Thirteen
Bleak trees in the background, a night mist whitened by moon light, our Hermit travels with Lantern out, as if in a trance. But not quite. A closer look and we can see that this cloaked Hermit has very strange eyes! It's hard to tell, but they may be cat eyes--or just glowing eyes with odd pupils.
Has he been possessed? Or is he something supernatural? Perhaps unnatural? Demon? Zombie? Spirit? The trees in back of him look like they were once tended, but have grown out wild, and those wild branches make them look alive and dangerous as well.
The usual Hermit card is a man with a lantern in search of secret knowledge. It is a card that stands for solitude as well as investigation, study, learning, seeking. This Hermit does seem to be in search of something or someone, but we might well hope that he never does find whatever he's searching for. The lantern is supposed to stand for the Hermit's power to illuminate and see through the darkness. Yet in this card the one thing that Lantern most illuminates out of the surrounding darkness is...the Hermit!
A very scary card, but once again, I think it give an added layer to the Hermit that most decks don't have. The light shines on him, and reveals more about him than about anything else. When you lift your lantern to go seeking something, what you most illuminate with your search is your own self. Most especially your own darkest desires.
Has he been possessed? Or is he something supernatural? Perhaps unnatural? Demon? Zombie? Spirit? The trees in back of him look like they were once tended, but have grown out wild, and those wild branches make them look alive and dangerous as well.
The usual Hermit card is a man with a lantern in search of secret knowledge. It is a card that stands for solitude as well as investigation, study, learning, seeking. This Hermit does seem to be in search of something or someone, but we might well hope that he never does find whatever he's searching for. The lantern is supposed to stand for the Hermit's power to illuminate and see through the darkness. Yet in this card the one thing that Lantern most illuminates out of the surrounding darkness is...the Hermit!
A very scary card, but once again, I think it give an added layer to the Hermit that most decks don't have. The light shines on him, and reveals more about him than about anything else. When you lift your lantern to go seeking something, what you most illuminate with your search is your own self. Most especially your own darkest desires.