
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