The Hermit as a Person: Alone on Purpose, With a Lamp

Written by Chaya the Medium.

The Hermit as a person is the one who left the party early to think, and had the best thought of the night. Here is the character, upright and reversed, in love and at work.

If you want the short answer, the Hermit as a person is introspective, wise, solitary by choice and searching for something deeper than the surface offers. They need time alone the way others need company. They think carefully, speak rarely, and are worth listening to when they do. They are not lonely, usually, though people assume they must be.

This is the figure on the peak with the lantern held out and the staff in the other hand. He went up there on purpose. He will come down when he has seen what he came to see.

The Hermit as a person: the character

Tina Gong's the Hermit guide at Labyrinthos associates the upright card with introspection, solitude, inner guidance and a search for truth. Major Arcana cards are less often read as people than the court cards are, and when they are, they describe a person living out that card's theme rather than a fixed temperament. The Major Arcana overview at Biddy Tarot is a useful second reference.

The Hermit person is thoughtful, self-sufficient, serious and often spiritual or philosophical. They have a rich inner life and a limited tolerance for small talk. They are often older, or old for their age. They have usually learned something hard and are still learning from it. They give good counsel when asked and do not offer it unasked.

They are not misanthropic, though they can seem it. The Hermit withdraws from people in order to understand them and themselves better, and comes back with something to offer. The lantern is for others as much as for the path.

Their strengths

Wisdom. Self-knowledge. Independence. Depth. The ability to be alone without falling apart. Counsel that is worth having. A light that guides others, when they are ready to follow it.

Their shadow

Isolation that becomes avoidance. Withholding themselves from people who need them. Pride in their solitude. Judging the world from the mountain. Loneliness they will not admit. Using reflection as a way of never acting.

The Hermit reversed as a person

Reversed, the Hermit as a person is the solitude gone wrong: isolated, withdrawn, paranoid, or someone who has gone up the mountain to hide rather than to see. They may be a person who has cut everyone off, who refuses help, or who has become so absorbed in their own search that they have stopped bringing the light back down.

At the other end, the reversal describes a Hermit who cannot get a moment alone and is going quietly mad for want of it, which is a different problem with a simple remedy. A reversed card as a person is the same theme lived badly, or a person stuck in the card's lesson. It is not a different person.

The Hermit as a partner

As a partner, the Hermit is loyal, deep, thoughtful and in need of space in a way that is not about you. They will not be clingy and they will not tolerate clinging. They need a partner who has their own inner life, who can let them go up the mountain without taking it personally, and who will be there when they come down. Given that, they are devoted in a quiet, lifelong way.

The Hermit at work

At work, the Hermit is the specialist, the researcher, the one who works alone and produces something nobody else could. They do poorly in open-plan offices and well in anything that rewards deep thought. As a boss they are wise, distant and hard to get hold of.

How to recognise the Hermit in your life

Look for the person who leaves early, who reads more than they talk, whose rare advice turns out to be right, who seems older than everyone else in the room. In yourself, the Hermit is the part that needs to go away and think, and the part that has not come back for a while. No card can identify a specific real person, and a reader who tells you a Major Arcana card is definitely your ex, your boss or your new match is guessing. What the card can do is describe a theme clearly enough that you recognise who in your life is living it, or which part of yourself is.

What to record before drawing again

Keep three short notes: the question you asked, who the Hermit might describe, and whether their solitude brings something back or only takes them away. The third note separates upright from reversed.

For comparison, the High Priestess as a person and the Fool as a person describe different characters. The the Hermit card meaning page covers the card in full, and the Hermit as feelings, the Hermit as timing and the Hermit as a yes or no cover the other questions people most often ask of it. For a personal interpretation, my guide to a love psychic reading online explains how I work, and the three-card tarot listing and customer reviews are worth reading before deciding whether to order.