You arrive at the path of the wounded healer’s journey…
The path of the Hermit represents solitude and isolation in order to analyze and solve a personal crisis.
The Hermit needs to hide for days, weeks, and months and then emerges to solve his crisis, his time of solitude allowing all the pieces of his puzzle to fall in place.
Virgo, the analyst zodiac sign, rules the Hermit, and can be fact-finding, industrious, exacting, humane and clean, or critical, melancholy, picky, skeptical, petty and sloppy.
The Major Arcana Represents Major Life Lessons: If the Hermit comes out on the first card of your reading, you might be in a hurry because you are close to completion with the events you have been working on, but you might end up making a mistake if you do not think things through. If the Hermit comes out on the outcome card, in the positive position, you are coming to completion with something that you have been working on, or you are coming to completion with a personal crisis that you will overcome.
The Story Of The Hermit Tarot Card
The Hermit is enumerated nine, representing completion. He is searching for answers and will not rest until he has completed his search. He stands atop an ice-capped cliff, representing cold weather, harsh conditions, and the obstacles he faces. The height of the cliff represents his ultimate goal. The dark blue sky represents his thoughts, which seem to revolve around a life crisis that requires solitude for consideration.
The Hermit’s long, white beard shows the wisdom of age and experience. He is holding a yellow staff (intellect, caution, will, illumination) which provides protection and clarity while his thoughts guide him through his journey.
His black and gray cloak combine white and black colors, symbols of duality and of conscious and unconscious thoughts. The gray indicates his uncertain thoughts and clouded perception that hides sought-after truth.
His brightly shining lantern guides his inspection of the gray areas. The six-pointed star is two triangles symbolizing man’s union with the divine (higher-self = triangle pointing upward, lower-self = triangle pointing downward).
When in a personal crisis, the Hermit engages in a battle between his higher-self and his lower-self. At the onset of his battle, he becomes separated from the light (higher-self) and falls into the darkness (lower-self) and doubts his connection with the divine. Eventually he challenges his lower-self, rethinks his situation, and reconnects with his higher-self and his beliefs in the divine.
The Hermit will resolve his crisis once he is united and locked in place with his higher-self, thus finding the answers he has been seeking.
My Interpretation Of The Hermit
The Hermit card shows a man in crisis. The unresolved mysteries of life have isolated him and are beginning to eat away at him, driving him to search for answers. He becomes aware that he has behaved without proper forethought. He must now connect with his higher-self to learn what he has overlooked.
He feels that isolation will help him arrive at the answers, and so he paces restlessly from dusk till dawn, thinking and examining, seeking what he has overlooked. This is not a time for socializing or taking action or making any decisions, but rather for peace and solitude in order to think and find clarity.
The Hermit’s desire for solitude makes him impatient with people who disrupt his peace. He hides for days, weeks, months and then emerges to solve his crisis, his time of solitude allowing all of the pieces to fall into place.
The Hermit reminds me of a music artist who must seclude himself to compose something new. I once read a book about a composer who locked himself away for weeks at a time and did not want to eat or be disturbed.
The Hermit also represents secret dealings with friends who help shed light on confusing situations or a therapist that you do not want anyone to know about.
Positive Position: You need to depart from others to complete something important, and do not want to be disturbed, or you might need to be alone to figure something out.
Negative Position: You are completely in the dark. You are in a crisis, alone and lost, excessively isolated, and unwilling to communicate. You cannot concentrate and have lost your lantern, the symbol of your ability to make correct decisions.
Timing is 1 – 30 days.
Source: Lotus Tarot
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