thumb|The Hermit (IX) from the [[Rider–Waite tarot deck illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith]]
The Hermit (IX) is the ninth trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional tarot decks. It is used in game playing as well as in divination.
Description
The Rider–Waite version of the card shows an old man, standing on a mountain peak, carrying a staff in one hand and a lit lantern containing a six-pointed star (Star of David) in the other. In the background is a mountain range.
According to Eden Gray, his lantern is the Lamp of Truth, used to guide the unknowing, his patriarch's staff helps him navigate narrow paths as he seeks enlightenment and his cloak is a form of discretion.
Interpretation
According to A.E. Waite's 1910 book Pictorial Key to the Tarot, the Hermit card carries several divinatory associations:
<blockquote>9. THE HERMIT. Prudence, circumspection; also and especially treason, dissimulation, roguery, corruption. Reversed: Concealment, disguise, policy, fear, unreasoned caution.</blockquote>
In astrology, the Hermit card is associated with the sign of Virgo and its ruling planet, Mercury.
In popular culture
A version of Pamela Colman Smith's Hermit designed by Barrington Colby is depicted on the inner jacket sleeve of Led Zeppelin IV.
Examples
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File:Visconti-sforza-09-time.jpg|Pierpont Morgan Bergamo (15th century)
File:Hermit tarot charles6.jpg|Charles VI (or Gringonneur) (15th century)
File:Jean Dodal Tarot trump 09.jpg|Jean Dodal Marseilles (1701–1715)
File:Tarot Belgijski - A9 - Pustelnik.jpg|Vandenborre (1780)
File:Court de Gébelin - Atout 09.jpg|Court de Gébelin (1781)
File:Tarot de Besançon - Renault - Trump 09.jpg|Renault (1820–1830)
File:Piedmontese tarot deck - Solesio - 1865 - Trump - 09 - The Hermit.jpg|Piedmontese (1865)
File:09 L'Ermite, Oswald Wirth Tarot Deck 1889 BnF.jpg|Oswald Wirth (1889)
File:18 Le Capucin - H. Pussey Grand Etteilla Tarot Deck.jpg|Grand Etteilla (1890)
File:T9 Tarot.png|Lequart Marseilles (1890)
File:Papus Atout 09-hermite-hermit.png|Papus (1909)
File:The Hermit (Tarot ReVisioned).jpg|Tarot ReVisioned (2003)
</gallery>