Gilded Tarot Study Group - The Hermit

Consuela

I feel that this is an invitation to adopt the position or role of the Hermit; he is coming towards us with his arms outstretched. The essence of the Hermit though, is solitude. We are not being invited to accompany him, but to become him. If we walk with him neither he nor we are hermits. The central teaching of this card is, that some things in life have to be done alone. Most often this task that must be accomplished alone takes the form of a journey, physical and/or internal. Solitude and introspection are to be welcomed; it's what we need right now.

Most of the light around the Hermit emanates not from his lamp but from the man himself. I agree that is a very significant element in this card; I think Ciro is suggesting that true enlightenment is generated by what we experience, think and do for ourselves, not from the light shed by other sources. In other words, deep knowledge can't simply be offered to us by others; we have to (l)earn it, often the hard way.
 

jadechick

hermit

i watched a documentary on the masons and symbolism a few weeks ago, they said the lantern was a symbol of what we dont know yet. of untapped knowledge. i thought that was interesting. i also dont find him sad, i think he is very introspective and merely needs time to reflect on knowledge he may or may not know yet.
 

Gemini68

I see the hermit as representing that the answers we seek are actually within ourselves...thus introspection.
I also see another poss interpretation as trusting ....trusting that the answers we are seeking and needing will be given to us one-by-one. The path lit for us to follow carefully ...one step at a time. The path may appear intimidating by its narrowness and being cobblestone. We may fear falling down or perhaps falling off the path completely. That only indicates the importance of focusing on taking one step at a time even more...Trusting each step will be made visible (by his lantern) as we are ready to take that step, and not before ....
This card has shown up in several of my readings recently ...for some reason I feel a sense of peace when I see it ....