1. Tarot
2. Card meanings
3. The Hermit

Major Arcana · IX

The Hermit

• prudence
• circumspection
• attainment

Upright meaning

Prudence and reflection. Waite sees the Hermit as a card of attainment, holding up his light so that others may follow: time apart that brings clarity.

Reversed meaning

Reversed, Waite names unreasoned caution: holding back more than the situation needs. Worth asking what you are waiting for.

• unreasoned caution

Symbolism

An old man on a height holds up a lantern in which a star shines.

Group

Major Arcana

Element, astrology

Not given by Waite, so we give none

Source

Our own plain-English summary of A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (London: Rider, 1911), Part II §2 (symbolism); Part III §3 (divinatory meanings). The keywords are Waite’s own words. Waite’s fortune-telling lists also contain harsher terms; we keep to the reflective readings he gives and never state an event as certain.

Tarot is a tool for reflection, not a prediction of fixed outcomes. This is not medical, legal or financial advice.