Hermit as a location

What kind of a location springs to mind with the Hermit card ? I can see it as being remote or leastways some distance from others ...but any other thoughts ? My own card (Kats Golden) shows the guy in a forest surrounded by animals. I've had a look at some of my other decks and the ones which place him in a particular location are all similarly wooded. I don't have enough decks to know whether this is a general trend or whether he is just as likely to be found on a, secluded, beach or desert oasis ?

My first thought was prison... perhaps a bit too literal. Hospital? Or a study, photography studio, somewhere dark, a cellar?

But also I've seen him stood atop a mountain holding a lamp over the city. Made me think of Geddes and the tower in Edinburgh. The observatory, so something panopticon... again this brings us to prison, hospital, also a university. Somewhere where you can't be seen but can see other people, like behind a mirror/glass two way wall in a shopping centre, something like that.

I think of a high place, a remote place, a cloistered place. Possibly a cool or cold place; in the mountains; maybe a cave. Any place that imposes isolation would do. The actual image makes me think of a lighthouse or lookout point with a beacon.

Think : I've always thought of the Hermit as being able to come and go at will so I'm not sure of anything which would incarcerate him ...but that said it would provide an opportunity for undisturbed thought ?! Lol. Yes, university I could see that as a possibility if he can secret himself away somewhere. Two way mirrors - do you see him as abit of a spy or voyeur ? He's looking for answers certainly. I've always thought of him as having integrity, but perhaps I am wrong about his methods of finding things out ! Thanks for your input

samantha said:

Think : I've always thought of the Hermit as being able to come and go at will so I'm not sure of anything which would incarcerate him ...but that said it would provide an opportunity for undisturbed thought ?! Lol. Yes, university I could see that as a possibility if he can secret himself away somewhere. Two way mirrors - do you see him as abit of a spy or voyeur ? He's looking for answers certainly. I've always thought of him as having integrity, but perhaps I am wrong about his methods of finding things out ! Thanks for your input

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Perhaps his own mind incarcerates him, since he goes inward to find the source of wisdom. His outward situation is kind of immaterial to him.

Barleywine said:

I think of a high place, a remote place, a cloistered place. Possibly a cool or cold place; in the mountains; maybe a cave. Any place that imposes isolation would do. The actual image makes me think of a lighthouse or lookout point with a beacon.

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Why is he associated with heights ? Because his vision is lofty ? His aim high ?
And similarly why cloistered ? I think you are right (and think suggested so too with prison ) but what lies behind it ?

samantha said:

Why is he associated with heights ? Because his vision is lofty ? His aim high ?
And similarly why cloistered ? I think you are right (and think suggested so too with prison ) but what lies behind it ?

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The idea of the heights is that he has reached a pinnacle of wisdom and is showing the way to enlightenment for those laboring up the path behind him, following the light of his lamp. The "cloistered" idea comes from the fact that hermits were often monkish figures that led solitary lives as recluses.

In the deck I created, The Cult of Weimar Tarot, I used an image of Gustav Nagel for The Hermit. He was a real person living in Berlin in the 1920s.

Gustaf Nagel, often called The Barefoot Prophet, The First Hippie, lived for a time as an honest to goodness Hermit.
He was a preacher of sorts rejecting the artificiality of modern life and encouraging people to return to the rhythms of nature.
He developed a considerable following and may be in some way responsible for several back to nature movements that developed around the Weimar time.
The banner he holds reads, "Ich komme zu euch in Frieden." (I come to you in Peace.)

Many people are surprised to see him in a deck devoted to 1920s Berlin because he looks like a hippie from 1960s Berkeley.


Click HERE to see Gustav Nagel as the Hermit


I chose him as the Hermit because he went his own way, against the rising tide of modernism and spent a life seeking wisdom that comes from solitude and asceticism, eschewing worldly pleasures.

He was an anomaly in 1920s Berlin, that's for sure. That to me is the true spirit of the Hermit.

Long Walks with a Lantern...a must!

samantha said:

Why is he associated with heights ? Because his vision is lofty ? His aim high ? And similarly why cloistered ? I think you are right (and think suggested so too with prison ) but what lies behind it ?

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The Hermit's isolation (upright card at least) is one he goes into willingly. So, cloistered, yes, prison...maybe if the card was ill-dignified. Because walking and exploring is a "must" for our hermit, and prison tends to keep a person from doing that. As for heights, yes, but not because his vision is loft. Because heights give you the ability to see things from above and therefore "clearer." The big picture. Also, heights are remote and hard to get to, and so isolate. It's why stories often have those monasteries on mountaintops. They're naturally fortified against intruders.

I'd also add in caves (hermits used to live in caves) or, in our modern world, a basement and, yes the woods. Because people easily got lost in the woods, and so didn't venture into them. A "cabin in the woods" has always been considered isolated and hard to find--but also serene. And, finally, my favorite, a lighthouse (echoing his lantern light, and very isolated).

Keep in mind that the aim of the Hermit is to seek his own knowledge in his own way. So he doesn't want to interact with others because (1) he doesn't want to be influenced (they would tell him what to think or what was true; he wants to find all that out for himself), (2) they would distract him from his investigations. He wants to focus on what he's looking for. Other people make that hard to do. So, his choice of location is going to be a place which is not only remote but serene. Not noisy or difficult to live in; also rich in things to investigate. A place to stimulate the mind and allow for long, solitary walks with his lantern.

The Hermit is looking back to see where he has come from. Maybe a location would be somewhere nostalgic. Somewhere you visit but you really can't return to because you have outgrown it.

barb