Tarot card meanings › Major Arcana
The Hermit Tarot Card Meaning
The Hermit tarot card means solitude, reflection and inner guidance. Step back and look inward.
Upright
- Solitude
- reflection
- inner guidance
Reversed
- Isolation
- loneliness
- avoiding the question
Yes or no
Maybe
The Hermit is card IX of the 22 major arcana.
What the card shows
An old man in a grey hooded cloak stands alone on a snowy peak. He holds up a lantern with a six-pointed star inside it and leans on a long staff.
This is the card as drawn by Pamela Colman Smith for the 1909 Rider-Waite-Smith deck, which is in the public domain.
Upright meaning
The Hermit is read as stepping away from the noise to think. It points to time alone, study and finding your own answer before asking anyone else. He can also stand for a wise guide.
The Hermit reversed
Reversed, he is read as solitude that has turned into isolation, or keeping busy so you never have to sit with a question.
Yes or no?
In a yes or no question, The Hermit is usually read as a maybe: the answer depends on something not settled yet. Readers differ on some cards, so treat this as one common reading. You can ask a yes or no question and draw a card for it.
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More Major Arcana cards
The FoolThe MagicianThe High PriestessThe EmpressThe EmperorThe HierophantThe LoversThe ChariotStrengthWheel of FortuneJusticeThe Hanged ManDeathTemperanceThe DevilThe TowerThe StarThe MoonThe SunJudgementThe World
‹ StrengthAll 78 cardsWheel of Fortune ›
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