This card often symbolizes a crisis that cannot be avoided, a profound change that needs to be confronted and accepted. It evokes the idea of a teacher, a therapist, or a guide. But in a crisis, there is an equal possibility that The Hermit will renew himself or die. He therefore also refers to poverty, solitude, and even decay and degeneration. He can be seen as a “vagrant” or even an alcoholic who is hiding a quart of red wine in his lantern. This Arcanum is the most human and coldest counterpart of the great paternal archetype of Arcanum XVIIII. In this way he can depict an absent father, or one who is taciturn, remote, or has vanished. He also refers, for the subject of the reading, to an inner solitude, to the secret and dark space where a spiritual transformation is prepared.
Categories: Long Stories