The Hermit: tarot meaning, upright and reversed

An older traveller holds a lantern containing a star above a snowy height.

Upright

discernment · solitude

Step back to see clearly, or consult someone whose experience has been tested over time.

Reversed

isolation · withdrawal

Necessary reflection may have become avoidance, or guidance may be difficult to receive.

In a reading

The position gives this card a particular task: a description of the situation, a challenge, or guidance. Read its image and meaning alongside the other cards and the question that brought them together.

Golden Dawn correspondence

Zodiac sign: Virgo. This is the attribution in Book T.

Sources

A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot. These notes are original interpretations of the Waite–Smith imagery, informed by that text.