the hermit "IN" the moon

When I look at IX THE HERMIT and then compare
him to XVIII THE MOON there is really an uncanny
resemblance between the two faces.

The older, bearded face, and the younger, shaven visage.
Both are shown in profile, looking slightly downward...

Every time I look at these now I see the same person,
at different times or spiritual stages, and it's exciting!

IX THE HERMIT

XVIII THE MOON

Both cards are about darkness and light... what do you think?

I see what you mean although I've never noticed that before ( I very rarely use RWS though); they're both numerically number 9 too.

Love

Sulisxx

I tend to agree with you but if you look carefully at the "expression"...what I mean is "The Moon" face figure looks sterner than "The Hermit"....

Look carefully at the positions of the eyebrows on both cards.

But the rest of the profile is the same. Cool!

I kind of feel like the moon has more in common with Temperance. See the two towers and the light in the middle of them on both cards? But next time I draw, I'll see if I can connect the theme of the hermit with that of the moon.

rosesred said:

I kind of feel like the moon has more in common with Temperance. See the two towers and the light in the middle of them on both cards?

Click to expand...

No, I can't, and the difference between those paths is an important distinction.

Waite says of the Moon card that "The path between the towers is the issue into the unknown." whilst of Temperance he says "A direct path goes up to certain heights on the verge of the horizon, and above there is a great light, through which a crown is seen vaguely." The positions (or paths) that these cards occupy, on the Golden Dawn version of the Tree of Life, gives a clue as to what the paths depicted on the cards, might symbolise.

rosesred said:

But next time I draw, I'll see if I can connect the theme of the hermit with that of the moon.

Click to expand...

Sulis has given an important connection between the Moon and the Hermit. Paul Foster Case also makes the connection of those two cards to the Fool. He says that all three cards represent the Path of Manifestation, the Fool is the Beginning of the Way, The Hermit the Goal of the Journey, and the Moon the Path of Unfoldment.


Vincent

thank you, rosesred

rosesred said:

I kind of feel like the moon has more in common with Temperance. See the two towers and the light in the middle of them on both cards?

Click to expand...

You have a special gift of insight, and your generous vision
has revealed a brilliant feature to us in delightful splendour.

I will never see these cards in the same way again, but ever be
mindful of the magestic allurments shown by your caring heart.

I just read that the two towers are supposed to represent the gates of hell !! And the howling dogs are the hounds of hell .

As for the profile in the Moon, I am not sure if it is the Hermit or not. Sometimes there is a sort of generic face an artist tends to draw subconsciously unless they make an effort to change it. And many of their works will bear a "family resemblance " in this way.

Dark Inquisitor said:

As for the profile in the Moon, I am not sure
if it is the Hermit or not.

Click to expand...

My thoughts on this were of the sort for darkly lit rooms.
Lingering imaginings on mysterious things. As if by magic,
the shining and youthful, feminine ~ yet so very aquiline,
profile ~ the benign yet oddly sinister countenance shown
is looking down ~ over a barren and corrupted landscape.

Might this be The Hermit ~ that peregrine sojourner of ways
unknown to the merely common rabble of the marketplace:
The Age of Aquarius born forth by the starkly solitary Sage?

Fulgour Prentice

Dark Inquisitor said:

I just read that the two towers are supposed to represent the gates of hell !! And the howling dogs are the hounds of hell.

Click to expand...

Symbolically, I think this makes sense in regards to the way I view the Moon card, which for me represents the difficult but necessary process of dropping our defenses, releasing and experiencing the contents of our subconscious, particularly the "shadow." This experience can certainly be hellish, because the things we protect ourselves from, the past hurts, traumatic memories, and unpleasant truths, can be hell to experience, especially when we experience a flood of them at once.

So I think there is indeed an important connection here between the Hermit and the Moon. The Hermit is someone who retreats from the world to spend time looking within and quieting the mind. The process of meditation confronts us with our day-to-day patterns of insanity, which can make us feel like wild dogs howling at the moon, as well as dredging up things buried in the recesses of our minds which can sometimes be creepy and disturbing to experience. We spend a lifetime building defenses from experiencing pain, and taking down those defenses can make one feel insane. It takes the wisdom and the strength of the Hermit to finish this process, the end result of which is the fresh and brilliant state of the Sun.

well, maybe.... but-

These are all interesting thoughts. But even though connections can be made, and profound thoughts derived, the similarity in faces may not have been the tarot artist's intent.

The similarities could as easily be ascribed to coincidence rather than design. Artists will often draw faces with similar shapes and proportions out of habit rather than intention.

One could just as easily notice that the RWS Moon card and the old Procter & Gamble logo are very similar, and begin drawing conclusions.