The Hermit

Depictions of The Hermit from various Tarot decks

The Hermit is the ninth card in the Major Arcana in most traditional Tarot decks.

History

In the 1374 trionfi poem which inspired the creation of the tarot, Time was the name of one of the six original triumphs, which later became The Hermit in subsequent tarot decks.

The painting of Time depicts a carriage carrying a seraphim angel who looks like a man with a long beard. He is carrying the same staff or crutch he is pictured with in early versions of the Tarot, such as Rosenwald Sheet. The carriage is pulled by three deer with varying stages of horn growth (depicting the passage of time). The audience surrounding the carriage is filled with old people.

Depiction

The original triumph of Time from I Trionfi

In the Rider-Waite Tarot, artist Pamela Colman Smith depicted The Hermit as an old man, standing on a mountain peak, carrying a staff in one hand and a lit lantern containing a six-pointed star in the other. In the background is a mountain range. According to some interpretations, his lantern is the Lamp of Truth, used to guide the unknowing, his patriarch's staff helps him navigate narrow paths as he seeks enlightenment and his cloak is a form of discretion.

In the Tarot of Marseilles, the hermit's lantern is partially concealed by his cloak, suggesting the hidden mysteries of the Tarot that are only open to initiates.

Other names

The earliest decks called this card The Capuchin or Time and showed him carrying an hourglass or a crutch rather than a lantern.

In the Hieronymus Bosch Tarot, this card is called "Illumination," and depicts a large lantern with many people struggling to get inside.

Divinatory meaning

In divination, this card usually indicates treason, dissimulation, roguery, and corruption. Prudence, consideration of all consequences.

In reversed position, it means: Concealment, disguise, and fear.