The Hermit

Tarot: Tuesday, September 22

A card drawn from one of three decks

This is an archived reading, kept as it was published.

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The Hermit

Rider–Waite–Smith Tarot
The Hermit

The Hermit stands on the mountain with a lantern held out in front of him, and the light in it is a six-pointed star: he lights his own path and no one else's. The card is not loneliness. It is the deliberate withdrawal that makes seeing possible. Today, step back from the situation you have been inside for a week and look at it from the ridge. Do not consult anyone. Do not explain the pause. What you understand from up here you could not have understood from down there, and the lantern is only bright enough for one.

Read the full card

For your star sign

The same reading, taken through each sign of the zodiac.

Aries

Withdrawal reads to you as surrender. It is reconnaissance. Today go up the mountain alone, look at the whole field, and come back down with a plan instead of an impulse.

Taurus

You retreat easily and reflect less easily. Today the lantern is for looking, not resting. Take the question up the mountain with you and bring an answer down.

Gemini

You will take three people up the mountain to discuss the view. The Hermit goes alone. Today, no company, no commentary, one lantern. The insight is the kind that talking dissolves.

Cancer

You withdraw into the shell and call it the Hermit. The Hermit is on a ridge, exposed, holding a light up. Today withdraw outward, to see, rather than inward, to hide.

Leo

A lantern for one is a small light and you want a bonfire. Today the small light is the point. What you see by it is yours and does not need an audience to be true.

Virgo

You will inventory the view. Look at it instead. Today the Hermit's lantern shows shape, not detail, and the shape is what you have been missing.

Libra

You think best in dialogue and today there is no one to talk to. Good. The opinion you form alone on the mountain is the one worth bringing back to the room tomorrow.

Scorpio

You already live on the mountain. The card's addition is the lantern: hold the light up so the path is visible, including to you. Withdrawal without seeing is just absence.

Sagittarius

The mountain is a destination and you will treat it as a trip. It is a vantage point. Today stay still at the top long enough to see something, then come down.

Capricorn

You climb mountains for the summit. The Hermit climbs for the view of the valley. Today look back at the ground you came from rather than ahead at the next peak.

Aquarius

You will explain the view structurally from the ridge. Today just look. The Hermit's light is for seeing what is there, not for mapping it.

Pisces

You drift up the mountain and forget why you came. Bring a question. Today the lantern shows you one thing clearly, and you have to have asked for it.

For your Chinese animal

The same reading, taken through each animal of the Chinese zodiac.

Rat

You go up the mountain to see what the competition is doing. Today go up to see what you are doing. The lantern lights your own path and the card is specific about that.

Ox

You will climb slowly and thoroughly and arrive after the light has gone. Go now. The Hermit's lantern is bright at dusk, not at midnight.

Tiger

Stillness on a ridge is not your natural state and today it is the whole card. Stand there for an hour with the lantern held out. The view arrives to whoever waits for it.

Rabbit

Solitude suits you and the exposed ridge does not. Today take the exposed version. The Hermit is seen, holding a light, and that is different from hiding.

Dragon

You want to be the light everyone follows. Today the lantern is for one. Look by it yourself before you decide who else should see what.

Snake

You are the Hermit by temperament and the card adds nothing you do not already do. Except this: come down. Insight kept on the mountain is not insight.

Horse

You will run up the mountain and run down before looking. Today stop at the top. The lantern only works when you are standing still.

Goat

You do not like going alone and today you must. The Hermit's path has room for one lantern. Take it up, look, and bring the answer back to the people who waited.

Monkey

You will find the mountain interesting and the view tedious. Look at the view. Today the insight is plain and unclever, which is why you keep missing it.

Rooster

You will check the lantern before you climb and find it dim. It is bright enough. Today go up with the light you have and see what it shows.

Dog

You do not leave people to go up mountains. Today leave them for an hour. What you see from the ridge is what lets you protect them better tomorrow.

Pig

The mountain is cold and the valley is warm and you will choose the valley. Today choose the ridge for one hour. The Hermit's lantern is worth the climb.

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