The Hermit as Intentions: To Withdraw and Think, Not to Leave

Written by Chaya the Medium.

The Hermit as intentions is a plan to go up the mountain for a while. Here is what I would read in it, upright and reversed, and why it is not goodbye.

If you want the short answer, I would read the Hermit as intentions that are inward. In an intentions position the card suggests the person means to withdraw for a time, to think, to work something out alone, and that this is about their own search rather than about you. They do not intend to pursue and they do not intend to end anything. They intend to go and look, and come back when they have seen.

This is the figure on the peak with the lantern. They intend to be up there for a while. They intend to come down with something.

The Hermit upright as intentions

Tina Gong's the Hermit guide at Labyrinthos associates the upright card with introspection, solitude, inner guidance and a search for truth. When the card lands in a position that asks what someone intends toward you, I read those meanings as the shape of their plan rather than as a promise about what they will do. Feelings and intentions are different questions; the Hermit as feelings covers the first, and this page covers the second. The Major Arcana overview at Biddy Tarot is a useful second reference.

Upright, I read the Hermit as a person whose intention toward you is suspended rather than decided: they are stepping back from feeling in order to understand it, and you are in that question somewhere without being the whole of it. The withdrawal is sincere and it is not personal.

What I would not read into it is an ending. Hermits come down from the mountain. What they intend when they do is not settled while they are up there, and no amount of calling up the slope changes that.

What the card does not tell you

The card does not confirm the person's reflection includes you, that they will return warmer, or that their solitude is temporary. No card lets a reader see another person's plans. What a card can do is describe the kind of intention that fits the person's behaviour, and give you something to check against what they actually do.

The Hermit reversed as intentions

Reversed, the Hermit as intentions describes withdrawal that has become avoidance: a plan to retreat from you specifically and use solitude to dodge a conversation, or a person so cut off that they no longer intend anything toward anyone. The lantern has gone out.

In your own question, ask whether the distance is aimed at you with other people still let in, or whether the person has withdrawn from everyone in a way that may need a friend more than a reading. A reversed card as intentions is a prompt to compare what is said with what is done, not a diagnosis of bad faith.

The Hermit as an ex's intentions

Asked about an ex, the Hermit as intentions can suggest they are still working through the relationship privately and have not reached a conclusion about you. That can precede a return and can precede a final letting go. The card is honest that they do not know yet either. My guide to asking a psychic whether an ex will come back explains what a reading can and cannot say about that question.

The Hermit as a new person's intentions

For someone new, this card asks for patience and a light touch. They are interested enough to think about it and not ready to act. Space tends to bring a Hermit down the mountain sooner than pursuit does.

What their intentions look like in action

Look for thoughtful distance: they go quiet but are not unkind, they reappear with something to say, they seem to be considering rather than avoiding. A Hermit intention is slow and serious. If the silence has an edge, read the reversal.

What to record before drawing again

Keep three short notes: the question you asked, how long the person has been withdrawn and from whom, and how long you are willing to wait at the foot of the mountain. The third note is yours.

For comparison, the Fool as intentions and the High Priestess as intentions describe different intentions. The the Hermit card meaning page covers the card in full, and the Hermit as a person 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.